When it comes to beauty, we are all for it. But beauty has become more expensive and more artificial over the years. For a change, try bringing out your natural beauty at home instead.

Even companies that say their beauty products are organic or all natural are not always being totally honest with you. A product that contains natural oils may only contain a small percentage of the actual oil and a large percentage of fillers that can irritate skin.

One way to avoid the truth or near-truth of the beauty industry is to create your own natural beauty products. You’d be surprised to know that many modern cosmetics are a matter of chemical formulas in the lab. Just like with modern medicine and other chemical compounds, makeup began with the use of natural substances and scientists tried to go one better by using artificial formulations. Unfortunately, the result can often irritate your skin.

If you’d rather get back to basics, here are a few natural beauty ingredients you may have lying around your kitchen right now. When picking out fruits, vegetables, herbs, or plants for creating your own beauty products look for those that were grown without pesticides or other harmful chemicals.

1. Lemons – Lemons have been a well kept beauty secret. Lemon juice is a natural astringent. Cut a lemon in half and rub on your face to remove excess oil and to help lighten dark spots. Reduce lemons and water to create a lemon hair spray.

2. Roses – they smell great and add softness to the skin. Use natural rose petals that are free of insects and chemicals and add them to a hot tub of bath water for a naturally fragrant bath. Make your own rose water (steep roses in water) and combine with coconut milk for a bath skin treatment.

3. Strawberries – We all hate how strawberry seeds get in our teeth and bridgework. But, those seeds are good for more than being a nuisance. Use those small seeds as an exfoliant for your body and face. Combine strawberries with coarse salt crystals and some olive oil to create an exfoliating scrub.

4. Bananas – Bananas contain potassium which is naturally found in the body as an electrolyte and maintains the water balance in the body. Crush a few ripe bananas and mix with yogurt and egg white for a facial beauty mask.

5. Honey – It comes from our friends, the bees. Using honey on your face creates a nourishing facial mask. Honey also moisturizes your skin and contains antibacterial properties. Mix with vinegar for oily skin or some cooked oatmeal if your skin is dry. Open pores with warm water to clean them and close them with cold water when rinsing off the mask.

Get back to nature by putting together your own beauty treatments from plants and other ingredients that are not harmful to the body and contain no fillers or preservatives. You might have to mix up your favorite moisturizer or beauty mask once every two weeks or so but that’s a small price to pay for natural beauty.