Homemade Facial Masks

 

Homemade Facial Masks

Best homemade facial masks using herbs, kitchen ingredients or other natural ingredients.

Facial masks or masques are preparations that are easy to do at home. They use various dried, mashed or powdered ingredients that are mixed with a liquid to create a paste. This paste is applied to the face and left on for a good 20 minutes or so.

What are the benefits of homemade facials?
Homemade facials cleanse the skin, going deeply into the pores. It's really recommended to use these facials after a facial steam or a warm shower. This then opens the pores allowing the mask to penetrate into the pores.

The ingredients of these masks all offer nourishing qualities to the skin. It's like feeding your skin nourishing whole foods! For this reason it's really important to use organic ingredients to avoid toxins going into your skin.
What kinds of homemade facial masks are there?
There are different types of masks. Some use clay, some use herbs, honey, fruit, grains, dairy or vegetables. These ingredients make for some of the best facials.

Clay masks are absorbent, drawing impurities from the skin, cleansing and tightening. This type is better for oily, large pored skin.

Honey masks are easy to use. It adds moisture to the skin and is good for dry and damaged skin.
Fruit masks help exfoliate the skin naturally. The fruit acids are called alpha hydroxy acids and are quite popular in the cosmetic industry.

How do you use homemade facial masks?

1. Tie hair back.
2. Moisten the formula.
3. Gently spread over face.
4. Lie in a reclined position for 20 minutes.
5. Rinse off with warm water and a soft cloth.
6. Let air dry rather than towel dry.

On to the facial recipes!

Liquids to use in these recipes:

For oily skin use vinegar, witch hazel or citrus juices.
For dry skin use cream, yogurt, honey, milk, or rich carrier oils.
Optional: add 2 drops grapefruit and 1 drop lavender essential oils to each application for a lovely aroma!

Basic Clay Masque

2 Tablespoons clay
2 Tablespoons liquid to moisten.

Herbal Masque

1/2 cup oatmeal
1 Tablespoon flax seeds
1 Tablespoon dried lavender buds
1 Tablespoon dried rose petals
Place in a coffee grinder and blend until finely ground.
Add 1/3 cup cosmetic clay
Use 1 teaspoon mixture per application. Moisten with 1-2 teaspoons of your choice of wet ingredients.

Herbal Garden Masque

Place a large a handful herbs in a food processor.
Add 2 Tablespoons clay or cornstarch.
Add enough liquid while processing to create a thick paste.
Good herbs for this are: plantain, calendula, comfrey, lavender, sage, fenugreek seeds, citrus peel, or rosepetals.

Honey Masque

1/4 cup honey
12 drops essential oil(optional) For oily skin use orange essential oil.
For dry skin use sandalwood essential oil.
For irritated skin use lavender or chamomile essential oil.
For acned skin use tea tree or thuja essential oil.
For tired skin use peppermint essential oil.

Avocado Masque

1 Tablespoon mashed avocado
1 Tablespoon whole wheat flour
1 Tablespoon water
few drops carrier oil such as jojoba, avocado, almond, olive
Mix together adding only enough water to create a paste.

Fruity Masque

Instead of using the avocado in the above recipe use other fruits such as:

• strawberries
• peaches
• papaya

You can get your herbs, clay, essential and carrier oils at Mountain Rose Herbs

Homemade Facial Masks