Beauty Bites

Just a short post dedicated to my friend and coworker, Kimmy, who is suffering (along with her husband) from the result of a nice day outside with no sunscreen. Sunburn is NO FUN and being the almost-albino that I am, I get sunburned a lot. I used to use a lot of the store bought aloe gel, but I found that they either left me feeling sticky or really just made me peel even worse than if I didn't use it. I have found a few recipes online to relieve sunburn, but I have a few of my own that I use to soothe my skin after being fried. Recipe number one is a face/body mask that you can use pretty much anywhere on the body that contains cooling ingredients that feel really nice on crispy, dried-out skin.

1. Super-Soother
- 2 Tbsp greek or plain yogurt (flavored yogurts have sugar and can become sticky so stick to plain though greek is the best).
- 1/4 cup peeled, sliced cucumber, seeds removed.
- Aloe gel FROM an aloe plant (aloe plants can be purchased from places with garden centers like Lowes for $3-$10 and they are almost indestructible, just great to grow at home)*
- 2 tbsp plain rolled oats (flavored oatmeal has sugars which are sticky, use plain oats like the ones found in the big canisters at your grocery store)

Load up all of these ingredients in your trusty blender or food processor and blend until paste-like. Put this mixture on all of your sunburned areas and just relax. This mixture may drip so wear a shirt of a towel that you don't really mind getting drippy. I let this mixture sit for about 10-15 minutes and I usually rinse it off before it gets hard. All of the ingredients are very soothing to the skin and very moisturizing. Finish off with thick face cream to help with peeling and this mask will keep in the fridge for about a week and can be used daily to treat the burn.

Another mask that I like to use is great for inflammation which comes along with having a sunburn. The Asian spice, tumeric, which is mostly used in Middle Eastern and Indian cuisine is a natural anti-inflammatory and I use it to make a great healing mask for my many sunburns!

2. Tumeric De-Flamer
- 1 tbsp greek or plain yogurt
- 1/2 tsp tumeric powder (Bright yellow spice that can be found in the seasoning section of your grocery store)

Mix the two ingredients until your yogurt is bright yellow. Tumeric STAINS so wear something you don't mind staining and pull back your hair. Let this mixture sit for 10-15 minutes and then rinse with a washcloth that you don't mind staining. Warning: Your face may be yellow in some spots, but this will eventually fade so don't freak out!

Now that summer is getting closer I'll be using these remedies a lot more often. I hope that these help with your sun-related skin problems!!

*In order to extract the gel from the aloe plant, removed a leaf and slice sideways down the leaf. Upon opening, there will be a thick gel inside the leaf. This gel can be scooped out with a spoon to be used in the mask recipe).