Over the past year, I've noticed a change in my face. I'm going to be thirty-two this summer, and I live in a dry climate, but I have naturally oily skin. I eat healthy; over 90% of my diet is coffee, water, fruits and vegetables that are usually bought from the farmer who grows them, most of my protein is from eggs, nuts, freshly made tofu, and chicken. I do from time to time eat mutton, beef, fish. I rarely eat from food from packages or sweets. But I have been trying to get into the habit of consuming coconut milk (organic) and more raw organic honey.
The change has been I've been getting more acne. And not the nice white heads, but the deep, painful, itchy acne and usually it is along my jaw line.
It's not pretty.
I got tired of spending money on products from the store, health food stores, bought from online.... and remember, I have to pay extra for international shipping and then usually customs. All the doctors said my diet is fine and shouldn't be causing these issues. Both traditional Chinese doctors and western doctors wanted to put me on various pills and I hate taking medicine.
So I went to search out some old fashioned recipes.
I've found a whole whack of information but never really on the same site.
So here are some skin care remedies that I've come across and have been using with a fair amount of success. Just remember, it will take up to a month for your skin to get accustomed to the new stuff. So be patient.
Favourite Spot Stuff: Cold Pressed Castor Oil spot applied to a clean moisturized face where you have scars, or minor discolouration. Massage gently in and go to bed. Use nightly.
Favourite Night Cream: Cold Pressed Olive Oil (the same stuff I use in the kitchen) there are many different ways people use olive oil as a face wash or a moisturizer this is just the way I use it; wash face with a mild soap like a Burt's product or Cetaphil, then take a little dab of olive oil and massage into face using the pads of my ring fingers, paying close attention to around my eyes, between my eye brows, laugh lines, and my T-Zone. Make sure you get your neck and upper chest as well. Then apply your castor oil for spots, then jump into bed making sure you are face up for a little while to try to let the oils soak in.
Make-Up Remover (works amazingly well on waterproof mascara): cold pressed olive oil on your finger pads and massage. Then wash with a mild soap, then apply olive oil as a night moisturizer.
Morning stuff:
If you drink coffee you are in luck. My favourite morning scrub makes my belly growl in hunger.
Face Mask/Scrub: take the grounds of your coffee, add in a few tablespoons of raw organic honey, add in a dollop of coconut milk, a few table spoons of cocoa powder and mix. Gently massage into your face and neck, applying more till your face, neck and upper chest are covered in this delicious scented mask. Sit back, continue drinking your coffee while reading the mornings newspaper or playing on EF. Leave on for about twenty-thirty minutes. Hop into the shower with the rest of the concoction and use it as a body scrub. So good-bye to soap and say good-bye to applying lotion as you'll never need it. I am not sure of how this will work in the winter though.
A few times a week: mix raw organic honey with some cinnamon till it forms a paste, apply to your face, neck and upper chest for about twenty to thirty minutes then rinse with cool to warm water.
I find with using these methods, I do not really need a day cream/lotion, I just cut a leaf off my aloe vera plant and apply the pulp to my face and off I go. Sometimes, I might drop a drop of Tea Tree Oil into the aloe leaf the week before my period as a just in case method.
Around lunch time (or approx four hours after my morning shower) I splash cool water on my face and pat my face dry with a paper towel or a tissue.
But since using these, I've noticed my face broke out pretty bad the first two weeks of using them and got wicked gross oily, then settled right down. You know that gross oil that many of us get on our faces? We should have oil, but not a gross oil. I don't know how to describe it, but now, because my skin is naturally oily, I still get some oil on my face a few hours after my morning wash, but it is not that shiny gross oil, but more of the natural matte sebum oil.
I've noticed six weeks was how long it took for my scars on my face to have almost disappeared, they are still there, but they have faded to such a point unless you stare and pull the skin in funny ways they cannot be seen. My blackheads are almost all gone around my nose, and my pores are much finer too.
My skin tone has become much more even and all those around me have noticed a difference in my skin.
For a massage, my partner has me whip up some coconut milk, honey and cocoa and he loves to paint my body with it while licking my body clean. Sure, I have to launder the sheets the next day, but we usually use this deliciousness the day before laundry day anyways and I've not noticed any staining due to the cocoa.
I suggested to my mother a more natural remedy for her as she has some wrinkles: freshly mashed strawberries (frozen don't work), some coconut milk, finely ground oatmeal, honey mixed together and worn as a mask for about thirtyish minutes. She complains that only half the mixture makes it to her face. She also adds in cocoa powder too. She is going to be sixty this summer, and she only looks about forty-fivish. She said her facial lady has noticed a tightening in her skin, and her face looks much tighter. I wonder if this would work on stretch marks?
So.
What about you? What kind of natural remedies do you use for your face and skin? Did you try any of these? What kind of luck have you had?
The change has been I've been getting more acne. And not the nice white heads, but the deep, painful, itchy acne and usually it is along my jaw line.
It's not pretty.
I got tired of spending money on products from the store, health food stores, bought from online.... and remember, I have to pay extra for international shipping and then usually customs. All the doctors said my diet is fine and shouldn't be causing these issues. Both traditional Chinese doctors and western doctors wanted to put me on various pills and I hate taking medicine.
So I went to search out some old fashioned recipes.
I've found a whole whack of information but never really on the same site.
So here are some skin care remedies that I've come across and have been using with a fair amount of success. Just remember, it will take up to a month for your skin to get accustomed to the new stuff. So be patient.
Favourite Spot Stuff: Cold Pressed Castor Oil spot applied to a clean moisturized face where you have scars, or minor discolouration. Massage gently in and go to bed. Use nightly.
Favourite Night Cream: Cold Pressed Olive Oil (the same stuff I use in the kitchen) there are many different ways people use olive oil as a face wash or a moisturizer this is just the way I use it; wash face with a mild soap like a Burt's product or Cetaphil, then take a little dab of olive oil and massage into face using the pads of my ring fingers, paying close attention to around my eyes, between my eye brows, laugh lines, and my T-Zone. Make sure you get your neck and upper chest as well. Then apply your castor oil for spots, then jump into bed making sure you are face up for a little while to try to let the oils soak in.
Make-Up Remover (works amazingly well on waterproof mascara): cold pressed olive oil on your finger pads and massage. Then wash with a mild soap, then apply olive oil as a night moisturizer.
Morning stuff:
If you drink coffee you are in luck. My favourite morning scrub makes my belly growl in hunger.
Face Mask/Scrub: take the grounds of your coffee, add in a few tablespoons of raw organic honey, add in a dollop of coconut milk, a few table spoons of cocoa powder and mix. Gently massage into your face and neck, applying more till your face, neck and upper chest are covered in this delicious scented mask. Sit back, continue drinking your coffee while reading the mornings newspaper or playing on EF. Leave on for about twenty-thirty minutes. Hop into the shower with the rest of the concoction and use it as a body scrub. So good-bye to soap and say good-bye to applying lotion as you'll never need it. I am not sure of how this will work in the winter though.
A few times a week: mix raw organic honey with some cinnamon till it forms a paste, apply to your face, neck and upper chest for about twenty to thirty minutes then rinse with cool to warm water.
I find with using these methods, I do not really need a day cream/lotion, I just cut a leaf off my aloe vera plant and apply the pulp to my face and off I go. Sometimes, I might drop a drop of Tea Tree Oil into the aloe leaf the week before my period as a just in case method.
Around lunch time (or approx four hours after my morning shower) I splash cool water on my face and pat my face dry with a paper towel or a tissue.
But since using these, I've noticed my face broke out pretty bad the first two weeks of using them and got wicked gross oily, then settled right down. You know that gross oil that many of us get on our faces? We should have oil, but not a gross oil. I don't know how to describe it, but now, because my skin is naturally oily, I still get some oil on my face a few hours after my morning wash, but it is not that shiny gross oil, but more of the natural matte sebum oil.
I've noticed six weeks was how long it took for my scars on my face to have almost disappeared, they are still there, but they have faded to such a point unless you stare and pull the skin in funny ways they cannot be seen. My blackheads are almost all gone around my nose, and my pores are much finer too.
My skin tone has become much more even and all those around me have noticed a difference in my skin.
For a massage, my partner has me whip up some coconut milk, honey and cocoa and he loves to paint my body with it while licking my body clean. Sure, I have to launder the sheets the next day, but we usually use this deliciousness the day before laundry day anyways and I've not noticed any staining due to the cocoa.
I suggested to my mother a more natural remedy for her as she has some wrinkles: freshly mashed strawberries (frozen don't work), some coconut milk, finely ground oatmeal, honey mixed together and worn as a mask for about thirtyish minutes. She complains that only half the mixture makes it to her face. She also adds in cocoa powder too. She is going to be sixty this summer, and she only looks about forty-fivish. She said her facial lady has noticed a tightening in her skin, and her face looks much tighter. I wonder if this would work on stretch marks?
So.
What about you? What kind of natural remedies do you use for your face and skin? Did you try any of these? What kind of luck have you had?
