Last night, I was bored and browsing videos on my phone and suddenly one of Michelle Phan’s beauty video caught my attention. The video is about DIY a mask by using eggs. I have been obsessed with these beauty videos especially those DIY ones. Girls, I think some of you DIY you own mask from time to time as well. We do this because we see these DIY beauty videos not only on YouTube but also on TV sometimes. As a result, we get this feeling that” why not? making my own mask sounds fun and it might work.” So lets talk about some theories behind these DIY masks. Honey mask, one of the most popular homemade mask, contains hundreds of beneficial compounds, antibacterial, antihistamine, antioxidant. Yogurt mask contains good bacteria,Calcium,Sodium.Lemon mask contains plenty of vitamins C. Now the question is can our skin really absorb these nutrition? And the answer is no. Some nutrition from these common used masks can not be absorb effectively through your skin, instead we need to break them down and then use them and the process can be extremely difficult.
Moreover, while thinking home-made mask actually work, we rarely ask ourselves whether this is safe or not. After I finished the video, I searched the nutrition fact of raw egg white.
According to this nutrition facts sheets, we can see that egg white contains great amount of protein. However, animal protein is bot good for us because animal protein that made with tallow, fat or milk can clog our pores and lead to infections. And some infections can be severe if the person affected is prone to acne. Spread pure animal protein contaminated with bacteria, and possibly Salmonella in the form of egg white on your face may have some bad consequences. Still not believe it? think about this way, every time we eat an egg, we don’t just simply crack an egg into your mouth without cooking it. If eating a raw egg can harm our body, how can we put such thing directly on our faces?
Despite egg mask, other home-made masks have the same problem, some ingredients can be ineffective and unstable. For example, our skin has a pH of roughly 4.5-5, so its crucial to know the pH value of some of your “skincare” mask . Some common used fruits in our masks contain acids such as limes, oranges and apples. Even though some of these fruits may contain less acids but you can’t really tell until its too late. Acids, even natural ones, can burn the skin.
Next time if you want to apply a home-made mask on your face, ask yourself do you want to eat it that way. If your answer is no, then you probably do not want to use it on your face!
References
http://healthmunsta.hubpages.com/hub/DIY-Homemade-Face-Mask-Beautiful-Skin
http://www.byvalenti.com/blog/beauty/diy-egg-white-mask-and-why-is-so-bad-for-your-skin/
I think often people assume that because something is a food that we can eat it must be okay to put on our bodies/faces because we aren’t actually ingesting it. It is interesting how your pores often do not absorb the natural products such as honey that we are might include in a natural face mask. However I do think there is a benefit to using them when you look at the list of chemical that are in generic face masks and washes. For example: http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20702296_2,00.html some fruits such as pomegranates contain antioxidants and vitamin C.
I was interested to learn that acid from fruits can burn your face. Considering the dangerous effects that you pointed out in your blog, I can say that I will not be making any homemade masks for a long time. According to http://www.brit.co/diy-face-masks/ one of the best and most natural ways to moisturize dry skin is by applying mashed avocados to the effect areas. Unlike other masks that use a verity of ingredients a simple avocado mask will leave your skin feeling healthy and smooth.
This is quite interesting to hear about, especially since DIY are becoming more popular, especially due to the recent economic recession. Maybe they are correlated? It will be interesting to see whether or not this starts to go out of style as our economy strengthens. Also, being one that is paranoid about my skin, this is great information to have!