Homemade Mask Recipes

[Diane]

Homemade Mask Recipes from: ivillage.com

Strawberry-and-Buttermilk Facial

• 4 to 6 mashed strawberries
• 1 tablespoon buttermilk
• 2 teaspoons rose water
• 1 tablespoon powdered rose hips

Mix ingredients together. Apply to face, neck and hands, gently massaging, then resting for 15 to 20 minutes. As the mixture dries, skin will feel slightly taut. Rinse and pat dry. Pureed fresh strawberries soften the skin and cool inflammation; rose hips are rich in vitamin C; buttermilk contains proteins and vitamins.


Skin-Firming Flower Mask with Orange Flowers

• 1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped orange flowers or scented geranium leaves
• 2 teaspoons orange juice
• 1/2 teaspoons honey
• 1 teaspoon grated orange rind
• 1 teaspoon clay (green, white or bentonite)

Mix ingredients together. Apply to clean face and neck. Leave on for several minutes while breathing deeply. Rinse with tepid water and pat skin dry. Clay draws out impurities in the skin; the orange ingredients cleanse; and honey moisturizes.


Mineral Mud Treatment

• 3/4 cup powdered mud or clay (bentonite or green, available at health food stores)
• 3/4 cup noncarbonated mineral water
• 2 tablespoons powdered seaweed (Irish moss)

Mix ingredients together to form a paste. Apply this natural clay/mud pack to your face and body and let dry for 10 to 20 minutes. Rinse with warm water.
Mineral-rich muds, collected from therapeutic thermal waters, are infused with nourishing vitamins and minerals. Massaged onto the face and body, these muds exfoliate, cleanse impurities and rehydrate, leaving skin satiny smooth.

Grapefruit-and-Fennel Facial Steam

• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
• 1/2 teaspoon grated grapefruit rind
• 1 cup coarsely chopped, fresh fennel stalks and leaves

Mix ingredients together in a large bowl and add 4 cups boiling water. Drape a towel over your head and inhale deeply for 10 minutes. Feathery fennel fronds make this botanical brew beautiful as well as healing. Grapefruit gives the steam an antiseptic and astringent quality; fennel deeply cleanses, removes skin impurities and reduces inflammation when applied as a compress.
<!-- End: byline -->Ginger Face Mask for Oily Skin

Mix thoroughly 1 1/2 tablespoons buckwheat (soba) flour, 1 1/2 tablespoons spring water, 1 drop essential oil of ginger and 3 drops essential oil of sandalwood. Massage gently onto the face. After a few minutes, rinse and pat dry. Apply a light moisturizer. (Do not apply a facial mask immediately after a waxing or plucking since those areas will be extra sensitive.) Buckwheat is an astringent cleanser and purifier. Ginger warms the skin, leaving it feeling tingly and stimulated (try this formula without ginger if skin is extra sensitive).

Flower Petal Facial

• 2 tablespoons yogurt
• 2 teaspoons rose water
• 1 tablespoon lavender honey
• 2 tablespoons dried, lightly shredded rose petals and lavender flowers

Mix ingredients together. Lightly pat mixture onto face and rinse after 20 minutes. Rose water revives fatigued skin and eyes, lavender helps speed cell renewal and yogurt is a gentle cleanser high in calcium and proteins.

Banana-and-Honey Mask

• 1/2 mashed banana
• 1/4 cup oatmeal, cooked with milk
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tablespoon honey

Mix ingredients together. Massage onto face in a slow, circular motion and leave for 15 minutes. Rinse with tepid water. This mask is good for both sensitive and dry complexions: oatmeal is high in nourishing vitamins and minerals, and gently cleanses and heals skin; bananas contain vitamin A; eggs contain lecithin, a natural skin emollient; honey helps to maintain the skin's natural acid mantle.

 

[glamslam]

Oh, these sound so wonderful! I am totally doing the grapefruit/fennel facial steam. Thanks for posting these--especially the bits about what the ingredients actually do. Very helpful!