If you want more beautiful skin, add these fruits to your homemade masks

Fruits are good allies of your beauty. Not only when you include them in your diet -we must not forget the moisturizing properties of many of them-, but also when you take advantage of their benefits in your homemade masks. For this reason, with the help of our collaborator Meritxell Martí, we get to work with Do It Yourself to recommend some that can be very good for your skin. We assume that many of the active ingredients we use in cosmetics have a natural origin. The well-known alpha hydroxy acids, for example, are fruit acids (obtained from citrus fruits, sugar cane, apples...). It is very effective to use homemade masks made with fruits and vegetables, but, yes, the key is to know how to use them and prepare them properly. In fact, not only can we turn to fruits and vegetables, but cereals, dairy products, spices (such as turmeric, ginger or pepper), herbs or parts of plants (such as licorice or anise) are also useful.

“One of the important points to keep in mind when preparing a mask is that not everything is valid, sometimes the result is true concoctions and the actions are not as expected. Once a client asked me why her hair did not grow nor did she stop the fall if she was using a yogurt and cinnamon mask, and it is that she is useless for that purpose. Or the well-known mask on social networks with turmeric to whiten the skin is not effective either ”, tells us the owner of Farmacia Meritxell.

Read also: The 10 fruits that most hydrate your skin also help you lose weight

About the quantities and exposure times

For this reason, it is essential to take into account a series of very basic previous recommendations when considering making a natural mask at home, so that it is effective from the cosmetic point of view:

- The exposure time must be respected, because if they are effective they are not innocuous. In the same way that they will be beneficial, in some cases an excess of time can cause a possible allergic reaction. You have to be careful.

- We have to remember that commercial products do allergy and tolerance tests. So if we have doubts about a product, it would be better to try it first for a while in an invisible area, such as the wrist.

- It is not convenient to make large quantities, since they are natural, and since food spoils, they will spoil too. That's why you have to prepare the right amount.

- You should not believe everything they say on the internet, especially in the before and after photos, because true hoaxes circulate on the net.

- The amounts are not always exact, they are not magisterial formulas, but as in cooking, experience is what will help us to make them correct or not. The result may vary depending on the maturity of the fruits, for example.

- You have to take into account the cost, because sometimes it pays more to use a commercial product than to buy so many tropical foods that are very expensive.

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— julian Tue Sep 18 15:12:24 +0000 2018

Dry skin: mask with avocado

Avocado is high in fatty acids (palmitic, oleic, linoleic, stearic). These are going to be very beneficial on dry skin and, consequently, not very elastic. In addition, it is rich in vitamins A, D and E. It can be a fantastic base for masks, but it must be ripe and have the right texture, like butter. In this way, it will mainly provide nutrients to the skin.

Ingredients: 1 ripe avocado, 1 egg yolk, 1 tablespoon of olive or coconut oil, 1 tablespoon of honey (to taste). Preparation: Put the avocado in a mortar and crush it until it is completely crushed and fine, add the olive or coconut oil, until emulsified and fully integrated. That will make the texture more fluid. Finally, add an egg yolk. You have to mix well until you get a creamy paste, and you can add a teaspoon of honey for very dry skin.

Application: The best thing to do is to apply it to clean skin, with a brush and leave it on for 15 minutes. A variation: if the skin tends to be mixed, instead of adding honey, our expert advises putting a little lemon juice. Always stirring constantly when adding it to prevent the egg from curdling.

Scrub for sensitive skin: mask with papaya

Papaya is a fruit rich in papain, and like pineapple it also contains bromelain. These enzymes are excellent exfoliants for the skin, especially on skin that can't stand very acid exfoliants. In sensitive skin, it will help stimulate skin cell renewal. If the papaya is more mature, the exfoliating effect is more powerful when fermenting. In addition, papaya is very rich in vitamins A, C and E.

Ingredients: Half a ripe papaya and 30 ml of lemon juice. Preparation: In a mortar, crush the papaya until it is very fine, add the lemon juice until incorporated. It is not necessary to put the 30 ml, since it will depend on the consistency that we want in the mask.

Application: With clean skin, apply it with a brush and leave it on for a maximum of 15 minutes. After rinsing the skin with cold water, it is important to apply a serum or cream rich with hyaluronic acid.

Oily skin: mask with banana and yogurt

Bananas, like avocados, are ideal as a base for many masks. Partly because of its texture, especially when it is ripe, which also has a high probiotic content, when it begins to ferment. It is very rich in vitamin A, potassium and zinc, which helps regulate skin oil, close the pore and leave it clean and hydrated. Yogurt, for its part, is very rich in probiotics. Being a dairy product, it has many soothing and exfoliating properties thanks to its lactic acid content. By itself, yogurt is somewhat acidic, so it will be exfoliating, but adding other ingredients such as oats or aloe vera enhance its soothing properties. Adding yogurt to the masks will help make the mask fresher.

Ingredients: Half a ripe banana, a quarter of yogurt, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice or rosemary infusion if you have any grains, 1 teaspoon of honey if you want it thicker. Preparation: put the banana in a bowl and mash, add the yogurt and mix until the mask is homogeneous. Finally, add the two tablespoons of lemon juice or rosemary infusion. If there is too much liquid left, it can be thickened with a teaspoon of honey, but it must be taken into account that it does not have to be refined, but pure, which is much thicker. Make sure that the mixture is very homogeneous.

Application: After cleansing the skin, apply the mask with a brush, leave it to act for 15 to 20 minutes depending on the thickness of the skin or its resistance. A possible variation instead of using yogurt, if the banana is very ripe, is to use powdered milk.

Decongest the eyes: mask with cucumber

A beauty classic is cucumber slices on the eyes, especially to decongest them after a night out or when we have inflammation. Cucumber, which is really a fruit, is very rich in vitamin C, beta-carotene, and is very antioxidant. It is anti-inflammatory and helps in fluid retention thanks to components such as flavonoids or vitamin B1. Helps reduce redness by containing vitamin K among other components. We can directly prepare some slices of cucumber and apply it directly to the eyes, but there is also the option of making a mask.

Ingredients: Half a cucumber, half a non-acid Greek yogurt and a packet of sterile compresses. Preparation: Crush the cucumber very finely, if necessary with an electric blender. Add to the yoghurt and emulsify until making a fine and quite liquid paste.

Application: We cannot put this mask directly in the eyes, because it could irritate them. The most appropriate thing is to soak two gauze pads, first put a clean one over the closed eye and then the impregnated gauze pads on top of them for approximately 5 to 7 minutes. You have to remove it carefully so it doesn't get into your eyes. We can use an infusion of chamomile water for this.