Face Time: Masks You Can Make at Home

What if you could have an at-home spa day with ingredients sourced straight from your refrigerator and pantry? 

It’s true: Certain fruits and spices—as well as honey, oatmeal, and even coffee grounds—can double as ingredients to improve your skin.

In fact, DIYing your own face mask comes with all types of benefits. The ingredients are accessible, can help reduce food waste, are affordable and are purer because you’re skipping preservatives and fragrances, explains dermatologist Marianna Blyumin-Karasik, MD, FAAD.

Some ingredients are especially popular in masks.

For instance, aloe juice “can penetrate seven layers of skin, while water can just seep through two,” explains Diana Ralys of Radiance Wellness Spa in Santa Monica. This makes aloe a wonderful skin softener.

And papaya, a great source of vitamin C, “can help tighten and brighten your skin,” says health coach Holly Harding, who recommends using papaya with raw honey and olive oil for an easy, hydrating mask.

Always use products either right after creating them or within a couple of days at most.

“Homemade masks will not last more than a few days in your fridge since there is nothing to stabilize and preserve the mask,” says Marci Howard-May, spa director at Red Mountain Resort in Utah.

The following mask recipes are approved by skin experts. Ready, set, glow!

Wonder-Working Mask Ingredients

“Oatmeal can reduce redness and inflammation,” Blyumin-Karasik says. Yogurt is a probiotic and lactic acid that can help diminish pimples and blemishes and restore your skin’s pH balance. Meanwhile, avocado can hydrate and smooth your skin, she explains.

For a moisturizing mask to help restore dry, damaged skin, Blyumin-Karasik suggests the following:

1/2 ripe, mashed avocado (no skin or seed)

1/2 cup cooked oatmeal

1 tbsp plain Greek yogurt

1 tsp pure wild flower honey

Mix the avocado and oatmeal until you get a pulp-free paste. Add the yogurt and honey, and mix well. Apply to your skin, and leave it on for 15 minutes. Rinse with lukewarm water and pat your skin dry with a towel.

Give Turmeric a Facial Mask Try

“We know that consuming turmeric is great for you and it turns out that applying it directly to the skin has some great beauty benefits also,” says Howard-May, who recommends this turmeric face mask:

1/4 tsp turmeric

1 tbsp flour (regular or rice flour, or ground oats for dry skin)

1 tbsp milk

A few drops of raw honey

Mix ingredients together in a small bowl to make a smooth paste. Apply in a thin layer to a clean face, neck and upper chest, avoiding the eye area. (Turmeric will stain skin and clothing, so be sure to use a thin layer, especially where the skin is thinner on the neck and upper chest.)

Allow the mask to sit for 10 to 15 minutes until dry, then rinse immediately with warm water in the shower or with a washcloth. You may wish to do a second cleanse using an oil cleanser and/or a gentle exfoliant to help remove the spice’s yellow color.

Facial Masking by Type

When you’re determining what type of mask to make at home, “it’s important to keep your skin type in mind,” says skincare expert Jennifer Douglas.

Coffee grounds can be great if you want to tone and firm your skin, Douglas notes, while bananas can help keep oil production balanced if you have oily skin and cinnamon helps unclog pores.

You want a real power combination? Douglas suggests mixing whipped egg whites, honey and papaya to reduce redness and help deal with acne.

Here is Douglas’s simple recommendation for sensitive skin:

2/3 tbsp plain yogurt

2 tbsp cooked oatmeal

Mix the ingredients together in a glass bowl until a paste forms, and apply evenly to cleansed skin. Leave for 15 minutes, rinse and finish off with your moisturizer.

Using facial masks on a regular basis can help keep your skin looking and feeling good—and making them yourself lets you determine what goes on your face.