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Article by Hairboutique.com
Since the beginning of time people have concocted various recipes to promote beauty, anti-aging and conditioning for their hair and skin.
Documented skin and hair softening formulas from ancient Egyptians included hippopotamus fat, gazelle dung, writing fluid and ground donkey teeth mixed with honey. The ancient Romans used finely ground narcissus bulbs and honey mixed with wine to prevent wrinkles and soften the hair. In the 17th century women slept in special hair and face gloves that were actually made of silk, linen or leather stretched over various creams and oils to iron out skin wrinkles and soften hair.
Modern day beauty spas have adopted their own form of special recipes made with a wide range of fruits, honey and other natural ingredients.
I recently visited a spa where they offered me a choice of "custom", all natural, beauty recipes. I decided to try a few of the treatments with hopes of gleaning enough information about the various ingredients so I could repeat the treatments at home. My spa beauty consultant was enthusiastic about my request to get the recipes to perform on a regular basis. She gladly shared all the pertinent treatment details.
Honey & Banana Beauty Benefits
The Egyptians and Romans must have been on the right track with their use of honey in their beauty recipes. My spa consultant informed me that honey is a fabulous natural moisturizer for hair and skin.
Bananas contain tryptophan, a rich aminoacid that is known to be extremely beneficial for hair and skin. They are chock full of potassium which adds super softening properties to the hair shaft. Along with vitamins A, B, C and E bananas contain rich natural oils and carbohydrates. All these goodies shore up the natural elasticity of the hair and prevent split ends.
Besides all the softening and beautifying properties bananas smell wonderful. The aroma of bananas was found to be the most popular aroma in a scent study. This trend continues into 2010.
Spas aren’t the only ones that know about the great beauty benefits of bananas. The Taiwano Indians use heated extract of banana as regular softening scalp treatments.
Banana Hair Mask Recipe
A custom recipe was blended for my hair that included the following ingredients:
1 organic (if not available a regular banana will do) ripened banana
2 tablespoons plain organic yogurt
2 teaspoons organic wheat germ oil
1/4 th teaspoon of lecithin
1/8 th teaspoon of organic honey
2 teaspoons of sweetened condensed milk
2-4 drops of ylang ylang essential oil
The ylang ylang essential oil is used to give a special relaxing and soothing effect. Not only does this magnificent oil calm emotions and soothe raw nerves, it is famous as a softening agent for the hair and scalp. If you choose to forego this particular recipe you can still reap the benefits of ylang ylang with an essential oil infused shampoo and conditioner.
My spa beauty consultant explained that she buys all of her organic banana products at the local health food market when possible. If you are not able to find organic products or buy from a health food, you can still try this great honey/banana recipe with normal grocery store products.
Using a high speed blender the consultant mixed the ingredients until they were the consistency of a thick fruit drink that had a fabulous sweet aroma. The consultant told me that she is often tempted to drink the mask mixture for breakfast.
A detoxifying shampoo was applied to my hair to remove any possible product build-up. It was followed with a warm rinse and a towel blotting. The thick gooey yellow mixture was brushed onto my slightly damp hair with a color application brush that looked like a type of paint brush. The conditioner was applied one inch from my hair roots down to the very ends of my hair.
Banana & Avocado Facial Mask
My hair was wrapped in a plastic cap and then in a hot towel. While I was waiting for my "hair to cook" the consultant applied a gentle cleansing facial followed by a Banana-Avocado Face Mask. Although I was beginning to feel like a complete banana head, I welcomed the opportunity to try yet another special banana related beauty recipe.
Since I have mild rosacea of my cheeks I wanted to avoid any treatments that might aggravate my skin or cause breakouts. Even though the spa also offers a couple of different fruit juice mask options (apple, papaya & peach) the consultant suggested the gentle softening properties of a Banana-Avocado Mask.
The banana/avocado facial recipe included the following ingredients:
1 small organic ripened banana
1 small organic ripened avocado
2 tablespoons plain organic yogurt
2 drops of Vitamin E oil
The banana and avocado were mashed together to form a thick lime green paste. The yogurt was added. The mixture was massaged onto my newly cleaned and steamed damp skin. The mask was left on my skin for 10 minutes. Although this beauty treatment can be left on up to 25 minutes, because of my sensitive skin, it was decided to minimize my face time.
After the face mask was completely removed and rinsed off, a light moisturizer that is "rosacea friendly" was applied. My skin felt velvety soft and refreshed. My rosacea was not disturbed and my skin glowed.
Since the beginning of time people have concocted various recipes to promote beauty, anti-aging and conditioning for their hair and skin.
Documented skin and hair softening formulas from ancient Egyptians included hippopotamus fat, gazelle dung, writing fluid and ground donkey teeth mixed with honey. The ancient Romans used finely ground narcissus bulbs and honey mixed with wine to prevent wrinkles and soften the hair. In the 17th century women slept in special hair and face gloves that were actually made of silk, linen or leather stretched over various creams and oils to iron out skin wrinkles and soften hair.
Modern day beauty spas have adopted their own form of special recipes made with a wide range of fruits, honey and other natural ingredients.
I recently visited a spa where they offered me a choice of "custom", all natural, beauty recipes. I decided to try a few of the treatments with hopes of gleaning enough information about the various ingredients so I could repeat the treatments at home. My spa beauty consultant was enthusiastic about my request to get the recipes to perform on a regular basis. She gladly shared all the pertinent treatment details.
Honey & Banana Beauty Benefits
The Egyptians and Romans must have been on the right track with their use of honey in their beauty recipes. My spa consultant informed me that honey is a fabulous natural moisturizer for hair and skin.
Bananas contain tryptophan, a rich aminoacid that is known to be extremely beneficial for hair and skin. They are chock full of potassium which adds super softening properties to the hair shaft. Along with vitamins A, B, C and E bananas contain rich natural oils and carbohydrates. All these goodies shore up the natural elasticity of the hair and prevent split ends.
Besides all the softening and beautifying properties bananas smell wonderful. The aroma of bananas was found to be the most popular aroma in a scent study. This trend continues into 2010.
Spas aren’t the only ones that know about the great beauty benefits of bananas. The Taiwano Indians use heated extract of banana as regular softening scalp treatments.
Banana Hair Mask Recipe
A custom recipe was blended for my hair that included the following ingredients:
1 organic (if not available a regular banana will do) ripened banana
2 tablespoons plain organic yogurt
2 teaspoons organic wheat germ oil
1/4 th teaspoon of lecithin
1/8 th teaspoon of organic honey
2 teaspoons of sweetened condensed milk
2-4 drops of ylang ylang essential oil
The ylang ylang essential oil is used to give a special relaxing and soothing effect. Not only does this magnificent oil calm emotions and soothe raw nerves, it is famous as a softening agent for the hair and scalp. If you choose to forego this particular recipe you can still reap the benefits of ylang ylang with an essential oil infused shampoo and conditioner.
My spa beauty consultant explained that she buys all of her organic banana products at the local health food market when possible. If you are not able to find organic products or buy from a health food, you can still try this great honey/banana recipe with normal grocery store products.
Using a high speed blender the consultant mixed the ingredients until they were the consistency of a thick fruit drink that had a fabulous sweet aroma. The consultant told me that she is often tempted to drink the mask mixture for breakfast.
A detoxifying shampoo was applied to my hair to remove any possible product build-up. It was followed with a warm rinse and a towel blotting. The thick gooey yellow mixture was brushed onto my slightly damp hair with a color application brush that looked like a type of paint brush. The conditioner was applied one inch from my hair roots down to the very ends of my hair.
Banana & Avocado Facial Mask
My hair was wrapped in a plastic cap and then in a hot towel. While I was waiting for my "hair to cook" the consultant applied a gentle cleansing facial followed by a Banana-Avocado Face Mask. Although I was beginning to feel like a complete banana head, I welcomed the opportunity to try yet another special banana related beauty recipe.
Since I have mild rosacea of my cheeks I wanted to avoid any treatments that might aggravate my skin or cause breakouts. Even though the spa also offers a couple of different fruit juice mask options (apple, papaya & peach) the consultant suggested the gentle softening properties of a Banana-Avocado Mask.
The banana/avocado facial recipe included the following ingredients:
1 small organic ripened banana
1 small organic ripened avocado
2 tablespoons plain organic yogurt
2 drops of Vitamin E oil
The banana and avocado were mashed together to form a thick lime green paste. The yogurt was added. The mixture was massaged onto my newly cleaned and steamed damp skin. The mask was left on my skin for 10 minutes. Although this beauty treatment can be left on up to 25 minutes, because of my sensitive skin, it was decided to minimize my face time.
After the face mask was completely removed and rinsed off, a light moisturizer that is "rosacea friendly" was applied. My skin felt velvety soft and refreshed. My rosacea was not disturbed and my skin glowed.
