Turning into my mother was never a thought that scared me.
It might sound mushy-gushy, but she always was the woman I wanted to be when I grew up. Not exactly, of course, but in terms of values and standing up for herself, in terms of being independent and creative, caring and curious… I could go on.
Which I won´t, because I know that she is reading this blog post and will probably text me “Kitsch” right this very second.
She is also my number one fan, from the very first blog post published she has been there. Not only because she is my mother, but also because we share an obsession for skincare.
Which is why she picked up the DIY Face Mask Maker by Silvercrest when she stumbled upon it, and we spend the evening in the kitchen coming up with our very own recipe.
This is, by the way, the only time you will see me in the kitchen having fun. As much as I try, I never managed to understand why some people find joy in cooking. I only find joy in eating.
But I digress. Face masks was what I meant to talk about, DIY face masks in particular.
In my youth (ah, those were the days!) every teenage magazine would suggest mixing your own beauty stuff using grape juice, yoghurt or whatever you´d find in your kitchen cupboard.
And like every faithful reader of “Bravo” I spend many a day mixing oat, honey and yoghurt and applying it to my face. I felt so fancy. And probably made a huge mess in the process.
Now, twenty years older and so much wiser (ha!), I don´t do DIY skincare anymore. Why?
Well, because it is messy and I just can´t be bothered.
And because I know a few things now that I didn´t know back then. Take oats for example: They soothe, provide antioxidants, balance skins pH and help skin repair.
But…. You knew that was coming, didn´t you? BUT applying oats, or even oat meal to your skin will not provide you with any of these benefits. Why? Because the oat meal needs to be ground up really, really small for the ingredients to penetrate your skin. It is so fine it isn´t even called oat meal anymore, it is called Avena Sativa Kernel Flour in your products INCIs.
Same goes for the fruit acids you get by mushing up an apple or the lactic acid you get from yoghurt. It is not that these things are bad for your skin, they are just so much weaker in effect compared to the ones you get in your store bought products that I personally go for the real deal instead.
If you do enjoy the process, by all means, go for it. We had a lot of fun, mixing and experimenting, and the fact that the masks you create are made from collagen, water and your liquid of choice makes them biodegradable. A sheet mask without the waste!
But for a serious skincare session I will forever rely on my store bought stuff.