DIY: Facials
Skin Care and the At-Home Mask
Something that I do, and recommend to all my clients, is to use masks daily, and often your refrigerator is your best source for natural 'good enough to eat' skin care.
— Vera Kantor, skin expert and owner of Verabella Spa, Beverly Hills, California
You only get one face.
Although advocates of modern medical science may beg to differ, for the vast majority of us, the face we go to sleep with is the same wonderfully original, distinctive face that we're going to wake up with, morning after morning, so it behooves us to take care of it.
We moisturize and we apply copious amounts of sunscreen, but our faces are on the front lines, subjected not only to the elements and our lifestyles but even to our emotions. A facial is the best way to pamper and protect our faces, but these days a weekly trip to a spa seems as improbable as a family vacation on the moon.
Fortunately for us and our faces, the ingredients for a soothing, quick and easy DIY facial are often no farther away than our kitchens. And there are additional steps we can take to keep our skin as youthful as possible.
Lifestyle Damage
It's not just the sun or atoms known as free radicals that cause the daily beating our faces take. The way we live our lives – the smiles as well as the tears – contributes greatly to what happens to our skin, which we often forget is one of our body's organs.
"The biggest mistake people make with their skin is poor lifestyle choices," said Dr. Harold A. Lancer, of Lancer Dermatology in Beverly Hills, California. "Poor diet selections, lack of exercise, the inability to handle stress, exposure to toxins, excessive alcohol and tobacco use all contribute to skin failure, as do poor sleeping habits."
We can't stop time, and the notion of a Fountain of Youth is better suited for a Disney film, but simple changes can alter the effect we have on our skin. Call it the Lifestyle Facial.
"If proper lifestyle changes are implemented and quality home care is used, you may not need to resort to invasive clinical procedures which may prove to be a waste of time, energy and money," Lancer said. "The best way to give your skin a pick-me-up is to keep hydrated, which means increasing your intake of water and decreasing your intake of salt."
Benefits of a Home Facial
A facial isn't just about pampering yourself; it's also about rejuvenating skin that is under daily assault by the elements and turning back the clock, even if it's just the second hand. Because of time and money constraints, regular trips to the spa are an extravagance few can afford, but even the experts agree that skin care starts at home.
"Daily home care is incredibly important to maintaining healthy, glowing skin," said skin expert Vera Kantor. "Something that I do, and recommend to all my clients, is to use masks daily. Often, your refrigerator is your best source for natural good enough to eat skin care."
Surprisingly, the makings of a healthy breakfast can go a long way toward improving the look and feel of your skin.
"I like to use items like eggs, yogurt, strawberries, cucumbers," said Kantor, of Verabella Skin Therapy in Beverly Hills, California. "I apply different masks every morning, between washing and toning my face and before I drink my morning coffee."
For those more inclined to evening fare, Lancer can rattle off recipes for homemade masks that sound delicious enough to pour over a bowl of fresh greens.
"You can make a homemade mask with pulverized yellow squash and organic pure pomegranate juice, which will help with sun-damaged skin," Lancer said. "Olive oil with fresh-squeezed lime can be an effective toner, while grapeseed oils can be used as a simple, pure facial cleanser."
As appetizing as they sound, for skin care, it's best that these ingredients go on your face rather than in your mouth.
"Yellow squash is a low-acidity, nonirritating, soothing, topical additive for the skin which helps to increase retention for normal hydration in dermal and epidermal layers," Lancer said. "And when pomegranate is added to facial mask products, it will often help with reducing pore size."
He, too, touts the skin benefits of doing your homework.
"Spa treatments are wonderful if they are performed properly by high-quality personnel with fine materials," he said. "But home maintenance is a once- to twice-daily event, and is critical in a process of consistent, beneficial skin repair and maintenance."
Learn to Multitask: Save Time and Your Skin
You might be thinking that while you have the ingredients to concoct a home facial, there's no way that you can set aside the time for such self-indulgence. The best part of the DIY facial may be that it can be done while you're managing the rest of your day.
"Most people think that they need to apply a mask once or twice a week and take 20 to 30 minutes to relax in it," Kantor said. "But it only takes a minute to apply, and your skin will reap the benefit, even if you don't have time to lie down. You can apply a mask and check your email or cook breakfast for your kids."
Even if your mornings are too hectic to sneak in a minute of pampering, you can find time to cheat in a facial later in the day.
"Try doing your nighttime skin care regimen as soon as you come home from work or school, just as long as you're not planning to go out again later," Kantor said. "As soon as you get home, drop your bags, change your clothes, wash your face and apply you nighttime serum and moisturizer."
No matter the time of day or night, it only takes a moment, and your face will thank you for it later.
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Goodshoot/Getty Images
