My DIY Aloe+Honey Face Mask

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After only sparingly taking leaves from my 1 aloe plant.. My aunt surprised me with another, huge aloe (that has 3 little babies, too)! So, now that I had some to spare (and my old one needed a trim anyways), I decided to made up a batch of face mask/moisturizer with what I trimmed off.

I'm a beginner in real home medicine making, but I've been whipping up my own skin care things for years. Much like my cooking, I hardly ever write anything down or follow a recipe to a "T", so I have troubles recreating something when it turns out extra good. I'm trying to change those bad habits though, and wanted to share what I've journaled for this creation.

First and second step was to cleanly slice off the leaves and then sit them upright in a jar for about 15 minutes to let some of the yellow sap drain out. -

I didn't wind up getting much sap out of them. I had read that aloe sap can irritate skin for some people, and though I've never reacted badly to fresh aloe, I decided to go ahead with this step since I intended to use this frequently on my face. I may skip this the next time personally, but, if you have sensitive skin, or know that you react badly to the sap, this step can help reduce that irritation when using aloe. -

This is the amount of sap that drained in about 15 minutes from 3 larger leaves and a few little pieces.


Once they were drained, I moved on to the next step of opening the leaves and removing all the lovely aloe innards! For this process, I used a veggie peeler, a spoon, and some patience. You can tell from the pic below that I got better and more efficient with it as I worked though each leaf -


Out of 3 leaves and some small pieces I wound up with just over 2 oz of aloe gel -

(At this point, I should have pureed the gel and removed any remaining fibrous plant material before adding my other ingredients... But, I didn't, haha! I had some trouble later with blending, wound up making a huge mess, and loosing about an oz of the mix. So, word to the wise, at this point, you'll want to thoroughly puree and run the gel through a strainer before you add anything else to it.)

I decided to keep this recipe as simple as possible, using just aloe and honey. I chose honey to help keep the aloe from spoiling too quickly and because honey is one of my absolute favorite things to put on my skin. I poured in about an equal amount of local, raw honey -


And here's the step I did in the wrong order. Once I added the honey I got out my new tiny little blender and tried to emulsify the mix -

The little blender did better than I had expected, but there where tons of fibrous pieces of the leaves still in the mix, which kept getting wrapped around my blender stick and making a big ol' mess when I'd pull it up... Oh well, next time, I'll puree and filter those pieces out first, before I add honey or anything else.

Not pictured here is my attempt to hastily strain the mix at this point, and in my attempt I picked the wrong strainer and poured too fast... so about an oz ran over and right into my kitchen drain. 😕

Once I had that whole mess sorted out, I decided I wanted a little more moisturizing and preserving power in it, so I added in about a half oz of coconut oil, and blended again.

And here's my final, golden, and awesome face mask mix!

I had not ever used aloe for general skin care before, only really pulling it out for burns, bites, and things like that. But, after using this a few times per week, I absolutely love it!

I can already tell that some older acne scars of mine are improving, and my skin feels perfectly moisturized and softer than before. I kept this batch super simple, but you could easily add infused oils, herbs, butters, or just about anything else you want to customize it to your skin needs.

Because of the use of fresh aloe, and since I don't use it up quickly, I do keep this in my fridge. Theoretically, I think the honey would keep it from going bad at room temperature for a good while, but I didn't want to risk any mold or silly business, especially for something I use on my face.

Keeping it cold did cause the oil to separate a bit and harden. So after it had solidified, I blended it again to break the oil into small bits. Now I can pour some into my hand, and let the oil melt again before I apply it to my face and neck. I'm betting that those with a better emulsifier would have less issues with this!

I usually slather on a good bit and then let it sit for about 15-30 minutes before I hop in the shower. It's too sticky to be left on over night, or used as a lotion, but just a few minutes every few days has already done a lot of good for my face.

I hope this post will inspire you guys to get to your kitchen and whip up something amazing for your skin too! And, if you have a great stand-by recipe that you've been using for naturally healthy skin, post yours too! 😄