DIY Beauty: A quick pick-me-up.

Recently I've been getting pretty lazy with my skincare routine. I've been doing the basic minimum every morning and evening; cleansing my face, swiping with some toner and slapping on some cream. But I haven't been paying attention to my problem areas, let alone used any treatments on my face. I know, I know. Shameful. 

After examining my face in the mirror today, I was horrified at the amount of tiny breakouts spread out across my face. My skin hasn't been this bad for months. I decided that was my cue to get myself together and do something about it. I don't currently have any face masks or treatments lying around, as I am moving countries this summer and therefore attempting to go through and finish all the tonnes of thousands of products I own. I hence decided to give good old nature a try.

This quick routine is great for a bad skin day, and is also something I quite often turn to before a night out or special event, as it reduces the redness, causes any swelling around blemishes to go down and tightens pores. It is also a great temporary face lift for those who need it.

So, here is what I did:

First off, I washed my face using coconut oil and baking soda. I didn't go crazy with the amounts, in fact quite the opposite. With coconut oil I feel a little goes a long way, so I scooped out a pea-sized amount from the jar, and added a pinch of baking soda. I mixed the two ingredients using my (clean!) hands and smoothed it out across my face, gently rubbed it in circular motions and rinsed it off, then pat my skin dry with a towel. Despite having oily skin, I was not afraid of putting coconut oil on my face. It does not leave your skin feeling greasy, as it is almost immediately absorbed into your skin, leaving you with a healthy glow.

Now, time for the face mask. For this, I used honey, a lemon and an egg white. After gently beating the egg white just to make slightly fluffy, I added a table spoon of honey and a table spoon of fresh lemon juice. I mixed it all up and applied onto dry skin using an old foundation brush. I feel that this mask is best applied with a brush, as it can get quite runny and the brush just dispenses the perfect amount onto your face without it dripping everywhere. I let the mask sit on my face until it got dry and tight, then washed it off with lukewarm water and patted my skin dry with a towel.

Now, bonus time. After applying toner, serum and moisturiser, I like running an ice cube across my face until it melts and disappears. It is not the best feeling in the world at first, but then the skin gets used to it and it's not that bad. I just find that whenever I do this, my skin looks a lot better instantly, as the pores are shrunk and the skin seems to glow. It also makes the application of make up afterwards h-e-a-v-e-n-l-y. And if I do this as a part of my evening skincare routine, the next morning I wake up with gorgeous skin. I also like experimenting with the ice cubes and instead of using just water, I try using rosewater, green tea or aloe vera water. It's just incredible.

To round it all off, let's talk about the benefits of the aforementioned ingredients.

Aaand in order of appearance...

Coconut oil: 

• Moisturises and nourishes the skin. 
• Contains antioxidants which help fight premature ageing. 
• Natural antiseptic which allows it to fight acne.
• Encourages the skin to heal and rebuild itself, which helps any blemish wounds to heal faster.

Baking soda: 

• Excellent exfoliator, removing dead skin cells to reveal brighter, glowing skin.
• It is an alkaline, therefore helps neutralise the skin and hinder bacterial growth. This makes it a great acne-fighting ingredient.

Honey:

• Cleanses, exfoliates, moisturises and nourishes the skin.
• Contains antioxidants which help fight premature ageing.
• Natural antiseptic which allows it to fight acne.
• Absorbs impurities and fights blemishes.
• Soothing and anti-inflamatory, helps reduce redness and swelling around blemishes.

Lemon:

• Fights blemishes and removes blackheads.
• Reduces appearance of pores and tightens skin.
• Vitamin C helps the skin become radiant and glowing.
• Brightens the skin, and overtime helps fade acne scarring.

Egg white:

• Contains protein which helps heal skin.
• Tightens pores and soaks up excess oil.
• Tightens the skin, giving a temporary face lift.

Ice:

• Improves blood circulation in the skin, stimulating cell renewal and helps fight and heal imperfections.
• Shrinks pores.
• Leaves skin looking dewy, glowing and beautiful.