Face Masks For Dry Skin

If your skin feels rough, dry and flaky and in need of some tender loving care, moisturizing face masks designed to rejuvenate your skin can make a world of difference. There are some great choices in face masks for dry skin. Whether you choose to buy or create a natural homemade mask, you will not struggle to find what you need, whatever your budget.

If you don’t mind a bit of work and wearing the contents of your fridge and store cupboard on your face, you’ll find a whole heap of homemade dry skin mask recipes below. They have all the advantages of low cost natural ingredients and you can often whip one up at a moment’s notice if you feel that your skin needs a moisture boost.

If you prefer to buy products and have a face mask or two available to feed your skin when it needs it, then you’ll also find recommendations for the most moisture boosting masks in the section on the best facial masks for dry skin.

Benefits

The main reasons to use a face mask for dry skin are to

• rehydrate your skin and make it feel moisturized and supple again
• restore the skin texture so it feels smooth to the touch, removing roughness and flaky skin
• give you a chance to relax for 15 minutes and put your feet up, an essential for you as well as the health of your skin

How To Get the Most From A Face Mask

Follow these steps to get the best results from your mask

Tie your hair out of the way and use a hair band to keep any stray hair off your forehead. If you are treating your neck too, wear loose clothing around the neck area.

Cleanse your skin to remove all traces of dirt or makeup, splash your face with warm water (or hold a warm damp washcloth against your face) and then gently pat your face dry.

As dry skin tends to be delicate and more sensitive than other skins always be sure to do a patch test. Whether you are using natural kitchen ingredients or a store bought product, skin can have an adverse reaction to one or more ingredients and the time to find out is not after you have used the mask over your whole face. Be especially cautious if you are using a mask before a big date or special occasion. To do a patch test use a little of the mask in a less conspicuous area of your face, perhaps under your chin or behind your ear. Leave for a few minutes to see if you get any adverse reaction.

If you are happy with the results of the patch test, apply the mask in a generous layer over your face (and neck if you like) leaving the eye area clear.

Lie down on a towel to protect your bed or sofa and relax for 15 minutes and close your eyes. If you like you can treat your eyes by covering your eyelids with slices of cucumber (cold from the fridge is nice) or a couple of used chamomile teabags which have been wrung out and left to cool. If you are likely to fall asleep (I always do) set an alarm or kitchen timer to wake you up after 15 or 20 minutes (or whatever the suggested time on the product packaging says if you are using a mask from a store).

Wash off the face mask with warm water and then finish with a splash of cool water. Pat your skin dry and finish with a moisturizer to seal the moisture into your skin.

How Often Should You Use a Mask on Dry Skin?

Masks for dry skin are generally more soothing and gentle than masks for other skin types so you can probably use one every few days if you like but about once a week is right for most people.

Recipes for Homemade Face Masks For Dry Skin

Ingredients which you can include in your own homemade mask recipes   aloe vera gel avocado banana chamomile cream cucumber egg yolk or whole egg honey melon oatmeal shea butter pure natural yogurt natural oils including almond, apricot, avocado, coconut, jojoba, olive, sunflower and wheatgerm oils

If you love natural beauty products, you will enjoy using these homemade masks enormously. They are much cheaper than buying ready made masks and they have fewer ingredients to upset your skin – although you still need to take care with natural products and do a patch test. (Remember some of the most poisonous substances on earth are pure and natural!)

If you like to use these masks, you can keep a few ingredients in your fridge and always have something you can use when your skin needs hydration.

Don’t feel that you have to stick to the suggested recipes. Once you have an idea about what to do and how different ingredients work with each other, you can always experiment with your favorite ingredients as long as you stick to those which you know to be beneficial to dry skin.

Method (unless otherwise stated)

This method works for most homemade face masks.

Just take the ingredients and mash or blend them together with a fork or blender and adjust the ingredients to get the right consistency. (Start with the basic recipe but you may need to add a little more or less of the liquid ingredients so that you have a paste which is thin enough spread on your skin but not so thin that it runs off.)

Ingredients to Avoid for Dry Skin   anything which doesn’t agree with you when you eat it as it is unlikely to be good for your skin either anything your skin has reacted badly to with previous recipes ingredients which have very astringent qualities such as lemon, orange, and grapefruit juice or pulp as these are likely to sting anything which is likely to color your skin, though I don’t think you are likely to put beetroot on your skin, just thought I’d mention it…

Don’t expect these homemade face masks to harden or be able to peel them off in one layer as you might expect from store bought masks you have used before. You just leave them on for 15 minutes or so to treat your skin and then wash them off.

A Selection of Natural Face Mask Recipes

Anyway, here are some starter recipes to get you going.

Banana and yogurt mask

2 bananas
1 tablespoon honey
half a cup of natural yogurt

Pure Banana

You can just use mashed banana for a dry skin mask if you have nothing else (you’ll probably need 2 or 3 depending on the size of the fruit)

Egg White Face Mask

2 egg whites
2 tablespoons of yogurt

Blend this one by hand and leave on your skin for just a few minutes before rinsing off. You can use the yolks in other facial mask recipes.

Oatmeal and Yogurt Mask

1 tablespoon finely ground oatmeal
1 tablespoon natural yogurt
1 teaspoon honey

If you don’t have any finely ground oatmeal you can grind it yourself in the blender or with a pestle and mortar.

Pumpkin Mask

half a cup fresh pumpkin pulp
1 egg
2 teaspoons almond milk
1 teaspoon honey

A great way to use some of the pulp from Haloween!

Honey Yogurt Face Mask

1 tablespoon natural full fat yogurt
2 teaspoons honey

Avocado and Honey Face Mask for Dry Skin

half a ripe avocado
2 tablespoons honey

If you have no honey you can just use the avocado for a moisturizing mask with a few drops of oil if you have them.

Homemade Milk Mask for Dry Skin

1 teaspoon powdered milk
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon aloe vera gel
2 drops essential oil

Mango Butter Mask

half a mango (peeled and cubed)
1 tablespoon salt free Butter
1 egg yolk
half a teaspoon chamomile oil
half a teaspoon apricot oil

Use a blender to puree the ingredients until you have a smooth paste. You can change the oils if you don’t have either of these.

Banana Cream Facial Mask

1 Banana
2 tablespoons fresh heavy cream
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon oatmeal flour
few drops of water to adjust consistency

Blend the ingredients without water and add a few drops if necessary

Avocado Melon Face Mask for Dry Skins

half a ripe avocado
half cup water melon, seeds removed
1 tablespoon honey
two tablespoons olive oil

Blend the ingredients to a smooth paste

Almond Egg Mask

1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon natural yogurt
1 tablespoon honey
quarter cup of fine oatmeal
one teaspoon almond oil
water to adjust consistency

Blend the ingredients, adding water as necessary to create a thick paste.

Honey and Egg Yolk Mask For Dry Skin

1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon honey
Few drops of olive Oil or vitamin E oil to create the right consistency

This face mask is so gentle, you can leave it on your skin up to an hour by which time it will probably have dried. It will leave your skin soft and smooth after you wash it off.

Egg, Honey and Rose Face Mask

1 egg
1 teaspoon honey
half teaspoon olive oil
few drops rose water

Cabbage and Egg Mask

1 tablespoon of boiled cabbage
1 egg
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Blend to a paste before applying to your face. A strange idea to put cabbage on your face but this mask is very soothing.

Flaxseed Mask

1 tablespoon flax seeds
1 glass boiling water

Boil the mixture until it thickens. Once it cools, apply the mask to your face.

Melon and Cream Mask

2-3 tablespoons grated melon
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon sour cream.

If You Prefer to Buy Facial Masks for Dry Skin

I have to admit I am not a fan of whipping up homemade facial masks in my blender. No matter how beneficial they might be, I like to feel pampered with luxury beauty products when I am giving myself a special treat (and 15 minutes to lie down is definitely a rare treat in my busy life). Taken at face value, egg yolk, yogurt and cabbage work well but they just don’t do it for me in that regard.

Here are my choices for luxury masks. If you are on a budget, I would advise you NOT to spend your money here. Look for a face mask for dry skin at your local drugstore. You don’t need to spend a lot to give your skin a moisturizing treat without covering yourself in egg yolk. I won’t recommend any drugstore brands as what is available in my neck of the woods at a discount, is bound to be different in yours and they change all the time. Just try a new low cost brand each time you need a mask and see what it does for your skin until you find a keeper.

If you’re into luxury though, take a look at these

24K Nano Gold Collagen Crystal Gel Mask

If you want the feeling of luxury, this is definitely the one to go for! It is the color of pure gold.

This one doesn’t come in a sachet, jar or tube so it is unusual in that respect too. It arrives as a mask attached to a piece of film that you peel off and place on your cleansed face.

It is extremely soothing for dry skin and will help soften and brighten the skin. Don’t expect miracles just because it’s gold but it will feel great in any case.

For more details and a big discount click here.

Yonka Gommage 305 Soft Clarifying Gel Peel Facial Mask

Unlike many masks for dry skin, you can peel this mask off at the end of the treatment. The peeling action means it has a good exfoliating effect as well as a hydrating effect on your skin.

Your skin should be much smoother and brighter after using it.

It is very gentle without harsh chemicals or abrasive particles so it is good for sensitive skins too and it can even be used on your eyelids (but be careful not to get any in your eyes). To remove the mask after your facial treatment, run your fingers over the edge of the treated area until the mask begins to roll off. See the reviews from fans here.

Nuxe Refreshing and Relaxing Moisture Mask Facial Mask

This is a very gentle hydrating mask from France which can also be left on all night like a night cream.

After leaving the treatment on for 10 minutes while you relax, you simply massage it into your skin to continue the benefit instead of washing it away.

If your skin feels tight and rough then it is a great treatment as it has soothing licorice extract to reduce irritation and provide comfort as well as essential oils and you will find the mask leaves your skin looking much brighter and more radiant.

This one is gentle enough to be used around the eye contours too but again, don’t get it into your eyes. You can buy it here on Amazon.

Organic Chocolate Facial Mask

This chocolate mask is also a bit different in that it comes in dry powder form and you add water to create the right consistency. You need just one to two teaspoons of the powder to make a mask.

It is also 100% organic and natural and works particularly well for dry and mature skins. The main ingredient is cacao powder but it also contains kaolin clay , sugar, oats, orange peel, allspice and vitamins.

This one does start to tighten as it dries (due to the presence of clay) and you should wash it off your skin at that point with warm water.

You can find it here on Amazon.