How to Make a Pumpkin Face Mask to Prepare Your Skin for the Holidays

The holiday season is a special time for many people, but it can be hectic on the skin. Shopping for presents and attending holiday parties are opportunities for winter's chilly weather to dehydrate your skin. This will make your skin look damaged, flaky and will make wrinkles on your face look deeper. Luckily, it is easy to treat yourself with the following face mask recipe because its ingredients are moisturizing and do a bang up job of improving the appearance of wrinkles.

I developed this face mask recipe because I needed something to treat my winter facial woes. The face mask is easy to prepare and calls for natural ingredients that are commonly found and inexpensive.

You will need these containers and utensils to prepare this face mask recipe: mixing bowl that can hold 3 cups of liquid; measuring cup; tablespoon; teaspoon; large wooden spoon.

You will also need these ingredients to make this face mask recipe: one cup of canned pumpkin, 1/4 of a cup of heavy cream, 3 tablespoon ground oatmeal and one teaspoon of honey.

Start making this face mask recipe by preparing the pumpkin. Make sure that you use pure canned pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling that has spices added to it. Some of the spices added to canned pumpkin include vanilla and cinnamon; these spices used in a face mask can irritate your skin instead of soothing it. To use canned pumpkin just pour one cup of it into a bowl and whip it with a large fork until it is creamy.

Pumpkin is a natural source of Vitamin E, a powerful antioxidant and moisturizer, making pumpkin a great face mask ingredient. Pumpkin is also a natural source of Vitamin A, an anti-oxidant; used in a face mask the vitamin is great for removing dead skin cells and improving the appearance of wrinkles.

After preparing the pumpkin, grind several tablespoons of oatmeal in a mixer until the oatmeal becomes a fine powder. A pinch of the powder will float on water when it is ready for use in the face mask recipe. Add the oatmeal powder to the face mask blend in the mixing bowl and stir the face mask carefully.

Oatmeal is naturally moisturizing and detoxifying. When used in a face mask it will hydrate and soften skin while drawing out toxins.

After preparing and mixing the pumpkin and the oatmeal add the heavy cream and the honey to the face mask blend in the mixing bowl and stir until the face mask blend is uniform.

Heavy cream has a high quantity of lactic acid; its presence in the face mask will help improve the appearance of wrinkles, remove dead skin and tighten sagging skin. It is also handy to use since many people have heavy cream on hand for cooking during the holiday season.

Honey is naturally germicidal; it is also a humectant. Honey's presence in the face mask blend will help fight acne and will draw moisture to your face.

Use the face mask by applying a thick layer of it to your face and neck after cleansing your skin. Allow the face mask to set for 5 to 10 minutes before removing it with a wet and hot washcloth, using gentle circular motions. After removing the face mask, liberally splash your face with cold water to help close your pores.

This face mask is gentle enough to use on your face up to three times per week. Store any of the unused face mask in an airtight container in the refrigerator. The face mask will stay fresh for up to three days.