In the mood to pamper yourself with a luxurious, cooling, highly moisturizing, face smoothing at-home spa facial? I was yesterday!

I whipped this mask up while baby was napping and tried it while doing dishes in my bathrobe. (Yes, yes, my idea of “pampering” and “luxury” have shifted just a tad now that I have an infant as a roommate.) But it WAS luxurious and my face is feeling ridiculously smooth today. Having a point of reference now, I can say my neck and cheeks feel smooth as a baby’s bottom after trying this face mask.

Check it out!

How To Make It

1/4 cucumber

1 tablespoon raw honey

3 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream

1. Put the cucumber and 1/2 tablespoon of heavy cream in a blender or food processor and blend until it’s finely shredded.

2. Pour the cucumber into a mixing bowl and add the honey and the remainder of the heavy cream. Using an electric mixer, mix till the heavy cream starts to thicken to a nice, whipped cream / paste consistency.

3. Apply to your face and neck, and let sit for 15 to 20 minutes.

4. Wash off completely with warm water. You may want to use a gentle exfoliating pad if the fats in the heavy cream aren’t wiping off completely. (I’ve found if you wash the mask off in the shower, the cream washes off easily.)

Why These Ingredients

Cucumber

So whenever people think of cucumber in relation to skin care, it’s usually cucumber slices laid over the eyes that comes to mind. But the BEST use of cucumber for skin care is using it in pureed form. Here’s why:

– Cucumber flesh is mostly comprised of water that is rich in ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and caffeic acid, both of which help soothe skin irritations and reduce swelling. The acids act chemically to prevent water retention, which is why cucumbers are usually applied to eyes to reduce swelling and dark circles.

– They have the same pH levels as human skin, so they help to restore the protective acid mantle, making your skin a hostile environment for acne breakouts.

– They also possess hydrating, nourishing and astringent properties. The vitamin C in cucumbers especially boosts the manufacture of collagen (the substance that makes your skin elastic), which directly influences the look and feel of your skin.

– Cucumber is also rich in fiber and contains a variety of beneficial minerals including silica, potassium and magnesium. The silica in cucumber is an essential component of healthy connective tissue.

Overall, cucumber juice improves the complexion, hydration and health of the skin, leaving your face with that elusive, after spa treatment glow.

Honey

Before the invention of over the counter and pharmaceutical antibacterial skin treatments, honey was used extensively around the world for healing and beauty. In fact, honey was one of Cleopatra’s beauty secrets! Here’s how it works:

– Honey is naturally antibacterial, so it’s great for acne treatment and prevention. Research from the American Journal of Clinical Dermatology shows that honey effectively reduces redness and patchy skin tone, due to its antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties.

– Professor Peter Molan, a scientist from the Honey Research Unit at the University of Waikato, claims that all honey contains hydrogen peroxide, an antimicrobial, at varying concentrations. Honey not only helps to minimize the appearance of blemishes, but also can prevent the recurrence of acne lesions, the cause of skin blemishes.

– It’s full of antioxidants, so it is great for slowing down aging.

– It is extremely moisturizing and soothing, so it helps create a glow. When you wash the honey off your skin, a small amount remains in the pores. As a result, the sugars in the honey attract water from the air, which keeps your skin hydrated.

– Honey is clarifying because it opens up pores making them easy to unclog.

– Honey contains the sugars glucose and fructose, natural alpha-hydroxy acids that exfoliate the skin. Natural exfoliants reduce the appearance of skin blemishes and work to leave the skin smooth and even in tone.

Just remember, if you’re going to use honey for skin care, it must be raw honey. Heating honey through pasteurization destroys all of the pollen, enzymes, propolis, vitamins, amino acids, antioxidants, minerals, and aromatics.

Heavy Cream

This is another one of Cleopatra’s beauty secrets! Cleo took milk baths to help her skin stay soft, supple and glowing. After trying out two different milk based face masks in the last month, I’m planning on doing the same. Here’s why:

– Heavy cream contains lactic acid, an alpha hydroxy acid that gently sloughs away dead skin cells and also promotes cell renewal. In her book, “The Skin Care Ingredient Hand Book,” author and skin-care manufacturer Linda Walker says these exfoliating properties are ideal for reducing wrinkles, pigmentation and discoloration.

– Because of the moisturizing fats in heavy cream, it helps to calm redness from a sunburn or to reduce some of the dryness and itching caused by skin conditions like acne. It also has amino acids which enhances water retention and skin moisture and allows for deeper penetration into the skin.

– Heavy cream can help prevent damage from environmental toxins because it is rich in antioxidants. Chock full of vitamins D, A and E – all of which help with skin cell growth – this is the heavy hitter than makes your skin feel baby soft afterwards. It’s those retinol and beta-carotenes helping to improve the overall look and feel of your skin.

– In “Milady’s Skin Care and Cosmetic Ingredients Dictionary,” Natalia Michalun and Varinia Michalun note that the lactic acid found in milk also effectively hydrates the skin by increasing its water retention capacity.

If you haven’t tried using milk or heavy cream on your face, you really need to. Serious. It’s yields such immediate results you really have to try it to believe it.

What is your favorite combination for at home facial masks? Let me know, I’d love to try out and blog about any suggestions!

Also, if you are interested in trying raw honey for skin care, check out my Mohawk Valley Raw Honey Review and Giveaway for a chance to win 3 jars of raw honey!