Taking care of your beauty is relaxing and rewarding. It is a gesture of love for yourself. But it is not necessary to use only very expensive lotions, creams or serums full of ingredients, whose name is sometimes so long and complex that you do not know what you are dealing with. In addition to this, there is no guarantee that cosmetics like these are also really beneficial for the skin, containing substances that can be aggressive or irritating. Very often, in fact, the ingredients that can be useful to us are found… in the garden and in the kitchen! For example, did you eat a grapefruit or drink its juice? Don't throw the peel away, it can really be a wonderful cosmetic. Grapefruit peel, indeed, is antioxidant, therefore it is able to counteract the aging processes (Kroyer et al, Z Ernahrungswiss, 1986). But the most interesting feature is that the grapefruit peel contains a flavonoid, naringin, a substance with antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties, therefore useful to treat various skin conditions, acne but also irritations caused by sunlight (Deenonpoe et al, BMC Complement Altern Med, 2019). Here, therefore, the grapefruit peel can be useful for skin of all ages, from young and acne-prone skin to the more mature one with wrinkles. Let's see some ideas to prepare at home and with a few ingredients precious cosmetics.
Tonic for impure skin
In addition to the antiseptic properties of grapefruit peel, in this cosmetic recipe we will also exploit the anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial action of rosemary and sage as well as the astringent effect of tea (de Oliveira et al, J Biomed Sci, 2019 - Hamidpour et al, J Tradit Complement Med, 2014). Bring two cups of water to a boil. Remove from the heat and add 1 tablespoon of rosemary needles and the grapefruit peel, after having washed it well. Complete with a couple of sage leaves. After 5 minutes add 2 tablespoons of green tea and leave to brew for 20 minutes. Filter into a bottle that can be kept in the fridge for no more than a week. In the evening, soak a cotton pad and pass the tonic over your face. Do not use during the day because grapefruit could cause photosensitization.
Mask against wrinkles
Blend the grapefruit peel, add 2 tablespoons of a creamy yogurt, a powerful source of lactic acid that increases the tone and elasticity of the skin, and 1 teaspoon of argan oil, moisturizing and regenerating. Mix and apply on clean face for ten minutes, then rinse and proceed with your normal treatment. An extra note? Blend together with the grapefruit peel also two apple slices with the peel, organic and well washed. The apple, in fact, is a powerful anti-aging thanks to the high content of polyphenols, which are antioxidant substances (Palermo et al, Oxid Med Cell Longev, 2012).
