Last week, a mini-series began with frugal ways to continue your beauty regime as I shared two ways to maintain beautifully radiant well-moisturized skin. This week, I’d like to share a simple way for each one of us to pamper ourselves at home without buying any special products – the at-home facial.

Once a week, make a date to pamper yourself. Carve out 30-60 minutes, turn on your favorite music or television show and allow yourself to just relax. Maybe at the same time give yourself a manicure or pedicure while you wait for your mask to dry. Whatever you choose to do, I’ve gathered together the steps I follow when giving myself a facial along with recipes for making your very own mask from ingredients in your kitchen. By taking care of your skin on a regular basis (and if you can seasonal facials at a spa) your skin will continue to glow and be properly moisturize giving you the youthful look we’re all looking for.

At-Home Facial Steps:

1. Remove your hair from your face. Cleanse your face with a gentle cleanser.

2. Exfoliate with a gentle scrub. As shared last week, St. Ives Apricot Scrub works great or simply mix equal parts sugar and water for a very frugal and very gentle exfoliant for your face.

3. Steam. No fancy appliances necessary, just find yourself a large ceramic or glass bowl that is wider than your face (or use your sink). Fill it with hot water and place your face over the bowl with a towel over your head to capture all of the heat. Continue the steaming process for five minutes to open your pores.

4. Extract blackheads with a Biore strip or blackhead extractor, not with your fingers. I personally, skip this part and leave it to my facialist every three months so I don’t do any damage to my skin. Thankfully, if you take care of your skin regularly, you’ll find you won’t have to worry about this step either.

5. Apply a mask to your face depending upon your skin’s needs. If your skin is dry, apply a moisturizing mask such as honey and avocado (all recipes are below). If your skin is oily, apply a clay mask (I use Kiehl’s Rare Earth Deep Cleansing Masque – which lasts forever). And if you have normal or combination skin, try this pumpkin mask adapted from an article in Vogue from facialist Chanel Jenae of Santa Monica that uses pumpkin which has natural exfoliating acids and antioxidants (recipe below).

Depending up on the mask, keep it on for either 5-20 minutes. Ten minutes is always a good choice as it allows the ingredients to work, but not so long that it becomes tedious and uncomfortable.

6. Remove mask with a warm washcloth.

7. Then use your regular daily non-alcholic toner (my favorite for sensitive skin – Bobbi Brown’s hydrating tonic) or spritz water on your face, followed by moisturizer.

Recipes for masks:

For oily skin: Avocado/Honey Mask

Ingredients:

• 1/2 avocado (mashed)
• 1/4 honey

Directions:

1. Mix together and apply to face for 10 minutes.

For all skin types: Pumpkin Mask

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup fresh pumpkin pulp
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoon almond milk (for dry or combo skin)
• 1 teaspoon honey (for dry skin)
• 2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar or cranberry juice (if you have oily skin)

Preparation:

Purée the fresh pumpkin pulp into a thick paste. Add the egg (this acts as a binder). If your skin is dry, stir in a splash of omega-rich almond milk and the honey. For oilier complexions, instead stir in apple cider vinegar or cranberry juice. Mix well. Apply the mask, leaving it on for 15-20 minutes, depending on your skin sensitivity. Rinse with cool water and moisturize as usual.

For all skin types: Oatmeal/Honey Mask

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp oatmeal, finely ground
• 1 tbsp live, organic yogurt (skip the flavored stuff)
• A few drops of honey

Preparation:

Add the yogurt to the oatmeal in a small bowl and mix together.

Warm a few drop of honey. To do this, warm a spoon under hot water for a minute, then add a few drops of honey to the spoon.

Stir the honey into the yogurt and oatmeal mixture.

For all skin types: Egg Whites & Yogurt Mask

Ingredients:

• 2 egg whites, separated from the yolk and placed in a bowl
• 2 tablespoons of plain yogurt (Greek yogurt)

Preparation:

Separate the egg whites from a couple eggs and place them in a bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of yogurt (do not use flavored yogurt!). Mix them up and apply to face. Leave on face for a few minutes.

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