As beauty and skincare are not my area of expertise, I asked my friend and beauty aficionado Liz to share her favourite tips on the blog, starting from facial masks. Liz’s passion from skincare started in her teens, when she dealt with acne – as many adolescents do. She did a stint at leading organic skincare store Content Beauty & Wellbeing and now continues writing about beauty products on her blog.
As I am a firm believer in natural products - from food, to clothing – I am sure that when it comes to skincare, keeping things as natural as possible and avoiding harmful chemicals is also for the best. Here are her all-natural recipes for great skin.
Skin is the biggest organ in our bodies, so it’s only fair that we treat it with the love and respect it deserves. Especially when it comes to our faces.
In fact, we women LOVE skincare so much that we have a tendency on experimenting with many different products, in order to find “the one”: in total, we spent almost a whopping 1billion in skincare in the UK, last year alone. Not only is this habit bad for our wallet, but switching between products can also induce more damage to our skin than we realise: firstly, our skin is delicate and the constant change can disrupt its natural balance and strip it of oils, resulting in what is known as “beauty editor’s skin” with redness and spots. Slathering ourselves in many products is also harmful, as we don’t actually know what they contain half of the time. Unfortunately, the cosmetics industry is still largely unregulated (look out for the word “fragrance” on labels: it can be just about anything) and it is estimated that the average skincare products can contain a myriad of harmful ingredients: from parabens to petrochemicals. Moreover, many of the ingredients found in skincare can be harmful for the environment, such as palm oil, which is the cause of deforestation in many and orangutan’s decimation. Recent findings also show that there are alarming levels of ‘exfoliating’ plastic micro-beads contained in facial scrubs and toothpaste, ending up in lakes and sea. Fish or small animals can mistake these microbeads for food and as a result, the chemicals they carry can get passed up the food chain until they get to humans. So when it comes to skincare, there is definitely more than meets the eye when it comes to choosing your cosmetics wisely.
There are a few ways to get around this: firstly, learn how to read the labels on your beauty products, so you can choose products that are EcoCert and not tested on animals. While it is a romantic idea to switch to homemade, all-natural skincare products, or only-organic products, I understand that in most cases this is not an option due to time and financial constraints. So where you can, why not opt for an all-natural beauty treatment at home? Face masks are a great way to do so and very fun to put together. You can utilize ingredients found around your house to feel the same benefits as an expensive facial mask. It’s quick and easy!
Here are my favourite facial masks according to skincare, try these for instantly glowing and soft skin. Ensure you have a clean skin before applying and avoid the eye area. It’s better to use these fresh, but if sealed properly in a plastic containers and kept in the fridge, you can use again for up to 1 week.
Dry Skin:
Banana & Honey Mask:
- 1 banana
- 1 tablespoon honey
Banana is rich in vitamin A, so it restores moisture to dry skin, while honey softens the skin. Mix the two in a processor or in a bowl, ensuring it doesn’t go too liquid. Apply to face for 15 minutes and rinse well with warm mater.
Avocado & Honey Mask
- Half ripe avocado
- 2 tablespoon honey
Avoicado is rich in omega oils and highly moisturizing. Honey is softening and soothing, so combined they are great for chapped, dry skin.
Mash in a bowl, then stir in honey until smooth. Apply for 15 minutes and rinse with warm water.
Oily Skin: Tomato Mask
- 1 tomato
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
Tomato is highly acid, so it’s great for clearing oily skin, while egg yolks soften the skin. Use cornstarch to bind these.
Mix tomato and white egg yolk in a blender. Pour in a bowl and add cornstarch slowly to thicken. Apply for 20 minutes, then use warm water or muslin cloth to remove.
Clay & strawberries
- 1 tbsp Clay
- Few drops of lemon juice
- 8 strawberries
Clay is fantastic for oily skin as it is drying and absorbs impurities. You can purchase pure clay and add the natural ingredients for a fantastic mask. Mix all of them together, apply for 20 minutes to face and neck and rinse with cool water.
Sensitive skin:
Oatmeal mask
- 1/3 cup of oatmeal
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 2 teaspoons full fat, organic milk
Oats are ideal to soothe skin conditions. Mash up the oatmeal by hand or using a food processor until powdery, then add the honey and milk and stir to thicken. If it is too thick, soften with more milk. Apply for twenty minutes to face and remove with warm water.
Papaya & Pieneapple
- 1/2 fresh papaya, peeled and seeded
- 1 cup fresh pineapple
- 1 tablespoon honey (optional)
Pineapple is rich in antioxidants, so great for anti-ageing, while papaya exfoliates the skin. Honey is soothing. Mash the fruit by hand or put it in a blender, then strain the pulp. If you have a juicer, use that instead. Then, add the honey. Apply with a cotton ball to chest, neck and face. Let it rest for 15 minutes, then rinse with cool water.
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