January 4, 2013

DIY Pineapple Face Mask/Scrub

For a few weeks now, I've been hunting for a good chemical exfoliant, because my St. Ives one just isn't doing what I need it to do. Have a look at Lab Muffin for a good explanation of how these are different to your regular scrubby ones. Most of the products I found were either too expensive or not readily available near me, so I decided to make my own. In my journey, I came across a ton of recipes for pineapple or papaya based cleansers. These two fruits in particular have enzymes that are really good for clearing dead skin cells. No single recipe was exactly what I wanted, so I came up with something myself.

Pineapple Scrub/Mask
1/4 of a fresh pineapple, chopped into chunks
Approx. 1 teaspoon each of yoghurt, honey and oat bran
Flour or other thickening agent
Scrubbing ingredient of your choice (I use sugar)

Blend the pineapple, yoghurt, honey and oat bran together until you get a smooth-ish mix. If you can't access a blender/food processor, you could mash the pineapple and mix by hand. Add your scrubber until you reach the level of roughness you're after. You can skip this if you don't want a physical exfoliator. Add flour to make a paste if it's not thick enough to use easily.

To use, just smear it all over your face, avoiding the eye area. I use it on my lips every few uses too. Leave it there for a few minutes while you brush your teeth, wash your hair, or whatever else you need to do.

One of my favourite things about DIY skincare is that you can easily adjust recipes to suit your skin's needs. This version is great for my skin in summer, when it's a bit oilier, but I'll probably use an oil base instead of yoghurt in winter for some extra moisture.

Do you have any favourite DIY recipes to share?

P.S. Three days of using this and my skin looks airbrushed (at least as far as texture)!

2 comments:

  1. This sounds lovely - airbrushed skin is a dream of mine. Have do you make this fresh every time or do you refrigerate it?

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    1. I refrigerate it. Each batch lasts about a week, after that I get a bit iffy on how well it's keeping. The quantities there make about ten days worth (using twice daily as a normal cleanser) so depending on your grey area threshold you could probably keep it until used up. Let me know how you go!

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