3 Skin Care Recipes Using Lemons
My favorite thing about summer is spending time outdoors. Whether its biking, playing tennis or plein air painting, I love basking in the heat and sunshine. An added bonus this year was helping my boyfriend Ray build a tiny cabin up in the Northwoods. I spent roughly 12 hours each day learning what Ray would fondly call "life skills". One of my new found "life skills" is learning that I can in fact shower in only 2 1/2 gallons of water.
Although I loved my time in the woods, my skin wasn't so thrilled. I was anxious about the high tick population in the area and needed to apply my homemade herbal insect/tick repellant multiple times a day. Although I'm proud to say my homemade herbal spray was as effective as Ray's Deet repellant, I was coated daily with insect sprays, wood shavings, and as you know, not a lot of showering.
I came home to find these 3 skin care recipes that are inexpensive, effective and great for summer time skin recovery for all you outdoor types who have spent the last few months layered under sunscreen, insect repellant, and/or debris from acquiring some fantastic new "life skills".
3 Skin Care Recipes Using Lemons
- Lemon Facial Wash- Equal parts aloe, water, honey and lemon juice. Mix together and wash face then rinse with water. You can literally feel the tingling action of the citric acid eating away the dead skin cells and leaving the skin clear and toned. If you make a larger batch make sure you store it in the fridge.
- Lighten Up Dark Spots- Cutting a lemon in half and rubbing into age spots, darker patches of skin like elbows and knees or skin damage from not using sunscreen for years. Lemons are photosensitizers which lighten dark spots when used regularly over an extended period of time. Do rinse with water and use SPF since lemon juice can temporarily heighten the sensitivity of the skin to sunshine.
- Exfoliant- Cut a lemon in half and dip the cut end in sugar or kosher salt then scrub over body while in shower. The sugar/salt scrub increases the exfoliating benefits along with the citric acid to remove dead skin cells. The antioxidant qualities of Vitamin C help with lightening overall age spots. Helpful with clearing acne or general rough or bumpy skin. Make sure to rinse well after exfoliating.