SPA Avocat
California’s Unconventional Beauty Cream
Ancient Aztec, Mayan and Inca Beauties believed that the avocado fed the skin from without as well as within. What they found by trial-and-error, we have rediscovered. The elegant green-gold avocado is a treasury of vitamins, minerals and natural oils.
Consider these nutrients in the California avocado: Vitamins A, C, E, iron, potassium, niacin, pantothenic acid and its natural emollients. Plus protein not usually found in fruit. And no cholesterol, of course. Avocado skin color will vary from season to season: black, deep violet and hunter green for the summer varieties; brilliant leaf green for the winter fruits. The nourishment is identical. (But do look for the California avocado. Its richer oil content helps these formulas do their best.)
California avocado skin care is completely relevant to today’s trend toward the use of natural organic substances. Here is a thoroughly safe, chemically free approach to being more beautiful. The avocado can’t promise miracles, but you may find the nearest thing in your own favorite formulas out of this article.
Some are the ancient secrets, updated. Others come from all over the world, wherever there is interest in natural beauty. Every formula is easy to prepare in your own kitchen, using simple utensils.
The other ingredients, besides the avocado, can be found in most refrigerators or cupboards. Have fun, be natural, be beautiful!
How to Use an Avocado for Beauty Care
The avocado you use should be fully ripe. If you buy several unripe ones for future use, let them mellow in your fruit bowl (they look lovely with apples) or put them in a paper bag, or wrap them in foil to hasten the process.
You may store your ripe avocados in the refrigerator, but never, never put this delicate fruit in the freezer. It might just die of shock.
How do you know when the avocado is ripe? Hold it in the palm of your hand and gently press it with your fingers. A ripe fruit will yield to your touch. It will open easily, peel evenly and reveal its glorious green-gold interior.
When the beauty formula calls for MASHED, PUREED, or MACERATED pulp the procedure is quite simple. Peel your avocado (or one-half) and remove the pit. Your avocado can now be PUREED, MASHED, or MACERATED by any of these methods: the fork, the blender, the potato ricer, the food processor or the sieve.
The avocado like any other organic matter, is perishable. Some of the formulas on this site are designed for ONE TIME USE, and should be made up freshly for each treatment. Others may be refrigerated up to 48 hours.
To prevent the avocado or its mixture with other ingredients from darkening while stored in your refrigerator, place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the avocado mixture so as not to expose the mixture to air. The usual method of adding lemon or lime juice for this purpose may be too harsh for skins which are dry or sensitive.
Avocado Facial Cleanser
Beat the yolk of an egg until it is light and frothy, add a half cup of milk and the mashed half of a ripe peeled avocado. A blender is handy here, but if you don’t have one, beat the mixture with a fork until you have a thin cream or lotion-like consistency. Apply on squares of cotton as you would any other cleanser. You may also use this deep cleanser after ordinary soap and water, if your skin is normal. It’s quite effective against pollution and grime. Therefore, it’s a very pure method of keeping your complexion free of pollutants which can interfere with normal skin function.
Since the formula is perishable, we suggest making it every other day and storing it in the refrigerator between uses.
California Avocado Moisturizer
The inside of the avocado peel is actually valuable. The precious oil hidden away in the peel of the avocado is also a wonderful facial moisturizer. To be technical, the oil contains a humectant, a substance that holds moisture. Using gentle upward strokes, lightly massage your face with the inside of the peel. Let the oil residue remain on your skin for about 15 minutes. At that time you may either leave the oil on your skin and go to sleep or, if you intend to put on make-up, wash your face gently with three or four rinses of tepid water and pat dry. The oil will be invisible but it is there, ready to hold your foundation or powder in place for hours.
Aztec Mystery Eye Treatment
Nobody really knows WHY this is so effective on under-eye puffiness, but it IS. The procedure is very simple: peel an avocado, remove the pit, and slice a half into quarter-inch crescents. Lie down, secure a few slices under each eye, and rest for about 20 minutes. The result is corrective magic!
Santa Barbara’s Dry Skin Masque
Beat the yolk of an egg until it is light and frothy, then add the mashed pulp of a half avocado, blending it well (you may use a blender at this point). Cleanse your face thoroughly before using this masque (or any masque). Spread the avocado mixture over the face and neck evenly; relax on a slant board or bed for about 20 minutes. Remove with clear tepid water and a face cloth, followed by a rinse of cold water or a mild skin lotion. The result should be a marked improvement in skin texture, and all-around revitalizing.
Santa Monica’s Oily Skin Masque
Put the white of an egg, a teaspoon of lemon juice, and the mashed pulp of a half avocado into a blender. In seconds, you should have a lovely green mixture. Wash your face and neck thoroughly, then apply masque evenly on those areas. Relax for 20 minutes; remove with tepid water and a face cloth. Follow with cold astringent or skin tonic.
Home Brew for Hands
Cold weather’s rapid arrival is bad news for hand texture. A trip to the beauty salon might be in order, but London nail technician Rene Rainbird has her own recommendation for a home brew that should do just as well.
“Make your own by mixing in a small bowl a quarter of an avocado with one egg white, two dessert spoons of oatmeal and a teaspoon of lemon juice,” says Rainbird, of the Daniel Hersheson salon. Blend together and apply evenly to your hands, leave on for 20 minutes and rinse off with warm water.”
The result, she says, should be both luxurious and effective. She describes her treatment as “an exfoliating scrub that will leave dry, rough skin noticeably softer and smoother.”
(This tip taken from www.thirdage.com)
Reprinted with permission
The reader is urged to use personal judgement in applying these natural beauty treatments. Any allergies to particular fruits and vegetables or other medical conditions should be taken into account, and those formulas avoided. Readers should test all beauty treatments on a small area of skin prior to use on any large area. And, of course, no miracles from any beauty care, organic or otherwise, should be expected or can be guaranteed.
The Author:
The California Avocado Commission is the official information source for California avocados and the California avocado industry. Chief among CAC’s many objectives is to increase consumer awareness of and demand for the fruit on behalf of the state’s 6,000 avocado growers. You can get many great avocado recipes from their site, please visit at http://www.avocado.org
