My husband and I moved back to my hometown about 10 years ago. Moving back to a very dry climate for the first time in almost 10 years caused me to have one of the worst eczema flare-ups I had ever had. Small towns come with good old-fashioned small town doctors and I returned to my parent’s family doctor. I have struggled with eczema for years, at my family doctor, he came into the exam room and he was chuckling as he told me that he looked at my history and the first time I had come to see him about my eczema I was 3 months old. My neck chest, face, bends of my arms and legs were all covered in an itchy peeling bright red rash.
Read moreEasy two ingredient face mask
I have tried a lot of face masks, expensive ones and cheap ones. They never seem to deliver on what they promise. Maybe I have high expectations, but I have always thought of face masks as a reset, they get my skin perfectly hydrated and help clear pores and help heal blemishes. Otherwise, what the heck is the point, I’m a mom I don’t have time for something that isn’t gonna get me rockin’ in 15 minuets or less. I also am not a spa girl, not because I don’t want to go to a spa, but because it’s that or buying groceries for the month. I think my family would prefer to eat.
Enter the best face mask ever. This bad boy is hydrating, fights clogged pores, acne and aging and you probably have the ingredients in your pantry right now. Yep, no loading the kids in the car to search for the magical ingredients or logging into Amazon Prime to get them here tomorrow. What are these ingredients? Honey and Baking Soda, yep that’s right you don’t even have to put down your wine to go look.
Benefits of Honey
Honey is truly magical, this yummy liquid gold made by bees also has amazing benefits for your skin. Honey is an antioxidant, anti inflammatory, has antibacterial properties and according to Women’s Health is something called a natural humectant, meaning that is draws moisture out of thin air. How cool is that! What does all this mean for you? Honey will reduce the look of blemishes and scars, fight bacteria that causes acne and pull moisture out of thin air for your skin to absorb. The anti oxidants and enzymes naturally fight the appearance of aging.
What’s the catch? Ok, so there is a very small catch, it has to be raw honey. So you may have to set your wine down and double check on that. Sorry. Pasteurized honey is heated and that process will take some of those awesome things out of your honey. Look for raw honey in the grocery store. I generally stock up on local honey during the summer at my farmers market.
Benefits of Baking Soda
Baking soda is another awesome staple with so many uses. We use baking soda tooth paste for the same reason that you would want to use it on your face it has natural antibacterial properties that fight bacteria in your mouth that cause tooth decay and will fight it on your skin to prevent acne. The other benenfit of baking soda is that it is alkaline and our skin is naturally alkaline as well, so if your pH is out of wack it will get you back on track. If you are interested to know more about it you can learn about the benefits and risks of baking soda for skincare from an actual health professional on HealthLine.
Honey Face Mask Recipe
It’s easy and I generally just eyeball it so don’t worry about being super exact. I also only make this in small batches when I need it, because there is a chemical reaction and after a few days you will want to whip up a new batch. You might want to adjust to make smaller or larger batches depending on you needs.
You will need a small glass jar with a lid, baby food jars are perfect, but any small jar with a lid would work. A popsicle stick, spoon or your finger for mixing (wash your hands first you dirty girl). A tablespoon and a teaspoon for measuring.
2 tablespoons Honey
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
Add the honey and baking soda to the glass jar, mix until combined. The mixture will start to react and look light in color and create a foamy honey mixture. The longer you let it sit the more it will react and grow. I like to wait 15 to 30 minutes for the mixture to double in size before use.
To apply simply scoop some out of the jar and smooth over clean skin. Don’t rub this mixture into your skin (if you read 5 Skincare Lessons I Learned in My 30s, you know I don’t like abrasive exfoliators) baking soda is abrasive and can scratch your skin, so be gentle and smooth it on in thick strokes. Leave on for 5 to 10 minutes and rinse off with warm water and a wash cloth.
Be advised this is made out of honey that will heat on your skin and become liquid, so don’t wear your favorite shirt or the blazer you are planning on giving a presentation in at work.
Enjoy your beautiful skin!
Reference:
https://www.womenshealthmag.com/beauty/a19946109/beauty-uses-for-honey/
Why you should stop washing your face
I stopped washing my face about 6 months ago and I wondered why I didn’t do this 20 years ago? My skin is the best it has ever been at 35 years old! Why did no one tell me when I was 15 and had teenage acne to stop washing my face? So I’m telling you now!
Stop washing your face!
Ok, so I do cleanse my face once a day, I use a gentle non-foaming cleanser at night. Only at night, my face isn’t dirty in the morning, so no need to wash it.
Why did I make this switch in my skincare routine?
I have always thought that I had combination skin, really oily in my T-zone and dry everywhere else. I had frequent breakouts and even more severe hormonal breakouts. Hated my skin, I struggled with makeup it wouldn’t stay on the oily parts of my face and clung to the dry patches. I had always believed that oil was the enemy. So, as a teenager the more I broke out the more I would wash my face, the harsher the cleansers I would use. I used gritty exfoliating acne wash that I paid hundreds of dollars for and my skin only seemed to get worse.
Like most Americans I was washing my face twice a day. This over cleansing was doing more to damage then good for my skin. I was stripping the natural sebum in my skin, sebum is produced by glands under your skin and secreted through the pores. This oily, waxy sebum is what naturally hydrates and causes skin to be waterproof. Harsh cleansers strip the sebum and can cause the sebaeous glands to work overtime to produce more sebum. This over production causes clogged pores and breakouts and less hydration causes the dry flakey patches.
Tres Leches for the Win!
I was given the Tres Leches skincare system to try, non-foaming mild cleanser, toner and moisturizer. The recommend use was nightly use only. So I switched to this new routine, but clinging to what I had always know I kept cleansing two times a day. It was a difficult change for me, I was used to the tight clean feeling of a soap or harsh cleanser. My skin seemed oily and my makeup seemed to melt off during the day. I thought, I guess this just doesn’t work for my skin type. Instead of stopping and going back to my old routine, I though, I’ll give it a try as they suggested. So, I gave up cleanser, tonner and moisturizer in the morning. I just quickly rinse or wipe my face with a damp cloth and put on my makeup. The difference was amazing! No more dry patches, no more oily, oily T-zone and my breakouts are primarily hormonal with the rare lone zit. The breakouts I do have seem to clear up quicker than they did before. My makeup goes on smooth and stays on throughout the day. For the first time in my adult life feel like I can leave the house without makeup (ok, ok I still can’t leave without mascara).
The textured skin that was always on my forehead and my chin from blackheads or whiteheads forming is all gone. My skin is smooth!! I am getting complements on how great my skin looks! So, even if you are 35 with kiddos, it’s not too late to have great skin. Plus when you have kids, do you really get time to wash your face in the morning anyway?
