Before I tell you what I’ve discovered I just want to start off by saying I have done a lot of things to help my skin. I suffered from acne as a teen and adult. I’ve gone to dermatologists, gotten injections, used proactive, read books, light/radiation therapy, vitamin A creme, etc. The best benefits I’ve had were from reading a book called the acne prescription by Dr. Perricone. Maybe in another blog, I’ll tell more about that book but in short, acne is very much connected to what you eat. If you have acne you might have sensitive skin so throw away all harsh products that will make your skin act up!
My Ginger History
It’s been just over a month now and I have a new obsession. My friends know when I find something that works I absolutely can’t keep it to myself. This level of genuine living often gives me a lot of credibility with my friends but I have been known to later recant things that I once fully endorsed. My friends always forgive me (I have great friends) and I’m always experimenting. This is my disclaimer if you haven’t figured it out by now but in my defense, I’ve waited a whole month before writing about this (but I’ve already told a lot of people.)
Which brings us to the wonderful topic of ginger. I love to drink ginger in its various forms. I think it’s great to throw in the hopper when you’re juicing vegetables and it’s great as a tea. Last month I was looking in my cupboards and thought about how I could use up the extra ginger powder I bought last year. I bought it with the intent of making delicious ginger tea…which ended up being a huge fail…it was pretty gross. So I had all this powder leftover and I wasn’t going to cook with it. I decided I’d make a face mask. I haven’t done masks regularly in years because generally, I don’t find a lot of benefits but I’m glad I gave this one a try. I decided to look up the benefits of ginger and it seemed safe enough to put on my face so I went for it.
I used the ginger powder and a little water to make a paste for my face. It didn’t stick that well but I added a bit more water to help it stay on. It was so hot I was afraid I’d do some damage so I looked it up again to see if I could get a chemical burn from it. I didn’t see anything too bad so I kept it on but not too long. When it was time to rinse it off I was a little nervous I didn’t want to get it in my eyes. I tried to use hot water and it felt like my face was burning off so I used cold water and was a bit scared. Once the mask was off I inspected my face. It was glowing, the area under my eyes appeared a bit tighter even though I was lacking sleep and hydration.
The mask had felt so good outside of the heat and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I had to try again. I tried to blend some ginger into the powder and put it on my hair and face. Well, this destroyed my bathroom. There were clumps and grains of ginger everywhere and it was falling out of my hair!
My husband walked it and inquired why it looked like I was smearing baby poop on my hair and face. When I smiled and told him what I was doing he slowly backed away and shook his head while mumbling something about experiment number 96 (We’ve come to an understanding). I decided to put on a shower cap and have a detox bath with ginger so I threw in some ginger slices and powder and got in. You might be wondering at this point why I’m so weird. Honestly, I can’t tell you, I just truly enjoy doing things like this. The heat on my scalp and my face seemed to be rising to a new level I had not experienced before. I could just imagine the benefits as I lay there in the bath. My hair was growing longer, my skin was getting purer and my body was detoxing!
That bath turned out to be a bad idea. Only because as I started sweating the ginger started running toward my eyes. So I tried to wash my face but the water was too hot so the burning started again. I had to turn on cold water and splash my face but I opted to leave the ginger powder in my hair till after my bath. When it was all said and done I washed out the powder from my hair. I didn’t really like how the powder made my hair feel and ginger grains were still in my hair from my attempts at blending it. I had to really clean out the bath and tried to capture the floating ginger pieces…so I’ll never do that again.
What I Noticed From Using Ginger
My acne breakouts stopped altogether. If I did get a pimple it was a super small bump that went away after a day quickly as I kept up my routine. My diet was definitely not better. Nothing has really changed for me in the last month other than using the ginger. I have probably been eating worse than I normally do actually.
Apparently ginger is an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and increases circulation to the skin and scalp. It’s full of nutrients and fatty acids that nourish your skin and hair.
I came up with new and easy ways to get the benefits of ginger for my hair and skin without the mess and I’m going to give you these tips right now!!
Face Mask
Buy a pack of ginger powder from an Asian store (I’m not sure if it only has ginger in it but it seems to be some potent stuff!!
mix with water to make a paste
apply to skin and leave on for 20 minutes
If you wait till it’s dry you can rub your skin lightly in the sink before adding cold water to wash your face to make the mask a type of face scrub for smoother skin
If you have extra mud mask you can leave it in an air tight container in the fridge
Apply to your face twice a week
Face Spritz/Toner
Chop a whole root of ginger and boil for 10 minutes, then simmer on low for 20 minutes or until the water gets darker
pour all of the water ginger into a glass container to let it cool or leave in the pot but take off the stove
add a camomile tea bag while it is cooling to infuse it in
When it’s cool pour into a small spray bottle and keep in the fridge otherwise it will go bad
Spray on morning and night and rub into the face. Follow with a light moisturizer in the day.
Use spritz at night and no moisturizer
Face Wash
Mix some of your ginger water and or ginger juice with a mild face soap like Dessert essence face wash.
The more diluted your face wash is the better. As long as it still suds a bit I’m sure you’ll be happy but the goal should be to lower your need for the soap. Soap alters the ph balance of your skin and can sometimes make acne worse.
Ice Cubes
Use extra ginger water to make ice cubes to run over your face if you have existing pimples or would like to tone your skin
Use morning and night or when needed
If You Have A Juicer
Juice a bag of ginger. You can peel it or do it with the skin after you’ve cleaned it. You may have to stop juicing to clean off your hopper if it stops juicing. I noticed mine had a build-up of ginger grains. I took the pulp out and squeezed it by hand to get out extra juice.
Face Moisturizer
Take some of the straight ginger juice and pour into a small bottle
Mix in a light oil that you enjoy like avocado, grapeseed or rosehip oil
Shake together and massage all over the face. Keep the mixture in the fridge
If you want your spritz extra potent add a small amount of the straight ginger juice to the ginger water.
Hair Conditioner
Massage straight ginger juice in scalp and put on a shower cap. Rinse out after 30 minutes or leave in…if you’re brave…. muhahahahah!
Hair Spritz
Spray your face spritz in your hair!
More Ginger Benefits
Some of these are even true!
http://www.stylecraze.com/articles/benefits-of-ginger-for-skin-hair-and-health/
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