To celebrate this momentous occasion, I am happy to introduce a new series of blog posts: Edible Beauty. I tried to think of a more creative title but alas I was unsuccessful. We all know eating healthy foods can help improve our bodies from the inside; but some of these same foods can also help improve our bodies from the outside...sometimes even better than the über expensive products. So why not give them a try?
To start off the series, I want to share the recipe for a facial scrub that can either be used daily or once in a while & it promises to leave the skin feeling great for hours to come.
About a week ago, my face broke out with a ton of tiny bumps. After browsing the web, I was pretty sure I had contact dermatitis (allergic reaction to something my face touched). I don't know for sure how I got it but I suspect it happened when I was trying on clothes a couple of days before. These bumps itched like crazy & the ones on my cheek even burned a bit. I didn't want to go to the doctor because I was already doing what she would tell me to do: take antihistamine & rub hydrocortisone cream on my face. What's worse, if I were to tell her that's what I was already doing, she might give me steroids. No, thank you!
I needed something that would relieve the itch/pain & I wanted it to be natural. So I went browsing through the web once more & many say a facial scrub can help unclog pores & relieve my symptoms. There are a ton of recipes for natural facial scrubs out there but settled on the one that had the properties that I was looking for & had all the ingredients in the house already!
What you will need to make this scrub...
2 tablespoons oat meal, crust into smaller pieces
1.5 teaspoons natural honey
0.25 teaspoon natural, unpasteurized apple cider vinegar
In a small bowl...
Mix everything together using your fingers until well incorporated
Add a water if the paste is too thick, it should be thick but not paste like
Spread the scrub all over the face using circular motion
Leave the scrub on for a couple of minutes & then rinse with plenty of tepid water
Pat the face dry & moisturize
For a daily scrub, ground up the oatmeal until it looks almost like a powder. I ground up a whole bunch & keeps it in a tupperware container & just take out the amount I need. For an occasional scrub, crush up the oatmeal a little bit with fingers or with a spoon. The bigger pieces are going to be rougher on the skin, giving it a more thorough scrub down.
So oatmeal, honey, & apple cider vinegar; what exactly do they do & how do they benefit the skin?
As foods...
Oatmeal is great for lowering high cholesterol & high blood pressure to improve cardiovascular health. The high amount of fiber is also good for regulating the digestive system. Honey is a great natural sweetener that can be used to substitute sugar & it has been shown to be able to lower cholesterol. Apple cider vinegar recently rose to superstardom for its multitude of benefits as a health food. When consumed with water, it can aid weight loss & help detoxify the body. When consumed by itself, it is a really good digestive aide. Long term consumption of apple cider vinegar can lower high cholesterol, lower high blood pressure, & some even say it can relieve seasonal allergy symptoms.
As skin care ingredients...
The texture of oatmeal makes it a great exfoliant. The saponin in oatmeal naturally cleanses pore while the protein & polysaccharides moisturize the skin. Additionally, the Avenanthramide in oatmeal helps reduce skin inflammation. Honey has natural antimicrobial properties which makes it great for fighting acne. There are plenty of antioxidants in honey (especially darker ones) which makes it great for anti-aging. Finally, the thick, sticky consistency of honey helps draw in and holds moisture in the skin. Apple cider vinegar, being an acid, is a natural astringent that can help reduce acne & skin redness. Also because it is an acid, apple cider vinegar can regulate the skin's pH (which is normally slightly acidic) to make it feel supple & look radiant.
I have been using the more gentle version of the scrub everyday for the last 5 days and my bumps are almost all gone. I don't think it is all because of the scrub but it did help with the itchiness & the burning sensation. Also, it didn't leave my skin feeling super dry & tight like it had felt when the bumps first appeared. I don't know if the scrub has done a good job in terms of exfoliating my skin - it feels soft but not like "baby's bottom" soft - but I will probably have an answer when I go see my esthetician next week.
For $8, I can buy all 3 of these ingredients enough to make this natural facial scrub for @ least a year. For the same amount of money, I can buy half a tube of the Body Shop facial scrub that I have been using & that would last about 4 months. You do the math.
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