Nourishing and hydrating the skin, protecting and healing it with only natural ingredients, powerful sources of beauty, antioxidants and anti-aging substances that make the skin luminous and toned, this is what we hope to help you do with these posts dedicated to natural cosmetics. The articles about INCI of cosmetics allow us to understand that often the so called beauty products in fact may cause irritations, rashes, acne or wrinkles, and this effect isn’t related to the price of the cosmetic. For this reason, we’d like to propose simple and effective recipes for cosmetics, in this case face masks to regenerate and protect the skin from the cold, prepared just with seasonal ingredients and all easy to find.
Date fruits
Dates contain antioxidants, especially carotenoids and phenols, and vitamins of group B including pantothenic acid (Al-Farsi et al, Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr, Nov 2008 - Chandrasekaran et al, Saudi J Biol Sci, Apr 2013). These characteristics make the dates interesting ingredients for face masks able to counteract skin aging, to guarantee a healthy and luminous skin appearance and, thanks to the pantothenic acid, to act with elasticizing, moisturizing, healing and anti-inflammatory properties (Ebner et al, Am J Clin Dermatol, 2002). The mask that we will prepare will result highly nourishing and hydrating, perfect for this period of the year where cold and temperature changes may put a strain on skin. Rinse 5 dates and remove the kernel. In a pot heat half a cup of water, once it reaches the boiling remove the pot from the heat. Add the dates and let them rest for half an hour. Drain the dates and blend them in a blender until smooth together with a tablespoon of yogurt, source of lactic acid able to counteract wrinkles and to tone the skin (Smith, J Am Acad Dermatol, 1996), and a drop of honey, antiseptic. Apply the mask on the clean face and leave it for 15 minutes, then rinse and go on with the usual treatment.
Pomegranate
Pomegranate is an extraordinary fruit and also useful for the beauty of the face, the oil contained in its seeds indeed results able to promote the epidermis regeneration and the vitamin C in the fruit counteracts skin aging (Aslam et al, J Ethnopharmacol, Feb 2006 - USDA Database - Telang, Indian Dermatol Online J, 2013). Blend in a blender 1 tablespoon of pomegranate seeds together with a tablespoon of Greek yogurt and, if you have an acne prone skin, enlarged pores and oily skin, a teaspoon of green tea leaves, antioxidant, anti inflammatory and astringent, used previously in a brew to prepare the drink and taken apart. In alternative, for dry skin or mature skin, you can add instead a teaspoon of grapeseed oil or apricot kernel oil. Massage the mask on the face and leave it for 15 minutes, then rinse and apply your cream.
