DIY: Face Mask

God has been speaking to me a lot about beauty.  So, I thought - why not share about beauty on my blog?! 

Beauty is not really talked about in regards to God.  Actually, most of the time in the church it is looked upon as taboo to talk about!  Yes, we discuss beautiful character - inner beauty.  But, when have we discussed outer beauty?

Beloved, it is not a sin to be beautiful or to desire to be beautiful!  It is a sin, however, to place this desire above your desire for Jesus.  "You shall have no other gods before me. " Exodus 20:3  Do not make beauty an idol.  Do not spend more time thinking of beauty than you spend with God.  However, you can still paint your nails or curl your hair and do it as an act of worship for the Lord.  He made you in His image and He wants you to know that you are BEAUTIFUL.  He longs for you, as you should long for Him!  As I was doing some research on this subject I came across a website (found here) and it gave me a prayer about longing.  It was so powerful and moved my heart so incredibly much.  I encourage you to read it - and if you feel called, to pray it.  Pray it for a week… a month… a year.  See how your longing for Him increases!

Lord, Your longing takes me by surprise and moves me. You want me to know You, but You never loom or blare. You come quietly, gently, softly, delivering parcels of Yourself and drawing me into Your presence. Forgive me. I have such trouble looking beyond my own longing to see Yours. Open my heart to Your longing, O God; open my heart to your will and way through Jesus Christ!

On that note...

I decided to start trying some DIY beauty solutions.  I'm not a huge fan of spending lots of money on beauty products, so I think this will be a good way to find out what works at a good price!  I have tried a few things in the past, but this will be a new chronicling of DIY beauty tips!

Tonight I tried a face mask called the Miracle Mask.  I found it here.  There are a couple other ideas on there as well that I may try.  The mask consists of honey, nutmeg, and cinnamon… all ingredients that I had on hand!  I cut the recipe in half though -

1 tablespoon of honey

1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

I mixed it all up and thought that it looked a little thick - so I had the bright idea of adding olive oil!  I slathered it all over my face - using every last drop in the bowl.  It was very sticky - so if you try this, you just need to be careful and have some warm water handy.   It smells absolutely amazing and it was really thick on my face.  This (along with the olive oil) led to my downfall.  As the mask started to warm, it started dripping every so often.  Not enough to be a huge issue, but enough to be annoying.  I only left it on for 15 minutes instead of the 30 that the recipe called for - but I feel like that was enough time.  Perhaps next time I would omit the olive oil and try to leave it on longer.

So sticky, but so yummy!

It only took about five minutes to wash it all off with warm water.  I tried to rub in circular motions to exfoliate.  My skin looked clear - but really red.  It stayed red for a while… maybe a half an hour.  I put on some intensive moisturizer and will probably reapply before I hit the sheets.  I'll update you about it asap!

UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

This mask worked wonders!  The redness went away after about 30 minutes (maybe an hour) and I was left with soft glowing skin.  The next day there were a couple small whiteheads, but I just used a blemish stick and they went away pretty quickly.  I noticed that it helped alleviate the redness my skin normally has - but only for a few days.  About five days after using the mask, the redness my face normally has began to return.  I haven't had a chance to do this again, but I would like to begin doing it once a week!  :) 

Much love in Jesus,

xx