One reason Aveda and Origins are both such successful companies are they try to bottle very natural organic cleansers, facials and treatments for you. Why not head to the kitchen and make some fresh facials yourself to save time and money. As I was having a professional facial one day the spa worker recommended that I get an Alba papaya-enzyme mask for my skin type. Now it was only $10, so I splurged, but you can make fresh facials, just like you do your smoothies right in the kitchen.
Dry Skin:
Oatmeal and honey- Use this mask if you have dry skin. It works to gently slough off dead skin cells with the oatmeal acting as an exfoliate and the honey as a hydrator.
Avocado-facial mask for dry skin or winter itchiness.
½ very ripe, soft avocado
¼ cup honey
Preparation:
Mash the avocado in a bowl, and then stir in honey.
Apply to skin and leave for 10 minutes.
Rinse face with a cool washcloth.
Salt and olive oil make a great mix for a quick lip scrub to remove dead skin cells and plump out your lips. If you keep new toothbrushes around from the dollar store use the new brush to gently exfoliate the dead skin with the mixture.
Mayonnaise-Use on your hair to add shine, elasticity and condition.
Oily Skin:
Egg-egg yolks tighten and moisturize dry skin while the egg white tightens oily skin and reduce the size of pores.
Milk-Lactic acid in milk makes for a great bubble bath to soften skin and does wonders as well for your face when mixed into a facial. Lactic acid nourishes the skin without stripping away essential natural oils.
Sugar Scrubs are really fun to use and to give as gifts during the holidays. Make a mint-peppermint sugar scrub for your friends.
Olive Oil-as an under eye treatment at night.
Lemons, Oranges, Pineapple and Strawberry-Reduce redness, blotchiness, and even skin discolorations with all citrus fruit and get the wonderful benefits of vitamin c. Vitamin c protects the skin from free radicals, preventing premature aging. Pineapple has alpha hydroxy acid and helps with exfoliation and improves the elasticity of the skin. The bomelain in the pineapple acts as an anti-inflammatory and may reduce puffy eyes and skin irritants. Strawberries will help to tone your skin, brighten it up and keep it smooth and supple.
Banana
Banana’s and honey or bananas and yogurt make great mixes for a face mask. Banana peels can be used to help skin problems like acne and psoriasis. You can reduce the itchiness by rubbing the inside of the banana on the affected area.
Yogurt-In addition to being a probiotic,which can help skin conditions such as acne and eczema, its antibacterial properties make it a useful, debriding agent, and its lactic-acid content soothes irritation, clarifies the pores and softens the skin.
Invite your mom, your sister or several of your closest girlfriends over to try some of these mixes with you on the weekend. Be sure to hit the dollar store for some brush sets ahead of time so that you can brush the mixtures onto your face and feel like you are at the spa. Put on some relaxing music, open a bottle of wine and you have an instant spa party in your kitchen.
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