Did you know that you can get a spa like facial treatment with the ingredients from your kitchen? If you have never tried it, it’s high time you consider it! It’s money saving, you will have a fun time and your skin will look and feel amazing after a DIY at home facial session.
Nowadays we have serums, primers, various high end HD products in market to turn our imperfections into perfection ; but we cannot deny the fact that beautiful blemish free skin is the perfect canvas for makeup!
For maintaining youthful and blemish free skin, facial (along with proper nutrition) is a must. You don’t have to splurge your hard earned money every now and then to a spa or salon. You can do the whole process easily at your home! So let’s get going and pamper our skin!
What are the steps of a facial?
Here are the basic 5 steps of facial:
CLEANSING
At first, remove your makeup if you have anything on. You can take off your makeup with the help of Olive oil. Just take a small cotton roll and gently wipe off the makeup. It’s cheap and convenient! Now wash your face with a mild facial cleanser. Currently I am using Clean and Clear foaming facial wash. It’s gentle for my skin and does not break me out.
You can exfoliate with a commercial facial scrub or make your own. I prefer to use homemade scrubs.
Here is how you can make your own facial scrub at home: Take 1 tablespoon (tbsp) of Oatmeal, mix it with warm water, add 3 teaspoon (tsp) of sugar, make a thick paste and use it as a scrub.
- If you have sensitive skin you can skip the sugar.
- If you have dry skin you can use 4-5 drops of olive oil into the mixture.
- If you want to get rid of blackheads, then here is my Cinnamon scrub recipe for blackheads removal.
HOW TO EXFOLIATE :
Using your fingers, gently rub the oatmeal mixture OR your preferred facial scrub onto the face focusing mainly on the forehead, nose and chin area. Avoid the eye area as this area is very sensitive and the skin is thinner around there.
STEAMING
We often neglect this part considering it as a hassle. But if you want to have a fresh and blemish free skin, steaming works like a charm!
You can use a steamer OR you can fill your sink with warm water and soak a washcloth in it. Ring out the towel and then press it to your face. Repeat this 2 to 3 times.
As for me, I generally take a bowl with hot water, lean my head towards the bowl and cover the head with a towel like the picture shown above. I also like to add a few drops of essential oil in the hot water, but it’s optional. Here is a
link of essential oils used in beauty routines.
This process opens up the pores and takes out the oil and dirt build-up on the skin.
MASK TIME!!
The food ingredients which can be used in a face mask are- banana, honey, lemon juice, olive oil, buttermilk, oatmeal, avocado, apple, sour cream, yogurt, potato, cucumber, tomato, grapes, egg, gram flour.
Mask should be chosen according to your skin type. Here are some masks for different types of skin.
OILY SKIN- BANANA MASK
1 ripe banana
2 tbsp of honey
1 lemon or Orange
Cut the orange or lemon into little pieces and blend with the banana. Then mix it with the honey.
DRY SKIN- YOGURT MASK
1 tbsp of unflavored yogurt
1 tbsp of oatmeal
Honey
Add some warm water to the oatmeal to soften it, and then add the yogurt. Finish off the mixture with few drops of honey.
SENSITIVE SKIN- CUCUMBER MASK
1 cucumber
1 tomato
and
Option A or B
Option A .(if skin is dry) –1 tbsp of Yogurt + Few drops of Honey
Option B . (if skin is oily) –1 ripe banana + Few drops of lemon juice
Blend the cucumber and tomato well. Add option A or B combination to the mixture according to your skin.
MATURE SKIN- EGG MASK
Option A–
- 1 egg yolk,
- 1 tsp honey,
- Few drops of olive oil.
Beat the egg yolk well. Add the honey and olive oil.
Option B–
- 1 egg white,
- 1 tsp honey
- 1/2 tbsp lemon juice.
Beat the egg white well and add the rest of the ingredient.
- Apply the mask of your choice on your face and neck area in thin layer.
- Chop up cucumber in thin layer for your eyes and leave the mask on for 10-15 minutes.
- Wash it out with lukewarm water and then rinse with cold water.
MOISTURIZING
Last step for our DIY at home facial is using a moisturizer. No matter your skin type or the season of the year, it’s very important.
- For oily/combination skin, I would suggest finding a lotion with little to no oil in it. An oil-free lotion will simply hydrate your skin with water-based ingredients, and help keep your natural oils at the normal level.
- For normal to dry skin, look for something that uses natural oils such as olive, almond, jojoba, or avocado oils. Currently, I am using Olay Beauty Fluid and Josie Maran Argan oil as my everyday moisturizer.
View Comments
I tried this facial and loved it! I tweaked it a little though. I used the cinnamon scrub for exfoliating and instead of wheat flour, I ised fine rice flour for a more scrubby feeling. For the moisturizing oatmeal mask, I found that if you grind the oatmeal up finely (in a food processor or coffee grinder), it spreads more evenly on your face and is way less messy. I also added a couple drops of walnut oil to it for more moisturizing power!
Wonderful idea Val! I will try to grind the oatmeal for my next facial session. Thanks! :)
I want to ask how often should we do all this procedure ?
Once every 10-20 days according to your skin sensitivity.
Hi! Great post! Quick question- If I'm using an olive oil or coconut oil mask for the mask portion of the facial, should I remove the mask with face wash before moisturizing? Thanks!
Hey Emily! the mask only needs 2-3 drops of oil, so I think the face shouldn't feel that oily. But if you still find your face too oily after using the mask, then yes you can clean it up with a face wash. :)
Amazing! Love this,thank you.
You are most welcome Lacey! I am glad that it helped.
Good post. I have a question. Is it okay to steam my face when I have oily skin? I'm afraid it will enlarge my pores and make it prone to acne.
Hello! If the skin is very oily then take 2-3 minutes of steam. It will loosen up the dead skins and dirts. If your skin is very much acne prone or there's active breakouts, then skip the steam part.
If the acne condition is severe, then you should skip the exfoliating until it gets better. If there are some minor break-outs, then just avoid the specific area and exfoliate the rest :)
So if your having break outs, should you skip exfoliating? I sometimes get minor break outs in my check area : /
Once every week or 10-12 days according to your skin sensitivity.
How often should this be done?
How often should this be done?