This week I've been using the homemade almond cleansing cream in the morning, followed by Weleda Rose Cream and a few drops of jojoba. If I'm going to be outside a lot, I wear a Yes To Carrots SPF 30 sunscreen. Then I apply my makeup, which is becoming more difficult due to the dryness. There are patches of dry skin and flakiness. At night I remove my eye makeup with a MAC oil cleanser. Then I remove my foundation and such with Cetaphil.
Earlier this week, disaster struck. I was chatting with a friend about this routine and she said that Cetaphil does not remove all of her makeup. I want to make sure I'm removing it all, so I used my Pretika facial brush (which is a Clarisonic dupe). OH DEAR LORD. My face was so tight all night that I could barely sleep! The Pretika stripped off all the remaining moisture I had in my skin!! It was horrible. The next day I purchased Desert Essence Organic jojoba oil and started using that. It has really helped, but the dryness is winning at this point. Applying the jojoba and moisturizer help to apply my makeup, at least. It's at nighttime that the dryness is really bothersome.
Last week I talked about how my pores are beginning to empty on their own. That's still happening to some degree, but now I mostly have impacted blemishes. They are deep under the skin, and if I want clear skin, I need to figure out how to safely and effectively get rid of them! That's when I decided to make a homemade mask from these two ingredients:
Honey and aspirin!* Honey is naturally antimicrobial so it will help clear any bacteria from my face. It is also a humectant which helps moisturize my skin. The aspirin is the secret weapon, however! Aspirin is acetylsalicylic acid, which is a form of salicylic acid - a well-known acne drug. Salicylic acid is the active ingredient behind such acne fighting treatments as Oxy products, Noxema Anti-Acne Pads, Stridex pads (oh high school!), and even high-end brand Dermalogica Medicated Clearing Gel.
To make the honey mask, all you need 2-3 uncoated aspirin, half a tablespoon of honey, and water. First, take your aspirin and cover them with a few drops of water. They will absorb the water and puff up a little, like so:
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| before : after |
Then mix in the honey and apply to your face. Let it sit for about 5 minutes, and then rinse off with warm water. Then go about your normal skincare routine!
Normally if I use this mask at night, the next day I'll have a few blemishes in the morning that have worked their way to the surface. With my ultra-clogged pores as of late, though, it took 2 days! Now my skin is look pretty good, despite the dryness!
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| maybe not so good closeup, but my skin looks okay for photos! check out the new cotton necklace i made, by the way! |
Honey Aspirin Mask*
1 application
ingredients:::::
2-3 uncoated aspirin (look for the bottle that does NOT say coated, i buy the generic 325 mgs, and it works great)
1/2 tablespoon of honey (I'm using honey that's local to Nashville, Tennessee, courtesy of Cindy Warner!)
water
method::::
Pour a few drops of water on the aspirin until they are dissolved. Add honey and apply to face for 5 minutes. Rinse!
*please do not use this mask if you are allergic to honey or aspirin.
