Avocado, Matcha & Honey Face Mask

Xochi Balfour of The Naturalista is back with yet some more beautiful homemade ski food. Here's an avocado, matcha and honey face mask that got her glow back.

I got my glow back. Too much fun on the weekend and it went on holiday; then some avocado, yoghurt, lemon, honey and mathca and boom! it’s back. This face mask is so rich and nourishing it’s hard not to eat it before you lather it onto your hungry skin, but don’t: it is full of simple and intelligent ingredients to boost your complexion and heal from the outside in.

I found the basic recipe in Neal’s Yard’s genius little book, Recipes for Natural Beauty, which I picked up the other day in store and have been thumbing through ever since. It is a great resource for anyone wanting to get into making their own skincare and covers everything from toothpaste and moisturiser to body scrubs and macerated oils. But perhaps even more useful and important is its glossary, where you can learn about a whole host of natural beauty ingredients and what they do. It is my new handbag bible.

I added matcha to this rich and simple avocado and honey paste to get a little boost from the its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory polyphenols after sprawling in the sun. The caffeine in tea can also reduce inflammation by constricting the blood vessels and calming tired puffy skin, and we all wake up with that every once in a while no matter how many juices we drink, right?

Avocado is an awesome fruit, its unsaturated oils and oleic and linoleic acid nourishing our bodies both inside and out – it is great for tired skin that needs a quick and easy boost, and is whipped up here with antiseptic raw honey, which is a great humectant (reducing loss of moisture from the skin) and creamy yoghurt, which softens skin and encourages cell renewal with lactic acid. A squeeze of lemon is a natural astringent and toner, reducing oil and keeping us bright. It’s so simple and does what you need.

I find it so satisfying to start deciding exactly what is going on my face and body and why, how it works with the wisdom of nature. This journey of discovery is so empowering – with a little knowledge we don’t have to tow the line and spend precious resources on pots full of junk. With homemade skincare, you only use what you need, and toxic preservatives or fillers or colouring go out the window. And it isn’t hard, or less effective: we are sure to glow brighter with ingredients from our natural surroundings than concoctions from a lab. For me, it is a no brainer.

Get curious and have fun; more to come.

Do you like the bowl Ben threw me?

Ingredients:

1 ripe avocado

2 tsp organic plain yoghurt

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp raw honey 1/2 tsp matcha Bend or mash all the ingredients until they’re smooth and keep in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before using on your face for 10 minutes and rinsing off with warm water. If you have some left over it will keep i the fridge for another day.