Prudent and Practical

It’s important to take good care of your skin because the skin helps your body keep infectious viruses and bacteria from entering your body.  For centuries, people have used natural methods to clean their faces. Yes, cleaning your face can be done without a trip to the synthetic chemical-ridden beauty department.

Facial masks are an excellent way to clean your pores.  When you slather on the mask (clay, gel, fruit), the material gets smooshed into your crevices and pores, attaching to the dirt particles.  As the mask dries, it pulls away from the skin and pulls all of the bad particles (dirt and dead skin cells) with it.  When you wash the mask off, you also wash away all those bad particles, leaving you with fresh and clean skin.

Masks usually have a high water content in them, so as they dry, your skin is hydrated.  Now that your pores are clean and hydrated, they can close up, giving your skin a smoother appearance.  With a warm mask, your blood vessels open up, allowing for better absorption of nutrients into your skin.

1 – Before masking your face, wash it and pat it dry.

2 – Put some of the mask into your hand.  Apply it with soft circular motions to help it get smooshed into all crevices of the face.  You want it to be thick enough that it gets into all the crevices and pores, but thin enough that it will dry and lift away the grime in your pores and on your skin.  A good rule of thumb is that you want to put on just enough so that you can’t see the skin.

3 – Let the mask dry. Each mask is different and will take from 10 to 30 minutes to dry.  When the mask is dry, use warm water and a washcloth to wash away the mask.  This keeps the pores open so that any remaining mask material is cleaned out of them, and the washcloth helps to get the mask off your face.

4 – When you’re done, you can follow up with a rinse of cold water (or an ice cube). The cold water will close the pores back up again, helping them keep future grime from entering!

So what materials are good as masks?

Apples – For acne prone skin.  Mix 1 grated apple with 5 tbsp warm honey.

Aspirin and Honey – Aspirin has astringent properties and is good for oily skin.  It can do bad things if you use it too frequently, so please use it no more than 2 times per week.  Mix a little water with aspirin tablets (not gel caps) until the tablets dissolve, then add in a little honey.  Use like any other mask.  This is a very cost effective mask – a bottle of 100 aspirin tabs at my local grocer is only 99 cents!

Avocado – For softer skin.  It is very nourishing and works great on mature, wrinkled, and dry skin.

Bananas – Help slough off dead skin, energize the face, and is a good anti-wrinkle treatment.  Can also be mixed with avocado, oatmeal, yogurt, honey, and/or vitamin E.

Clay with aloe – Clay is rich in minerals, deep cleans, and tightens pores.  Aloe soothes your skin. A cheap and readily available way to get clay is by the chunky clay kitty litter. Don’t get the powdery stuff, the stuff with blue crystals, or scented.  And please don’t put used kitty litter on your face!  As always, Michelle does an excellent job of explaining this!

Cucumber – Revives skin.  Can be mixed with yogurt.  Also great sliced over the eyes – helps reduce bagginess and dark circles.

Eggs – Egg whites leave normal to oily skin feeling tight and refined.  Mix egg whites with lemon juice to help get rid of blackheads.  Egg yolks contain vitamin A and are great for dry skin.  Egg yolks also help heal blemishes.

Honey and Almond – Moisturizes.  Best for mature, sensitive, or dry skin.  Honey has antibacterial properties.  Mix 1tsp warm honey, 1tbsp ground almonds, and enough water to make a nice paste.  Apply to face; in 10-15 minutes rinse off.

Milk – Moisturizes.  Mix with other ingredients before using.

Papaya – Contains an enzyme, papain, which dissolves oil and dead skin cells.

Strawberries – The seeds exfoliate the skin and the fruit is an astringent.  Mix with a little yogurt to sooth.

Tomato – For oily skin.  Scoop/compost seeds,  puree tomato meat with 1 tsp each lemon juice and oatmeal.

Yogurt – Cleanses and nourishes, has been used for centuries due to its healthy properties. Mix 1 tsp with juice from 1/4 orange for a refreshing mask.  For a great all-purpose deep cleaning mask for all skin types, mix 1tbsp finely ground oatmeal, 1tsp warm honey, and 1tbsp yogurt together.  Apply to face; in 10-15 minutes rinse off.

A couple notes:

• Many fruits and vegetables can also be used effectively. Anything acidic (lemon, strawberries, grapefruit, etc.) will tend to whiten and refresh your skin, but you need to be careful if your skin is dry.
• For OILY skin – bananas, strawberries, lemon, clay
• For DRY skin – avocados, honey, olive oil
• In general, don’t apply masks more often than about twice a week, and try to vary the ingredients.

For More Information:

• Witty Living’s Facial Mask Recipes
• The Dollar Stretcher’s Facial Mask Recipes
• About.com Facial Mask Recipes
• Fat Free Kitchen’s Facial Mask Recipes
• Health Recipes Homemade Facial Recipes