3 Yogurt Face Masks Your Skin Will Love

Walk to your kitchen, open your refrigerator door and look, there, behind the tofu and chocolate covered almonds, yep, there it is, that tub of edible beauty cream, the yogurt! Plain yogurt is a natural source of lactic acid, one of the alpha hydroxy acids that can be applied topically to improve the look of your skin. Wearing yogurt face masks is a great way to give your skin a healthy dose of these natural exfoliators. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, alpha hydroxy acids, or AHAs for short, are just what your skin needs to stay young-looking and smooth. When applied to the skin, they encourage the natural shedding of dead skin cells and may encourage new collagen and elastin formation - sounds great to me!

So what is the scoop on yogurt facial masks? How powerful are they? What skin types are they good for? While yogurt does contain AHAs, the concentration is pretty low, much lower than over the counter beauty creams and anti-aging lotions. This is a good thing in that a low concentration is not about to irritate your skin, but it also means that homemade yogurt face masks rank pretty low on the potency scale. Still, they certainly can help, not only because of the lactic acid content, but also to help cleanse and nourish your skin. And, of course, they are inexpensive. I buy plain yogurt in those big tubs. Don't forget to eat some of it with some fresh berries and honey for a tasty, skin healthy, body healthy snack!

Another big plus with using yogurt as a beauty product is that it is one of those universal ingredients. The exfoliation action of the AHAs is good for aging skin. It should help reduce blemishes because of the natural anti-bacterial properties. It's also full of nutrients that you skin can benefit from like zinc (which is antibacterial) and moisturizing lipids.

Yogurt and neroli face mask:

• 2 tablespoons plain yogurt
• 3 drops neroli essential oil

Yep, you guessed it. Drop in your neroli (regenerative and restorative to skin) drops into the yogurt, stir, and spread over freshly cleaned skin.

Yogurt clay mask:

• 1 tablespoon clay powder
• 1 tablespoon plain yogurt
• enough purified water to make your moist, smooth, spreadable beauty paste

Adding yogurt to your typical clay masks is a great way to really cleanse and rejuvenate your skin. Also, this helps to balance out the intensity of the clay if you have dry or sensitive skin.

Yogurt berry face mask:

• 2 mashed strawberries
• 1 teaspoon organic sugar cane crystals
• 1 tablespoon plain yogurt

This one takes a bit of prep work. First mash your strawberries with the sugar, heat gently and slightly, just until warm over the stove, and then mash again. The berries and sugar are sources of two different types of AHAs, so this homemade beauty treatment gives you lactic, citric, and glycolic acid. Heat just enough to melt the sugar and to make the berries easy to mash. Stir in your yogurt and give your skin its sweet skin renewing treatment.