Keep your skin hydrated and beautiful with these lovely homey face masks, each one suitable for a different type of skin.
One of the essential ways to keep beautiful skin healthy and glowing is to hydrate it, along with adding bursts of various minerals and vitamins that are specifically suited to the skin type. However, what makes these facial recipes extra special and ethical, is that they are all home-made, from natural ingredients. These five natural face masks are easy to make for anyone to experiment with and try out at home.
Hydration Mask
For those with dry skin, good hydration is key. Some key ingredients that help with keeping skin moist and dewy are shea butter and added coconut oil, which promotes not only hydration but also softening of the skin and the evening out of the skin tone. This easy mask only requires two ingredients stated above, each one tablespoon only. The making of the mask is easy-peasy also since all you need to do is mix the two in a small bowl until they are both completely mixed together. In case shea butter is difficult to find for some, a more accessible option might be cucumber and aloe vera gel – with these ingredients, all you need to do is blend the amount of cucumber you want (this article recommends half a cucumber) and add one to two tablespoons of aloe vera gel until the mixture is smooth. Considering the consistency of the mixture, it might be easier to spread evenly with a flat face brush, one suitable for applying home-made masks. After leaving on the face for around 15 minutes (basically until the mask is quite dry), you can rinse it off with lukewarm water and pat the excess with your hands into your skin, so you retain that extra moisture.
Oily skin-treating Mask
For those with the opposite skin type to the one addressed above – oily skin – a few natural ingredients will help remove the shine from the surface. With the right combination of hydrating ingredients and exfoliation, oily skin is easily treatable; the ingredients are banana, turmeric, and lemon juice. Bananas are full of vitamins and other minerals, such as zinc, which are acne-fighting ingredients, and pimples are created by dirty pores in oily skin. Since bananas are also helpful for moisturising, this in combination with the turmeric will keep skin clear and healthy, as turmeric is renowned for being an antioxidant and is good for anti-inflammation, not to mention that it brightens your complexion. Further, turmeric might be a more accessible ingredient than clay or charcoal, which are also other alternatives for removing toxins and dirt from pores. Lemon juice contains citric acid, which shrinks pores. Adding green tea, which is literally good for everything in skincare, will also help with deflating puffy eyes, reduce sun damage and combat acne, to name a few. Add half of a mashed banana to one teaspoon of turmeric powder and then add one teaspoon of lemon juice (and green tea), gently stirring the mixture into a paste. Spread the mixture onto the face until even and rinse with warm water after 15 minutes – make sure that you exfoliate your pores, just as much as you treat yourself with this refreshing mask.
Elasticity Mask
For dull and saggy skin, what you need is an ingredient that will lift up the skin – collagen. Many natural ingredients include collagen, quite notably egg whites and, with this mixture, the extra ingredient needed is lemon juice. The lemon juice not only adds a pleasant scent to the face pack, but it also contains vitamin C, which is needed for your body to make collagen. With one egg white and one tablespoon of lemon juice (add more to your taste) mixed together, the mask if virtually complete. Similarly to the hydration mask above, since it will have a viscous texture, it might be easier to spread the mixture with a flat face brush. Leave it on for 10~15 minutes (again, basically, until the mask is quite dry), then rinse with lukewarm water to feel refreshed with brighter, tighter and younger-looking skin.
Acne-treating Mask
Some skin types are in such a way that acne not only comes and goes but also leaves unpleasant scars. One of the best home-made remedies that are easy and quick to concoct is a honey, oatmeal and milk mask, which you can apply regularly without fear of your skin taking in the chemicals found in other store-bought acne treatments. The oatmeal is the key ingredient, as it contains anti-acne properties and prevents acne, helping to keep skin clear. The honey is a natural nourishing agent and includes natural minerals that keep the skin healthy and glowing, allowing it to keep the moisture, and the softness of the skin is retained by the milk. What is needed is a blender with three tablespoons of dried oats and one tablespoon of milk; blend until a paste, at which stage you should then add one tablespoon of honey (organic if possible). When all of the natural ingredients have been blended to make a smooth paste, you can apply evenly to the face on which you should leave for around 15~20 minutes to dry, then rinse with lukewarm water, as usual. To complete the whole skin-care process, it might be a good idea to tone your face with a natural toner and then keep the skin fully hydrated with a moisturiser or cream.
Anti-Aging Mask
For anti-aging, the natural ingredients should help combat wrinkles and dull skin – such ingredients are yoghurt (which reduces the wrinkles and takes away dead skin cells due to the lactic acid, which is an exfoliant) and honey and papaya (which is full of various vitamins, such as vitamin C, and antioxidants, such as papain – an ingredient that is only contained in papaya – which helps to unclog pores and thus removes impurities). If papaya is too difficult of an ingredient to access, just honey and yogurt will do the trick just as well. Now for the directions, add half of a papaya into a blender and blend until a puree texture. To this, add one tablespoon of honey and one tablespoon of yoghurt, preferably plain Greek yoghurt, and then mix completely until the consistency is smooth. Finally, leave the mask on for around 10~15 minutes and then rinse with warm water. Pat the excess water into the skin to retain moisture and make sure to use other anti-aging substances regularly to fight those wrinkles and keep a bright, clear complexion.
