We have all seen beauticians applying cucumber slices on the face while doing facial and other beauty treatments. This article will explore the innumerable benefits that cucumber has for your skin.
Cucumber Benefits For Skin
Cucumber is a delicious vegetable and keeps the stomach cool in hot weather. However, the benefits of cucumber are not restricted to its taste alone; cucumber has some incredible uses for the skin as well.
Cucumbers are stocked with vitamins, minerals, and loads of other nutrients, and the benefits of cucumber extract for the skin are many. Here are the ways in which they can benefit your skin:
1. Reduces Swelling And Puffiness
Cucumbers can reduce the swelling and puffiness of the skin as they are rich in folic acid and Vitamin C. Folic acid fights off environmental toxins, which can make the eyes puffy. This may be greatly helpful if you've been deprived of sleep and find that you have puffy dark circles under your eyes. The application of chilled cucumber slices or the juice of cucumber to your undereyes can help lessen the puffiness of the eyes while at the same time rejuvenating the tired-looking skin
2. Helps Manage Acne
Dead skin cells and oily skin have the tendency to clog up the skin pores and trigger acne breakouts. Cucumbers might help in cleansing the skin and tightening the pores since they are mildly astringent in nature (i.e., they contain chemicals that help in shrinking pores). They clear the skin as they are high in water content. This may help reduce acne breakouts to a great extent since acne is caused by clogged skin pores filled with sebum and other pollutants. This is one of the greatest uses of cucumber for the face.
3. Helps Combat Premature Ageing
According to a study, the antioxidant components in cucumbers may be a huge anti-wrinkle ingredient. Also, cucumbers contain both folic acid and vitamin C. Vitamin C has a remarkable ability to facilitate new cell growth, while folic acid helps fight off environmental toxins, which can make your skin look tired or age prematurely. Combined together, these components help your skin look healthier and firmer.
4. Soothes Skin Irritation
The anti-inflammatory and cooling effect of cucumbers might help ease the redness of the skin, pain and irritation, which can be caused by insect bites, sunburns, and rashes.
5. Provides a Base For Hydration
96 per cent of cucumbers consist of water. Water itself isn't enough to moisturise your skin thoroughly, but cucumber juice, mixed with other moisturising ingredients such as aloe vera or honey, may serve to soothe your skin since these ingredients have skin cooling properties and are anti-inflammatory in nature.
6. Reduce Skin Inflammation
Cucumber is known for its anti-inflammatory properties. It can be used to treat cuts, wounds, or eye puffiness. Cucumbers serve to slowly reduce the inflammation of the skin if used over time.
7. Prevents Free Radicals
Free radicals are unstable molecules that are formed owing to UV (ultraviolet) radiation and high levels of pollution. These can cause a lot of damage to your skin cells and affect your DNA in a severe manner. Free radicals are also known to cause skin cancer. Cucumbers contain a lot of antioxidants, which help fight off the free radicals.
8. Cucumbers Tighten The Skin
They serve to tighten the skin since they have an astringent property. Using cucumber helps to close the pores in the skin.
9. Cucumbers Are Rich In Vitamin E
The rich Vitamin E component of cucumber helps keep the skin moisturised and healthy and prevents skin breakouts.
Cucumber Juice Benefits For Skin
Here are the cucumber juice benefits for the skin that will help you in achieving glowing and healthy skin:
1. Makes the Skin Glow
Silica, a mineral that is found in abundance in cucumbers, provides the skin with an instant glow. Cucumbers are extremely rich in vitamins and minerals that help to soothe inflammation, reduce redness, and get rid of blemishes.
2. Helps the Skin Remain Soft
Cucumber juice helps the skin remain soft and moist owing to its high water content.
3. Provides a Base for Hydration of the Skin
It provides a base for hydration of the skin. You can use cucumber juice as a base for various types of face masks. While some face masks may have dehydrating elements, mixing cucumber juice in them prevents too much moisture from evaporating from the skin.
Benefits of Cucumber on Face
Cucumber provides an extra benefit for the face since the skin of the face is softer than other parts of the body. Cucumber helps keep the face fresh and glowing, owing to the silica and high water content. Using cucumber slices on the eyes reduces puffiness and makes dark circles vanish from under the eyes. Cucumbers, being rich in potassium and Vitamin E, nourish and moisturise the face well.
Cucumber Face Mask
Since cucumber is highly beneficial for the face, using cucumber or cucumber juice as a base or ingredient for face masks can be greatly useful. Below are three cucumber face masks that can be used to achieve healthy skin.
1. Cucumber and Tea Tree Oil Soothing Face Mask
In case you have skin that is sensitive or prone to acne or skin that gets worse in the summer with a rising temperature, you should use the cooling benefits of cucumber and Fuller’s earth and the anti-inflammatory properties of tea tree oil by preparing a face mask that soothes your inflamed skin.
Ingredients: Cucumber, tea tree oil, Fuller's earth
Preparation and application:
- Cut and blend the cucumber in order to obtain its juice.
- Add Fuller's Earth and a few drops of tea tree oil to the cucumber juice, and blend them all smoothly to prepare a mask for the face.
- Apply the mask all over the face area and let it sit for about 10-15 minutes.
- Wash it off with lukewarm water.
- Using this mask twice a week will reduce skin irritation.
2. Cucumber and Oats Cleansing Face Mask
Apart from calming and soothing the skin, cucumber also has skin repairing properties, and you can use it to treat blemishes and dark spots. The anti-inflammatory properties of cucumber can soothe your skin at the deepest level, thereby helping in getting rid of the blemishes on your skin. Oats helps get rid of flaky skin and excess oil with their exfoliating properties.
Ingredients: Cucumber, oats powder
Preparation and application:
- Cut and blend the cucumber in order to obtain its juice.
- Add a teaspoon of oats to the mix and let sit for half an hour.
- Apply this thick paste all over your face and let it remain for 15-20 minutes.
- Gently scrub the mask and rinse it off.
3. Cucumber and Aloe Vera Moisturising Face Mask
Aloe is an anti-inflammatory agent that can calm down red and inflamed skin while adding moisture back into dry skin. Combined with the hydrating and Vitamin E and potassium-rich nature of cucumbers, this mask helps get rid of dryness, inflammation, and spots on the face.
Ingredients: Cucumbers, aloe vera gel
Preparation and application:
- Take four tablespoons of aloe vera gel and mix it with cucumber extracts.
- Apply it on your face with a face brush or with fingers.
- Leave it on for around 15 minutes.
- Rinse the mask and pat dry.
So, Is Cucumber Good For Skin?
Cucumbers are known to offer great hydration, as they have a 95% water composition. For decades, they have been used for numerous anti-inflammatory benefits on the skin, digestion facilitating properties, and various other therapeutic uses. They can also prevent skin discolouration, skin ageing, and various kinds of inflammation-related disorders.
In the light of the above information, we can safely say that cucumber, being rich in water, antioxidants and other skin-enhancing properties, is indeed highly beneficial for the skin, and it should be used regularly on the skin.
FAQs
Can We Apply Cucumber on Your Face Daily?
Yes, Cucumber is useful to apply it on your face daily unless you have allergic reactions to it. You can apply it as a face mask, place cucumber slices on the eyes to reduce puffiness, or simply rub it on the skin to prevent skin ageing and increase the glow of your skin.
Can Cucumber Remove Dark Spots?
Yes, Cucumbers can remove dark spots and other blemishes since cucumbers are rich in antioxidants that fight pollution and its effects on the skin. They also have a natural astringent property that lightens dark spots.
Can Cucumbers Make Skin Glow?
Yes, cucumbers can make your skin glow. It has antioxidant and anti-acne properties. The water content of cucumbers rejuvenate the skin and make it appear fresh, moisturised, and glowy.
What Are the Side Effects of Cucumber?
Cucumber is known to contain toxins such as cucurbitacins and tetracyclic triterpenoids that can prove detrimental for the skin if you overuse it.
References
- B Sarkar, Pulok K Mukherjee, May 2011; Cucumis sativus fruit-potential antioxidant, anti-hyaluronidase, and anti-elastase agent - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21153830/
- Niladri Maity, Birendra K Sarkar, January 2013; Phytochemical and therapeutic potential of cucumber - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23098877/
