I have been looking around for something that works in making my face take on a natural, beautiful and healthy glow and at some point I was not sure I could without spending the naira (I can be thrifty too, hey!). We all know that most D.I.Y.s go for next to nothing in cost, so I began to browse sites and boards containing D.I.Y. recommendations until I came across a particular recipe that stood out to me and that boasted of amazing results in days. Best of all is that this formulation catered to oily skin too.
Being one to be wary of instant or what is referred to as 'sharp, sharp' results, I took my time looking around for other recipes. In the process I noticed the way this particular recipe always seemed to get a mention at some point in a lot of recommendations. This got me thinking. Maybe there was really something to this after all.
So I decided to take a close close look at the individual ingredients that made up this face pack. Mind you, this recipes has its variations. This means it is very custom friendly. There are some ingredients you can choose to include or exclude from your preference of this pack mix. At close look, I became a bit more convinced that it was worth a try. Off I went to the market and purchased a little quantity of each ingredient. I decided on my first try to go as scanty as possible on the ingredients. This meant that I only used three of the ingredients. I really didn't need to bother because I had read testimonies from the use of even the barest of ingredients in this recipe, and they were good too. The base of this mix is always pure honey.
For some reason I was not satisfied with my first try and began to bad mouth the good testimonies I had seen.
A few weeks later, the rave on this recipe and its great results were still afloat online. I wondered how that so many persons loved the results they had and I was not happy about mine. Then again, I reasoned that I shouldn't have given up just after one application and so, I decided to add to the ingredients I had tried earlier, one more ingredient. I also resumed the use of my Pure Skin 2-in-1 face wash and scrub routine which is formulated for oily skin and contains tiny granules that mildly exfoliate during face washing (this is an Oriflame Cosmetics product). This turned out not to be very necessary as the homemade face pack contained particles that exfoliated the skin while being rinsed off too.
I applied the face pack once every morning before my morning shower and in less than two weeks! Less than two weeks people! I had a skin that I fell in love with all over again. I began to wonder what exactly had gone wrong with my first try. Then I remembered that during that time, I was going back to back from one D.I.Y. to the other, not giving any of the applications time to work its wonder. Now that is so not good! I also remembered that I had tried the rice water face wash. I initially thought I was seeing good results but then after a while I didn't like the look of my skin. I began to notice slight discolorations on my face. Looking back now, I think I might just have used rice water on my face that had stayed longer than seven days in the refrigerator because I noticed that the longer it had stayed in the refrigerator, it became thicker and it sort of became stronger or should I say harsher on my skin. I may need to retry the rice water face rinse and toner again without storing it for longer than maybe three days to see if there would be any difference then. I say this because I had also bad mouthed this treatment too because of my experience. Honestly I need to be a bit more restrained in doing that .... Lol. Sometimes we are the problem when we do not get desired results. Impatience, carelessness and going overboard with the products can be held culprits.
Anyway, I could tell my skin was different, and the good thing about the face pack is that while washing away from my face and neck, I extended it to my chest region (decollette), so that part of my body which usually broke out if unattended, cleared out beautifully.
Now I had assumed that the face wash was probably the reason I was seeing such result so I stopped the application of the face pack and after a while, although my skin wasn't really bad, there was still that huge difference from when I applied the face mask. This made me realize that it wasn't a bad idea to either use them together or use interchangeably as the Pure Skin 2-in-1 face wash and scrub is also organic. It seemed as if the face pack gave a big support to my face wash or vice versa. I must not leave out here that really good and reliable products show results with prolonged use and I am not that long gone in the use of the Pure Skin product line but so far so good it is a great product range to try, especially oily skinned people. I love the way my skin feels with using it. The matiffying face lotion though is a bit heavy for me because I am excessively oil skinned but that is it. I am really one person that would rather not apply anything-moisturizer because of my skin type but we all know by now that it isn't right to stay away from moisturizing. I had stopped applying moisturizer for years but recently decided to begin to again. My plan is to apply at night time and not in the day time. Hoping that helps a lot too. I still want to repeat here that it is an organic product line. Meaning it is arguably safe cosmetics.
Now the face pack requires just a few minutes of your time from mixing to application to rinse off and so it is something that even the busiest person can manage.
What is this face pack?
I believe by now you want to know about this face pack. It is quite simple and easily or readily available in your kitchen. This rejuvenating mask is the antidote for dull skin and fights acne like crazy.
Cinnamon is a natural antiseptic that does a good job in knocking out acne causing bacteria. Nutmeg is anti-inflammatory and will wake up a tired looking skin. Turmeric is besides being anti-inflammatory, a great help in reducing acne scars. Honey is more widely known as antiseptic and anti-bacterial. So you can see that the functions of these separate ingredients can actually work together to produce great results using just the right combination. The powder form of any of these ingredients with honey as the base appears to still work well as I have read. This means that even one of this ingredient mixed alone in honey and applied to the face should still give good result, but I think would be addressing just a particular need. However, I used the four ingredients mentioned above together and I am loving the result. It is a great find to me. I am yet to be this excited about any other recipe. This is particularly because of my skin type I think. It has really not addressed the oiliness effectively yet of course but the dullness associated with uncared for oily skin is clearly eliminated and so if I have a bright glow, I think it is an excellent start point. Mind you, this is still very recent discovery for me, so I just have to wait and see the outcome from prolonged use.
Now what I have done here in this recipe is to give you a quantity mixture for just one application. This is enough to give a spread up to my entire neck region. If you feel you need to slather more, then all you need do is to double the quantities. Interestingly, unlike other beauty products, I just need to spend a total of about N2, 100 (about $5) for a supply that would last for a very very long time in probably months, if you use sparingly like I do. How cheap can things get huh?
The costliest ingredients from this budget that I have given are the cinnamon which costs about N800 (about $2) because of the quantities it is packaged for and the honey which I buy for N800 (about $2, half a swan water bottle). Yes this interest led me to discover that pure organic honey is retailed in some markets here and measured out in quantities that won't cause your wallet to cry. Surprising right? At first I was not comfortable purchasing like that but then I pondered on how other products like Palm Oil and so on are sold this way and most are fine with it. It is bottled the way Palm Oil is bottled and put on display under the shade of the stalls.
It is important to note that your cinnamon and honey supply will still not run out long after other ingredients are used up. Unless of course you use them for other purpose which is expected anyway.
Others can be got in much smaller quantities and lower amounts. Even pure honey is retailed here in Nigeria in quantities that go for as low as N200 (about $0.5). Yes this research led me to discover that pure organic honey is retailed in some markets here and measured out in quantities that won't cause your wallet to cry. Surprising right? At first I was not comfortable purchasing like that but then I pondered on how other products like Palm Oil and so on are sold this way and most are fine with it. It is bottled the way Palm Oil is bottled and put on display under the shade of the stalls.
However, I am not aware if cinnamon is retailed in smaller quantities but I want to think it is. So you see, you might even be spending lower that what budget I have provided for here.
Ingredients
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon powder
1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon Turmeric
1 teaspoon honey or enough to make a paste
Note here that nutmeg is optional and can be used on its own with just the honey too. This here however is my go to recipe. With or without the nutmeg. There have been times when I have replaced the nutmeg with milk because I have oily skin. I wish yoghurt was very easy to come across in my city of residence, it would be a much better alternative over the milk.
Preparation and application
Mix all ingredients thoroughly to make a thick paste,enough so that it is not runny, then apply to a cleansed face. You can apply with your finger tips but I use a mask brush to apply because I do not care for the stains that turmeric gives. Leave on for at least 20 to 30 minutes and then you can rinse off. Warm water is a good idea. When rinsing off, rub in a circular motion very gently so that the particles can exfoliate the skin without hurting. Expect to see a slight stain of turmeric on your palms for your effort however it tends to go off by the time you complete your bath. Be careful to rinse out the area where you stay to rinse off the face mask because you will notice that there are stains from the turmeric in the mask. Since it just happened, it can be rinsed off without effort.
I did this daily for a little over a week after and then it took a while with my going without further applications yet still having the glow. This however is not a good idea. It is always helpful to develop a consistent routine with whatever beauty regimen you adopt otherwise you are sure to loose whatever results you had achieved and then have to start from square one again. So right now I have decided to maintain a routine of applying the face mask every other week. Believe me when I say that this is what I would call a lazy person's routine yet with great results.
I used this face pack every morning for a little over seven days and before that time I knew something was beautifully different about my skin both to the touch and how I looked. I had on a really nice glow. I think I have finally found something that gives me the kind of result I have always wanted. This is not a shouting fairness for a dark skin like mine. No nothing like that. It just seemed to have brought some youthfulness to the look of my skin. It looked as if my skin was well fed ....Lol!
After my bath, I followed with the Pure Skin face toner and then Pure Skin mattifying face lotion, both are formulated for oily skin.
Pure Skin is an Oriflame Cosmetics production. A well known organic line of cosmetics.
One great thing about this face pack is that it caters to all complexions. It just makes any complexion look much better.
Now I am not going to forget to point out here the importance of eating healthily and drinking enough of water daily! I am not the best person to give this kind of advice but I know this is true and the times I took time to follow a good diet and drink a lot of water, I noticed my skin still cleared out on its own.
The hard part for me is advising you to stay away from Sodas! Say WHAT!? Yeah, yeah, I know, I know! Coming from a soda addict of sorts. I wish I could prefix it with 'ex' too but I am getting there.
What do you think. You are welcome to leave your comments.
What do you think. You are welcome to leave your comments.