My favourite DIY skin care recipes

Now in winter (almost spring) with all the dry air in heated spaces our skin requires special attention to prevent it from becoming dry. Fortunately many skin care brands offer special winter products to keep your skin healthy and hydrated. But if you have sensitive skin it can be really risky to try out new products from the drug store because they might cause irritations or even allergies. That's why I personally favour homemade skin care products – the chances that your skin reacts negatively to DIY peelings and masks made with ingredients that are 100% natural are A LOT slimmer!
So here's some of my favourite super quick and easy to make DIY skin care recipes for you to try at home: 

Lemon & brown sugar peeling:

Instructions: Mix the juice from half a lemon & 1 table spoon of sugar in a small bowl, apply it with a cotton pad, massage in for 3 min, let it sit for 5 min

> be careful to not get this in your eyes & don't forget to moisturise after rinsing it off (I recommend coconut oil as the perfect natural moisturiser because it also helps remove potential leftovers of the peeling)

The lemon juice in this peeling has a brightening effect on the skin making it look more vital, the brown sugar will remove dead skin cells

抹茶マスク (Matcha mask):

Instructions: Mix 1/2 mashed banana, one teaspoon of matcha powder & one teaspoon of honey together & apply it to your face. Let it sit for 10 minutes, then rinse it out. 

(if you have a tool for mashing potatoes, use that for the banana, if you don't, a fork works just as well)

Apply coconut oil or your favourite moisturiser afterwards.
Matcha has a rejuvenating effect and the banana and honey moisturise & nourish the skin. 

Coffee peeling:

Instructions: Mix 1 tablespoon of coconut oil (liquid) and 1 tablespoon of coffee grounds together in a small bowl. Massage it in for 3-5 minutes, let it sit for 5 minutes and then rinse it out. 

Similar to the Lemon juice peeling, this peeling has a brightening, as well as a rejuvenating effect on the skin due to the antioxidants contained in coffee. The coconut oil cleans, softens and moisturises the skin. 

These 3 DIY recipes have always worked really well for me & helped to keep my skin healthy even in winter, so I'm pretty sure they will work for you, too. 
If you get to try them, let me know what you think! :) 

xx ♡ Micky 

Review : Skin Food Egg White Mask

Looking for a replacement for my beloved mask by Neutrogena I recently ordered this pore mask from Skin Food. Mainly because the fact that it's relying on egg white and its albumin as an active agent really intrigued me. Because I had previously made positive experiences with Skin Food, my expectations were high and I was very happy when the package from Korea finally arrived with me. 

Application:
The mask is on a clay base and applies very easy and smoothly onto the skin. 
Once a thin layer is applied you leave it on to dry for 10-15 minutes and then wash it off with luke warm water. Like all clay masks, it's pretty easy to remove. 

The mask smells wonderfully and didn't feel uncomfortable or irritating on my skin at all, which was a great relief because my skin is very sensitive in this regard and I often end up having allergic reactions to new products so I was extremely glad this wasn't the case with this mask!

Results: ♥♥♥♥♥
After washing off the mask, my skin was visibly clearer and felt incredibly soft. 
Even my pores were much cleaner and even seemed smaller, so this mask definitely keeps what it promises! 

I'm glad I can wholeheartedly recommend this mask to everyone who's looking to try a new deep cleansing and relaxing mask! 

Have you tried Skin Food's products before? If so, what are your favourites? 

xx ♡ Micky 

Skin care with Coffee!

“What's a rainy daywithout some deliciouscoffee-flavoured loneliness?” ― Sanober Khan, Turquoise Silence

Coffee! Who doesn't love & rely on it as an energy-booster, especially on those gloomy autumn-mornings?! Be it a creamy chocolate-macchiato, a caramel cappuccino or a Starbucks pumpkin spiced latte - coffee is something many of us would count as an essential in their daily diets. 
But did you know that it can also have real positive effects on our skin?
Here's what good coffee can do for your beauty! 

#1 Fight those puffy eyes
if you apply coffee on the skin below your eyes this can significantly constrict the blood vessels hence reduce eye puffiness & swelling! Of course you can also use an actual skin creme containing caffeine for this. 

#2 Baby-smooth 
Caffeine exfoliates your skin, in fact, coffee grounds make the perfect peeling for your skin as they effectively remove dead skin cells and leave your skin feeling baby smooth! 
So instead of just throwing those old coffee grounds away, why not repurpose them? 

#3 Tight & Bright
Coffee is known as a diuretic and hence can used efficiently in the treatment or prevention of cellulite - combine coffee grounds with coconut oil for the best results! The dark grinds of coffee can also be used to brighten up your skin & make it look more vital! 

#4 Forever young! 
Okay.. maybe not forever. But the antioxidants contained in coffee are real fighters against free radicals, which are known to cause premature skin ageing (e.g. wrinkles, loss of skin elasticity, etc.). You'll find many day- & night-cremes containing caffeine but I personally prefer to apply the raw coffee grounds to my skin & follow this peeling with some coconut oil. It works real wonders! 

#5 So soothing
Coffee contains anti-inflammatory properties that can effectively reduce inflammation and redness on your skin. Using caffeine or products containing caffeine can significantly reduce the risk for - or even help you to prevent inflammation and redness. 

Coffee peelings are amazing! 

Who would have thought Coffee can actually be such a miracle-beauty weapon?! 
I for my part, am fairly certain I will rely on Coffee as far more than just a mood-maker in the future. :)

xx ♡ Micky

Daily skin care routine

So Angelina from Angelina-Is just recently 'inspired' me to do this post on my daily (but admittedly not actually so daily) skin care routine because she thinks my skin is so nice (*≧∀≦*).
To be fair, I was always one of the lucky ones that didn't ever actually have pimples or even acne. Well, I had to be spared from at least one of the 'horrible'-genes.. but I still do take good care of my skin in the hope of keeping it radiant and youthful at least until I reach my thirties.
So here's the things I do, maybe not all of them daily but each of them at least once a week, to keep my skin smooth & clean:

#1 Makeup removal
This is SO important if you wanna keep your skin healthy and clean, did you notice the emphasis on the 'so'? But seriously, makeup, mainly foundation can clog your pores and prevent your skin from breathing. This can make it very easy for skin-impurities like blackheads or pimples to develop. It can dry out your skin and mess up it's sebum-production which can make your skin more oily especially around the T-zone.
Just one more reason to not wear foundation at all for me but if you can't resist, make sure to not only remove your foundation but also to remove it properly! Pay attention when you buy a makeup remover. Does it contain any chemicals or strong substances such as alcohol? Does it fit to your skin type (eg. don't use make-up remover for dry skin if your skin is oily)?
As a person with a mix-skin (oily and dry parts), I have found any oil-free make-up remover to go quite well with my skin but most of all I love the Estée Lauder Gentle Eye Makeup Remover.

#2 Peelings & Masks
This is important to deep-clean your skin and refreshen the blood circulation to keep it look bright and youthful. Make sure though, that you find a good balance to use these products, don't use them too often since they can also irritate and dry out your skin. I do a peeling followed by a face mask once week only and I've found that to be enough for me personally.
My favourite products to use for this are the peeling by Clean & Clear Morning Energy Scrub, Neutrogena Visibly Clear Mask and the Neutrogena Pink Grapefruit Daily Cleansing Gel
My favourite masks are those of My Beauty Diary - an asian brand which I really started to love thanks to those refreshing & convenient facial masks <3 

#3 Facial Water
You just gotta love that refreshing feeling of a cool, disinfecting facial water right before you go to bed. It's the best first measure you can take for your skin to stay clean and bright. I use the Neutrogena Visibly Clear Anti Blackhead facial water. 
You might have noticed I really love Neutrogena products but that is certainly for a reason, they are my number 1 trusted brand for face-cleansing products since they literally never failed to deliver what they promised! ;)

#4 Cremes & Moisturisers
Surprisingly the only product I really constantly use for moisturising is the good old, classic: Nivea Creme, it's one of the very few skin care products that I'm using since my childhood and it never, not even once, let me down. I've also been brave here a few weeks ago and decided to try out a new facial creme by Olaz which has turned out to be surprisingly good whenever you want an even softer touch to your skin. 

So that's pretty much all the products I usually use for my facial skin care. I know they appear to be a lot but considering that I really only use about 50% of them on an actual daily basis it really does appear to be more than it is. 

"Take care that the face that looks out from the mirror in the morning is a pleasant face. You may not see it again during the day, but others will."

xx ♡ Micky 

My beauty secret, Coconut oil!

Since I'm a child I suffer from quite a common skin condition called Keratosis Pilaris, aka. 'Chicken skin'. It is completely harmless to the health, yet, I still suffered because it basically creates red bumps that look like little pimples on the skin so it just doesn't really look nice and always affected my self confidence. I have a very light form of Keratosis Pilaris and it only appears to be on my upper arms. I therefore would hardly ever wear sleeveless tops or dresses and since it bothered me so much I’ve been looking for a cure to the chicken skin since ages. 
And now I seem to have finally found something that really works and since Keratosis Pilaris is so common I thought that this might be interesting for some of you, too!

The answer is Coconut Oil! 

I first read about Coconut Oil as a beauty wonder for skin and hair on a german website and became really curious about it.. 
Could this finally help me to change my annoying skin condition? 
I’ve tried so many things to get rid of it over the years but all I found to be at least partially working was to simply moisturise my skin so you wouldn’t notice the little bumps that much and make them feel smoother and some tricks with my diet that would help. But coconut oil for usage as a cosmetic product sounded kind of promising. 
I had tried so many things so why not try this one as well. 

It is quickly absorbed by the skin and the perfect skin and hair care product, in addition to that it’s easily available in any local supermarket and cheap. It’s very healthy and multifaceted! 
Apparently you can even use it as a deodorant or make-up remover. 

But back to my Keratosis Pilaris.. To be honest, after applying Coconut oil to my skin for the first time I didn’t notice a great change, actually didn’t notice a change at all but after 2 weeks there is already a visible effect. Coconut oil made my condition nearly invisible! 

As you can see my case is quite light but I suspect that in severer cases this might work even better! 

Still, I think the Coconut oil worked real wonders for me, my skin also feels much softer and hydrated now + I always smell like a bounty ^^
And the best part about it all - I can finally wear sleeveless tops without being ashamed of my arms again! :) 

xx ♡ Micky