When I was a pre-teen, I thought those obnoxiously green drugstore-bought face masks were what all sophisticated ladies used. If I could find a couple of cucumber slices for my eyes, I was in business.

Never mind I had no idea what sort of function all of this was supposed to perform, I just basically wanted to be friends with the women from Absolutely Fabulous.

Anyway, I continued using rando face masks on and off throughout my life, but it’s been hard to find one that didn’t leave my face feeling tight and itchy as opposed to smooth and supple.

In an effort to de-clutter my beauty drawer steaze and explore more home remedies and natural beauty products, I stumbled across my favorite 1- ingredient DIY all-natural face mask:

Raw Honey

Gone are the days of crackling clay masks or anything with a big price tag that I forget about after a couple of tries.

I’ve used regular organic honey with a bit of baking soda mixed in for exfoliation which works well — but raw honey has it all in one package. You can add a little aloe gel to the situation too, if you’re feeling fancy, but I’ve found that just a little scoop of honey straight from the jar a couple times a week works magic.

I slather it on my face as delicately as I can (avoiding the eye area), let it chill for 10-20 minutes, then rinse of with warm water while gently scrubbing in a circular motion.

Done.

It leaves my skin feeling soft, hydrated and clean and it really seems to reduce redness and any blemishes I notice trying to form. In short, it’s my go-to face mask.

Photo credit: Upsplash