Orange Juice Face Mask

Hey, guys! Today is Sunday, which is also known as laundry day at my house. Today is my day to stay home sans makeup, in my cozy flannel pants, fuzzy socks, favorite faded t-shirt, and all-too-familiar bun. It's a gruesome sight but I truly look forward to these days...don't you? I like looking nice but nothing compares to those fuzzy socks! So while I'm sitting around looking like the poster for laziness, I like to use some of my DIY face masks. Today I used one of my favorites; the orange juice/baking soda mask.

Everyone always hears how important sunscreen is, right? Well, I look better with a tan (who doesn't?) so I always thought "To heck with that! I want my summer glow!" Now I'm paying the price for it with terrible sun damage; my nose looks like I have a permanent sun burn. Not quite the summer glow I was hoping to achieve. My pores all of a sudden have just expanded within the last few months also; you could park a Buick in those babies! And my entire face has a lot of general, uneven redness. Reluctantly I must admit that all those people who said wear sunscreen, moisturize daily, and remove your makeup every night knew a thing or two! So what do I do about it now? I can see a dermatologist and spend gobs of money (that I don't have!) OR I can try some things at home, DIY style.

 If you look around Pinterest, you'll find tons of natural DIY masks targeting a number of different skin issues. So I took what knowledge I could gain from them and incorporated it into my own personalized regime. I've been using these for a few months now and, as expected, some are only good for making a mess. They can't all be winners! However, some actually do what they're supposed to. I'm going to share with you, one-by-one, those which are worth your time so you don't have to sift through all the flops and messes like I did. Here's what I used today...

This mask's ingredients are meant to exfoliate, tighten up your pores and brighten your skin. Exactly what we need, right? All you need is orange juice (it can be the juice of an actual orange or the juice from a carton but none of that Sunny D stuff, we're looking for Vitamin C here) and baking soda. 

The baking soda is your exfoliant. It's perfect for this because it is abrasive enough to slough off dead skin and remove dirt and oil from pores, but it's gentle enough that it will not scratch or irritate your delicate skin.

Orange juice is good for it's vitamin C. This improves your skin's texture and can help to brighten and rejuvenate it. Oranges also contain collagen which will slow the skin's aging process as well. 




How's that for handy? All this time you had your skin's magic treatment in your kitchen and you never even knew! I got the ingredients at the grocery for like 2 bucks and the instructions are really simple:

1. Mix together 1 tbsp of OJ and 1 tbsp of baking soda. I prefer to make a bigger batch to have on hand, so you can choose to do more or less. You're basically just mixing equal parts.
2. Smear (that's a technical term) the mixture on your face. I like to lightly 'scrub' to get maximum exfoliation and to really get it on my skin. You don't want to be too harsh; just small gentle circles. 
3. Let it set for about 20 minutes. I like to let it set a bit longer just so I feel like it really had time to do it's job but you really just need enough time for it to set up and harden.
4. Rinse! I like to lightly rub in circular motions again; really getting those exfoliating benefits.
5. (Optional) I ALWAYS use coconut oil after any mask. I gave up facial lotion long ago and substituted the coconut oil. It has antibacterial benefits and it moisturizes like a dream! If you don't have coconut oil though, just follow up with your favorite face moisturizer.

Now, some people have said that this mask tingles. Some have even said it burns. I didn't have either of these issues but I imagine it all depends how sensitive your skin is. I thought it itched at best, but you should take that into consideration when using this. If you have sensitive skin, I would suggest treating it like any other new product. I would test a small section to see how your skin reacts before applying it to your entire face. 

I saw minimal results right away, but with every application I see it more and more. Like I said, I have made a proper mess of my skin over the years, so I have a much bigger hill to climb and this mask definitely has it's work cut out for it. I do this in regular rotation with my other masks; about every 3rd day. If your skin isn't in quite as bad shape as mine though, you probably won't need it as frequently. 

This mask, along with my other DIY masks, has made my skin breakout free and SO soft! It hasn't looked this good in years! If you intend to make a bigger batch like I do, don't make so much that you can't use it all before your OJ expires. You don't want funky juice slathered on your face! And be sure to store it in the fridge (I'll spare you that horror story). Let me know if you have any questions and good luck!