All About Avocados

This particular blog is one in a few that I will be doing about avocados.  I am always coming across tips and stuff for avocado hair and face masks, smoothies, salads, etc... Supposedly this weird looking fruit has amazing health benefits (look it up).

Case Study #1:  Face Mask

One of my favorite magazines is a weekly one.  "Woman's World" never fails me when it comes to tips, recipes, and good stories.  What I often find are recipes for homemade face masks, scrubs, and such.  This is my first time testing one of them.

Here's how it reads:

"Get glowing, younger skin with a $2 avocado facial!"

What you'll need: 1/2 an avocado 

                                     2 Tbs. sour cream

1.  Mash both ingredients together until creamy.

2.  Smooth over freshly cleansed skin.

3.  Relax for 15-20 minutes. Rinse with warm water and moisturize as usual

Why it works:  The lactic acid in the sour cream lightly exfoliates dead skin cells, which allow the avocado's moisturizing oils to really penetrate deeply.

This all sounds pretty great huh?  Who wouldn't want younger, softer, glowy-er skin for just $2?  Who needs to pay big bucks at the spa when one can just go to their local grocery?  Well, yesterday, I did just that.  I went to Publix for my supplies and grabbed an avocado for $1.49 and sour cream for 99 cents. (mind wandering: I wonder why there is a dollar sign on the keyboard, but not a cents sign?)  That comes to a total of $2.48.  It's a little more than $2 but I figure 48 cents is worth the sacrifice. (If I wanted to get technical with it, I did really use only half of the avocado and half of $1.49 is 75 cents plus the 99 cents for sour cream and the total would be $1.74, less than $2)

Back at home, I begin the test.  To halve the avocado, I cut deep to the pit all the way around from top to bottom and twisted each half off the other.  I took out the pit for use later to start an avocado tree (blog on this to come later).  

Then I scooped the meat out of one half and mashed up in a bowl.  I recommend using a fork to do the mashing.  I tried using a spoon but the pieces just kept sliding around the bowl.  The fork tines catch it better.  (Also, when choosing an avocado for mask making purposes, make sure it is good and ripe.  It will be a little soft with a dark green rind.  You can purchase the fruit before it completely ripens if you don't mind waiting a few days for it to do so.) Next I added my sour cream and mixed it with the mashed up avocado.  The mask was then prepared.

My dear husband gave me a grossed out look when I told him what I was doing, but wished my luck anyway as I trekked to the bathroom for application.  After cleansing my face, I began.  I found I didn't do a good enough job of mashing because I found the texture of the mixture to be a little chunky.  This did not deter me, though, as I dipped my fingers in and spread it all over.  I then set the timer for 15 minutes. 

As I was relaxing and letting the mask take effect, it slowly came to me that what I really just put on my face was nothing more than simple guacamole.  My stomach was already growling so I got the idea to grab the Tostitos and give my creamy camouflage a taste test.  It wasn't half bad!  It just needed a little salt and I had an easy snack to tide me over til supper!  As if my husband wasn't squeamish enough just from looking at me, this really sent him over the edge. *HaHa*

When my 15 minutes were up and the chip bag was empty, I headed back to the bathroom for rinsing.  Once the mask was off and the moisturizer was on, the inspection process began.  Was my skin glowing? A little, but it's not like there was a halo around my face.  Did my skin look younger?  Simply put, no.  Did the sour cream do its job of exfoliation? Nope, that dry patch is still there and not looking any better.  Did the oils from the avocado moisturize?  Well, my skin felt a little waxy afterward so if you consider waxy to be moist then sure.

It was fun trying the mask out and especially seeing the look on my husband's face.  I even got a little snack out of it. Bonus!  But, on a scale of 1-10, I give this recipe a 5. I know there have got to be better ones out there that deliver completely and one of these days I will find them.