Tag skincare

For me, nothing says self-care like a homemade creamy avocado face mask. My unending love affair with avocados, won’t be over anytime soon, lol! Today I decided to share one of my go-to Avocado face masks that are great for a dewy complexion and a must for the summertime (I’ve switched up my recipe since my last blog post and this version is just as awesome).

DIY Fresh Avocado Face Mask: Ingredients

1. Avocado: An excellent ingredient for moisturizing the skin, it’s a good source of potassium which is also known as the ”youth mineral”. Avocado also boosts collagen production, contains vitamin E, softens, reduces the appearance of fine lines, and wrinkles. This recipe requires one ripened, medium-sized avocado (enough for two applications).

2. Turmeric: helps with acne scarring, anti-inflammatory; calms the skin, dry skin, wrinkles, contains antioxidants and helps with a variety of skin conditions. You will use one tablespoon (organic) of turmeric powder as part of your face mask recipe.

3. Raw honey: antibacterial, loaded with antioxidants, moisturizing, soothes the skin, evens complexion (lightens the skin), heals the skin, and aids in regeneration (I’ve also got an awesome raw honey face mask recipe too! I typically add one to two tablespoons of raw honey to my mixture.

4. Cinnamon: helps eliminate acne and pimples on face and body ( kills bacteria associated with acne production), anti-fungal, adds moisture to the skin by improving blood flow to the surface of the skin, stimulates skins natural collagen, fades acne scars, blemishes, etc. This recipe requires cinnamon powder and not the sticks! You don’t need a lot of cinnamon for your DIY mask; simply use 1/2 a teaspoon full.

5. Spirulina: A blue-green algae rich in antioxidants, vitamins C and E which help reduce inflammation and neutralizes the damaging effects of free-radicals. It also detoxifies, tightens, brightens, lifts, and hydrates the skin. Be sure to add one level tablespoon of organic spirulina and be sure to fully incorporate it into your mixture.

Avocado Face Mask: Preparation

Make sure the avocado is well-ripened. Next, use a fork or hand mixer to blend the honey and avocado mixture. Gradually add in the dry ingredients and blend until fully incorporated and chill the mixture in the fridge for 5-10 minutes. Any surplus face mask mixture can be stored in the fridge for a few days in a tightly sealed container to avoid oxidation.

DIY Avocado Fresh Face Mask: Usage and application

Apply your mask to clean dry skin and leave on for 10 -15mins and then rinse off with tepid water. Follow up with your usual skincare routine afterward. Have you tried any of my other recipes? Check out this recipe from an earlier post right here!

About your ingredients: Where I get mine

A rule of thumb for me is to always buy your ingredients from trusted sources. Even when I buy produce from conventional grocery stores, I make sure that they are organic. The same applies to most of the spices used in both my culinary and DIY recipes.

Etsy is also a great place to shop online for both locally sourced and organic ingredients. While I do recommend amazon for some things, when it comes to food grade items and spices, I stick to local and organic for best practices. In my experience, you’re less likely to get poor quality and or contaminated items.

If Etsy is not an option for you can buy some of your ingredients from amazon once you’ve done some in-depth review of the vendors (I start with the average review score coupled with what the lowest customer review state. It’s a good way to get past those reviews that are either paid or promotional).

DIY Fresh Face Mask: Usage and application

Apply to clean dry skin and leave on for 10 -15mins and rinse off with tepid water. Follow up with your usual skincare routine afterward. Have you tried any of my other recipes? Check out this recipe from an earlier post right here!

About your ingredients: Where I get mine

Rule of thumb for me is always buying your ingredients from trusted sources. Even when I buy produce from conventional grocery stores, I make sure that they are organic. The same applies to most of the spices used in both my culinary and DIY recipes.

Etsy is also a great place to shop online for both locally sourced and organic ingredients. While I do recommend amazon for some things, when it comes to food grade items and spices, I stick to local and organic for best practices. In my experience, you’re less likely to get poor quality and or contaminated items. When I go grocery shopping, I always keep this in mind whenever I’m picking up produce and meat items.

Speaking of grocery shopping, If you’re feeling overwhelmed about how to shop for fresh food items that are pesticide-free and minimally processed, you can grab my Introductory Produce and Pantry Detox Shopping Guide grab a copy HERE!!

 

“Avocados are packed with powerful anti-oxidants that fight the appearance of dark spots and helps heal the skin!”

A little about Tonyé

Tonye Tariah, Holistic Health Strategist and founder of Freedom at The Crossroads Blog, helps free women from inaction and unhealthy habits so they can get fit, healthy, and live free. Her approach is “the cookie-cutter method only works for cookies,” meaning she helps each person in a unique way helps them transform their lives from the inside out. She’s not about helping you lose weight quickly. She’s about changing your habits and helping you fall in love with yourself so you can live a life with pure joy.

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As a fellow skincare freak, you all know how hard it is to try out new skincare products. While I always prefer my organic and all natural skin care lines (i.e. Benu Cosmetics, Coocon Apothecary, etc).
I received a complimentary gift of L’oreal’s hyaluronic and vitamin c serums from Influenster in exchange for an honest product review! (please note, there are also affiliate links located in this post).

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Hello, skincare freaks! It’s your undomesticated African goddess giving you the 411 on the skincare front again! I recently received complimentary full-size samples of L’Oréal’s seem intensive hyaluronic acid and vitamin C serums. While I’m all about clean beauty lines, I still like to keep my finger on the pulse of “conventional” (i.e. department store) beauty brands. I also like to know what’s new on the market. Having said all of that, I refuse to put anything on this melanin rich-skin that’s suspect! 

Now on to my skincare review! 

When I first received this Influenster Voxbox, I was excited. Well, what woman isn’t excited about receiving a surprise gift?! Now, for those of you who don’t know, hyaluronic acid is very hydrating. By virtue of its chemical properties, hyaluronic acid is capable of holding more than 1000x it’s weight in water!

Needless to say, I had no problem slathering on L’Oreal’s hyaluronic acid serum. As for the ingredients, I could not find anything that was particularly a no-go ingredient but I’m still on the fence. I’m never a fan of long ingredient lists nor do I like having to decipher chemical names of ingredients. 

Does it work?

The next question is, was it effective in changing the overall texture and suppleness of my skin? I’m not sure it was enough to justify the hype. While it did give me some much needed extra hydration for the winter, it did not work any miracles. That’s not to say that it won’t do something phenomenal for your skin, but I’m really picky when it comes to skincare!

Since I received both items at the same time, I decided to incorporate L’Oreal’s vitamin C serum into my skincare routine. I must confess to liking the texture and feel of this particular serum. It went on smooth and also provided additional hydration as well as suppleness. After using this for over 2 weeks, I don’t see a significant change in the evening of my skin tone. I do have a little freckling from sun exposure, but I’m still waiting to be wowed by the vitamin C serum.

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My final takeaway on these products

Other than the natural benefits of vitamin C (i.e. anti-oxidant rich, anti-aging, etc), I fail to see what’s so spectacular about it. So, the jury is still out on both of these products in terms of wow-factor! While they do have some beneficial properties as I mentioned above, you’ll have to try it yourself to see if it does more for you.

As for me, I’ll continue to use my all-natural skincare and DIY recipes!

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Tonye Tariah, Holistic Health Strategist and founder of Freedom at The Crossroads Blog, helps free women from inaction and unhealthy habits so they can get fit, healthy, and live free. Her approach is “the cookie cutter method only works for cookies,” meaning she helps each person in a unique way helps them transform their lives from the inside out. She’s not about helping you lose weight quick. She’s about changing your habits and helping you fall in love with yourself so you can live a life with pure joy.

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Time for some skin and skincare indulgence! It all starts right here with some of my favorite goodies! I love, love, love me some DIY skincare and no, I’m not letting any of it fall out of my hands!  Ha, ha resistance is futile Y’all! But on a more serious note, I’ll always remember my mom’s constant mantra of “take care of your skin, and it will take care of you”, “what you eat shows up on your face”, yadda yadda, yadda…

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Turns out mama was right and thank God I listened! Diet, exercise, and nutrition make up the foundation for great glowy and healthy skin; so put away the gimmicks and tricks to hide the evidence of poor nutritional habits and start taking care of YOUR HEALTH! Did I mention the whole thing about diet, exercise, and nutrition? Yeah? Ok GOOD!! There is no shortcut to beautiful skin, and barring such things as hormonal changes, genetics, etc, REMEMBER: YOUR SKIN IS THE LARGEST ORGAN OF YOUR BODY, get it? Ok now let’s move on to the fun stuff.

Lately, I’ ‘ve become even more about all natural skincare and beauty items, especially DIY skincare. This is because I’m researching and learning so much more about the beauty and skincare industry as well as it’s dark side! Skincare lines that I thought or were claiming to be “all natural”, actually aren’t and I’ve become almost obsessed with it. I fully admit to being a DIY skincare freak and I’m proud of it, so there. The good news is, anyone can become a skincare freak by simply educating yourself about your health and nutrition as well as those products that act as nirvana for your particular skin type.Everybody’s skin is different in terms of sensitivities, needs, problem areas, etc.

My skincare actually starts with what’s in my pantry and If you’ve got tons of processed stuff in there you need to detox your pantry and fridge ASAP! I believe the best thing you can do for your skin is to eat tons of fresh fruits, veggies, spices, etc. Did you know that turmeric, cinnamon, avocado (all ingredients that I use in my DIY skincare, by the way) are awesome for the skin?

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I Was blessed to have a mom who believed that your skin is a reflection of your internal health and it’s also a “canvas” upon which you express yourself through makeup and attitude. So over the years, I’ve tried just about every major skincare line and their bargain brands too! I’ve learned to “evolve” on my skincare product choices based on the needs of my skin and the consistency of product integrity. Needless to say, I’ve moved away from major brands that constantly “REFORMULATE” certain products in their skincare lines; it works for them, but most of the time my skin yells “No, No, No”.

I’ve got a long list of favorites but my foundational skincare regime is made of skincare lines that use nonsynthetic natural products and are NOT constantly changing out formulas! But for the most part, I’ve learned to use my own DIY skincare secrets that nourish and enhance my skin. As a matter of fact, I recently created a yummy spiced avocado mask to soften and moisturize my skin.

I love making DIY skincare mask because I know the benefits of every single ingredient I added to it. Plus, it’s organic and infused with essential oils. You can actually watch my latest skincare video with step-by-step instructions.

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Tonye Tariah, Holistic Health Strategist and founder of Freedom at The Crossroads Blog, helps free women from inaction and unhealthy habits so they can get fit, healthy, and live free. Her approach is “the cookie cutter method only works for cookies,” meaning she helps each person in a unique way helps them transform their lives from the inside out. She’s not about helping you lose weight quick. She’s about changing your habits and helping you fall in love with yourself so you can live a life with pure joy.

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