Saturday 24th April

So I don't know about you but I always start the weekend with an unrealistic list of jobs I want to do and I have a tendancy to make myself feel extremely guilty if I don't get enough done. This morning I was trying to make some sense out the garden, pulling weed after weed and I just got beat. I was tired from the week and my body was telling me to just take it easy. So I decided to do what all good yogi's should do and listen to my body. I took the afternoon off. I ran myself a ginger bath and made a mung bean and green tea exfoliating face mask and relaxed.

I am always looking for natural products to put in and on my body. I feel that if I make it from scratch I am fully aware and fully in control of what goes in it, and I am totally loving this natural face mask at the mo. It's so simple to make and my skin feels amazing after it so I thought I'd share it with you :)

Mung Bean and Green Tea Face Mask

  • Grind a couple of tablespoons of dried mung beans in a coffee grinder.
  • Pour the ground mung beans into a clean jar.
  • Empty 1 or 2 pure green tea bags into the jar, put on the lid and shake.

That's it :)

  • When you're ready to use put about a desert spoon into a plastic container and mix into a paste with cooled boiled water from the kettle. Don't worry if it's a bit runny at first as it thickens after a few minutes.
  • Rub the warm mixture all over your face gently in circular motions for a few minutes, obviously avoiding the eyes and the delicate area around them. This is best done over a sink, in the shower or while relaxing the bath as it gets a bit messy.
  • Then leave the mask on for 5-15 mins, I often apply it in the shower or bath and leave it on while washing or shampooing or shaving or just chilling, if in the bath.
  • Rinse off with luke warm water and pat dry. Finish off by applying your favorite moisturiser or as I did a small amount of organic coconut oil.

Hey presto gorgeous soft skin!  If you need more convincing here are a few facts.

Mung Bean Benefits.

Mung beans are a powerful anti-aging agent. They contain Copper, the secret behind mung bean’s anti-aging property.  Copper can reduce the presence of wrinkles, age spots and age lines and increase radiance in the skin.  They also have tons of health benefits to eat so it's worth giving them a try.

Green Tea Benefits.

Green tea has anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties.  It also has the ability to reactivate dying skin cells so it's great for detoxifying the skin, preventing acne and black heads.

If you don't have a coffee grinder and want to give it a try, ask me next time you're in class and I'll make a batch up for you :)