I love a quick fix. I love websites that tell me I don’t need to go and spend 80 quid on a miracle cream that’ll make my skin glow and my eyes sparkle and my boobs inflate or whatever, and that I actually only need to go to my kitchen cupboard for things that’ll make me beautiful.
So yesterday when I read that a paste made with lemon juice and turmeric will help fade acne scars, revitalise my pores and generally make me look fabulous, I thought
“Well hey, I have those things! What a super smashing idea! Let’s definitely do that!”
Turmeric. You know, turmeric – that yellow spice that makes curries yellow and that stains your fingers yellow when you cook with it and you can’t get the yellow out of your skin for ages because it’s really, really yellow – that turmeric.
So, after checking through many, many websites that this was a genuine remedy and that it actually worked and that nothing bad would happen, I happily mixed together one tablespoon of yellow turmeric and a squeeze of highly acidic lemon juice to form a smooth, yellow paste.
And I happily patted it all over my face.
“Goodness me, that really is very yellow”
I thought.
“I certainly hope it comes out!”
So I left it on for the suggested 10 – 15 minutes, looking forward to my impending glowing and vibrant skin and complete disappearance of any acne scars lurking below the surface.
And after 15 minutes I washed off the slightly crusty yellow paste, filling the bathroom sink with nuclear yellow water. And looked in the mirror.
“No matter, I just need to scrub it with a hot flannel for a bit”
I thought.
So I scrubbed at my face with a flannel that was hotter than the sun and waited for the yellow to come out. I scrubbed and scrubbed my delicate face with this coarse scalding flannel and waited to not be yellow anymore.
After ten minutes of hard scrubbing, and definitely having gone from being happy to not happy at all, I looked in the mirror.
This was getting serious. My face was nearly bleeding, I was nearly crying, and I was still yellow.
There was only one thing for it.
I had to rub lemon juice on my face.
Stick with me on this one – it is a natural bleaching agent, which is why it was in the paste in the first place – there are lots of websites confirming this and as I’d had such brilliant luck with following websites so far, why would it be any different now?
So I got a bowl of lemon juice and some cotton wool, and proceeded to scrub my face.
Seriously, Kevin from Home Alone had nothing on me.
It hurt. Really hurt. Rubbing lemon juice into your face isn’t something that should ever be done. ‘Do not rub lemon juice into your face’ is one of the rules in the Great Book of Life, somewhere between ‘Do not eat needles’ and ‘Do not sit on fire’.
But, it was working.
Very, very gradually I was becoming less jaundiced and more red raw and bleeding.
Eventually, after several extremely painful minutes of rubbing acid into my face, I looked almost normal.
Well, kind of.
So, f*** home beauty remedies. Go out and spend 80 quid on a chemical-crammed lotion and rub the hell out of your face with it. Whatever you do
DO NOT PUT TURMERIC AND / OR LEMON JUICE ON YOUR FACE.
Trust me.
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BECKY SAYS THINGS 
oh dear!! i’m so sorry about the tumeric.. i almost tried it once as well but suddenly remembered my mum’s hands from touching curry pastes and the stains they left on the fingers.
creative post though, i love what you did with the drawings 😀
YOU’RE WRONG…. HA HA HA. I’m sorry for lauhging at you but I’m guessing you aren’t indian. And sorry again to say this, you used the wrong kind of turmeric 😛
There are two kinds, one for cooking, which is what you used, and one for bathing and beauty, which is what is to be used, The one for cooking is also a food colouring…. Now imagine mixing food colouring onto your face. that’s what happened here. I always use turneric on my face. have never been yellow.
You are correct. I used the food turmeric. And I paid a hefty price 😦
poor thing you. Try it with regular turmeric. In fact i’d suggest you wait a couple of days. I’m posting a easier and safer turmeric recipe. that’ll be safer to use.
well I started using turmeric again and this time I’ve combined the turmeric and the lemon juice together forming a paste, and I’d say it really does make my skin glow
As long as it doesn’t make your skin glow yellow, everything’s fine!
It can be easily done at house. Mix a little turmeric with cucumber or lemon juice and apply to your face. Leave it for quite a while and clean off.
If I had read this article before rubbing lemon juice on my face, my upper lip area would not be bleeding and my skin would still be there!!!!! Does anyone know how to stop it from burning???
Oh God, I have no idea! DON’T DO IT IN THE FIRST PLACE!!! 🙂
I’ve heard that turmeric is good for the face and for acne scars. However, make sure that you dilute it in water or milk first, otherwise, it might cause irritation especially to sensitive skin.