There is nothing like a gentle facial to cleanse the skin and make it glow and there are plenty of ingredients in the kitchen cupboards for a nourishing face mask. Let’s go over a few classics.
Honey - it works by itself as a gentle exfoliator or it can be mixed with other ingredients like quick oats, cream or lemon juice for a moisturizing or astringent treatment, depending on your skin type.
Strong chamomile or lavender decocts are classics for facial steam treatments and getting rid of blackheads.
Egg is a rich source of vitamins for tired winter skin and offers the additional benefit of shrinking the pores.
Yellow cornmeal mixed with a little milk rubbed gently on the face removes dead skin and activates blood circulation to impart a healthy glow.
Mix equal quantities of coconut oil and sugar and your favorite fragrance for a very effective sugar scrub. The skin surface tends to run slightly acidic and anything sweet will make it thrive.
Fresh fruits, especially peaches, strawberries, mangoes and papaya for a natural and gentle acid peel.
Yogurt calms down irritation, especially from sunburn, while banana and avocado provide healthy food for dry skin.
I couldn’t leave out the oats, which feature in a surprisingly large number of face masks, because they are good for everything: they nourish, calm, shrink the pores, exfoliate, provide antioxidants, heal, moisturize…
Main Areas: Garden Writing; Sustainable Gardening; Homegrown Harvest
Published Books: “Terra Two”; “Generations”; "The Plant - A Steampunk Story"; "Letters to Lelia"; "Fair"; "Door Number Eight"; "A Year and A Day"; "Möbius' Code"; "Between Mirrors"; "The Blue Rose Manuscript"
Career Focus: Author; Consummate Gardener;
Affiliation: All Year Garden; The Weekly Gardener; Francis Rosenfeld's Blog
I started blogging in 2010, to share the joy of growing all things green and the beauty of the garden through the seasons. Two garden blogs were born: allyeargarden.com and theweeklygardener.com, a periodical that followed it one year later. I wanted to assemble an informal compendium of the things I learned from my grandfather, wonderful books, educational websites, and my own experience, in the hope that other people might use it in their own gardening practice.