Beauty Clinic: D-I-Y face masks for winter
Q. My mum is 71 and she’s fed up because the facial she booked ages ago has been cancelled. Even when we come out of lockdown, the facialist says that anyone over 70 now has to get a doctor’s letter before they can be treated. Obviously, my mum isn’t going to ask her busy GP for that. So… I thought it would be nice to make a DIY face mask and maybe do some facial massage. Can you give me some tips?
A. We do know about this and sympathise with everyone concerned – it’s very frustrating for facialists as well. So, here are a few ideas that we are employing ourselves. (If you need ideas for products, look at our Beauty Bible Award winners.)
Cleanse skin thoroughly with your usual cleanser. If your skin tends to be congested, try steaming it for a few minutes over a basin of hot (but not boiling) water with a few drops of your favourite essential oil in it. Pop a towel over your head to keep the steam focused. Also good for loosening your scalp, so do plan a hair wash at the end. (And brilliant with eucalyptus or camphor oils if you have a blocked nose…)
Apply a mask. If you have a favourite to hand, use that. Otherwise consider making your own. In our book The Ultimate Natural Beauty Bible/ £19.99, (available online here), we have several simple recipes for ‘power packs’, such as this Cucumber Mask for sensitive skin. There are lots of other beauty recipes in there, too, including lovely facial oils (great Christmas presents).
Ingredients:
10g brewer’s yeast, or ground up brewer’s yeast tablets (grind in a herb grinder or bash up in a pestle and mortar, or with a rolling pin)
10g finely powdered oats
7.5cm chunk of cucumber, peeled
2 tbs plain yogurt (live if possible)
1 tsp runny honey
1 drop rose essential oil
Mix yeast and oats in a small bowl. Liquidise cucumber until there are no bits in it (it will be very watery), then add yogurt and honey followed by yeast/oats mix and lastly the rose oil. Apply to clean face, lie down and relax (very important…). Leave for 20-30 minutes. Remove with a wet muslin cloth or splash off with water.
PS If you want to buy a mask online and aren’t certain what to choose for your skin type, we give you the lowdown here.
Apply facial oil or moisturiser and massage your face. We absolutely love using a jade facial ‘tool’ to enliven skin and pep up the circulation. The results are visible immediately but best practised daily to help boost collagen and elastin so skin is smoother and plumper. Great for puffy mornings, too…
The Hayo’u Beauty Restorer/£38, was developed by Katie Brindle, a practitioner of Chinese Medicine to performer a technique is called gua sha facial massage, which Katie explained in her Seven Secrets of Beauty and Wellbeing here. There’s a link through to her video of how to do it, though it’s super simple and takes two minutes max. It’s a small tool of staggering genius in Sarah’s view: “I use it every night and quite often in the morning too; after three months my thin long ageing face has the sort of youthful plumpness and “lift” you get from a good filler – but naturally and very low cost”.
Have a lovely girl’s night (or afternoon) in and hope your mum enjoys these at home treats.
