As soon as I get back from vacation, since I just used the last of my cooking oil on brownies this morning.

Despite its folksy appearance, Babushka (or at least her granddaughter) is Raisa Ruder, brow tamer and esthetician to the stars. You honestly do not need to spend money on cleansers, serums, toners, wrinkle creams and moisturizers.The 'recipes' in this book will help women say good-bye to crow's feet, dark circles and acne and say hello to plumper lips, glowing wrinkle-free skin and thick beautiful hair. Like you're sitting right there at the kitchen table having a conversation with a couple of your girlfriends. There are recipes for diminishing crow's feet, hair treatments, lip treatments, spa treatments for your whole body. So far I've done a honey face mask, washed my face in milk, used a recipe to combat my flakey lips, and did one of the bath recipes. If, as usually is the case, they are retired - in other words people free of daily responsibilities - why would they be rushing off somewhere at this ungodly hour?

I also love that these ingredients are natural and that I won’t be coating my skin with a lot of strange chemicals. I liked the idea of her apple and butter solution for lips until I realized I was supposed to massage my pout with a slice of apple for five minutes before bed. I would love what to do with these beauty marks (wrinkles) of age would do at this point in life with a new trick or technique. Even better, a lot of the treatments only involve the use of two or three ingredients – this is the kind of simplicity that I am enthusiastic about.

A Russian babushka is even capable of briefly turning a 40-year-old man with a beard into an apologizing and mortally-ashamed five-year-old again. I would love to hear from anyone that tries this or any of the other recipes in the book to see what they think. All the failings of the Soviet period fade away and what remains in her memory is an ideal world where everyone cared for each other and had a job and an apartment, and children could play outside unsupervised. this has unfortunately disappeared without trace, according to the babushka, but she continues to cherish the memory of better days within the confines of her apartment that she now owns: She refuses to remove the decorative rug from its place on the wall and carefully wipes the dust off her special tableware service with its hammer and sickle motif.

Must-have mustard wrap - an invigorating treatment that smoothes the thighs and reduces the appearance of cellulite. I bought this actually as a gag gift, but it turns out to be a pretty good reference for some great old remedy's.Ruder reveals her sought-after beauty recipes that can fight wrinkles, plump lips, and eliminate crow's feet and acne, using inexpensive, everyday grocery items like eggs, honey, vegetable oil and strawberries (and a splash of vodka for freshness). Raisa Ruder, a Ukrainian esthetician, has taken her grandmother’s natural beauty recipes out of the cupboard to make women such as Madonna, Tyra Banks and Molly Simms red-carpet ready. I love all genres of books and have refused to pick just specific categories as I have found that I would have missed out on some great products by doing that. Babushka’s Beauty Secrets contains many simple and natural treatments to help with the beauty problems that can plague our skin (wrinkles, acne, discoloration, etc.

I tried several of the simple one ingredient ideas such as an using the juice from an orange to get that all important Vitamin C as a rub. I didn't like her stories about the grandmother whom I think was made up or enhanced for the book but other than that this is a book I use very often although I have had it for a couple of years already. This may be why all relatives usually send their grandmothers whenever there is a need to battle against various authorities or to redress injustices. With Ruder’s guide readers will learn simple ways to plump, tighten and smooth the skin for just a few pounds. In fact I believe these types of purchases are not only a waste of money but as a result of the chemicals are overall damaging.In BABUSHKA'S BEAUTY SECRETS, Raisa shares her Babushka's (Russian for Grandmother) time-tested, old world secrets of using simple, ingredients - like eggs, strawberries, honey, milk, avocado - for proven, amazing results.