DIY Turmeric Skin Lightening Mask
I can not stress how important it is to take care of your skin while you are young! To all of my younger readers out there, you have a leg up on us #oldies. If I could somehow scold my younger self, I would. I so, so would. But, then again, all this plethora of information that is available online wasn't available when I was a teen, so I can't be too harsh on my younger, naive self. Now that I'm in my 30's I'm doing everything I possibly can to educate myself about my skin and to care for it better and smarter.
With that said, I hope you take advantage of this DIY Turmeric Skin Lightening Mask that I've been using lately. I like to switch things up in my skincare routine so that I stay excited. Trust, I get bored of my skincare regimen all. the. time. This is why it's so important for me to experiment with new ingredients and keep things fresh! Enjoy this, pretties!
Okay, so if you haven't heard about the skincare benefits of rice flour, then first head on over to my previous post on the topic right here. It's one of the skin lightening ingredients I swear by and is in this very recipe.
Let me first clarify, by skin lightening, I am not talking about changing the color of your skin. I am specifically talking about reducing hyperpigmentation caused by acne, scarring, or just in general. Having light skin, I am prone to hyperpigmentation. However, regardless of skin color, we all are prone to hyperpigmentation in some shape or form, which is basically an overproduction of melanin in the skin.
If you suffer from hyperpigmentation, whether that be on your face or other areas of your body - be it your underarms, bikini area, thighs, knees, elbows, neck, etc., natural skin lightening remedies are available to you and are highly effective.
In my research, I have found so many amazing ingredients that work well for hyperpigmentation. I will briefly touch on the ones that are used in this recipe.
x Lemon
Lemon contains citric acid, which is a form of AHA or Alpha Hydroxy Acid making it a highly effective skin bleaching agent. Lemon promotes the turnover of new skin cells and allows the dead skin cells from the surface of the skin to - in essence - melt away. You can imagine how effective this can be for repairing damaged skin. AHAs are well known for their use in cosmetics, so why not just squeeze some natural, unprocessed lemon juice and get the same results without all of the added chemical-junk.
x Turmeric
Turmeric is one of those ingredients that you can't help but fall in love with. It is SO good - and I mean that. Not only is it good from the inside out, it's good from the outside in. It can be used both in cooking and in topical applications. Why is it so beneficial? To put it simply, turmeric contains individual phytonutrients that have effective skin lightening properties. In particular, turmeric is well-know for its phytonutrient, cucurmin, which is distinguished by its bright, yellow-orange color. Curcumin blocks the formation of free radicals and melanin production and inhibits tyrosinase, which is involved in producing the melanin pigment. It is basically a powerhouse of antioxidants, so your skin is going to drink that stuff up and love it.
x Rice flour
As I mentioned previously, I did an extensive post on the benefits of rice flour, so head on over to this post! Rice flour is honestly a miracle ingredient and just something you need to be using if you want to instantly reveal a brighter complexion. I'm speaking from experience!
x licorice root
So, a favorite pastime of mine is Googling random herbs + skin and seeing what pops up on the topic. Almost 100% of the time, I will learn some amazing skincare secret that I never knew about. Licorice root was one of those ingredients!
I discovered that when ingested, licorice root powder has the power to lower testosterone and massively inhibit androgen stimulation of the sebaceous glands, with the result being less oily skin and clogged pores. I won't dive into it in detail, but here's a very interesting video on the topic that really opened my eyes about it. I initially started taking licorice root for its ability to regulate my hormonal acne, then I discovered that it was more beneficial when applied topically.
Licorice root has amazing skin lightening properties due to its ability to also inhibit tyrosinase or melanin formation like turmeric. It is considered to contain some of the most potent skin lightening properties available in a plant. One compound, liquiritin, acts directly on melanin to disperse and remove it. Licorice root also has been shown to protect against UV radiation. Here's a more detailed article about licorice root and it's skin benefits.
DIY
TURMERIC SKIN LIGHTENING MASK
INGREDIENTS
1 tsp turmeric
1 Tbsp rice flour
3 capsules licorice root powder
Juice of half a lemon
INSTRUCTIONS
Mix all ingredients together to form a paste. Apply to the area you want to treat and then let it sit for 15 minutes or until dry. Gently rinse and exfoliate off with a sponge (this is the sponge I use) and warm water. If there is a yellow tint still remaining on your skin, remove with a toner on a cotton pad (I use witch hazel).