Non-beauty products as beauty products?

About 7 years ago, on a beauty messageboard, I read about a fantastic facial treatment. It was cheap and easy to find in any grocery store, many already had some in their own fridge. Supposedly it made your skin baby-soft and glowy, cleaned out and shrunk pores, and was the best exfoliant ever. The miracle product was Miracle Whip Salad Dressing. So of course I ran out and bought myself a jar of the stuff, and as per directions (not on the jar, of course) slathered it all over my face, and allowed it to sit for 10 minutes. It started to burn pretty quickly, but I stuck it out until the kitchen timer went off, the smell stinging my eyes. Then, following the directions, I massaged my face until the 'miracle mask' began to roll off in little balls, taking dead skin with it. My face was smooth alright, on fire, but smooth until later on that evening when it grew a little crust to protect itself. The next morning I woke up to a tight, scaly, irritated face. Must have been that high vinegar content, I'm guessing. To make a long story short, my skin was really screwed up for weeks afterward, and others had very similar results. I even think it may have been a hoax. My husband still teases me about it. PLEASE don't try it at home, unless you are making a salad...

I am constantly reading about non-beauty products being used as beauty products. Why have we always been so fascinated by this? I am definitely interested in saving a few bucks, we all are these days. In these tough financial times, maybe we all have a little 'hope in a jar' of something inexpensive and readily available in our own households being an alternative to those expensive products we love so much. So here are three I will be testing out and reviewing just for you:

Crisco Vegetable Shortening (as a moisturizer)

Monistat (as a makeup primer)

Preparation H (since we've all been hearing about it for years as an eye treatment)

Wish me luck! More to come.