Five Natural Tips for Common Skin Problems
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Quick, effective and economical tips for stressed skin
photos: we heart this
Natural skin care is all the rage these days and for good reason; no one wants to looks at the label of the product they’re slathering on their skin and see a list of unpronounceable, synthetic ingredients. But going the natural route in skin care can be time-consuming and expensive, right? Wrong.
Natural skin care sounds complicated, but it is simply the act of using only botanically sourced ingredients (ie: those found in nature), without the addition of synthetic chemicals, when creating skin products.
But before you start clearing out your beauty cupboard and restocking it with costly products, take a good look inside your kitchen. Here you’ll find a plethora of inexpensive and effective solutions for common skin issues from natural sources that are good for your skin – inside and out.
Five Quick and Natural Tips for Common Skin Problems
1) Lemon Aid – The bright color and fresh scent not only picks up your senses, this citrus fruit naturally cleanses, tones and even helps heal skin (the low pH of lemon juice makes it antibacterial as well).
To banish those rough, dull elbows following the long winter, go with the tried and true Lemon Solution. Take a fresh lemon and cut it in half. Place them on a table, sit down and stick your elbows into the lemon halves. Relax (or play with your cell phone) for 5 to 10 minutes. Then rinse well and follow up with an all natural body lotion. The lemon will naturally exfoliate and brighten the problematic skin. Repeat every few days until elbows are ready for short sleeve season.
And for a glowing complexion create a Fresh Lemon Scrub by mixing the juice of one lemon with about a quarter cup of sugar. Carefully apply to the skin until the sugars dissolve and rinse completely.
2) Ice, Ice Baby – It’s hard to get more natural than a little frozen H2O. And the fastest way to decrease the size of a pimple is with a simple cube of ice. For large, inflamed spots, the ice will immediately reduce swelling and inflammation, as well as ease the pain. When a big pimple forms, wrap an ice cube in a thin cloth or paper towel and apply directly on the spot for 10 minutes. Repeat as needed. Highly recommended for those that suffer from cystic acne.
3) The Big Apple – Everyone knows an apple a day is good for your body – but the delish fruit is good for skin too. Always a multi-tasker, apples (with tons of vitamins and antioxidants) work well to protect and moisturize dry and/or mature skin, while their natural alpha-hydroxy fruit acids are great for gentle exfoliation for oily types and acne sufferers.
For a skin soothing, moisturizing mask that won’t cause a breakout (and even help heal a current one) use a blender or food processor to combine a raw, cored, peeled apple and about 3 tablespoons of honey – mix until it forms a paste-like consistency. Apply the mixture to the face, relax for 15 minutes and rinse with cool water.
4) Cucumbers Spa Style – With all the modern technologies found in spas across the nation these days, there is still one simple and natural treatment that is always a spa basic – cucumber slices for the eyes. The classic spa staple contains natural anti-inflammatories, while its high water content moisturizes the area and the cool temperature reduces puffiness.
To soothe tired, puffy eyes, start with a washed, chilled, organic (pesticide free) cucumber. Slice off two, semi-thick slices, than find a nice spot to lie down. Close your eyes and place the cucumbers over your eyes for about 10 to 15 minutes. After your relaxing moment, rinse the eye area with cool water.
5) Drink It Up It’s a fact the human body needs water to survive, and you can help it thrive, inside and out, by staying properly hydrated. Drinking water (in place of soda, coffee, energy drinks, etc) can help flush impurities and toxins from the system and help skin stay clear and supple.
To add some oomph to your daily intake, use the leftovers from the tips above, and add slices of cucumbers, lemon and orange to a pitcher of water. The yummy taste will help you drink your daily dose, while providing much needed Vitamin C to your diet. The skin benefits of Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid) are vital in the production of collagen to help keep skin firm and strong.
we heartsters – what are your favorite natural solutions for healthy skin?
I love this post! I am a victim of stress related breakouts and it’s such a downer when it happens. I love these ideas. Nothing better than natural, inexpensive options :)
Love these natural tips! I will try them!
Great post @Tyna
Thanks @tyna, these are great bits of helpful information! Nothing beats old Natural treatments! I have done the cucumber treatment on my tired puffy eyes but NOW I’m going to rid myseft of rough, dull elbows with your Lemon Solution above! It makes sense to stick your elbows into the lemon halves! I bet it brightens the skin too!
I remember squeezing lemons in my hair and laying out in the sun (on a blanket that looked like tin foil, no less! Ah, those were the days.)
I also like ice on puffy eyes. Wrap a couple of cubes in a wash cloth and try to deal with the cold, it works!
Good tips @tyna!
I love your tips, @tyna , and can’t wait to give them a try… one Lemon Scrub, coming up! My rough elbows and I thank you.
@stef , of course I had that same space-age tin foil blanket.
I’m right there with you! Citrus scents are my favorite for body products so a lemon scrub would make me happy no matter what. But if it gets rid of these funky elbows that I’ve been battling all winter, EVEN BETTER.
Very good tips. Especially the ice tip. I am an esthetician and I also recommend ice for active blemishes. I only recommend 1-2 mins though, because you can damage your skin (frostbite), by applying the ice for too long. :)
Thanks for the info Meownica – i didn’t know frostbite could set into the skin that fast! As an esthetician do you have any other natural skin care secrets to share? Please spill all!
Great tips! They’re all really inexpensive and good for your body :) I love putting lemon or cucumber in my water–especially when I’m trying to cut down on sugary/Splenda drinks.
Glad you like this one ladies – and I hope the lemon solution works on everybody’s rough winter elbows. I think I may pick up a few lemons on my next grocery trip – we’re going to be getting some warm weather soon – and my elbows are not ready to be out and about!
Lemons aren’t readily available in the Philippines, where I live. Is the calamansi a good alternative?
You know how when you had the chicken pox and your mom probably put you in what looked like mush to calm down your skin? That wonderful thing is called OATS. I love oats because they are great for people with hypersensitive skin (CAUTION: do not use oats if you have wheat allergies or Celiac disease!)
Oats help calm down rashes, hives, redness, the itchy scratchies, bug bites, inflamed skin, and burns. Simply put two cups of oats in a stocking, tie it up, steep into bath for five minutes, wring out (make sure you do this over the bath to get the good stuff in the bath), discard oats and stocking and soak!
Need to exfoliate? Oats can help you there too. Mash them up with sugar and honey.
If you take out the sugar and add plain Greek yogurt, you have a facial mask great for calming down your skin if you’re breaking out (from rashes, pimples or otherwise.)
Oats are fabulous!
Now I know what to do with that tub of oats I bought and swore I’d eat! Love the idea of adding sugar and honey and exfoliating, thanks @katezena
@stef – If you go to the Quaker Oats site, they have a FAQ page and one of the questions is how you can use oats for a facial. They have about a billion ways. Avocados, apples, water, eggs, the list goes on. I guess a lot of people didn’t know what to do with all of those oats!
The 5th tip is probably THE simplest, most *effective* tip ever. I haven’t had any acne problems yet (only the occasional pimples here and there…maybe I’m a late bloomer in that area?), but my sister (4 years older than me) suffered from horrible acne breakouts. Ever since she heard about the “keep dehydrated” tip and implemented it in her daily life, she no longer suffers from bad acne. It’s not magic. She still does get the occasional pimples, but it’s no longer as bad. We think it’s the water that really helped because she never changed much in her diet and in her routines (or take any antibiotics) for the acne to just go away like that. All she did was drink water basically all day.
@tyna thanks for the great natural tips! My skin can really be troublesome. Sometimes I hate using so many chemicals to try to fix it. I think that it often makes it worse. Natural may be the way to go!!
Great tips!! I like the idea of ice for pimples…..thanks!
I know plenty of homemade mask recipes for oily skin. (oily skin is my problem) Here is one of them: Mix 1 yolk wath a juice of 1 lemon and 1 teaspoon of any oil. It is very simple and doesn’t take a lot of time. On prettyandsmart.net I found this recipe: Peel one apple, slice it, add a little milk and boil it until it looks like porridge. Apply it to your face while it is warm for 20 minutes the wash it away with lukewarm water.