Thursday, March 10, 2011

Face Masks: Foods for a Healthy Skin

Apart from the regular routine of cleansing and moisturizing, the skin of your face skin needs additional nourishment to recuperate from the everyday exposure to heat, dust, UV rays, and allergens. Regular skin treatment in the form of facial masks becomes more important as the skin matures with age. You will be surprised to know that the use of face masks is an ancient practice that has been prevalent in almost every civilization around the world. It all started with herbal preparations that utilized natural plant and animal products, mostly edibles.

Various fruits, flowers, dry fruits, dried herbs, and food grains have different types of effects on human skin. Some of them can be used as therapeutic solutions, while the others for beautification. Usually, face masks are prepared as the blends of complementary extracts. Curd and egg white make up for a cooling and moisturizing mask. The regular use of paste made from gram flour, turmeric, and milk or curd helps lighten the skin. Honey, clay, and curd combine into a skin softening and lightening mask. Honey and lemon form an excellent bleaching agent. Another bleaching face mask can be made from carrots, coriander, tomato, and lemon juice. Orange rind and milk together form a very effective moisturizing and skin lightening aid. Ripe bananas and papaya alone perform dual functions of exfoliating and supplying antioxidants to the skin. You can try from hundreds of other options that suit your skin the best.

It is true that to adopt such healthy measures the first thing you need is the luxury of time, which is often quite difficult to find. Readymade face masks have answered this need. A wide range of herbal and chemical formulations is available on the shelves and online. Whether you want the naturally acting fruit based products or instant-effect peel offs, you are spoilt for choice. However, always keep in mind that you are choosing something for your facial skin, which is highly sensitive. Adopt known brands from reputed vendors and perform a patch test before applying the masks on face. And, there lies your way to a glowing you!

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