Natural Beauty Hacks From Around the World

Remember when everyone was going crazy for sriracha mayo? No, it's not a great idea to slather that particular concoction on your face...but as with the culinary world, the area of natural skin care products is constantly getting a boost from exotic ingredients sourced around the globe. Everyone from bath and body care product developers to scientists, celebrity makeup artists and wise grandmas are eager to share their skin care hacks from different cultures, all in the elusive pursuit of youth and beauty.

O Magazine reports that Japanese women put green tea powder mixed with egg and coconut oil on their scalp for thicker, more lustrous hair growth and added shine. We love this ingredient as an antioxidant in our matcha green tea soap, but it makes you think...

Agave is only found in our home in the form of syrup for pancakes :) But reportedly, it has wound healing and anti-aging properties.

Most of us know about aloe for sunburn. Our after-sun gel is cooling and moisturizing and made with pure aloe, and contains zero artificial ingredients.

Kelp is the star in our Somewhere Beyond the Sea soap, which uses seaweed granules for scrubbiness and sea clay as a toning and matifying agent. It's my favourite soap. Really we are in love with clay around here - kaolin, rose clay, sea clay - but I haven't yet tried working with Moroccan rhassoul clay, another purifying and detoxifying agent on the bucket list. Seaweed makes for good eating, but I'm a little embarrassed to learn that the vitamins and minerals that make it so nutritious also make it a great moisturizing and detoxifying bath additive.

Speaking of detox, we love turmeric, and our Waking Up Dreaming soap is full of this gorgeous golden paste, but in India it's used for purifying face masks that pull toxins out of the skin.

Everyone knows about argan oil thanks to its ubiquity in hair care products these days, but how about castor seed oil? We already use it in our ultra-moisturizing lip balms, but this rich emollient could be the next big thing for hair, courtesy of Haiti.

My Italian grandmother used to be all about putting slices of raw potato on bruises to reduce the swelling, but the Spanish have taken it a step further and use these humble tubers in lieu of cucumber slices to calm puffy eyes. I'm sure in Spain they do it elegantly enough to give you the full spa sensation!

In a list like this, you know there has to be something hella-weird, and here it is: Snail slime. Apparently causing no harm to the actual snails, this pricey ingredient is formulated into facial serums that are supposed to provide nothing less than a natural facelift! The snail secretions can be combined with bee venom to enhance the effect, proving that humans really are creative enough to find beauty uses for everything that grows, walks, crawls, flies and swims on this earth.

What's your favourite natural ingredient that you swear by for skin care, baths, or hair care? Let us know so we can raid our pantries...or our gardens, eeek!