Edible Skincare - As Good As They Taste! • Knowingfood.com

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Edible Skincare - As Good As They Taste!

There are more and more beauty products and skincare flooding the market, and they are becoming more and more expensive too. With the discovery of one after another, harmful chemical ingredients in some of these products, we do start to wonder if we should really slap these things on to our skin.

But before there were industrialisation and capitalism, what did our ancestors do to take care of their skin? Cleopatra was known to bathe in milk to keep her skin supple, some ancient Chinese were known to use natural extracts from certain flowers to give that red tint to their lips and cheeks.

So why shouldn't we go back to nature, and get help from the most basic nutrient provider - food? Here are some tips and tricks some of us and our users have tried and love them.

Potato Eye Mask
Lemon Skin and Hair Softener in Hard Water Area
Brown Rice Flour And Lemon Juice Mask
Lemon and Honey Yoghurt Mask
Honey Avocado and Oatmeal Nourishing Exfoliating Mask
Coarse Sea Salt And Honey Scrub Mask
Adzuki Bean And Rice Flour Paste Scrub
Yoghurt Bath And Soak Spa

Potato Eye Mask

Every time you cook potatoes, save a few thin slices aside to use as eye mask. Lightly wet your eye area and lie back. Place the slices on your lower eyelids or just cover your eyes with them, and relax for 10-15 minutes. Just rinse your eyes after that and throw the potato slices into your compost bin. It helps reduce puffiness and dark circles. Cheap and safe!

Fen

Lemon Skin and Hair Softener in Hard Water Area

If you live in a hard water area, you will find your skin and hair really coarse, and powdery. Imagine the residue from the high calcium water sits on your skin and hair like those horrible limescale. A girl who worked in a healthfood shop (she has long, black hair that isn't coarse at all) told me to use lemon in my shower and hair wash.

Just mix neat juice from half a lemon (sieved away pulps) into a pail of warm water, and use it as the final rinse. You can also do the same for rinsing your hair, but instead of half a lemon, use 1 lemon.

This will neutralise the alkalinity in hard water, and leave your hair and skin soft.

Belle

Brown Rice Flour And Lemon Juice Mask

When I was little I used to help my grandmother rinse the rice, and often found my hands feeling really smooth and soft after that. I have also heard that some face powders use rice as an ingredient. So I have tried this and find it really works.

Mix 1-2 tablespoons brown rice flour with neat juice from 1 lemon into a paste. Do not filter out any pulp. Apply on to face like you would any other counter bought mask, and leave it on for about 10 to 15 minutes.

The beauty about it is, it does not give your face a tightly pulled feeling when it's on, and I sometimes leave it on while doing other domestic chores. Feel soft and supple afterwards.

Full of vitamin C, it is great for oily skin - both revitalising and deep cleansing, and is a natural whitening mask. Doesn't cost a bomb either!

Lemon and Honey Yoghurt Mask

1 tablespoon set plain yoghurt (even expired yoghurt is good, as long as it does not smell)
1 tablespoon set honey
Neat juice from half a lemon

Dilute the set honey with the lemon juice, then add in the yoghurt and mix it into a smooth paste.

Apply generously on to face and leave it for as long as you desire (it does not dry up), then rinse.

Lemon helps to even up skin tone, but if you do not like fair skin then you should leave it out. Both yoghurt and honey are really moisturising so the mask leaves your face feeling really comfortable after use. But if you have oily or greasy skin then this will not be the mask for you.

Honey Avocado and Oatmeal Nourishing Exfoliating Mask

Blend half an avocado (just the flesh, obviously) into paste. Add in 3 tablespoons full of raw, coarse oatmeal and 2 tablespoons clear honey. Mix it into a thick paste so that it does not drip. If it is too thin and runny, add in a little more oatmeal.

Take about 1-2 tablespoons to apply onto slightly damp face. Massage in a gentle, circular motion, especially on the T-zone. Once your face is warmed up, stop and leave it on for about 10 minutes. You can carry on with other things or just lie down and relax. When mask is cool, rinse it with warm water, again with a gentle massage.

This mask is very rich and nourishing, and is really great on dry winter skin. If you wish to use it more frequently, you can massage it only once. It is however, not suitable for oily skin or acne-prone skin.

The amount here should be enough for 3 uses, so keep the remaining mask in an airtight container and store in the fridge, for up to about 10 days.

Jenny

Coarse Sea Salt And Honey Scrub Mask

This is a non-drying scrub that can be doubled up as a mask too.

Just mix 4 tablespoons coarse sea salt with 4 tablespoons clear honey into a paste. Scoop about 1 tablespoon out to scrub face gently in a circular motion, leave it on for about 20 minutes or even longer.

You can keep the rest in the fridge and save it for future use, especially when you have only little time to spare.

Liyun

Adzuki Bean And Rice Flour Paste Scrub

This is a tip given by a nice lady who came to shop in the health food store I used to work in. She bought adzuki bean not for cooking, but to grind it fine and use it to exfoliate her skin. Because she finds ground walnut shells a little too harsh on her skin, and adzuki bean's softer nature does the job just nice.

We like to mix the ground adzuki bean (soak them before you do so) with some rice flour and a little water into a pasty scrub. You can also just lather it up with some of your favourite cleanser.

Anonymous

Yoghurt Bath And Soak Spa

Once a friend brought over numerous tubs of expired plain yoghurt from her shop and wonder what we could do with them. We took turns to spread ourselves with the yoghurt, from head to toe; and lie in the bathtub for 20 minutes with a scented candle lit up and hot cocoa on one side. Then rinsed thoroughly with lukewarm water.

Ultimate indulgence for the body, and our skin felt really soft after that. So don't just bin your expired yoghurt. As long as it is not moldy, it can be used.

MichelleO

Have you any natural food based beauty tips? Please do share it with us!

Try our favourite beauty food links:

Pumpkin Face Mask - Rich In Vitamins A, C, and Zinc
Simple, Safe Skin Cleansers - Formulas

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