Homemade face masks have been used for hundreds of years to moisturize skin. Most of the top skincare ranges in our modern times contain active ingredients that are much the same or derived from the same ingredients – whether chemically derived or natural – as what the likes of Cleopatra or other famous beauties enjoyed.
When you hear the names DMAE, Papain, Coq10, Liposomes, Peptides, AHA’s, EFA’s, Copper, Alphalipoic Acids etc. you probably think of someone in a laboratory concocting a face cream with a special scientific mix of one or more of these ingredients.
This is the case for many commercially made products, but most of us – the average consumer – don’t realize that we are surrounded every day with plants, seeds, herbs, fruits and oils that are also rich in these nutrients. They may have different names or go unnoticed because when you go shopping at your supermarket you won’t see a melon labelled with a sticker that says “contains high concentrations of papain, AHA’s and Alphalipoic acid”.
They also won’t tell you that these melons have amazing exfoliating and cell stimulating properties for skin that can be readily utilized in homemade face masks and that when used with other ingredients like virgin coconut oil, can provide a powerful moisturizing and rejuvenating skin treatment that is far more potent than store bought products!
Nutritionists will tell you that eating a fresh orange is far better for you than drinking processed juice… why? Because fresh ingredients contain all the vitamins and enzymes that are damaged or destroyed under heat and processing. The same applies to using homemade face masks, treatments and lotions you make at home using fresh ingredients, you are taking the best of all of the nutrients including vitamins, enzymes, liposomes and more – and delivering them directly into your skin.
Ingredients like the ones below have many benefits for your skin:
Avocado is high in fatty acids and oils. Very moisturizing for skin especially avocado oil
Almond is also high in fatty acids and great for moisturizing for skin
Cucumber is healing, refreshing and lightening for skin
Tropical fruits like pineapple, pawpaw and papaya contain papain and other enzymes and fruit acids to gently remove skin cells and stimulate new cell growth
All fruits are rich in vitamins like vitamin C and A which are great for skin both repairing, brightening and healing
Wheatgerm, Apricot, Macadamia or Hazelnut oils are very high in essential fatty acids helping moisture travel deeper into the skin.
Banana is rich in B vitamin and C vitamin making it an an excellent base for home made masks
Eggs are high in sulphur as are dried then soaked and rehydrated apricots (good for acne) and make a good base
Citrus fruit: rich in vitamin C and fruit acids making it great for lightening skin and for acne
Honey and Aloe Vera: are natural humectants meaning they attract water. Also good for acne and honey is antmicrobial, antibacterial and antioxidant
Essential oils: oils like melaleuca (tea tree) and lavender are antibacterial, antimicrobial so are great for acneic skin and for oily skin and blackheads. You only needs a few drops of these in masks and there are whole range of essential oils that contain powerful antiaging properties and can be used in bases for natural skin masks and oil serum blends
Parsley, neroli and geranium are great for red veins and rosacea
Yoghurt or whipped cream are very moisturizing and contain lactic or malic acid so slough off dead skin cells
Argan, Olive, Grape Seed, Flax Seed. Jojoba or Coconut Oil are super moisturizing, rich in vitamins and protect your skin as well (coconut and sesame oils have a low SPF protection)
Evening primrose and carrot seed oils are rich in EFA’s, liposomes vitamins and more. Using carrot in homemade face masks or carrot seed contain vitamin A and C and are very moisturizing especially when combined with EFA rich ingredients in homemade face masks because EFA’s help your skin absorb all of these elements deep into your skin.
Seeds and nut meal (ground nuts and seeds) and oatmeal are excellent for homemade exfoliating face masks and also contain beneficial EFA’s. Oatmeal is excellent for itchy skin when mixed with cool chamomile tea.
You can make a whole range of homemade face masks from these ingredients – you can add exfoliating ingredients to a base of banana, avocado, honey, yoghurt or cream. You can add mashed or pureed carrot with papaya and honey for a rich vitamin boost.
Don’t leave tropical fruit masks on your skin for any longer than ten minutes because the enzymes act very quickly and are very powerful.
From these ingredients you can experiment and have fun making your own unique blends.
You can follow these up with a serum made from the oils above which you can make by using the serum wizard here: http://www.naturalskincarerecipes.com/wiz2 which will allow you to select your skin type and condition and suggest a formula for you. You can make and apply this after your natural face mask under moisturizer to nourish and treat any skin condition or type. Your skin will feel soft young and amazing!
