Pamper Yourself - Step 3 Mask and Toner
Now it's time for some serious pampering with a face mask designed for your skin type. Each recipe is specific to skin type but remember the season you are in as well. During the dry winter months most of us should be using the dry skin mask. In the summer when you can choose the mask that is best for your skin type.
To make your oat flour, just blend up some oat flakes into powder form. Any blender will do the trick. Avocado oil is especially nourishing for Vata Dosha or dry skin conditions. The yogurt is both sweet and sour taste and is a perfect pacifier for dry Vata skin. It is cooling in nature and if cooling is what you are seeking, this mask will feel wonderful. Avocado is also cooling and its soft, oily nature will nourish and replenish after a day in the sun.
Chickpea flour is slightly rough in texture and is sweet as well as cooling. This mask is a little less messy and has only three simple ingredients. If sandalwood powder is not available, you can substitute with crushed wild rose petals and 2 drops of sandalwood oil. If you don't have the wild rose petals available either, you can use 2 drops of sandalwood oil, 1 tablespoon of milk and 1 heaping teaspoon of chickpea flour.
Sandalwood oil and powder are a prized healing component in Ayurvedic tradition. It's scent is calming and wonderful but it is also a powerful medicine for psoriasis, eczema, rosacea or even pigmentation. It can help to even out skin tone as well. It can be expensive but is a great oil to have in your apothecary.
Who doesn't love the fresh scent of mint? Mint is sweet and cooling and calms Pitta Dosha who often has oily skin and acne. Lemon is a great cleanser but is heating in nature. The mint helps to balance this property. Honey is nature's very own skin remedy. It is antibacterial and antiseptic and is especially beneficial for oily and acne prone skin. It is also a natural humectant and will keep your skin moist but not oily. It will help prepare your skin for the moisturizer step coming up. It naturally helps your skin absorb and retain moisture.
This mask may be beneficial for any skin type on occasion. If you have been working around oils in your environment or have had excessive amounts of oil applied to your skin and you want to clear the oils away. The cooling properties of mint might be just what you need after a good sweat!
Don't forget to add cucumber slices over your eyes as you lie or sit back to let your mask do its work.
The next step is the toner. After you have thoroughly washed off your face mask of course.
Aloe Vera gel is a key ingredient here. It is rich in vitamins A and C and contains antioxidants and enzymes. It has significant anti-inflammatory properties and therefor is wonderful in treating acne, sunburn or any dry skin condition. For acne, this works so well in combination with the normal or oily skin masks. It would also be beneficial to follow a more specific acne treatment of equal parts of calamus root powder and coriander seed powder that is made into a paste with water.