Cranberry and Grape Face Mask

Fabulous fresh fruit is back folks for this easy face mask you can whip up in a flash.

Cranberries are coming into season now as are grapes so a perfect time to give your skin a workout with fruit acids.

Always on the quest for interesting and useful ways of using fruits, I knew cranberries, one of my favorite juices, would be featuring with their many health benefits.

Delving a bit deeper, skin deep to be exact shows them to be loaded with antioxidants that skins never say no to. In fact they are one of the highest ranked fruits and veg in antioxidants with only blueberries topping them. Not bad for a small little berry!

Grapes, also known as the “Queen of fruits” are full of nutrients, vitamins and minerals that benefit skin hair and health making a deadly combination for a more youthful, rejuvenated appearance. Your skin will be glowing this autumn and winter with this fruity facial.

3/4 cup fresh cranberries

3/4 cup red or green grapes

1-2 tsp lemon juice

1 envelope unflavored gelatin or

1 tbsp unflavored powder gelatin

Blender

Small bowl

Method:

• Add the fruits and gelatin to your blender and give it a blast on medium setting for 20 seconds.
• When it forms a paste pour it into your bowl and cover for approximately 40 minutes in the fridge. This will enable it to thicken.
• Remove and allow sit for 10 minutes.

To Apply:

• Apply to a cleansed face free of make-up.
• Pull hair off the face tie back or secure with clips, headband or shower cap.
• Use a face mask brush or your clean fingers and apply on the face and neck avoiding the eye area.
• Take some chill out time and lie down for 15 minutes, allowing time for the mask to work its magic. Have a refreshing glass of cucumber spa water and munch on a few grapes you have put aside.
• Remove eye treatment by gently wiping around the eye with a dampened cotton pad.
• Remove face mask with warm or tepid water.
• Finish with a splash of cold water before patting the skin dry.
• Apply your regular moisturizer and/or facial serum.
• For the eyes, use an eye cream, eye gel or an eye serum for further benefits.
• This recipe is fresh and designed to use immediately but keeping it a day I found was fine.
• Use this twice to three times a month as part of your beauty treatment regime.

Avail of this time relaxing to give the eyes a rejuvenating treatment. Here are a few suggestions (pick 1) to have lined up:

Chilled Cucumber Slices –pop straight onto the eyelids to help reduce puffiness, dark circles and to add moisture to tired or dehydrated delicate skin tissue.

Cucumber Pulp or Juice – have this chilling in the fridge. For the pulp, add some under the eye area and soak 2 cotton pads in the juice, lightly squeeze out and apply on the lids.

Cold Chamomile Tea – soak two cotton pads in the tea, lightly squeeze some excess out and place over the eyelids for a soothing refreshing lift to tired eyes and puffiness around the eye area.

Used Green Tea Teabags - teabags or an infusion of cold tea, green tea is full of antioxidants which help protect and detoxify the eye area.

If you have some left over why not use it as a hand or foot treatment to help exfoliate the dead skin cells. You could do these the following day if you wish.

Incorporate this for the feet with a rejuvenating foot soak followed by a massage oil or foot cream to keep the feet moisturized. For the hands you can follow with a nourishing hand treatment and one for those cuticles to keep your nails healthy.

For an added kick, choose seeded grapes and blend them too. Grapeseed oil is the wonderful oil extracted from the seeds. It moisturizes, minimizes skin aging, helps remove dark circles under the eye, is anti-inflammatory and tightens and the skin.

Slice a chilled grape in half and rub over the face if stuck for time or do it as you eat breakfast, then wash off after you have finished eating.

This leaves the skin feeling stimulated and refreshed. Quick simple and cheap! You could do likewise with a cranberry or two or three, they are small but try this for a boost to the skin with fruit enzymes.

it is never too late or too early to start looking after your skin. When you think how visible our skin is why do we often neglect, mistreat and abuse it with chemicals, gardening without sunblock, washing hands in abrasive soaps or making unhealthy lifestyle choices? While there are over the counter products that claim to be the latest and greatest, the solutions are often way simpler.

It starts with a healthy diet, regular exercise and getting enough sleep. Those healthy ingredients such as fruits, vegetables, oils, nuts and herbs may be used outside in simple ways such as cleansers, toners, face scrubs and face masks. if it is good for our health . . . more than likely the skin will reap the benefits too. Cranberries, grapes and lemons are 3 such fruits and when combined are a powerhouse!

"Creating health awareness through homemade beauty solutions"

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