Help From Hollywood: Staffer reviews the hottest celebrity beauty hacks

Lyda Cosgrove | The Harbinger Online Photo by Emma Kate Squires

I’m constantly on the lookout for cheap and natural ways to keep my skincare and beauty regime fresh, and celebrities always seem to have some new skincare formula they “just can’t live without.” And maybe they’re right to be so obsessed — who wouldn’t want Hailey Bieber’s stunning skin or Kourtney Kardashian’s shiny locks? Picking out a few ingredients from my pantry, I decided to treat myself to a DIY spa day — celebrity style.

Kourtney Kardashian: Avocado Hair Mask

Inspired by her famous avocado smoothies and pudding, Kourtney Kardashian’s hairstylist, Andrew Fitzsimmons, created a nourishing hair mask out of avocados, olive oil, manuka honey and lemon juice.

According to Fitzsimmons, avocado is a natural detangler along with lemon, which is an antibacterial ingredient and a soothing remedy for dandruff or other scalp issues. Olive oil makes for a perfect natural conditioner, as well as a protective layer from heat damage when straightening or curling hair.

The process of creating the hair mask was pretty similar to whipping up a quick smoothie. I blended one and a half avocados and two tablespoons of olive oil and honey. Then I added the juice from half a lemon to finish it off, and my hair mask was complete.

I slathered the chunky, baby food-looking mixture onto my dry hair and combed it through, then put it up in a shower cap to let it sit for 45 minutes. It’s not exactly ideal to work on a Precalculus review with the strong aromas of avocado and honey soaking into your scalp, but I powered through and was left with much softer hair than before.

Did it work? Technically. Would I do it again? Probably not. It was nice having shinier hair for the next few days, but this wasn’t worth the odor and texture — not to mention my avocado chunk-clogged bathtub drain. Sorry Kourtney, but I think I’ll stick to eating my avocados — not mixing them into my hair routine.

Hailey Bieber: Egg and Honey Face Mask

Model Hailey Bieber is all about the glow of her skin, according to her Instagram story in March. Bieber swears by a simple concoction of eggs and honey for a “dewy glow,” and finishing with a Vitamin C serum, minimally-fragranced moisturizer and diaper rash cream for acne-prone skin. I wasn’t quite brave enough to test out her diaper rash cream claims, but if it means I can achieve the same radiating skin as Hailey Bieber, I’ll brave up to withstand the sickening smell of raw egg.

According to Bieber’s Instagram story, all I had to do was “take an egg, crack it into a bowl, add a little bit of honey, mix it together and put it on your face till it’s dry and wash off.”

Getting this slimy solution on my face was harder than Bieber made it sound. I first tried scooping up the liquid, but it quickly slipped through my fingers before I had the chance to put it on my face. After that failure, I tried using a spoon and while I was able to pick up a little more of the mask, it dripped right off my face onto the floor, leaving even more of a mess. As a third attempt, I used an old makeup brush and sort of painted on the goop, which worked much better.

With my hair under a shower cap from Kourtney’s avocado hair mask and slimy egg and honey on my face, I soaked up my somewhat relaxing but smelly spa day. Once the mask dried, I rinsed it off, leaving my face feeling sticky and a little tight. I wouldn’t exactly describe my skin as having a “dewy glow,” but maybe a little shinier than before.

While it’s certainly important to keep it simple and avoid overloading your skin with extra ingredients and chemicals, I don’t think this mask did much other than leave me smelling like breakfast for the rest of the day.

Priyanka Chopra: Turmeric Face Mask

Since I’m now wearing a mask for seven hours a day at school and any other time I leave the house, “mascne” — mask acne — breakouts have become a daily nuisance, so a revitalizing skin cleanse sounded exactly like what I needed.

Actress and pageant winner Priyanka Chopra swears by an Ubtan face mask recipe passed down by her mother. Ubtan is a traditional Indian and Pakistani skincare mixture made of turmeric and other common pantry items, perfect for exfoliating dry skin and removing fine hairs.

I whipped up the recipe’s combination of whole wheat flour, a few drops of lime juice, a pinch of turmeric and about a spoonful of plain yogurt to form a paste. Of all the products, this one was the least pungent. The doughy texture and cozy, homemade bread smell were pretty comforting.

Once my 15-minute timer went off, I gently rubbed and rinsed off the now dry, crumbly mask, revealing big red blotches all over my face, along with a stinging, itchy sensation. Although I’m not sure if this was in reaction to the strong spice of turmeric or a mix of everything together, I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone with sensitive skin.

Shailene Woodley Clay Toothpaste:

When it comes to health and skincare, actress Shailene Woodley is known for keeping it as natural as possible. From collecting fresh spring water from nearby mountains every month, to supplying her groceries from a farm, as well as making her own body lotions, face oils and toothpaste — this girl really does it all.

Ditching my usual Colgate for the day, I tried out Woodley’s unique clay-based toothpaste by using mineral-filled bentonite clay from Amazon, along with coconut water, baking soda for extra whitening and a few drops of peppermint essential oil, which Woodley recommends adding for flavor.

I was a little apprehensive about how the dry clay would feel grinding in my mouth, and it certainly wasn’t the best feeling, along with the salty, yet somehow also sour, flavor. As for the results, I was not left feeling as clean or minty fresh as I do with my normal tube of Colgate. I had to rinse my mouth a total of four times to get out the fine grains of clay, and even after that, I could still feel chunks grinding in my molars.

If I’m going to have the lasting feeling of clay in my teeth for the rest of the day, it better make my teeth sparkle — and this toothpaste most certainly did not.

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Author Spotlight

Lyda Cosgrove

Lyda Cosgrove
As Co-Online Editor-in-Chief, Lyda’s spending her senior year surrounded by some of the most creative and motivated students at East. Though she’s never far from her phone or MacBook getting up her latest story, Lyda finds time for hot yoga classes, serving as Senior Class Secretary at StuCo meetings and sampling lattes at coffee shops around KC. Lyda’s prepared as can be for the 2 a.m. nights of InDesign and last-minute read throughs, mystery deadline dinners and growing as a journalist this school year. »

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