You all know that I thrive on keeping things simple.  I make most of my beauty products myself, and have shared tons of other easy DIY beauty recipes here on Minimalist Beauty.  What I love even more is finding one simple ingredient that can serve more than one beauty need.  Today’s ingredient is colloidal oatmeal!

1. For Makeup

I’ve realized over time that wearing foundations, concealers, and traditional face powders don’t allow my skin to really breath.  This has been the case with even the organic formulations.  They also create this odd dependency of me not feeling good about my skin unless it is covered up.

As I’ve been focusing on detoxes, eating whole organic foods, drinking lots of pure water, balancing my hormones, and maintaining a simple skin care regimen, I’ve been feeling much more comfortable in my skin because it has been benefiting from my whole body healing efforts.

Although I really haven’t been wearing much makeup, I still like to look polished.  I don’t like when my skin gets shiny, so wearing a simple DIY face powder does the trick for shine.  I used to create a mix with arrowroot and cacao powder, but now using colloidal oatmeal just by itself is PERFECT!  Unlike arrowroot powder it does not have a whitish tint on my skin if used alone, plus it has a silky texture that makes it look pretty much seamless.

2. Gentle Facial Cleanser/Exfoliator

The other benefits of using colloidal oatmeal is that it is effective healing and soothing eczema, psoriasis, sunburn, rosacea, and acne.  It naturally contains the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory vitamin E which moisturizes the skin as well.  This is one reason I have raved about using colloidal oatmeal as a simple facial wash and for gentle exfoliation.

Colloidal oatmeal contains saponins which is just another name for nature’s soap.  Saponins are a gentle cleansing agent which lightly suds up.  You can read more about using colloidal oatmeal as a face wash here.

3. Conditioning Hair Rinse

Yes colloidal oatmeal makes an incredible hair rinse which aids in detangling the hair.  Oatmeal contains a high concentration of starch and beta-gluten which holds water easily and creates a milky substance when mixed with water.  This same starch/beta-gluten is what helps to condition and detangle hair.  Simply mix colloidal oatmeal with water until it forms a thick milk, use as you would a traditional conditioner, rinse, and enjoy the benefits!

4. A Soothing Bath/Gentle Body Wash

Using colloidal oatmeal in the bath for soothing irritated skin is pretty well known.  Because colloidal oatmeal contains saponins, (remember nature’s soap) it can be used as a gentle cleansing body wash for extremely sensitive skin too.  To use colloidal oatmeal as a body wash just mix with water or aloe vera juice to make a thick paste for easy use.

A simple body wash like this doesn’t affect the pH balance of skin like traditional soaps, and is a great alternate cleansing method to give the skin a break if you actually have a favorite oatmeal soap to begin with like I do.  Read more on pH balance and beauty products here.  More gentle body wash ideas here.

So there you have it, four amazing beauty uses for colloidal oatmeal!  It always makes me wonder why I’ve bought so many different products in the past when one ingredient can do so many things!

(Image by Dawn Michelle)

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