Saving Money with Grapefruits: A Frugal Skin Care Recipe

During my spendthrift days, I used to bathe my skin in an expensive fruit-based anti-oxidant serum that cost about $40 for a small bottle. But older and wiser, I've found a frugal (and natural) recipe using a grapefruit.




Here's the recipe:

• Step One: Take one large grapefruit. Cut it into quarters.


• Step Two: Squeeze one of the quarters into your palm and spread the juice over your face. Cover completely and repeat until the fruit slice is depleted. Don't neglect the neck.


• Step Three: Let the juice dry on your skin.


• Step Four: Wash it off in 10 minutes


• Step Five: Eat the other three slices.

I've been doing this for less than a month and my skin looks radiant, brighter and tighter. Tomato slices also work. Why? The citrus acid in the fruit helps your face to shed dead skin. In fact, many of the state-of-the art skin care products use citrus acids to tone and brighten the skin. So why not go straight to the source, without the additional chemicals, irritants and preservatives?

Meanwhile, eating grapefruits (or any fruit) is great for your health and grapefruits offer a cocktail of Vitamin C and anti-oxidants that are good for your skin (both inside and out).

I'm not crazy or weird. I've seen grapefruit-based skin treatments in different magazines and in books on natural beauty products. For example, the January 14 issue of First magazine has some helpful info about grapefruits:

"Red grapefruit holds the key to a radiant complexion," says Omeed Memar, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Academic Dermatology & Skin Cancer Institute in Chicago.

The article goes on to state that the citrus acid in grapefruit: "is an exfoliant that removes dead skin cells to reveal a healthy glow. And grapefruit's lycopene is a potent antioxidant that helps prevent...UV rays from causing wrinkles."

First magazine recommends this grapefruit facial:

• one egg white (whipped till fluffy)


• one tsp. of juice from a red grapefruit


• one tsp. of sour cream

Whip together until the mixture is creamy. Slather on face and neck. Wait 10 minutes. Rinse off with warm water.

I've also had great results by using a facial of grapefruit juice and honey together. This brightens the skin, tightens the skin and the honey also moisturizes. A mixture of grapefruit juice and olive oil also works well. I've tried it.

The book Ageless Natural Beauty by Sally Freeman has great frugal, safe and natural recipes using ingredients from your kitchen. One caution: Always test skin treatments on a wrist or arm. I experiment with ingredients one at a time and with that process, if there is a reaction, I know exactly which item to avoid. Bottom line: We don't have to be slaves to expensive grooming products.

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Sharon Harvey Rosenberg is the author of The Frugal Duchess of South Beach: How to Live Well and Save Money... Anywhere!, which will be published in the Spring of 2008 by DPL Press.