Homemada Face Masks

By Amanda Bown

Homemade face masks are one of the easiest and cheapest DIY beauty creations. So delicious and nutritious are these face mask recipes, you'll find it hard to resist a lick - so remember, this is food for your face. Here are 4Beauty's tips on how to make a face mask for your skin type, whether you have dry skin, oily skin, combination skin or sensitive skin.
Preparation

Start by cleansing your skin, then apply your homemade face mask, leave on for up to 10 minutes, rinse-off with warm water, gently pat skin dry and apply usual moisturiser.
Face Mask for Dry Skin

Avocados boast moisturising properties from vitamin E, essential fatty acids omega-9 and omega-6 (which aid skin and tissue growth and keep skin supple), and chlorophyll (the nutritious green stuff in plants), which helps regenerate our skin cells. It's also easily absorbed, which makes it ideal for dry skin.

Method: Mash-up a ripe avocado. Add a teaspoon of runny honey (which is super-hydrating too), blend the ingredients and apply to face.
Face Mask for Combination Skin

"Bananas contain highly-moisturising agents which make the skin flexible, pliable and super-soft when applied topically. But they are also non-oily so they're good for combination skins," says Helen Ambrosen of Lush (opens in a new window). "Peaches remove any excess sebum (oil) by softening the sebum, so it can leave the follicles with ease, and without stripping skin. Honey is excellent for skin that's prone to breakouts, as it reduces redness of pimples and dries them-up, thanks to its concentration of sugar solution, which withdraws moisture from pimples." Add some ground almonds, to polish the skin and remove dead surface cells - two tablespoons should do it.

Method: Blend two bananas, two tablespoons of honey and two stoned and peeled peaches. Add the ground almonds, mix-up and blend again. Finally add a small handful of rolled porridge oats, to bind mixture together. Apply to face.