Whenever those breakouts flare up, you get the impulse to stock up on as many drugstore pimple creams as you can find. But what if there was a way to tame your acne and take care of your skin without having to spend the money? Turns out everything your skin needs doesn’t need to come from the pharmacy—it’s right there in your pantry! Here are five foods in the kitchen that will give your skin the love it deserves:
A great source of minerals, antioxidants, and Vitamin C, lemons, according to Dr. Axe, are amazing natural ingredients you can use in the toning portion of your daily facial cleansing regimen. The citric acid and antibacterial properties can lighten scars and kill bacteria in growing cysts and pimples. Use a cotton ball and soak it with a couple of drops of lemon juice and spread it on your acne spots. Wait about five to six minutes and rinse your skin with cool water.
Raw honey contains phytonutrients and antioxidants that have anti-aging and hydrating properties. It’s nature’s moisturizer! Use about a teaspoon on clean skin and wait for 15 minutes before rinsing off with lukewarm water.
Though the smell isn’t so amazing—its effects on your skin are. 7 Beauty Tips writes that this ingredient helps shrink pores, balances the pH level of your skin, and kills bacteria. Use about one teaspoon of apple cider vinegar and dilute it with two teaspoons of water. Take a cotton swab and dab your skin, wait 10 minutes, and rinse with cool water.
The plastic micro beads, now outlawed, are not the only exfoliating agents for your skin. According to Huffington Post, sugar is an easy-to-use, natural exfoliator that dissolves and doesn’t pose a threat the environment. Combine foods one and two (lemon and raw honey) to make a viscous facial mask and add sugar for your scrub. Let it dry for 10 minutes and massage the ingredients into your skin until the sugar dissolves.
A great source of vitamin A, D, and E, avocado is another moisturizer that smooths out wrinkles and hydrates the skin. Mash the avocado into a paste and leave it on your skin for 10-15 minutes before rinsing off.
Cut spending by ridding your shelf of harsh drugstore chemicals and opt for natural ingredients. We are made from the earth, it only makes sense that our skin loves what Mother Natures gave us.
