Vegan

Make Your Own Beauty with the Cosmetixer

https://www.chicvegan.com/make-your-own-beauty-with-the-cosmetixer/

Make your own beauty products with the Cosmetixer! The Cosmetixer is a machine designed to make beauty products in a quick & easy way.

Before going vegan, I didn’t give much thought to my skin care routine or the makeup that I purchased. I moved on from Noxzema to Neutrogena and Oil of Olay (a.k.a. Olay these days), I wore mostly Cover Girl makeup, and I thought I kept it all pretty basic. I now know that my idea of basic meant lots of chemicals, some animal testing, and general ignorance on my part. I know I’m not alone in this, I just wish I’d wised up sooner.

But I have to be honest. I’m still confused about ingredients, and once in a while I find out that I bought a natural beauty product that isn’t vegan. When I stopped eating animal products, I had to learn how to “veganize” a lot of meals that I enjoyed in my pre-vegan days. It took a bit of time, but it was worth it. And there is no reason why I can’t or shouldn’t do the same with my beauty products. Just think of the pros:

10 Reason Why You Should Make Your Own Beauty Products

You can make organic, vegan, cruelty-free, and healthy beauty products.
People who have sensitive skin or skin allergies can make their own products.
You know exactly what ingredients are in your beauty products.
You can customize the scent, color, and texture of your products.
You save money.
You can handmade gifts for family and friends.
It’s fun, especially when you are making the products with your loved ones.
You can start your own cosmetic line.
You can make even more money if you sell the products.
No experience is required.

Makes sense, right? But there’s still that jumping off point. How do I begin?

Cosmetixer

That’s where
Cosmetixer comes in.
Linh Le is the brains (and beauty) behind this fun invention that allows you to make your own beauty products quickly and easily. It looks like a little hot pot, and that’s sort of of what it is. You add in your ingredients (pre-mixed
kits are available for purchase, with all of the ingredients measured out for convenience) and – in just a few minutes – you have a nice little supply of lip balm or facial products.

I tried out the
Cosmetixer one Saturday with my 13-year-old son. We decided on the
DIY Chocolate Lip Balm. My son had no interest in the end product itself, but he’s a guy and he likes to see how things work. We quickly made our little batch of lip balm and set it in the refrigerator to harden. He waited impatiently until it was time to check out the end result. Success! He then lost interest, but I can certainly see how much fun this could be at a slumber part of girls the same age. (Side note: Parental supervision is required, as the
Cosmetixer can get hot when it’s running.)

Cleanup – by the way – is quick and easy.

If you are interested in delving more into DIY beauty products, you’ll also find a couple of
links to classes on the website.

If you are looking for a unique gift, or if one of your New Year’s Resolutions is to make more and buy less, this might be worth considering. You know what you are putting on your skin and you can take pride in the fact that you made something pretty cool.

Vegan

Mushroom Parmesan Pasta Bake (1-pan, nut-free, with soy-free and gluten-free options)

Cozy, hearty spinach cheese stuffed Mushroom Parmesan, is a one-pan dinner that your family is going to love! Even the orzo pasta bakes up in the pan with the cheesy mushrooms and marinara sauce! 1 pan, 1 baking Step!

close-up of a fork taking a bite of mushroom parmigiana

I wanted to make a simple mushroom parmesan pasta bake, because I had plenty of mushrooms on hand. And I wanted to reduce the pans and time in the kitchen. Enter this cozy 1 Pan Orzo bake!

The mushrooms are stuffed with this delicious spinach-tofu-cheese mixture that I often use to make stuffed shells, then I top it with a cruncy breadcrumb topping and pair it with a pasta, I use orzo, but other shapes will work too! The pasta and the sauce at the bottom, topped with cheesy stuffed mushrooms, and a crisp breadcrumb topping. Everything cooks in just one pan and one baking step!

close-up of mushroom parmesan in the pan after baking

The prep is very simple. Just make your spinach-tofu-cheese mixture by adding everything to a bowl and mixing it. Prep your mushrooms by removing the stems, and that’s it!

It’s an easy recipe that’s pretty flexible, too. You can add some veggie grounds or vegan ground meat substitute in with the pasta sauce to add extra protein to the meal. The recipe is already nut-free, and it’s easy to make soy-free and gluten-free, too.

You want to use about two- to three-inch mushrooms. Larger mushrooms take longer to cook, and pasta will overcook in that much time, so medium-sized works best here. I also use the mushroom stems in the recipe, so don’t discard them. Just trim away the tough end of the stem and discard that, but save the rest of the stem to chop up into the pasta sauce.

close up of mushroom parmesan on a plate

I paired this mushroom parmesan with orzo pasta, because it cooks up really easily in the baking dish and it works out just amazing. You can add a different pasta of choice, as well, just bake a few minutes longer until the pasta is cooked to preference.