diy avocado face mask

As much as I love going on vacations and visiting new places, the actual act of traveling definitely takes a toll on me every single time. With the airport food, stuffy airplanes, and the weird hours, I almost always seem to end up dehydrated, sleep-deprived, and in serious need of a spa day. Most notably, my skin was seriously unhappy with the climate (and altitude) changes I put it through over the past week -- it was dry and dull (but also breaking out, hooray!). Yesterday, I finally decided to take matters into my own hands and try out a simple, natural face mask.

First of all, the basic formula could not be easier or more natural. As you can see, the only two ingredients you need are honey and avocado, both of which are wonderful for your skin. According to my Googling, honey can help retain moisture and fight infection (i.e. breakouts), while avocado can soothe dry and irritated skin and even reduce the appearance of age spots, scars, and sun damage. 

To make the basic mask, simply mash up the avocado, then stir in the honey until you've formed a paste. Apply to your face and leave on for 10-15 minutes, then wash off with warm water. This is what I did yesterday, and my skin immediately felt better -- softer, less irritated, and more moisturized. I will definitely be making this face mask a regular part of my skincare (maybe once a week or once every two weeks?), but I think I'll be experimenting with different add-ins as well.

I've only just started looking into all the different possibilities, but there are a couple of other natural ingredients that seem to be particularly useful. First, citrus has natural astringent properties, which makes it great for acne-prone skin -- adding in a squeeze of lemon juice would probably be great if you're suffering from breakouts. And second, greek yogurt is full of lactic acid, enzymes and healthy bacteria, which means it can soothe, exfoliate, fight blemishes, etc. -- mix a dollop into your face mask for even more refreshed skin.

If only it was as easy to break out of my vacation eating habits... but that's another post for another day, I guess!