#NicaDIY: Discover Our Organic Facial Masks

We love trying out DIYs or baking here at NICA HQ, and we've decided that we no longer want to keep our crafty trials to ourselves! So, we’re going to share them with you right here upon Nica's Notebook.

This week, we’re turning our hand to edible face masks. What could be better than creating a completely organic feast for the skin with leftovers that we can then scoff?!  

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So, we've rounded up some lovely assistants from the Nica team with different skin types, and popped along to our local shop to pick up some very basic and rather cheap ingredients in order to create two different facial masks. And of course, we turned to some of our favourite blogs for recipe inspiration beforehand.

Best for Oily Skin: Apple and Pear Facial Mask

Ingredients

1 x Green apple

1 x Pear

1 x tablespoon of organic, low fat yogurt

If you suffer from oily skin and what to balance out your pores, then, one of the most effective organic facial masks to turn to combines a mixture of apple and pears. We learnt from Facial-Homemade that the apple contains ursolic acid which helps to banish oil, as well as, alpha hydroxy acids that helps to clear up the pores and even make them smaller! The yoghurt imbues your skin cells with much needed protein, and the pear helps to smooth out its overall appearance.

We simply grated one apple, mashed up a pear and mixed together with a table spoon of organic, low fat yoghurt. We must admit that it didn't have the best smell after adding the yoghurt though! It was a bit messy to apply and bits did keep falling off too. We left it for 15 minutes before removing with warm water, followed by a splash of cold water as to close up the pores again. 

Our Results?

Our skin is still feeling soft and balanced the next day, and it definitely helped to smoothen out and remove any graininess from its surface, so, we'd be interested in seeing the effect after a few more applications. It also makes a great summertime mask as it creates a cooling effect upon the skin. The process was a bit messy though... So, we're not too sure if we'll actually go to the effort of doing it all over again. 

Best for Banishing Breakouts: Strawberry Facial Mask

Ingredients:

4 x Strawberries

1 x Tablespoon of Sour Cream

Inspired by Eco Beauty Secrets, our Strawberry facial mask is cheap yet effective, as this fruit of choice is packed with salicylic acid that is known to unblock pores and prevent breakouts. 

We simply took the four strawberries and mixed in the sour cream, and applied to the face for 15 minutes. 

Before testing out the mask, the complexion of our lovely NICA assistant was fairly mixed with some dry patches and a slightly oily T-zone, and hoped it'd even out her complexion.

Our Results?

The application of the mask was a bit tricky as the consistency was a mixture between runny and lumpy, so, parts of it kept sliding down the face. After washing the mixture off, the skin was left feeling quite soft, and also slightly more even the following morning– with less dry patches and oily spots!

Overall, we found the face mask quite messy but it did make a small difference after just the one use, so, it's definitely a good idea if you want a cheap and natural alternative to purchasing products from expensive brands.

Which natural facial masks do you recommend? Share them with us @Nica_Handbags on Twitter. Or try out our examples for yourself and let us know what you think!