Minty Guacamole Face Mask

Looking for a deep-cleaning, skin-brightening, all-natural skin treatment?  Try this out!

Gather and prep your ingredients:

• 1/2 avocado, mashed
• Juice from 1/2 lime
• 1/8 cup fresh mint, very finely minced
• 2 Tbs ground almonds
• 1 clove garlic, run through garlic press (or very finely minced and mashed a bit)
• 1 tsp chia seeds
• 1 tsp honey

Combine all by hand or use a food processor (not necessary, but it does make the mask smoother and more uniform). Apply mask to clean skin, stay clear of eyes, and leave on for 10 - 15 minutes.  Rinse off thoroughly with warm water. 

Caution: Remove immediately if you experience a high degree of irritation or burning!  Garlic, lime and mint have strong astringent properties and the concentrations of active ingredients are unpredictable in natural form.   You may want to try a small test patch first, especially if you have sensitive skin.

So what's going on in this mask?  The table below lists some reported proprieties of each ingredient and links to the source of the information.  I was looking to balance some of the stronger elements with soothing ones, which I think worked out for me, but there are a lot of claims (some more scientific than others) so you may want to do some further review and research to see what will work for you.

Ingredient	Benefit/Source
Avocado	Calms, cleanses, firms skin, high in vitamin E
Chia	Soothes inflammation
Almonds	Exfoliates, high vitamin E
Honey	Moisturizes, protects against UV damage
Lime	Removes dead skin cells, high in vitamin C
Mint	Contains salicylic acid, the active ingredient in several acne treatments
Garlic	Anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties, may reduce acne

Now you have your face mask, you have half of the avocado to contend with.  It won't stay fresh for long, so since you are almost there anyway, why not make some real guacamole for a light, post-facial snack!

• Other half avocado, diced
• Juice from other 1/2 lime
• Small Tomato, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/8 tsp sea salt
• 1/8 tsp cayenne

Combine all ingredients and serve with chips or pita.

You'll feel healthier inside and out!