Daily Vanity Logo

If we were to name one of the most popular skincare fads this year, it will have to be turmeric.

This superfood has been raved about by skincare experts and beauty bloggers alike, all of them highlighting its natural ability to help reduce the appearance of acne and even visibly lightening acne scars.

Thanks to its anti-inflammatory benefits, turmeric has also been said to be a great ingredient to help manage pore size and soothe inflamed skin.

We tried a DIY turmeric mask

While there are products in the market that contain turmeric as a key ingredient, I decided that I wasn’t going to waste my money on commercial products. I could certainly make my own turmeric mask, reap the same results, and save tons of money.

Checking out different recipes available online, I settled on one that looked the easiest to make, and is made up of ingredients that most people are likely to have in their kitchen: turmeric, milk, and honey.

A jar of organic turmeric powder costs about SGD4, a jar of organic honey costs about SGD15, and a carton of milk costs about SGD5. I’ll only be spending SGD24 on ingredients that I won’t just be using over and over again for making masks, but I could also consume.

This DIY mask recipe is said to help soften and hydrate skin, while evening out pigmentation and lightening overall complexion.

How the DIY mask went… not so well

I added honey and turmeric powder into a cup with some milk and stirred the mixture to dissolve all the ingredients together.

Call me clumsy, but I spilt some powder and honey on the table while doing so. I also had difficulty dissolving the honey totally into milk and resorted to using my fingers to melt the honey so I could get a more consistent mixture.

I ended up with quite a mess that reminded me once again why I didn’t DIY masks very often (nor cook, for that matter.)

Before applying the DIY mask onto my face, I decided to do a test on my hand to make sure that the mixture agreed with my skin and that I knew how it was going to apply.

And thank goodness I decided to do that. The mask wasn’t as pasty as I wished it were – it may take me a few rounds of trial and error before I could get the perfect consistency, I suppose – so it dripped all over my hand and the table.

Now, I couldn’t imagine how bad the mess would have been if I had simply gone straight for my face. I’m sure it would have been nasty.

The mask also smelt strongly of turmeric; I don’t think everyone is a fan of it.

Anyway, I left the mask on for approximately 10 minutes before wiping it off.

And… it left a stain. A disgusting, orange stain. Like, how my fingers looked after munching on some cheese crackers. And how it reminded me of Donald Trump’s skin.

Hurriedly, I rinsed my hand under running water and tried to rub off the residue. And this is how it looked after rinsing.

While my hand that had the mask on looked significantly brighter and felt smoother, there was still a tinge of yellow on my hand, which is obviously not a good look.

And then, I thank my lucky stars once again that I wasn’t gung-ho enough to apply the DIY turmeric mask to my face right away.

I spent the next 10 minutes cleaning up the mess, grumbling that I don’t have white house staff to help me with it.

Let’s try the Himalaya Neem Face Pack

The Neem Face Pack with active Tumeric extract by Himalaya is a purifying mask that helps to regulate excess oil secretion, clears up clogged pores, and prevents the recurrence of pimples.

(By the way, if you’re wondering what “Neem” is, it’s a plant known for its purifying and antibacterial properties. Neem is used together with Turmeric in this mask.)

First of all, I like that the product comes in a tube, which makes application absolutely fuss-free, even compared to many other leave-on masks in the market that come in jars. All I needed to do was to squeeze out some of the mask, apply onto face, and then squeeze out more whenever I needed more.

The product has a subtle scent of turmeric, which was certainly not as strong as it was in the DIY mask.

I must say that its colour doesn’t exactly look pretty, especially in a selfie. But hey, if this is going to give me nicer skin, I’m going to vote for a great #nomakeup #nofilter #iwokeuplikethis selfie face, than a beautiful #maskingselfie – anytime.

The mask was very easy to apply onto face and dried very quickly. I left it on for 10 minutes and washed off with cool water.

My skin felt incredibly smooth and pores looked significantly more refined. I also noticed that my skin looked brighter.

Would I DIY again?

This wasn’t a hard question. Definitely not. Besides the hassle of preparing each of the needed ingredient for the DIY mask, and creating a mess as I made it and applied it, I really didn’t like that it left behind a stain on my skin.

And just as I thought that while DIY didn’t save me any hassle, it would have saved me money, I realise that the Himalaya Neem Face Pack only costs SGD8.50 for 100ml. It wasn’t that expensive after all.

The Himalaya Neem Face Pack, together with other products from the Neem skincare range, are available at Watsons, Guardian, NTUC, Giant, Mustafa, and NHG Polyclinics. Prices range from SGD7.95 to SGD12.95.

Experience the goodness of turmeric for yourself!

Stand a chance to win the entire Himalaya Neem skincare range! All Daily Vanity readers will also receive an attractive discount on the products. Click on this box to find out more.

This article is brought to you by Himalaya.