I am a big big fan of shopping my kitchen for beauty products. It started as a little girl watching my mom use olive oil as a facial moisturizer (I still love to do olive oil hair masks when I’m feeling fancy). So it’s no surprise that a honey & cinnamon face mask is high on my list of at home beauty treatments.
With only 2 ingredients it is cheap, easy, readily available, and also happens to be my favorite coffee enhancing combo as well.
Why honey and cinnamon?
Honey is a solution that is made from sugar, mostly fructose and glucose. These sugars contain proteins, amino acids, vitamins, minerals, and enzymes.
For centuries, people have used honey as a medicinal treatment. The compound has been used to treat dandruff, psoriasis, burns, and fungal infections.
The type of honey most commonly credited with these effects isn’t the kind you’ll find most readily at your grocery store, but instead at your local farmer’s market. Manuka honey is your best bet for medicinal use. This is a raw variety that hasn’t been processed.
Cinnamon has been used to treat a host of respiratory, digestive, and even gynecological conditions. In a recent survey of medical literature, cinnamon has been shown to have potential anti-microbial, anti-parasitic, anti-oxidant, and anti-inflammatory benefits in animals. It may also have wound-healing properties.
As with honey, a specific type of cinnamon produces the most benefits. This type of cinnamon is called Cinnamomum zeylanicum or “true cinnamon.”
5 Benefits of a Honey Cinnamon Face Mask
I love this mask because it makes my face feel baby soft and evens out my coloring, but there are about a million other reasons you might love it too.
#1 Fights Fine Lines
Cinnamon is a fantastic anti-fine line agent. It contains compounds which promote circulation and bring more blood toward your skin, nourishing and plumping it. By doing so, the fine lines will start to fade away.
#2 Anti-Acne
Both honey and cinnamon are antibacterial, managing to combat the bacteria that causes acne bursts. Honey is particularly effective against the swollen, red pimples since its properties are greater. Moreover, cinnamon perfectly completes the picture curtsy of its excellent treatment of acne scars.
#3 Exfoliation
Honey contains glycolic acid and several other types of organic acids with unique properties. They ‘eat away’ at dead cells, promoting exfoliation without your usual scrubbing process. This way, you will rejuvenate your skin in a rub-free manner.
#4 Moisturizing
Honey is also really moisturizing. It acts by absorbing water from the environment and locking it underneath your skin. This is why you often see honey as a primary ingredient in various dry skin treatments.
#5 Eczema
A blend of honey and cinnamon applied to patches of skin affected by eczema could help you relieve some of the irritation and itchiness experienced due to this ailment.
How Too
Patch test first: before you apply any of these masks on your face, try it on a small piece of skin first. Let it sit following the instructions and rinse off. This way you can check if you’re sensitive or allergic to any of the ingredients in this face mask.
Mix 1 teaspoon of cinnamon (a dime size amount) with 2 tablespoons of honey (2ish quarters) in a small bowl or the palm of your hand until the cinnamon blends thoroughly into the honey.
Apply the mixture to your face using your fingertips and hands until you get an even coverage for your face. Be mindful of your eyes and eye brows because the honey can get pretty sticky in your eyelashes and brows.
Leave the mask on your face for 10-15 minutes and feel free to lick your lips as often as you like and then rinse off with lukewarm water. I like to take a wash cloth and saturate it with warm water then cover my face with the cloth and lay back for 30 seconds to a minute. Then use that same wash cloth to start wiping the mask off of your face. This helps soften the honey and allows it to rinse off your face a little easier, plus it just feels really great and offers you a minute to sit still and breath.
Risks
Cinnamon can irritate the skin if your skin is sensitive or if you use it too often, so don’t repeat this process more than twice a week. Rinse immediately if irritation occurs and stop using this face mask.
Honey is often safe when applied to the skin. It is possible that a person may have an allergic reaction to honey, however. Examples of allergic side effects can include hives, itching, swelling, and wheezing.
Melody Butler Yoga 