Kitchen Staples That Make You Prettier and Healthier

Barbara Hannah Grufferman says kitchen staples that you already have can serve as health and beauty substitutes for expensive, manufactured products.

Your kitchen is a veritable treasure trove of health and beauty staples. Have some plain yogurt with a "sell date" that was two weeks ago? Don't throw it out! It's the perfect treatment for a common skin condition. Is there an extra sprig or two of parsley leftover from your stew recipe? Chew on a few leaves to handle a social faux pas. These items are probably in your home already ... so why not use them for better health and beauty without spending any extra money?

For years, my mother-in-law has used Crisco -- a lard-like vegetable shortening that my German grandmother used for the perfect pie crust and lovingly referred to as "fat in the can" -- as a makeup remover. "Why not just use Pond's Cold Cream or soap and water?" I ask her every now and then. "Because it works," she says. Even though my dermatologist gasped during a recent exam when I blurted out this bit of family lore, my mother-in-law never uses anything else. For her, it does the trick -- and for a lot less money than the "real thing." Read more