Twelve Ideas for Edible Facial Masks!

I think I just might do some of these!!! Enjoy!

Healthy Skin From The Fridge
Have you ever squished a piece of ripe banana and applied it all over your face? Or, have you ever taken a spoon of raw sugar and scrubbed your hands with it? What about a touch of butter on your lips, or sliced cucumber on your eyes?

These are all grandma’s recipes for a glowing complexion and healthy skin. I also read somewhere that Cleopatra even bathed in milk.

Why don’t we take a moment to revive those good old, natural, eco-friendly ways of using food stuff to maintain healthy skin? These treatments won’t cost you extra money because you are using only a tiny portion of your everyday groceries. You will reduce your trash, and the water you use to rinse your skin is free of chemicals. The best part: these are all edible!

Eat Your Face Mask
Here are some time tested ideas and a few of my own. Find out which methods your skin likes the best.

1.Squish a small piece of ripe banana and mix it with a spoon of honey. Apply on face, let dry, rinse with cool water. Pat your face with a soft towel.
2.Using a pestle and mortar, pound some mint and basil leaves. I have even used this on a skin rash that I developed on my hands for unknown reasons. Amazingly the rash disappeared after one application!
3.Mix together a teaspoon of milk cream and whole wheat flour to a smooth paste.
4.Make a paste of 1 tablespoon of plain yogurt and flour.
5.Grind a cup of raw, dry garbanzo beans into a fine powder. Store it in an airtight jar. Use a teaspoon full mixed in water or milk once a week as a facial scrubber. You can use it as an alternative to soap, too.
6.Apply a pinch of clarified butter or ghee to heal dry, chapped lips. Go ahead and eat it!
7.When you eat an orange, save the skin and let it dry completely. Grind into a coarse powder and use it as a face scrubber. Also, take a piece of fresh orange skin, squish it and rub the juice on your face. These smell heavenly as well!
8.Wet your palms and take a teaspoon of unrefined sugar. Scrub all over your palms. Rinse with cool water.
9.Make a paste of any over ripe fruit or vegetable such as strawberry, watermelon, banana, cantaloupe, cucumber or squash and apply as a face mask.
10.Gently massage your face with a spoon of olive oil. Scrub with a teaspoon of flour. Rinse with cool water.
11.Grind a cup of blanched almonds to a smooth paste. Mix in 1 tablespoon honey. Store it in an airtight jar.

Playing Outdoors: Keeping Kids Safe in the Sun!

While one solution to protect children from harmful UV rays may be to keep children indoors away from the sun, in the long run it is more harmful for children. All of us, especially children, need some exposure to the sun to stimulate production of vitamin D for healthy bones, hair and hearts. In addition, indoor play is linked to activities that are less physical, like video games, and the sharp rise in childhood obesity is another reason for our children to get outside and run around on the grass. As long as you know what protective measures to use for your children, they can safely enjoy the health benefits of outdoor activity in the sun.

The sun is at its strongest around the noon hour, from approximately 10am - 2pm, and ultraviolet (UV) rays are the most damaging at this time. This is because the rays have to travel a shorter distance through the atmosphere to get to the Earth. Avoiding outdoor play in this range of time is a good preventative measure. Outside of this time range, going out into the sun can be made safe with protective clothing like hats, sunglasses, and sun protective swimwear. Specialized swimwear has been developed specifically to minimize the amount of UV rays through a few different mechanisms. The most reputable companies use a nylon-lycra blend that carries a 50+ ultraviolet sun protection factor (UPF). This means that the fabric keeps out 98-99% of harmful UV radiation.

You may choose to put your child in long sleeved shirts and jeans rather than invest in sun protective clothing, however, you will not be receiving the same level of protection, and you can increase their risk of heatstroke or dehydration. This type of clothing is specially manufactured to be lightweight, yet with closer-knit fabric to provide sun protection and allow air to pass through the cloth. Regular summer clothing usually has a UPF of only 5, whereas sun protection clothing has UPFs of 30+. They are a sound investment to minimize your child's risk of UV skin damage.

Teaching sun protection measures early in your children's life is an important step in helping them ward off the risk of skin cancer later in life. Everything, including sunlight, should be taken in moderation, and the best way to get just the right amount of sunlight is to wear sun protective clothing. Skin cancer is a very real danger, so it is important to take it seriously.

Oz Swimwear sells Sun Emporium, a leading Australian brand of quality swimwear - designed to offer excellent UV sun protection to delicate young skin.

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