Face masks are hardly restricted to the mud varieties and homemade concoctions your mother grew up using. They’ve sprouted into sheet masks loaded with serums, the foil kinds, bubble masks and even those that involve using a magnet. However, back in the day, in a time before fancy imports and online shopping, our grandmothers’ beauty routines were restricted to homemade whips and pastes, or sometimes, the raw fruit as is. We bring you points where using them might not be such a bad thing.
What about raw fruits that does the hard work?
“Fruits have a lot of antioxidants, vitamins and fruit acids which are excellent for gentle exfoliation of the skin. They are also sources of alpha hydroxyl acids (AHAs) and therefore are powerful exfoliators to help in dissolving the human glue substance that binds the dead skin layers of the epidermis thus smoothening and brightening the skin.”
Which fruits are good for the skin?
“When made into a pulp, whether it’s lemons or mangoes or even other fruits such as papaya and strawberries mixed with certain binding ingredients such as coarsely ground oats, chick pea flour or fuller’s earth, they do prove quite beneficial for the skin. When mixed with certain other ingredients, the fruit’s properties can be enhanced and one can get better benefits provided that ingredients do not interfere/interact with each other. Oily skin will benefit from sour fruit extracts such as lemons, kiwi, strawberry which is rich in citric acid and anti-bacterial properties whereas the fruits that will do good to dry skin are banana or papaya due to their moisturizing vitamin E content.”
Is it better to use actual fruits or are store-bought concentrates more efficient?
“Fruit extracts in the form of ready to use products were developed because it has been seen since times immemorial that fruits and certain food products have found an important place in the history of beautifying oneself. When it’s a choice between a fresh home-made fruit pack against a ready product, each has its own benefits and disadvantages. A ready fruit extract product can be used at any time without the hassle of preparing it and is less messy to apply. But it will certainly have some preservatives in it. Whereas a homemade fruit extract/pack will be made fresh but is time consuming and the application can prove to be a bit cumbersome. Pick one that suits you best at the moment.”
Things to look out for:
- If you’ve got severely-inflamed skin, rosacea, any open cuts and wounds, red pimples or have generally sensitive skin, stick to the fruits that work for dry skin to avoid irritation.
- If you’re sunburned, the best way to calm your skin is to use cool curd or buttermilk directly on your face.
