When I wrote about six groceries you can make at home, I was pleasantly surprised that a couple of Recyclebank members commented that they also make their own beauty products at home. It led me to thinking of the many homemade beauty products you can make at home, many of which are made with ingredients that are right in your kitchen.

What’s the advantage to making your own? For one thing, you can ensure that the ingredients are completely natural and free of harmful chemicals, which is good for your skin and hair, and also better for the environment. You’re also eliminating the need for packaging, much of which is difficult or impossible to recycle. And finally, you’re saving untold resources, materials, and energy used to manufacture and transport the products to the store. You can even reuse and repurpose old containers, such as jars, bottles, and empty makeup containers, to store them.

Head to the kitchen to try making some of these all-natural beauty products.

1. Face Masks: You don’t need a trip to the spa or a cabinet-full of expensive bottles and tubs. Ingredients from the kitchen like fruit, tea, eggs, honey, or oats can be used to exfoliate, tighten, tone, and moisturize. There are plenty of resources online to find the right homemade facial recipes for your skin’s needs.
2. Hair Conditioner: The blogger behind My Frugal Home shares her formula for making your own conditioner with oil, essential oil for fragrance, distilled water, and guar gum (an ingredient you can find at a natural foods store that’s used for thickening). You can make up a big batch and reuse an old conditioner bottle to store it. Best of all, she estimates that making an 8-ounce batch costs under $1! Another recipe I’ve found for a weekly deep-conditioning treatment involves mayonnaise and coconut oil. You can repurpose a plastic shopping bag or produce bag to wrap around your head while you’re wearing the treatment. This will help prevent messy drips and will also trap heat from your scalp, which will make the treatment even more effective.
3. Body Moisturizer: Coconut oil is great to cook with, and it’s also great for your skin. Mix it with your favorite essential oil for fragrance, and store it in an old jam jar.
4. Tooth Whitener: Baking soda and hydrogen peroxide, made into a paste, will work as a tooth whitener in place of the chemical-laden store-bought kits. Just be sure to use it only once or twice a month, as it can abrade the enamel.
5. Toner: Beauty guru Andrew Ordon, MD, gave Readers’ Digest a recipe for an easy homemade toner that helps clear acne and improves circulation. The ingredients are simply dried basil leaves and boiling water. Even easier: use apple cider vinegar diluted with water as toner.
6. Bath Soaks: Bypass that bottle of bubble bath. There are far more beneficial things to add to your bathwater. Try milk and honey for moisturizing, oatmeal to sooth itchy skin, Epsom salts for relaxation, or herbs like sage or chamomile for calming. You can make your own herb sachets with old nylon stockings or cheesecloth.
7. Cheek and Lip Stain: Anyone who has ever cooked with beets knows that these ruby-red vegetables will stain your fingers. So it makes sense that it would be a great ingredient to use for a natural-looking cheek or lip stain.