How to nourish your skin without causing harming to others...
I’ve been living in France for almost two years now and I've been struggling with skin problems when it comes to winter since I started travelling in Australia and France four years ago. But my skin issues improved and almost went away when I started these methods!
The winter weather in Paris is very harsh, I have always had sensitive skin since a young age. I’ve been struggling with eczema and dry skin problems, especially in winter. My skin was so red, dry and itchy and my face started to have some super dry areas that were caused by eczema. I’ve tried almost all the methods of getting skincare that is supposed to be very gentle, hydrating and dermatological. But none of them worked, I had to use the eczema cream distributed by the dermatologist to calm my face. At the time, I wished more than ever that winter could pass soon. This winter, things changed. I’ve become so into taking care of my skin since I didn’t want the same thing happening to me. I’ve been doing so much research about natural and french dermatological skincare products.
One of the things I’ve learned about French people is that they love things that are natural and they always have to know where the products come from, especially what they put in and or their bodies. Especially now, our knowledge of the frequent horrors behind the ingredients in our skincare products is becoming increasingly prevalent. Including, the process through which products produced, where they are tested on before being sold in the market; the vast cruelty animals undergo in all the products-making processes (eg. acute toxicity testing, eye and skin irritation and corrosion testing, etc). All of them include poisoning animals with chemicals, drip substances on rabbits’ eyes, smear on rabbits' shaved skins, etc.
In fact, millions of animals are poisoned or killed in inhuman and outdated tests every year, so that laboratories can evaluate the damages of products and ingredients. Fortunately, there are already some brands or companies that have been cruelty-free, but there are still countless well-known worldwide brands that continue to torture animals by testing pre-market products, an extremely sickening process. As a vegetarian/vegan, one of the primary reasons we eliminate our meat consumption is the pain and slaughter that meat consumption brings to animals. So if we have already changed our diet, why not also change where we shop? When it comes to skincare, most people tend to merely care about the names of the cosmetic brands. But how many of us care or notice how they produce their products? Even if they use clean, organic ingredients, they could be still testing on animals before bringing products to the market. I think it’s time for us to take a few more steps forward to keeping animals safe, by not just having a vegetarian/vegan diet, but also using cruelty-free skincare products.
Therefore, I started looking into homemade skincare by using natural ingredients, that I could be sure are natural, hydrating, vegan, cruelty-free, etc. And all the ingredients are easily available from supermarkets. If you’re struggling with facial skin problems, no matter which season, or if you’re travelling or just moved to another country feeling frustrated about your skin, go to a supermarket and make yourself a natural face mask. Here are the three vegetarian face masks I’ve been using that saved my life and skin during this winter - all my frustrations were gone. But remember! DON’T put them on your face when there’s someone around you, or else be prepared to be laughed at for the whole skincare, pamper time.
Avocado, oatmeal and honey - I called it the Hulk mask, you’ll know once you put it on your face
This is my favourite among these three, it makes my face so clean and hydrated afterwards. I’ve tried to taste it before putting it on my face, I’m not gonna lie, and it tasted so good. So to prepare the face mask, just mash up two tablespoons of avocado (depends on the size of your face), add a teaspoon of oatmeal and a drizzle of honey in a bowl, mix them and leave it on your face for 30 minutes. Then wash it off. Or, to save some washing time, scoop off the dried mixture from your face with a teaspoon, wash your face and put on some moisturisers.
You can also put this mask on your body if there’s some dry or eczema area, I’ve tried this too and it smoothened and calmed my arms and legs.
Cocoa powder and coconut oil - You will look like someone who fell into the chocolate river from Charlie and the Chocolate factory
It’s very hard for me while having this face mask on since I’m a chocolate lover and I had to stop myself from licking my face for the first few minutes when the chocolate is still warm and melted. So, prepare two tablespoons of cocoa powder (no-sugar) and one tablespoon of melted coconut oil. Mix them well and leave it on your face for 20 minutes. Wash your face and put on some moisturisers.
Yoghurt, honey and aloe vera - this one it’s a total laugh-safe face mask, it looks just like the normal white ones. If you’re vegan, you can use any dairy-free nut yoghurts, and shea butter/avocado for replacing honey.
Prepare 1 pot of natural yoghurt, one tablespoon of honey and one teaspoon of aloe vera gel. Mix them in a bowl and leave it on your face for 20 minutes before washing off. Same as the other two, put on moisturisers afterwards.
These three vegetarian face masks are all hydrating and two of them can provide cleansing and clarification to our skin. They’re all based on my personal experience after months of research in natural skincare, and I found them improving and changing my skin issues from dryness, redness and saved me from having eczema areas on my face again. Maybe it will work on you, or maybe it won’t. But at least we can be sure that the ingredients are all-natural, vegetarian or even vegan and cruelty-free. So why not give them a try, rather than spending hundreds of dollars on some skincare products that are full of chemicals where you don’t know where the ingredients come from.
Written by Eunice Pang
Edited by Chandni Sacheti