Oatmeal:  For Your Face?

Oatmeal is not only good for your diet, but it’s also good for your skin!

You already know about the power of oatmeal:  it’s a great snack in bars and cookies, and can jumpstart your day with valuable energy for breakfast in the morning.  But did you know it also has natural properties that can improve your skin?  Oatmeal is commonly used as a scrubbing and exfoliating agent in many of your skincare products.  It’s nature’s gift for smooth and soft skin, and you can even make a customized facial treatment at home by including this wonder food!

One of the most popular home made masks is a mixture of oatmeal and honey.  This is best applied at night, and is safe for almost all skin types.  This is one star secret that can give you that glowing look the next morning.  A honey and oatmeal facial is a perfect way to de-stress in the evening, and can be made at home with just a few ingredients.  Here’s what you’ll need:

Homemade Honey & Oatmeal Facial

Ingredients: ½ cup fast cooking oatmeal ¼ cup honey ½ cup water   Directions: Mix together the oatmeal and water in small bowl, and cook (or microwave, according to instructions).  Let the oatmeal cool about 5-7 minutes, then add ¼ honey.  Mix well into a paste.  Apply this ‘mask’ to cleansed skin, and let dry.  Place two cooled tea bags over your eyes for an even more soothing experience!  You’ll want to wash this mask off after about 15 minutes.

Oatmeal is a great oil absorber; if your skin is suffering from frequent breakouts and excess oil, try an oatmeal mask at least twice per week.  Adding honey to the mixture will help create the right consistency to make the mask stay together.  Another great option is adding yogurt.  Yogurt contains lactic acid, and this can help stimulate collagen production.  When you’ve made a paste of this, you’ll need to massage it onto the face in a circular motion then rinse off after 15 minutes.  Honey will further the moisturizing benefits of this treatment.

The texture of oatmeal can also become one of your favorite natural exfoliants; you can easily scrub away dead skin cells with a simple oatmeal and water mixture.  The less you cook the oatmeal, the more texture you’ll have available for the roughest areas; just be sure to apply this to cleansed skin that’s been patted dry, and scrub away!

Oatmeal-Based Cleansers

If you’re looking for an effective oatmeal-based cleanser, try some of these top recommendations:

Incorporating oatmeal into your daily diet and skincare regiment is easy.  All you need are some basic supplies, and you can look forward to fresh, radiant, and glowing skin!

Sabah Karimi enjoys writing for DivaVillage on skincare, fitness, healthy, celebrity fashion, and style.  When she’s not busy making her own at-home facial, you’ll find her scooping up the latest beauty products.