There are so many wonderful ways to get creative with flaxseeds in the world of homemade skincare.
From oil blends and hair gels, to scalp treatments and face masks, flaxseeds have a wide variety of uses.
They are a potent source of omega-3 fatty acid (especially linolenic and linoleic) and have an abundance of other nutritional compounds which can, when applied topically; help to...
:: Protect and repair the skin by strengthening it's barrier and elasticity
:: Soothe current / prevent future breakouts and irritation
:: Improve hydration and plump fine lines
All forms of skin disharmony can benefit from flaxseed. That being said, I will always recommend doing a patch test when experimenting with new ingredients.
You can work with the oil, seeds or meal.
This particular recipe will be focused on using the whole seeds to create a meal or powder.
You can buy the meal if you prefer, however, ingredients are always more potent when they are freshy ground- which you can easily do at home in a processer, grinder or mortar and pestle.
For this reason, I only grind the seeds in relatively small amounts at a time to ensure freshness.
Let's make a healing and rejuvenating face scrub + mask
For this recipe, we will be blending ground flaxseed with water, honey and yoghurt.
Honey is a powerful humectant, antiseptic and calming skin food, while full fat yoghurt is cooling, nourishing and ever so slightly exfoliating.
- Grind or process a few tablespoons of flaxseeds until they form a meal or powdery consistency. If you prefer a finer texture, you can sieve the meal after grinding.
-Place half a teaspoon or so in a small bowl for this recipe, and store the rest in a jar for later use.
- With your fingertips, slowly add warm droplets of water to the bowl and stir until you reach a creamy (not runny) consistency
* I don't recommend pouring the water as you have less control and only need a tiny bit
- Add in half a teaspoon or less of both honey and yoghurt
- Stir it all together and massage all over clean skin
- For me, this is a good amount for the face, neck and chest- see what works for you and adjust the amounts depending on preference and desired use (e.g. for a full body treatment)
- Rinse off after massaging for a few minutes or let the ingredients work their magic on the skin for 10-15 minutes before rinsing
- Leave the skin as is or apply oil/moisturiser to finish if needed
Notes + Tips
* If/when the mixture gets sticky, simply wet your hands to improve slip
* Play around with the quantities according to texture preference (more yoghurt, more flax and so on)
* I recommend doing your DIY scrubs and masks before a shower, it's just so much easier and more enjoyable to rinse off in the shower than over the sink
I hope you enjoy this nurturing skin food blend, more flaxseed recipes will be coming soon!
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