Category — Homemade Tips

Today I would like to talk about one of my favorite herbs. And no, it’s not one of those exotic plants in tiny special boxes at the corner of the supermarket. It’s the one plentifully abundant everywhere and at the most reasonably prices of all things green. (And one of about two herbs available in organic version around here…)

Parsley.

Oh, yeah.

Some beautifying benefits of parsley are:

• reduces swelling and redness
• lightning the skin
• toning
• helps to reduce black heads
• wrinkle prevention

This little green herb is all magic when it comes to “pretty” skin care. Here are some simple homemade beauty recipes that feature the gloriousness of parsley. Most of them require so little effort, you’ll be wondering why anyone spends money on expensive skin care at all… 

Parsley mask for combination skin:

A parsley mask is very good for balancing combination skin. To do that, take a couple of fistfuls of parsley, chop and then mush with a pestle till it’s releases the juice. Mix with a teaspoon of honey. Leave the mask on the face for a few minutes (10 to 20), and then wash off with warm water.

Parsley hair strengthening infusion:

Mix four teaspoons of fresh finely chopped parsley with about two cups of boiling water. Wait for it to absorb well together. Use this mixture every two – three days for rinsing hair.

Mask for oily skin:

Mix extremely finely chopped parsley with ground oatmeal (grind regular oatmeal – not instant! – in coffee grinder or equivalent) and then spread it on your face for about 20 minutes. (I suggest using mortar and pestle for squishing the parsley to release the maximum amount of juice.) Wash off with lukewarm water.

Mask for dry skin:

Mix parsley infusion (see above) with a little bit of natural cottage cheese (1 tblspn spoon infusion, 2 tblspns spoons cottage cheese).

Combating swollen eyes:

Also, use parsley if you have “bags” under eyes. For that chop parsley finely and spread it on moistened cheesecloth squares. Make little “baggies” (like homemade teabags  ) and put on your eyes for 10 – 15 minutes. You can also put moistened cotton balls on top, to keep the “baggies” wet.

So next time you buy too much parsley and are wondering what to do with it all, (for there is only so much tabouleh one can eat …) share the goodness with your skin and hair.

A little homemade pampering never hurt anybody.  Especially when it comes to the freshest and most natural organic skin care on the planet!

Let your face have its oatmeal for breakfast. Yup, you read it right. The face. Oatmeal. For breakfast.

Haven’t you noticed how many skin care brands are boasting boldly that their products contain oatmeal? Why is that? Simple. Oatmeal is a wonder grain. It does wonders for your skin and its properties have been known for ages. It’s a fantastic natural cleanser, scrubber, exfoliant, toner, soother, nourisher… you name it.

So, how exactly do we treat our skin with this divine delicacy?

First, buy some nice organic plain rolled oats. Of course I say organic cause this is an organic skin care site. But if by some strange chance you are still not into organics (oh, come on now!) but ended up on this site, just use regular oats. But please, no instants! And no flavored anything! Ok, now that we’ve sorted that out – buy organic plain rolled oats. Either whole or crashed. If you bought the biggish looking ones, grind them a bit in the coffee grinder or equivalent (I use Magic Bullet). Not so small that they turn into flour. You want little particles for the scrubbing. So just a few spins should do the trick.

Transfer the mix into a sealable container. Take the container into the bathroom where you do your morning face routine. Put it there. Wait till morning.

In the morning, as you are about to wash your lovely face, open the magic container. Splash some water on your face to give it a wet start. Take a fistful of oats (pour into your hand – don’t get all the other oats wet! Or dry your hands first…) and run a bit of water into it, so that it soaks and turns into a mush. (You can also soak it up in some other container. But I use my fist, cause I always forget to bring containers upstairs, and I’m too lazy to go looking for them in the morning.) Then gently massage the mixture into your skin, using small circular motions. Be tender. Don’t squeeze or rub. Avoid the eye area. Work a little more diligently on trouble areas (around the nose, forehead). You can leave it on for a little while (five minutes or so) or wash it right away. (I wash it off with lukewarm water, and then rinse my face with cool water.) After that apply your moisturizer.

This will gently exfoliate, clean, soothe and nourish your skin all at once. It will also brighten dark spots, lighten out freckles and marks, and tone down inflammations.

I have been diligently using this method for a few days now, trying to combat the dandruffy/pimply/look-at-me-I-am-so-red-I-want-a-job-as-a-stop-sign forehead atrocity. And guess what? This morning my husband commented that my skin looks so even, what am I up to? (He has noticed the oatmeal jar in the bathroom, but must’ve thought that it was there for my secret midnight snack…) In fact, at this rate of improvement, my face will soon be competing with my imaginary porcelain doll collection.

This method is good for all skin types. And all budgets. And all skill sets. And all ages.

So treat your skin to a healthy oatmeal breakfast. It will thank you.