But you want to take care of your skin. Totally understandable.
So you turn to Pinterest, and discover a whole world of DIY face masks that you can make for a few dollars or less.
SCOREEEEE!!! Right?
But do they ~really~ do what they say they will do? We asked the experts about some of the most popular DIY face masks on Pinterest.
Here's who we talked to:
• Dr. David E. Bank, the director for the Center for Dermatology, Cosmetic & Laser Surgery.
• Dr. Doris Day, a New York City dermatologist and author of Forget the Facelift.
• Dr. Michele S. Green, a New York City dermatologist.
All three experts approved of the 15 DIY masks below — for the most part.
In some cases, the dermatologists disagreed with tying certain ingredients to broad beauty claims. They also emphasized that you should absolutely do your research before trying anything new, just like you would with any other beauty product. A few more things to know, according to the experts:
• If you're worried that your skin might react adversely to any of these formulas, patch test first.
• Face masks are not face scrubs. You should gently apply
• In general, you should use each of these a maximum of once per week. If you're wanting the benefits of your mask more frequently than that, you might need a night cream or a day cream that's designed to be an everyday treatment.
• You can't get all of the benefits of an ingredient by putting it on your face. Just because an ingredient contains vitamin A doesn't mean you'll get the same benefits as you would if you ate vitamin A with dinner.
Common claims: That this mask manages breakouts, and moisturizes your skin.
What the experts say: All true! It can also help reduce inflammation, a little bit. "Just make sure it's lukewarm, not hot, when you put it on your skin," says Day. "It's also unclear if you're going to really get the same effect as oatmeal products made for your skin. But it's not a bad thing, and it's inexpensive and fun to do at home."
What the ingredients do:
• Honey can make your skin moist and soft, and can help break apart excess sebum.
• Milk can help make your skin moist, and is anti-inflammatory, so it will calm down redness.
• Oatmeal can gently exfoliate your skin.
• Water (called for in these recipes on occasion) thins out the mask, so you can apply it evenly to your face.
Common claims: Many sites claim that masks like this have a Bioré Pore Strips–like effect, which helps to get rid of sebaceous filaments and blackheads. Some sites claim that milk and honey can also "do wonders" for your body.
What the experts say: In order for milk to have any effect on the rest of your body, you'd have to drink it. According to Bank, "It doesn't penetrate through the skin into your system." As for that pore strips effect: "I don't think gelatin works as well as the pore strips," says Day, "but you will feel the tightening on your skin."
Here's what the ingredients actually do:
• Honey can make your skin moist and soft, and can help break apart excess sebum.
• Milk can help make your skin moist, and is anti-inflammatory, so it will calm down redness a little bit. But in this mask, it's primarily going to make the mask a spreadable consistency.
• Tea tree oil can be both antibacterial and anti-inflammatory, which can help acne.
• Gelatin can dry and clean out your pores.
Common claims: These masks say they'll brighten your skin, clear breakouts, and even out your skin tone.
What the experts say: "Cinnamon can be very irritating to the skin," says Day (as some followers of a popular vlogger learned the hard way). So this would definitely be a mask to patch test before you actually use it. But once you're sure it won't upset your skin, it's OK to try.
"The nutmeg is going to be ever so slightly exfoliating," says Dr. Bank, "which is going to open up the pores. Plus, since pores are two-way streets, it allows the other ingredients to penetrate deeper into the skin." While it won't necessarily clear a breakout that's already happened, this mask might help prevent future ones.
Here's what the ingredients actually do:
• Honey can make your skin moist and soft, and can help break apart excess sebum.
• Cinnamon has some antibacterial properties, which can help prevent acne.
• Nutmeg can help gently exfoliate.
Common claims: Could clear your pores, and get rid of impurities. Some sites claim it will regenerate your skin tissue.
What the experts say: Clay masks aren't exactly new — "Clay has been around since the Egyptians," says Bank. While the claim that it gets rid of impurities doesn't really say much, and the mask certainly doesn't "regenerate skin tissue," it can help with oily skin. "It can help control oil, which can indirectly help acne," says Day.
Here's what the ingredients do:
• Clay can help dry out oily skin, gently exfoliate the skin, and can be antibacterial — all of which can help indirectly prevent acne.
• Apple cider vinegar is slightly antibacterial, which can help kill bacteria that causes acne.
5. Lemon Juice + Honey + Buttermilk + Cocoa + Greek Yogurt + Banana (in various combinations)
Common claims: Fights blemishes, clears pores, hydrates skin, rejuvenates the skin, fades scars and age spots, tightens skin.
What the experts say: The only risk for this is that it may not do much for you, since there's just a tiny bit of a bunch of things. But nothing in it is going to harm your skin. Day points out that the particles in the cocoa powder are really too large to do much at all for your face besides make it smell like chocolate. Also, be careful not to get this in your eyes, because the lemon juice could sting!
Here's what the ingredients do:
• Lemon juice can be slightly antibacterial, and a little exfoliating.
• Honey can make your skin moist and softer, and can help break apart excess sebum.
• Buttermilk (like milk) helps make your skin moist, and is anti-inflammatory, so it can calm down redness.
• Banana (and many fruits) have enzymes in them that can help break down bonds between dead skin cells on the surface of your skin, which is a long way of saying "is mildly exfoliating" — but there's so little of it in this mask that, for the most part, it simply makes this mask a pleasant texture.
• Greek yogurt can be soothing and hydrating, much like milk.
• Cocoa makes the mask chocolaty.
A note about the lemon juice: We asked the derms about the risks of putting lemon juice on your face (because there have been concerns about it — read more about that here and here). "Unless you have an open sore, these masks are going to be working at the most superficial levels of the skin," says Bank. "These are not really deep chemical peel kind of treatments where you have stuff that’s ripping its way down well into the dermis and epidermis, and that’s where you're going to get the sudden mega pH change."
That said, if you do use citrus on your face, you should make sure it's completely washed off before you go in the sun, so you don't get a chemical burn (read more about why that happens here). And like we said above, don't get it in your eyes!
Common claims: The banana is anti-aging, the oil is hydrating, and the egg is beneficial for scarring and contains vitamins that aid in circulation and make your skin look healthier.
What the experts say: It isn't really anti-aging — it mostly just gently breaks down the bonds between dead skin cells (as in, gently exfoliates), and even then its effect is pretty mild. "Kiwi or papaya could be a stronger exfoliant," says Day. The mask doesn't get rid of wrinkles, and you won't get all of the B2, B3, or zinc benefits of the egg yolk through your skin either (you'd have to eat the egg, instead).
What the ingredients actually do:
• Banana can mildly exfoliate your skin.
• Egg can help tighten and tone your skin in the short term.
• Almond oil (and the alternative oils) can moisturize your skin.
Common claims: That this mask prevents breakouts, gets rid of excess sebum, unclogs pores, and gets rid of pollution and dirt.
What the experts say: "This one's a nice one," says Bank. "Honey is soothing and hydrating, [and] because of its own viscosity and consistency can help break apart excess sebum. Lemon again has antibacterial properties. Baking soda we love in dermatology — it's anti-inflammatory, it's antibacterial." Again, be careful not to get lemon juice in your eyes.
Also, although some blogs call this a scrub, it's better as a mask: Do not vigorously (or even gently) rub this on your skin. Just apply it (as gently as you can), let it sit for a bit, and then rinse off.
What the ingredients actually do:
• Honey can make your skin moist and softer, and can help break apart excess sebum.
• Lemon juice can be slightly antibacterial, and a little exfoliating.
• Baking soda can be anti-inflammatory and antibacterial.
Common claims: This mask can lighten dark spots, help shrink your pores, and moisturize your skin.
What the experts say: Because the lemon juice is slightly exfoliating, it might be able to lighten dark spots of pigmentation on your skin (but don't get it in your eyes). And egg whites do have a slight drying effect, so that can help tighten pores — although only in the short term. It's not a long-term fix.
Here's what the ingredients actually do:
• Lemon juice can be slightly antibacterial, and a little exfoliating.
• Honey can make your skin moist and softer, and help break apart excess sebum.
• Egg can help tighten and tone your skin, in the short term.
Common claims: Coconut oil is antiseptic, and green tea soothes rosacea, acne, and sun damage.
What the experts say: This is totally legit. "Green tea is one of the most potent anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatories, so it's going to help get rid of redness, inflammation, rosacea, acne, and sun damage," says Bank.
Will the coconut oil clog your pores, though? Turns out, according to Bank, it's comedogenic for some people, but not for others — and it doesn't matter if they're acne-prone or not. This could be a good candidate for patch-testing, if you're not sure how your skin will react.
What the ingredients do:
• Coconut oil can be slightly antiseptic, and will help moisturize your skin.
• Green tea can help reduce redness and inflammation.
• In this context, water thins out the mixture enough for you to put it on your face.
Common Claims: Coffee wakes up your skin, and geranium oil brightens your skin and lightens dark spots.
What the experts say: While both Bank and Green disputed the idea that it would wake up your skin, caffeine does have some positive effects. "Caffeine can be absorbed to some extent through the skin," says Bank, "so you may have a little bit of an effect on some of the skin cells, and even on some of the most superficial blood vessels. That gives you a little bit of a vessel tightening and constricting effect, which is going to diminish any slight swelling or puffiness under the eyes."
Remember that this is a mask, even though it looks a little like a scrub. So, don't rub or scrub this on your skin. Day recommends adding a little more coconut oil or honey to make it a more mask-like consistency, and to give your skin the benefits of those ingredients, too.
What the ingredients do:
• Geranium facial oil can brighten your skin, and make it softer.
• Coconut oil can be slightly antiseptic, and will help moisturize your skin.
• Coffee grounds could slightly reduce swelling or puffiness.
Common Claims: It fades acne scars, cleans out your pores, and prevents future acne.
What the experts say: Baking soda, in mask form, won't fade your acne scars, according to Bank. And Day notes again that cinnamon might irritate your skin (like before: learn from Marie Lopez's followers), so patch test this, first.
What the ingredients will actually do:
• Honey can make your skin moist and softer, and help break apart excess sebum.
• Cinnamon can have some slight antibacterial properties, which can help prevent acne.
• Baking soda can be anti-inflammatory and antibacterial.
Common claims: According to many websites, just applying one egg white to your face tightens and tones your skin, and reduces excess sebum.
What the experts say: It does tighten and tone your skin, and does help reduce excess sebum. But the tightening and toning effects are only temporary. Some blogs also talk about the vitamins and nutrients in the egg, which you won't necessarily see the benefits of without eating the egg.
What the ingredient does:
• Egg can help tighten and tone your skin, in the short term.
Common claims: The fruit and egg work together to soften and tighten skin, which makes your skin look younger (whatever that really means) and reduces wrinkles over time.
What the experts say: "Avocado would be a nice overall kind of hydrating, healthy gently exfoliating kind of mask," says Bank. "But I can't necessarily support the claim that it reduces wrinkles over time." Day said that it could reduce wrinkles a little bit by hydrating and "plumping up your skin," but also said that you'd still have to use retinol and sunscreen for long-term wrinkle prevention and reduction.
What the ingredients will do:
• Egg can help tighten and tone your skin, in the short term.
• Banana can gently exfoliate your skin.
• Avocado can primarily hydrate your skin, and also be slightly exfoliating.
Common claims: That this mask will firm and prevent wrinkles, hydrate your skin, soften your skin, kill bacteria, and increase your skin's UV defense. (Sometimes this mask includes honey, too.)
What the experts say: The coconut oil would definitely hydrate your skin. "The problem that I would have would be with "preventing wrinkles" and "increasing UV defense," says Bank. "That, I don't have any science to back up — it's unsubstantiated."
"I wouldn't count on it as a sunscreen," says Day. She also says, "Dark cocoa powder is too big of a particle to do anything real deep." But you do get the moisturizing benefits of coconut oil.
What the ingredients will do:
• Coconut oil can be slightly antibacterial, and can help moisturize your skin.
• Cocoa powder can be very slightly exfoliating, and slightly anti-inflammatory.
Common claims: This mask soothes and prevents acne, reduces pore size, fades sun spots and age spots, controls excess oil, and contains enzymes that exfoliate dead skin cells. (Some recipes also contain yogurt or milk).
What the experts say: Mostly these are true. But, the mask doesn't fade sun spots and age spots because it has any inherent bleaching properties — instead, the pumpkin can (like the fruit in earlier recipes) gently exfoliate the skin, which could fade those spots with repeated use of the mask over time. Day also says to use a vtamin E made for topical use, not vitamin E from a capsule as some websites suggest (here's a bottle for $9.99).
What the ingredients do:
• Vitamin E can help moisturize your skin (and won't clog your pores).
• Honey can make your skin moist and soft, and can help break apart excess sebum.
• Pumpkin can be lightly exfoliating, and be somewhat antibacterial (which can prevent acne).
This is Dr. Day's dream DIY mask. She suggests putting it on, lighting your favorite candle, and chilling out with some lemon juice and honey in hot water for a ~spa experience~. (We would probably pour ourselves a glass of wine. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)
Here's her recommended recipe:
• 1/2 avocado, mashed, to help hydrate and to slightly exfoliate your skin.
• 1/4 banana, mashed, to give the mask a nice consistency, and to slightly exfoliate your skin.
• 1 Tbsp coconut oil to help hydrate your skin and help prevent acne.
• 2 Tbsp dark organic honey to help make your skin moist and soft, and to help break apart excess sebum.
• 1/4 cup ground, raw oatmeal to help gently exfoliate your skin. (Add more oatmeal until it's at a consistency you like.)
Original article and pictures take http://www.buzzfeed.com/nataliebrown/heres-what-dermatologists-said-about-those-diy-pinterest-fac?utm_term=.guggV3YGw site
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