Babushka's Beauty Secrets: Old Word Tips For a Glamorous New You by Raisa Ruder and Susan Campos
Genre: Self-help, Beauty-cookbook
ISBN: 9780446555869
Rating: 4.5
Ruder's grandmother—Babushka, in Russian—seemed to have an answer for every ailment, and it was always organic and made from things in your kitchen. After years of using her Babushka's beauty secrets on herself and her grandmother's clients, Ruder moved to America and started using the treatments on the women in her salon. Now, studies have proven that the treatments that her grandmother used for decades are just as good or better than the ones in the stores, because they're more concentrated and have less chemicals and more organic material.
The idea behind Babushka's Beauty Secrets is this: Instead of an expensive treatment that is not as concentrated or involves being eaten, getting soaked into the bloodstream, and deposited in the right place, why not just apply the vitamin or the mineral in high concentration directly to where you need it?
Babushka's Beauty Secrets has everything from foot scrubs to facial masks to hair treatments to acne treatments. There are treatments for eyes, lips, hair, hands, feet, and whole body. There are even waxing processes and shaving creams. There are recipes in here aimed for younger pre-teens all the way up.
All the ingredients in Babushka's Beauty Secrets are the ones you'll have in your refrigerator: Milk, eggs, mustard, mayonnaise, avocado, olive oil, etc. In one section of the book, Ruder compares prices of treatments and natural foods: the prices are hundreds of dollars difference, and they work better.
The only thing that bothered me slightly was the vagueness of some of the ingredients. When she says "milk," does it have to be whole milk? fat free? does it make a difference? Milk is an example, but there are other ingredients she mentions that are not specific. With so many chemicals in our food today, is there a specific brand that is best? is there a brand that we need to avoid? there is nothing in the book along these lines. In the long run, I think if it did make a big enough difference she would mention it, but it still raised questions for me.
Some of the specific things that Babushka's Beauty Secrets hits on:
Skin treatments that make your skin glow and look young
eye treatments for dark circles, crows feet, and eyelashes
lip moisturizers and colors
hair treatments for dandruff, dry hair, thin hair, oily hair, every kind of hair etc
feet treatments
treatments for cellulite and sunburns
one ingredient wonders
I was very impressed and surprised by Babushka's Beauty Secrets. Not only did I learn cool recipes, but I know now why each one works the way it does, because the reason you're using it is explained in the recipe. Basically, this book will save you a lot of money and educate you on keeping your body healthy. It's 110% worth the sixteen dollars—because you'll be set for beauty treatments for everything for the rest of your life. ( )

Love it! We're all about natural in this house. And I like the style this book is written in. The authors are speaking directly to you. Like you're sitting right there at the kitchen table having a conversation with a couple of your girlfriends. And they give you 10 goods reasons why you should stock vodka in your house! Hilarious! There's a shaving oil recipe on page 111 that I've got to try. As soon as I get back from vacation, since I just used the last of my cooking oil on brownies this morning. The 1-ingredient recipe for gorgeous eyelashes? Castor oil! I'm already doing this, but it was nice to see someone else does the same. Most of the recipes I didn't know about, though, so it's not like this is a rehash of the same ole stuff. There's also an index in the back so you can find your favorite recipes quickly.

Just as the weekly magazines show us how to get celebrity clothing for less, Babushka's Beauty Secrets creates glowing skin for under $5.

If you like using natural products, saving money, and reusing and recycling – then you'll want to get your hands on a copy of this book. ( )