Skin Care With Pumpkins May Supply the Miracle You’ve Been Looking For
March 21st, 2008New skin care products made with pumpkin are popping up all over the place, and for good reason: When it comes to skin food, pumpkin is hard to beat. However, as natural as pumpkin sounds, some of the products available contain harmful chemical ingredients that may undo much of the pumpkin’s benefit. If you prefer natural skin care products , try making your own pumpkin skin care treatments at home.
Now considered a superfood, pumpkin is highly concentrated with several quality nutrients. It’s high in anti-oxidants – the rich orange color comes from beta carotene, a precursor to Vitamin A and an excellent free radical fighter - protein, and essential fatty acids. It also contains Vitamins C and E, several of the B vitamins and is high in potassium, magnesium, zinc, iron, and copper.
Pumpkin oil, made from the seeds, is also great for salads and cooking – it contains 60% unsaturated fatty acids, which help lower cholesterol levels, and is low in calories.
How do you use pumpkin for skin care? Including it liberally in your diet is a good start, but pumpkin also makes excellent masques that soften the skin, unclog the pores, and remove impurities. Check out these few simple recipes.
- For dry skin, combine a cup of mashed pumpkin with one egg yolk and a little milk or buttermilk – not too much, you want it spreadable, but not liquefied. For normal or oily skin, use egg white instead of egg yolk. If you’ve got 15 or 20 minutes to spare, lie back and relax while the pumpkin does its work. If you’re short on time, five or 10 minutes is better than nothing. Rinse off with warm water.
- If you have a problem with acne, try mixing pumpkin with papaya. Puree a ripe papaya (remove the skin and seeds first) with a cup of pumpkin, an egg white beaten to meringue consistency, and a teaspoon of raw honey. Don’t forget to substitute the egg white for egg yolk if your skin is dry. Again, for a good, deep skin care treatment, give it 15 or 20 minutes before washing it off with warm water.
- To treat the whole body to an exfoliating pumpkin skin care treatment, combine organic cane sugar and pumpkin in equal amounts and gently rub the body with slow, circular motions. Make sure you rinse it off completely.
If you’re having trouble finding fresh pumpkin during the spring and summer months, you can substitute for the canned variety – but make sure it’s organic.
To protect your skin after a pumpkin treatment, it’s best to immediately apply a shielding lotion. A good shielding lotion helps retain natural moisture and protects the skin from chemicals in the environment - which is, after all, why we choose natural skin care – correct?
