Skincare is Self-Care DIY

At certain points during the school year, I find keeping up with studying, club meetings, and alotting time for my social life extremely stressful. At times I feel as if there are not enough hours in the day to complete all of my school work and get enough sleep so I can repeat the process again the next day. The combination of stress and lack of sleep leads me to find acne breakouts when I wake up for class, or just my skin looking dull and dry. Large amounts of stress can cause a stress-related hormone called CRH, or corticotrophin-releasing hormone, to cause acne breakouts to many different skin types. To help combat breakouts, I ventured into the world of skincare to find an effective way to diminish this negative effect of stress. Lush, a popular skin and body care company, led me to a popular face mask to help conquer my problem. I was recommended Oatifix, an oatmeal based mask that is marketed to people with dry skin (me). After immeaditaley seeing changes and falling in love with the product, I was disappointed to find that the closest Lush store to Boone was over an hour away. I looked to the internet to find an easy DIY for an alternative. I have posted it below!

I like to keep in mind that doing something as simple as a 15 minute face mask before you go to bed is more than just paying big bucks for sliced cucumbers over your eyes and having chemicals spread on your face. The key of self-care is taking time to do something to personally benefit you and provide you with what you need to relax and feel better. Skincare is a great way to physically remove toxins from your body, feel refreshed, and help boost confidence with a radiant glow!

Oatifix DIY (Shoutout to The Illuum)

INGREDIENTS

1 mashed banana

1/2 cup oatmeal

10 almonds

1 tablespoon vegetable glycerin

A few drops of sandalwood essential oil (optional)

WHAT TO DO

Using a blender or food processor (or, if you’re old-school, a pestle and mortar), ground up the oatmeal and almonds

In a bowl, mix the resulting powder with your mashed banana

Add in the glycerin and sandalwood oil and stir

Put it on your face and leave for 15 minutes

Rinse off

Refrigerate any leftovers

https://www.theilluum.com/home-1/diy-lush-oatifix-face-mask