Photo Credit: Anna Pleteneva
IDEAL FIND: Burt’s Bees
The Banana is WWB’s Beauty Food of the week and one that is available and affordable to most people around the world. Bananas were originally found in South East Asia, mainly in India. They were brought west by Arab conquerors and moved from Asia Minor to Africa and finally carried to the New World by the first explorers and missionaries to the Caribbean. Which is why for many of us in the western world we think of it as a “Tropical Fruit’. While it is well known that this humble fruit offers a host of health benefits, bananas also offer several beauty benefits. Available throughout the year, bananas are filled with nutrients and are great for your skin and hair as well. Here are some of the nutritional and beauty benefits found in the power-house banana…
- Vitamin A–Gets rid of dark spots and blemishes. Evens out rough skin
- Vitamin B–Delays aging, lessons dryness, moisterizes and lightens skin
- Vitamin E–Works as a protector. Combats free radical impairment, diminishes the appearance of wrinkles
- Potassium–Gets rid of dry skin by moistening and hydrating skin cells
You won’t be hard pressed to find a beauty spa on any tropical island that doesn’t include bananas in their ‘exotic’ treatment. But don’t wait for a vacation to pamper your skin! You can combine bananas with other natural ingredients, and formulate effective banana face masks that can help remedy many skin problems, such as combating wrinkles, removing pimples, skin brightening and many more.
In the summer you want to spend as much time outdoors as you can, so keep your beauty rituals simple! Below is an easy way to reap the benefits of the beautiful banana. It’s all about the mashing and how easy is that? Don’t forget how incredibly healthy eating a whole banana is for your overall health. Beautifying from the ‘inside out’ is always very wise…
Truly Herself, Lauroly
SIMPLE DIY: Mash a ripe banana and apply on your face and skin. Let it sit on your face for 15 minutes and then rinse it off with cold water. If you have time, massage your skin with ice cubes after this. The application of banana will make your face glow and even out the rough skin.
SUMMER BONUS: If your hair is starting to show signs of damage from heat styling or color treatments, try this Hawaiian secret for super-shiny hair. Use a fork to mash one banana in a bowl, then slather the mixture from root to tip. Leave the treatment on for 15 minutes, then wash with shampoo. Bananas help improve the health and natural elasticity of your hair thanks to their high levels of potassium.