Make Your Own Moringa Super-Mask At Home!

The healing power of moringa is astounding – either consumed as a powder or capsule, applied topically as an oil, balm or lotion product for inflammation & itchy skin – or used as a powder for a facial mask.

Universally, moringa helps skin and body recover from imbalance and restores health.

You’ll have most ingredient for these facials at home in your fridge or pantry (or can find easily in your local supermarket).

Moringa Probiotic Hydrating Facial

Blend half a tsp moringa powder with 1 tsp plain unsweetened yoghurt, 1 Tbsp mashed ripe avocado and 1/2 tsp honey. Mix well & brush onto your skin for 10 – 15 mins. Add a few pumps of Moringa Healing Serum for very itchy skin.

Brightening AHA Facial Mask

(not suitable for sensitive skin, Indian skin types and some Polynesian skin types. Patch test first if this is you, or use without the pineapple & papaya).

Mash fresh papaya or pineapple (not canned or frozen). If you have papaya, you can strengthen the facial by adding a couple of brushed pips, but be careful of skin sensitivities.

Mix in 1 tablespoon plain unsweetened yoghurt, 1 teaspoon honey & 1 teaspoon moringa powder.

Mix well and apply to skin. For even more oomph, cover the mask with cling film and apply warm towels on top for 5 minutes.

Anti Inflammatory Mask

Grind oats to a very fine powder in a coffee bean or herb grinder. Add 1 tsp moringa powder, up to 1 tsp Moringa Healing Serum, 2 tsp juice from grated cucumber & 1 tsp very finely ground oats. Mix to a paste and apply cold. Leave 8 – 10 minutes and compress off with a cool compress.

What is Topical Steroid Withdrawal (TSW) and How Can It Be Treated?

TSW stands for Topical Steroid Withdrawal.

It’s a horrible situation that occurs when you stop using topical steroids.

Topical steroids are medical creams frequently prescribed by doctors for itchy, inflamed skin.

They stop skin itching by masking symptoms.

However, topical steroids do not resolve the reason for the itching and in doing so over  a period of time, topically applied medium to strong steroids also destroy your skin’s barrier function.

If you apply a steroid cream and it stings on application, you are very likely to get TSW if/when you stop using the cream.

Essentially, inflammation causing the itching has been managed but not resolved, and the skin’s barrier has been compromised.

Stopping with the topical steroid leaves you with the inflammation and less protection than you had before commencing treatment wth steroid cream.

The inflammation and the itching runs wild and free. You have very few good choices at this point.

It’s truly awful when the patient is a young child.

TSW can rage on for months – even up to a year, flaring regularly.

Is there an alternative to topical steroids to avoid TSW?

Happily, yes there is – our Moringa Healing Products not only help reduce itching and inflammation of all kinds, the products also help manage TSW and repair the skin’s barrier.

The healing power of Moringa is astounding. Moringa delivers over 90 nutrients to the skin and body, some of which are vital to cellular healing (and some that are vital for every day health).

As soon as you start applying Moringa Healing Products to your skin, the barrier function begins to repair.

It takes the skin 60 days to regenerate itself – a little longer in elderly people, so it’s not an overnight fix, but generally itching is under control quickly.

Treating TSW with Moringa Healing Products

The only way to avoid TSW is to wean yourself off the steroid cream.

Begin using Moringa Healing Balm, Salve or Serum several times per day – introducing it alongside your steroid cream.

Apply your Moringa Healing Product at the same time as your steroid cream as well as during the day initially. As a guide, apply when the itching starts. This will feel like it’s all day iniitally if you have TSW, but it will reduce over the first few days. Remember – you have an out of control situation.

Once you feel your skin is beginning to get stronger and isn’t as urgently itchy as frequently, skip ONE steroid cream application – using your Moringa Healing Product in its place on that one occasion. Maintain the regularity of application during the day in accordance with the itchiness.

Return to your previous routine for a few days longer (including your steroid cream), then go ahead and skin two steroid applications – either on alternate days or consecutive days. You be the judge of what you think will work for you.

Return to the previous regime and when ready, start reducing more of the steroid applications with increasing regularity as the skin barrier gets stronger and the inflammation reduces.

Once you are finally not using the steroid cream, continue to use your Moringa Healing Product a little longer, then put is aside, ready for TSW flares.

Treat flares with increased frequency of application. If you must, use the steroid cream sparingly, but you should be able to move through a flare without needing it.

If you’re not sure which product is the best for you – check the Moringa Healing Product Selector.

For people with TSW, or if the itching does not subside within 3 days, I recommend Moringa Healing Serum – the most active of the products (available fragrance free on request), and for maintenance I recommend Moringa Healing Lotion.

Every body it different. You are welcome to ask questions if you feel that would help.

The Connection Between Gut & Skin, and how it relates to inflammation.

I’ve spent a lot of time working with people to improve skin conditions, and also a lot of time in the area of sleep improvement.

Eureka moment – these two can frequently be connected, in a way you wouldn’t expect.

What we consume determines the health of our gut – the entire bowel/intestinal system (often referred to as the second brain for good reason).

This in turn determines (or at minimum influences to a higher degree that what we would like to believe), how we feel, act and behave.

Fatigue v energy, positive v down or negative.

I use the word consume rather than eat, because so frequently, gut issues are caused by synthetic introductions to our systems – medium or longer term medication is a perfect example (often necessary, but too often over-prescribed). Toxin overuse & consumption – even secondary exposure and high levels of prolonged exposure to stress all can impact the gut and reduce or prevent nutrient absorption.

Long story short, if your gut health is compromised, you are vulnerable to inflammation – which shows up on your skin, and in your quality of sleep, focus, mood, energy level. It’s pretty important to understand.

The connection between the skin and the gut is very close. They are our two largest organs. one reflects the other. Naturopaths will often diagnose by looking closely at your skin. Weirdly, dermatologists do not.

So – back to gut health restoration, because that is the way forward in truly managing inflammatory skin conditions.

I don’t profess to have professional expertise in the area of nutrition, but I do have a lifetime of experience in this very interesting area – and exposure to a large cross section of case studies.

The answer is simple. Eat LOTS of fresh green vegetables EVERY day, and look for meal options that avoid process foods & have TON of antioxidants and anti-inflammatories.

I know when my shingles are getting ready to flare because I am drawn to toast, chocolate, coffee – all the inflammation foods.

Of course, they get me every time, and the shingles break out – reminding me to pull my head in and get back to the anti-inflamm foods.

Today I’m going to share one of my ‘go-to’ smoothies with you. Give it a try. I find it works really well. Have it in the morning. Sip it for as long as you can.

If you are really up for quick results, throw in a handful of fresh spinach. It tastes fine with banana (and I don’t like banana or spinach, but they taste OK together in a smoothie)

You might need to shop for moringa powder (it’s not hard to find). Don’t exclude it – it’s really that good at resolving inflammation.

Julie x

Oh – PS. If you are suffering from lack of nutrient absorption due to a medication (they don’t tell you about that part when they prescribe), many if not most nutrients can be absorbed into the blood stream via your skin. Baliba products have this as a focus.