This is the most difficult combo to deal with because what treats the dry skin usually aggravates the pimples, and what dries out the pimples dries out the rest of my face even more! Needles to say, I am ready for summer, for sunshine, and for my skin to get back to normal!

But here we are in March, and we’re a few months away from summer still. So, I turn to yogurt and honey. Two delicious things to eat, and two wonderful things to put on your face! The yogurt balances your skin, calms and reduces redness, and makes your skin soft. The honey moisturizes.

A big key here is to use quality, organic yogurt and honey. The stuff with added sugar and preservatives should be avoided. I buy the most natural kind of yogurt I can find. Some people make their own yogurt, which I plan on doing sometime soon as well.

This honey was made by a close family friend who raises bees. We usually enjoy it on toast and in tea, but it works great for this purpose too.

It only takes a small amount of both ingredients to make enough for a couple people to enjoy this facial mask. You can store the mixture in the refrigerator for a few days if you cover it with something.

Keep mixing until the honey is incorporated into the yogurt. If your honey came right out of the refigerator, this step could take several minutes.

It can be slightly drippy, so do this over your sink. Just keep applying it until there is a good coating all over your face. It feels so cool and soothing on your skin. Leave the mask on for 10 minutes or so, and then splash it off with cool or warm water.

You might not even need a moisturizer afterward, but in my case I did apply a light lotion to lock in the moisture from the honey. If you have oilier skin, you can add a squeeze of lemon juice into the mask mixture. Lemon juice lightens dark spots and absorbs oil. I dab it directly on dark spots left by old pimples, and it works really well to fade them.

So easy!! And you will see and feel the difference immediately after washing the mask off. Tighter, smoother, calmer, happier skin. I hope this little pick-me-up facial helps get you through until summer!

…Actually, I have yet to find an all-natural moisturizer that I am completely satisfied with.  Do you have a favorite moisturizer, cleanser, and toner?  Please let me know in the comments section!

Since I don’t have a favorite store-bought moisturizer, I usually use aloe, jojoba-oil, and other homemade options.  I feel that homemade is the best option when it comes to skincare.  It’s the only way to have full control over what exactly is going on your skin.  There are tons of recipes to be found online for homemade face scrubs, masks, toners, and cleansers.

If you have never done this before, you might be surprised by some of the ingredients {or you might want to eat them.}  Turns out that foods like honey, yogurt, bananas, and oatmeal aren’t only good for us on the inside of our bodies…they also do wonders when topically applied.

Take some time this week to give yourself a homemade facial.  I found the following recipes on the Epic Beauty Guide, which is one of my favorite blogs.  You will be happy with how your skin looks after you try these:

Sugar Scrub

Removes dead skin cells so mois­ture can pen­e­trate, heals scars and acne, anti-aging.

{INGREDIENTS}

2 Tbsp. organic, cold-pressed olive oil
1 Tbsp. organic, raw honey
1/4 cup organic cane sugar
1 small, dark glass con­tainer {dark glass pre­vents the oil from oxi­diz­ing and will not leach into your scrub}

{STEPS}

1.  Pour your olive oil into your glass con­tainer. Then pour in your honey. Mix well.

2.  Add the sugar slowly and mix as you go. You may use less or more than 1/4 cup. You should end up with a thick scrub. Add a lit­tle more oil if you feel it’s too thick.

3.  Apply to your freshly washed face, neck, and chest.  Mas­sage the scrub gen­tly.  If you have very sen­si­tive skin, rub the scrub in your hands for a few sec­onds to soften up the gran­ules, then apply.

4.  Rinse off with luke­warm water. Skip the toner (you want to keep the remain­ing olive oil on your skin).

5.  Store the leftovers in a cool, dark place like your med­i­cine cabinet.

Milk & Honey Mask

Mois­tur­iz­ing, anti-aging, evens out skin tone and tex­ture, heals dam­age, soothes inflammation.

{INGREDIENTS}

1 Tbsp. organic milk ~ see if you can get local, raw goat’s milk or cow’s milk; you can also use plain, organic yogurt
1 Tbsp. organic, raw, unfil­tered honey
(Optional) 1 tsp. aloe vera gel ~ see if you can get an aloe plant, then you just break off a “leaf” and squeeze the fresh gel out!

{STEPS}

1.  Mix ingre­di­ents together in a small bowl.

2.  After cleans­ing, apply the mask to your face.

3.  Leave on for 10 min­utes.

4.  Wash off with luke­warm water, and a splash of cool water.

Champagne Toner

Cleans out and closes the pores, evens skin-tone, evaporates oil.

{INGREDIENTS}

A shal­low dish, a mea­sur­ing spoon, a cotton ball, and a bot­tle of champagne.

{STEPS}

1. Pour about 2 Tbsp. of cham­pagne into your dish and drop your cot­ton pad into the cham­pagne. Let the pad soak it up.

2. Wipe the champagne-soaked cot­ton pad all over your face, neck, and chest. It is fine to use around the eyes, just don’t get it in there!

3. Don’t rinse off. Follow-up with a light, nat­ural mois­tur­izer — jojoba or sweet almond oil are great.