Smother yourself in your food waste instead of throwing it out for amazing results, say Cardiff bloggers
Admit it… us Brits love a good bargain, don’t we? We are renowned for our crazy animal-like antics during the Black Friday or Boxing Day sales. Forget the pushing and shoving in the shops, beauty and food bloggers in Cardiff have given us the opportunity to grab-a-bargain from the comfort of our own kitchen and it merely involves using the food you would typically toss into the trash.
As consumer requests are growing for more sustainable beauty offerings, companies are searching for alternative ways to be eco-friendlier when it comes to products and their development. Here in Cardiff, our very own beauty bloggers are doing just this and they want to share their flawless skin and hair secrets with you today.
Food awakening
UK households throw out around 4.2 million tonnes of perfectly edible food each year, while half a million people in the UK are relying on food banks. It almost sounds criminal.
Nevertheless, Wales has been applauded recently after recycling figures for 2015-16 emerged showing Wales leading the rest of the UK. The figures show Wales having a recycling total of 60.2% and Cardiff more specifically recycling at 58%. Andrew Osbourne, the recycling officer for Waste Awareness Wales, says these figures are “really encouraging”.
Natural Resources Wales/Welsh Government, August 2016
Although they have been praised for their figures, Cardiff Council aim to minimise more food waste and further maximise recycling and are searching for alternative ways to help reduce waste rates to meet the expectations of recycling 70% by 2024-25. Malou Herkes, former deputy editor for Jamie Oliver’s food blog, says that in a perfect world there shouldn’t be any food waste at all. The food enthusiast commented, “There are a lot of initiatives for doing this, but I’ve only heard about it in the context of eating it! Never for beauty products. It’s a great idea.”
Beauty and the feast
Kirsten Davies, founder of The Food Remedy and who opened the Healthy Living stage at Jamie Oliver’s The Big Feastival in August, has exclusively written recipes for you to find beauty in your food waste. The Welsh entrepreneur says, “If only we knew how to utilise all that nature has given us, we would be sure to save a fortune on lotions and potions.”
We put banana on our face for a refreshing start to the day!
Avocados are high in essential fatty acids which help to hydrate the skin and protect it from signs of ageing, according to Kirsten. The body confidence coach and nutritionist, whose motto is to ‘feed your mind, nourish your body, fuel your soul’, admits that she prefers not to eat an avocado once it starts to brown as she doesn’t particularly like the taste of it. She adds that all is not lost as they are “great” for making face masks, especially for those with dry skin.
After a while, yoghurt can become watery and not very appetising but Kirsten is adamant that Greek yoghurt has many benefits for your skin and hair even after its use-by date. Rub it onto your spot prone areas and let it sit for half an hour, she suggests; or, with just a dollop of honey, you can make a hair mask that is an “amazing” deep hair conditioner.
“I love eggs. In my hair.”
“I have a habit of always leaving a few eggs past their best before date, so they go in my hair”, says Kirsten. Beauty professionals say that proteins are the best cures for damaged hair; egg is a rich protein source which effectively nourishes and strengthens the hair.
We put eggs to the test and the results were amazing!
In an age of the Kardashians and the height of the cosmetic industry, beauty products are a must have because our beloved Zoella said so. But keeping up with the Kardashians has never been so easy now we can get flawless hair and skin without the extortionate price tags.
If this article interests you, you may also like ‘Food waste: Slap it on your face. or ‘Waste not, want not this winter’. For an uncut version of the face and hair masks, watch below.
