DIY Recipe for Disaster

I love Pinterest. It's a great place to find all kinds of inspirational tips and how to's from cooking and gardening to DIY beauty. 

But sometimes I hate Pinterest, because it also seems to be the go-to spot for misinformation and how-to's that are downright health-hazardous.

Take this recipe for homemade make-up wipes - brought to my attention by J with the (very wise) question 

"Would you have a recommendation on how to do this without having to store it in the fridge?  Could we leave the water out?"

Your hesitation at using this recipe was spot-on, J, and thank you for asking me about it.

Easy Peasy Bacteria Bomb

I'm not going to give you the recipe because it was a recipe for disaster. I cringed at the thought of the kind of irritation and damage these make-up wipes could do if someone actually made and used them.

The recipe was – in broad strokes – a little like the picture above: 

combine some watery stuff with some oily stuff, place into a jar and press a stack of cotton pads into the mixture. Shake often because the oily stuff and watery stuff don't really mix, then use to remove eye makeup for months and months on end because you've made such a huge portion that was finished in a flash and hardly cost anything.

Except.

Oops.

Somebody forgot something, didn't they?

Any time ANY water or water-based ingredient is introduced to a product that is going to be used for longer than 1 day, a preservative is absolutely mandatory.

Otherwise you are making nothing more than a bacteria bomb that can cause irritation, infection, sickness, and death.

OK I exaggerated a titch on that last bit, but that was to illustrate what a seriously bad idea it is to exclude preservatives when there is any watery stuff in the formula.

Maybe Someday...

It would be great if there were a committee of experts who could check and then place some kind of seal of approval to the DIY beauty recipes that won't risk the health of the people who choose to make them, but for now, that's going to have to be wishful thinking.

Meantime...

Disaster-Free DIY Make-Up Wipes

If you're looking for a super-simple, cost-effective, efficient, and preservative-free way of removing your eye make-up, try this: 

• moisten a cotton ball/pad
• drizzle with almond, jojoba, apricot kernel or olive oil
• Swipe eyes gently to remove make-up
• Rejoice at the fact that you have not only removed your eye-make-up (even waterproof mascara) effectively, you have also just conditioned your eyelashes

(and yes, I did give J this recipe)

Have a disaster-free day.