Food for the face

Whatever I eat that day, I feed some to my skin too

I've mentioned in my previous post about the four main ingredients that I use in my face masks: dry, liquid, fresh and essential oil. I don't always use four, sometimes just one or two but I try to use all four when I can or if it suits my skin that day. It is all about the condition of my skin that day and what's available to me that day (in that order).

Here I'm going to talk about the first three ingredients: dry, liquid and fresh. I usually consider the fresh ingredient as the star of the face mask. I'm a great fan of essential oils too and they open up a whole new section.

For the dry ingredients, if they don't already come in a powder form (for example, matcha), I make them into powder form in my thermomix (or blender is the same) and store them in a glass jar in my pantry. Once they're in powder form, I just scoop some out each time I make my face mask, easy!

The fresh ingredients are basically fruits and vegetables that are in season, what I get from the farmer's market or green grocer.

Here are some examples of my ingredients and some of their benefits on the skin:

Please note that some of the dry ingredients can also exfoliate the skin so I'm careful not to use it too often as I don't want to over exfoliate. Also, here are just some of their benefits, each ingredient also contains different vitamins and minerals that's good for the skin but not mentioned here.

Dry ingredients

oatmeal (calms, moisturises, helps treat acne)

brown rice flour (exfoliates, reduces excess oil, helps treat acne and brightens skin)

matcha powder (evens skin tone, helps treat acne, rejuvenates and removes toxins)

chia seeds (hydrates, anti-aging, calms)

cacao powder (reduce redness and helps treat acne, repairs skin)

flaxseed powder (firms the skin, reduce appearance of fine lines, rejuvenating)

coffee powder (exfoliates, brightens, tightens)

baking soda (exfoliates, lightens and cleanses)

Liquid ingredients

yoghurt (moisturises, reduce appearance of fine lines, helps treat acne, creates glow)

honey (anti-bacterial, reduce appearance of fine lines, helps dry skin, treats acne scars, whitens and brightens skin)

milk (hydrates, lightens, soothes, reduce appearance of fine lines)

soymilk (anti-aging, hydrates, soften, reduce appearance of fine lines)

whipped cream (moisturises, nourishes dry skin, lightens)

whole egg (moisturises, softens)

egg white (firms, tightens pores)

egg yolk (hydrates, nourishes dry skin)

olive oil (moisturise, hydrates, cleanse, good to treat blackheads and whiteheads)

rose water (hydrating, tones, soothes, reduce appearance of fine lines)

Fresh ingredients

lemon juice (lightens, anti-bacterial, brightens)

watermelon (freshens, brightens, cleanses, anti-aging)

banana (moisturise, helps treat acne, brightens)

avocado (moisturise, nourishes, reduce appearance of fine lines)

potato (cleanses, brightens, reduce appearance of fine lines)

papaya (anti-bacterial, softens, good for dry skin, unclog pores)

When I first started out making my own face masks in the kitchen, I started with oatmeals, brown rice flour, yoghurt and honey. Then the list actually started growing. I had chia seeds in my pantry so I decided to grind some and add to my face masks. Then I realised I have some matcha powder, so I added that to my masks. On the days if I want to keep my mask basic (in terms of preparation), I just make a yoghurt honey mask. So in general I can mix and match the ingredients as long as I feel those ingredients suit my skin that day.

#diyfacemasks #naturalfaceasks