Michelle has two questions…It is true that natural facial mask ingredients like avocado, honey, and yogurt really don’t work because the molecules are so big that they don’t penetrate into your skin? And if I add a few drops of baby vitamins to my facial serum or mask, will it work as well or better than the vitamin facial products that the drugstores sell?
The Right Brain Responds:
Thanks for the questions, Michelle. Here are your answers:
Skin penetration
You’re right when you say that the natural ingredients you mentioned (avocado, honey, and yogurt) don’t really do much to improve your skin. But the reason they don’t work isn’t really related to the size of the molecule. It’s because they don’t treat the surface of the skin in the right way.
Facial masks and moisturizers work on the surface of skin to hydrate it. Ingredients that are good at sealing in moisture, like oils, are the most useful in this type of formulation. Of the ones you mentioned, avocado would be the best because of it’s high oil content. But avocado oil by itself doesn’t lock in moisture as well as most of the ingredients used in facial products. Honey and yogurt don’t work this way at all.
Vitamin boost
Adding extra vitamins won’t improve your facial products because most vitamins don’t really do much for the skin when applied topically. There are some exceptions. Vitamins C and E can have some beneficial effect but they must properly stabilized. Adding the kind of vitamins that are meant to be taken orally really won’t help your lotion or mask work better.
The Beauty Brains bottom line
This may sound a bit conceited but if it was possible to dramatically increase the efficacy of a given cosmetic product by simply adding a touch of an additional ingredient, then the cosmetic chemists who formulate these products would probably already have done that!
Do you have any DIY tricks you do on YOUR cosmetics? Leave a comment and share your secrets with the rest of the Beauty Brains community.
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Thank you verry much!!!
Wouldn’t the lactic acid in yogurt be beneficial as an exfoliant?
and cosmetic chemists might not add it because of refrigeration issues.
Hey, wait a minute! I have to disagree with the last paragraph!
The CCs will do whatever is the cheapest, not the most effective. Companies will give you the bare minimum to save a few bucks, (which is apparent in the fact that if a company’s claims matched their products performances, we would all be super hot right now!)
But, yeah, edible vitamins don’t do a lot for skin when applied.
As a general rule, I don’t like to use avocado oil in my DIY stuff anyways. It’s far too delicate to keep around, even when refrigerated. It’s easier to just mash up a fresh avocado with some citric acid and add that to a formula. It seems to work better on hair than on skin for some reason. I think my scalp just likes it more.
I have to agree that yogurt does work slightly as a gentle skin smoother, it’s probably the lactic acid, it might also be some of the ingredients added, as it definitely depends on the brand you use – Real honey also works as a gentle exfollient, (make sure it’s real honey not honey flavored syrup lol) I’m guessing because of the enzymes? Leave it on for about 25 minutes though to experience the full effect. You can also mix it with just a small bit of extra virgin olive oil (half a teaspoon) and massage it gently, this will help to remove dead skin cells. Also, the best DIY mask for the skin that I have found through trial and error is to use dried parsley and grind it up to form a powder, (you can use a mortar for herbs, or just grind it with the back of a spoon against a hard surface) Make sure you have about a full tablespoon of dried powder. Then add just enough hot water to form a pulstice, mix it, and when it’s warm smear it all over the face and let it dry until it starts to flake off. You can also sleep in this mask although it might be a little messy – no big deal, just vaccuum up the little dried flakes. Be careful around your eyes though, you don’t want to get something in your eye. It might leave little pale greenish residue if your skin is dry, so use something gentle as a toner after you’ve rinsed your face – I recommend an alcohol-free witch hazel toner or simple vegetable glycerin. This works great, removes all traces of light green, but doesn’t strip away from the skin. This is great for healing scabs, acne, for cooling sunburn, inflammation, etc. I swear by it.