On your face! I know it sounds crazy, right? Amongst all of the Halloween hustle and bustle ranging anywhere from costumes to candy to how you are going to scare the neighborhood kids this week, the last thing you are thinking about is your pores.
This Halloween you should take some time to save those seeds from the pumpkins you have been slaving over for the past week and give yourself a little treat. It turns out that pumpkin seeds are filled with Zinc (to help fight acne), Vitamin A (to help stimulate new cells), Vitamin E (to help even out any scarring on the skin), essential fatty acids (to help moisturize the skin), and can also help naturally lower cholesterol.
So how can you get all of these wonderful health benefits from pumpkins? There are a couple of solutions…
Eating the seeds raw is always an option (after you wash them of course). This is a way of directly supplying the body with the nutrients that come from the seeds. However, if that thought of raw pumpkin seeds does not appeal to you then you can always try lightly steaming or frying them with coconut oil and other seasonings such as cinnamon for a nice holiday treat.
Another way to receive nutrients from the beloved pumpkin is by making a pumpkin face mask. All you need is two tea spoons of pureed pumpkin, half a teaspoon of organic honey, one fourth teaspoon of milk, and one fourth teaspoon of brown sugar for drier skin types or one fourth teaspoon of apple cider for oily skin types. Once all of the ingredients have been assembled and well mixed, you may apply the mask to your face for up to fifteen minutes and rinse it off with warm water. Using the pumpkin mask will help to soothe any dry skin due to the change in season that is among us, as well as heal and damaged skin from past seasons.
I believe that all of these health benefits found in the pumpkin raise a very important question for the upcoming holiday: Should people pass out pumpkin seeds rather than candy this Halloween? Not unless they really want to scare off all of the trick-or-treaters!
Regardless, try to find some time for yourself this Halloween and prepare pumpkin seeds for a small snack or take twenty minute to make a facial mask to keep your skin moisturized, healthy, and glowing.
Sources:
http://undergroundhealthreporter.com/pumpkin-seed-health-benefits#axzz2izEfNcP0