The Buzz Off: Two Oil-Free DIY Mask Recipes 1) Acne-fighting 2) Dry Skin

Sunday, September 13, 2015

The Buzz Off: Two Oil-Free DIY Masks Recipes 1) Acne-fighting 2) Dry Skin, Manuka Honey, Raw Honey, Avocado, Royal Jelly, Propolis, Greek Yogurt, Deer Velvet Antler Honey, Hanbang, Rosehip oil.

More after the jump.


I was afraid everyone might be honeyed out after this week's deluge of reviews, but it looks like at least one of you isn't! 

I asked if anyone wanted to see my DIY wash-off masks I like to use from time to time and someone said yes, so here they are... my two homemade honey-based wash-off masks. There's an acne-fighting flavor, and one for dry skin.

Also, same as with all of the other bee products from this week, Bee byproducts can cause contact dermatitis. If you are allergic to bee stings, you may also be allergic to bee byproducts. Make sure to patch test these ingredients. Before pulling the trigger on any of these kinds of products, you can try testing out some honey from the fridge to see how your skin responds.


Recipe 1: Acne-Fighting DIY Wash Off Mask

The Buzz Off: Two Oil-Free DIY Masks Recipes 1) Acne-fighting 2) Dry Skin, Manuka Honey, Raw Honey, Avocado, Royal Jelly, Propolis, Greek Yogurt, Deer Velvet Antler Honey, Hanbang, Rosehip oil.


Ingredients

1 1/2 tbsp. of unsweetened Greek yogurt (Chobani, Fage, what have you)

1 1/2 tbsp. of Raw Honey or Manuka Honey

1-2 Propolis Powder Capsule or 5-10 Drops of Propolis Tincture

Instructions:

1. Combine ingredients in the order presented.

2. Mix until uniform throughout

3. Apply and hang out for 15 - 20 minutes

4. Wash off

5. Optional: Spot treat afterwards!


Propolis //

It's a resinous material that bees use to seal their hives from the elements, and also has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. There are also (unverified) claims that it has wound-healing properties, which could make it great for pimples that we've poked and prodded despite ourselves. In today's recipe, I used propolis powder capsules instead of the tincture. For more details on the benefits of propolis/honey/royal jelly, go here.

Greek Yogurt //

While yogurt doesn't have a full body of research supporting its benefits to the skin, it is nice for making this mask slightly smoother and more emollient. Yogurt also contains various proteins, calcium, vitamin D, and Lactic Acid, which may help with some light exfoliation. I use greek yogurt because it contains less water and sugar than regular yogurt.

Honey //

Honey is produced by bees to feed the hive from the nectars of flowering plants. Honey is also a humectant (hydrator) that in its purest, unadulterated form has acne-fighting powers.

Two types of honey are better for acne than others. They are manuka honey and raw honey. Manuka honey has the highest methyglyoxal content of all of the different strains of honey, and it's been shown that the content is relatively stable, even as the manuka honey gets processed for sale. Methyglyoxal content is positively correlated with antibacterial activities. Raw honey is also great for acne because it hasn't been processed for human consumption, so the antioxidants and enzymes contained in the honey are not broken down, making it more effective.

In today's recipe, I actually didn't use either, but went with the Deer Velvet Antler Honey I had in stock, as I'm at that special age where acne and wrinkles make friends w/ each other on my face and I appreciated the additional antioxidants thrown in there for good measure. In case you're curious, the ingredients are: Deer velvet antler extract, Cactus honey, Reishi mushroom extract, Variety of oriental herbs contents, Ginseng Radix, Hoelen, Korean Angelica, Cnidium Rhizome, Glycyrrhizza, Astragalus Root, Atractylodes Rhizome White, Peony Root, Steamed Rehmannia Root, Cinnamomi Ramulus. 

It's seriously Hanbang'in.


I recently used this mask on a little whitehead that had sprung up at the exact spot where my glasses meet the side of my nose, the poor thing didn't even stand a chance. This mask also works on bacne, boobne, whatever.



Recipe 2: DIY Wash Off Mask for Dry Skin

The Buzz Off: Two Oil-Free DIY Masks Recipes 1) Acne-fighting 2) Dry Skin, Manuka Honey, Raw Honey, Avocado, Royal Jelly, Propolis, Greek Yogurt, Deer Velvet Antler Honey, Hanbang, Rosehip oil.

Ingredients

1 1/2 tbsp. Royal Jelly

1/4 Avocado, diced and then smushed

1/2 tbsp. of Raw Honey or Manuka Honey

Instructions:

1. Combine the ingredients in order of presentation.

2. Mix until uniform throughout

3. Apply and hang out for 20 - 30 minutes

4. Wash off

5. Optional: Sheet Mask and/or other hydrating steps

Royal Jelly //

Royal jelly is also produced by bees as food, only they use the nectar of the gods to produce foods for the queen. That is, royal jelly is food reserved for the queen bees of the hive who are stronger and live longer than the rest of the hive. It's got more antioxidants and nutrients than honey. For more details on the benefits of propolis/honey/royal jelly, go here.

Avocado //

Move over beans, avocado is the magical fruit in today's recipe. Avocado is a great source of vitamins and minerals with antioxidant properties. The vitamins I'm mainly interested in are the vitamin K, C, E, and Niacin. Honestly, they're not present in high amounts, and I'm not using that much avocado in the recipe, but knowing they're there makes me happy and the smushed avocado adds a really nice cushy and moisturizing feel to the mask too.

Honey //

Taken from earlier...
Honey is produced by bees to feed the hive from the nectars of flowering plants. Honey is also a humectant (hydrator) that in its pure unadulterated form has acne-fighting powers. 

Two types of honey are better for acne than others. They are manuka honey and raw honey. Manuka honey has the highest methyglyoxal content of all of the different strains of honey, and it's been shown that the content is relatively stable, even as the manuka honey gets processed for sale. Methyglyoxal content is postively correlated with antibacterial activities. Raw honey is also great for acne because it hasn't been processed for human consumption, so the antioxidants and enzymes contained in the honey are not broken down, making it more effective.

In this particular recipe, I used a bit of manuka honey. Haha actually this is purely because I didn't think I'd be able to stomach the look of the green avocado and the brown deer velvet antler honey swirled together.



Due to the nature of wash-off masks, this mask is lightly exfoliative, which to me makes it feel like any followup steps sink in better. My makeup goes on smoother as well.

Just an fyi - wash off masks are never going to be as hydrating as a sheet mask and this definitely won't add much oil back to your skin as I've kept the mask oil free... but I love to use it when I'm in full pamper mode, and will often follow it up with a sheet mask and top everything off with a facial oil, which is what I did today.





Full Pamper Routine

1. #multimasking... acne-fighting mask on the left, hydrating mask on the right.
The Buzz Off: Two Oil-Free DIY Masks Recipes 1) Acne-fighting 2) Dry Skin, Manuka Honey, Raw Honey, Avocado, Royal Jelly, Propolis, Greek Yogurt, Deer Velvet Antler Honey, Hanbang, Rosehip oil.
selfie! attractive no?

2. Sheet Mask of the Day... Renove Royal Perfect

3. Douse self in rosehip oil.

Cotton, I like it, I also get it free though :3


4. Glow.

What's your full pamper routine?


Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you're curious about my policy on press samples, affiliate links, and sponsors, see my disclaimer and policies

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