Beauty products from the fridge

It’s spring and time to slough off your old dead skin cells. You’ve probably heard of expensive in-salon procedures like microdermabrasion and peels, and they are great, but you don’t need to spend a lot of money — you can do peels at home, safely and inexpensively.

You should always start with mild applications. Here is a great 10-minute scrub and “peel” that will tighten and brighten your skin, gently, with items in your kitchen. No, your skin will not peel or flake — this recipe is too mild for that. But it will give you an idea of what stronger preparations, such as glycolic “peels,” can do for your skin.

DIY home scrub and peel

1. First, you want to deeply clean your skin. Wash with a mild soap such as Dove Sensitive Skin soap with warm water. Follow that with a baking soda scrub: Wet a clean washcloth and pour one to two tablespoons of baking soda on the washcloth. Working quickly (before the soda dissolves), gently scrub your skin. This is a super face scrub and polisher that releases dead skin cells.
2. Whisk together one egg white, one tablespoon lemon juice, and 1/2 a teaspoon of olive oil (or better yet, emu oil. Click here for resources).
3. Apply the “peel” like a masque all over your face and jawline. Leave on until it’s completely dry, about 5 to 10 minutes. Rinse off, and apply your regular moisturizer and sunscreen.

See how nice and tight your pores look after that simple, gentle scrub and masque/peel? If you like that, you might want to try a stronger “peel.” Even though they are called “peels,” most people don’t get any peeling or flaking unless they are using very strong preparations. Even with mild peels, you can get great benefits such as improvement in acne and fine lines, better overall skin tone and color, smaller pores and a fresh glow.

Peels, like those done in a doctor’s office and in skin care salons, are essentially masques that use fruit-based acids, such as glycolic acids, which are part of the fruit-acid family called alpha hydroxy acids. Because these acids are well-tolerated by most people and highly effective in improving the skin, many cosmetics now contain them. But for the most part, the percentage of acids in cosmetics is too low to create real change in your skin.

To do stronger “peels,” you clean your skin as described above, usually adding in a step that includes wiping your face with alcohol to remove all traces of oil. You always should start with a mild solution, such as a buffered 20-30 percent glycolic acid solution. There are many companies that offer peels of this strength or stronger, and you can find some mild ones at Sephora or other beauty supply companies. If you really want to learn how to do stronger “peels” at home safely and easily, check out the resources at TheSkinRegime.com.

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Tags: skin care