DIY Vegan Pore Strips

With so many chemicals and pollutants in the air we breathe and the air our skin's pores takes in, in addition to make-up and crap we put on our faces, and a build up of dead skin cells plus breakouts; black heads and all the grossy nasty stuff that affects our appearance... it's nice to treat your face to a face mask/set of pore strips to literally strip your pores of this gunk.. leaving yourself with clean, smooth skin again.


I've been doing research on homemade pore strips and most suggest using animal products like gelatin and milk. Gelatin is supposedly so great for skin because of the "animal collagen" in it. Think about this though. Do you know where gelatin comes from? Gelatin is a byproduct of the meat industry (which is horrific enough in itself), and all of the gross tendons, ligaments and body tissues stripped from animals after their more valuable parts have been taken from them are literally ground together to form a disgusting mixture referred to as "gelatin" that you can find in gummy candies, jello, and marshmallows. People put ground up dead animal parts in their body when they eat these things, and on their skin in hopes that the collagen from suffering animals will improve their own appearance, but I personally find this disgusting. Agar Agar is a substance comprised of nothing more than flakes made from seaweed, which can be substituted for gelatin to make animal-free alternatives to jello and other things.. like a face mask! This stuff worked wonders for me and this recipe is really easy! If you want to cleanse out your pores, enjoy this cruelty free face mask/pore strips. Recipe and technique taken from holistichealthherbalist.com.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon agar agar
1 tablespoon non-dairy milk
1 drop tea tree oil
1 drop eucalyptus oil
(oils are optional)

Instructions:

In a double broiler, mix together the agar agar and milk. Warm the mixture until it forms a gelatin-like paste and can be spread onto the face thickly. For a quicker and easier method, just stick mixture in the microwave for 20 seconds or so (if your mixture is hard to spread try adding a little extra non-dairy milk).

Add 2 drops of essential oils AFTER mixture has been heated and mix.

First make sure you're working on a clean canvas. Wash your face thoroughly.

Open your pores by applying a warm cloth to your face. Alternatively, if you just took a shower and your bathroom is hot and humid, this can open your pores as well.

Use a flat makeup brush to apply an even later of the pore strip solution onto your face. Let this layer dry.

Add another thick layer of the mixture over your first layer, and while still wet, firmly apply squares of toilet paper over your face. Push down firmly so it binds to your face. This paper is to help you rip off the strips more effectively (otherwise it can be hard to peel off). Do the same for all areas of your face, and repeat until you have 4-5 layers of tissue paper.

Allow the strips to completely dry (you'll know when it's done because it will feel like a hard shell), and once dry, gently peel each piece off your face pulling from the outside towards the middle. Pull strips up and away from the skin and throw them away.

Wash your face to remove any residue from the face mask. Your skin should feel silky smooth and clean!