So we are not officially in a lockdown, and the chances of making it to the spa or salon in the next week or so are next to zero, but we have never needed a little me time more than we do now! Aside from using this nifty app that editor Vivienne Tseng-Rush recommends for bringing manicurists and hair stylists to your home, here are a few simple ways to use some of your panic-bought groceries to give yourself the at-home pampering you so desperately need. All take less than three ingredients!

Hair Mask:

Guaranteed to up the shine factor and reduce breakage until you can make it in for some professional TLC for your strands.

• 1 ripe banana
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup yogurt or 2 tbs coffee cream.

Squish it all up in a ziplock bag or mix it in a food processor until smooth. Comb it through your hair, and put on a shower cap or tie an unused plastic bag around the hair. Leave it on for 30 to 60 minutes and rinse!

Moisturizing Face Mask

Beijing is famously dry, and nothing keeps wrinkles at bay like a good moisturizing mask.

• ½ a ripe avocado
• 2 tbs of honey
• 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice

or

• ½ cup oatmeal (ground into a flour)
• ¼ cup honey
• 1 tsp vinegar or lime juice

Mix and apply to clean dry skin. Leave it on for 15 to 30 minutes and rinse. Follow up with your favorite moisturizer.

Body Scrub:

Sluff off the dry winter skin and prepare for baby softness.

• 1 cup of any type of sugar (white, brown, cane … it doesn’t matter as long as it has a little bit of grit to it!)
• ½ a cup of oil (coconut, olive, sunflower, whatever you got!)

Optional

Today-cooled coffee grounds

A few drops of essential oil or perfume

Mix and apply. After your shower, rub the mixture all over your body, paying extra attention to any rough patches. Rinse off and apply your favorite lotion.

It’s not as good as a day on the beautician’s table, but it will boost your mood, is good for the environment, and will help you feel as gorgeous on the outside as you are on the inside. Hang in there, Beijing!

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Images: Canva, Pexels

Those who are old hands at life will tell you as far as air quality is concerned, it has not always been clear blue skies, butterflies, and rainbows. In past years, air pollution has reached levels classified as twenty times higher than what is considered healthy by the World Health Organization. Earlier this year, however, as the country and the city went into lockdown due to COVID-19 restrictions, Beijing residents saw a marked decline in the amount of air pollution. As the restrictions were slowly lifted, Beijingers returned to life almost as normal with the added bonus of clean air and blue skies.

With the advent of winter, however, comes a sharp spike in air pollution levels. Just this past Saturday, the Beijing Government issued a yellow alert for heavy air pollution which was to start on Sunday through to Tuesday due to a forecast of heavy smog. This yellow alert is only ever issued when the air-quality index surpasses 200 for two consecutive days. The Beijing Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau responded by suspending a number of outdoor construction operations and the restriction of operations by some manufacturing companies. Though this is expected to have passed by today, there is no telling what the air quality will be like, and it might be time to return to our trusty N-95 masks. Earlier this year, we at beijingkids also assembled several resources for those who wish to buy masks online, at one of the many outlets serviced by waimai delivery apps. This winter, be sure to not only have a mask, but the right mask to keep you and your family’s lungs happy and healthy.

KEEP READING: Wintertime Woes: Extreme Eczema

Photo: Unsplash 

You’ve probably noticed these baggies pictured below popping up in shopping malls, convenience stores, and even vending machines across the city. It was my wife that initially turned me on to these facial treatments. They are apparently pretty close to what you would find at a spa but sealed up in plastic in numerous flavors with each declaring that it will solve a specific problem. These are just the tip of the iceberg of what’s available to you, and they are super convenient when indulging in a spa treatment at every whim isn’t an option.

Hada Labo Aqua-Mask (RMB 79.9 for a pack of five)
Hada Labo, famous for their facewash and lotions, is owned by Mentholatun, and is maybe the most accessible Japanese brand to get in China next to Shiseido. It applies smoothly to your face, and after the recommended 15 minutes the results were noticeable with our skin feeling moist and gooey, a bit like a peach with its skin removed. This brand can be easily found at many beauty outlets, but maybe look on Taobao for a slight discount.

Shangpree Gold Premium Modeling Mask (RMB 229 for a pack of five)
Probably the most luxurious of the bunch, which perhaps explains why it comes in a 24K gold gel. They could have easily made it a burnt orange or a brown. This being said, it is also the brand that will most likely cause nightmares. Despite making you look monstrous, this two-step mask is well worth the price tag and filled with enough collagen, aloe, ginger root, and gold to help you turn back time Cher-style.

Herborist Rose Rejuvenating Mask (RMB 20 per pack)
This is one of the more high-end Chinese brands, and they can also be found in most shopping malls around town. These are loaded with a multitude of essential herb extracts, along with a high concentration of active ferment filtrates that provide nutrients to the skin and help with cellular regeneration. This is science speak for that it prevents obvious signs of aging, leaving your skin soft, silky, and full of elasticity.

Jayjun Aqua Collagen Skin Renewal (RMB 129 for a pack of ten)
Jayjun is currently one of the most popular Korean brands making these facial treatments. It makes use of multiple steps. The first is a gel consisting of hyaluronic acid essence, and the second part is the mask itself which is loaded with plant stem cells. Also, while we usually shy away from putting most types of acid on our faces, hyaluronic acid is known for treating everything from burns, wounds, and skin ulcers when applied topically.

Juyou Skin Repair Dressings (RMB 268 for a pack of five)
This medicinal grade facial treatment is a bit pricey, but for a good reason. From our minimal amount of research, these are the only ones actually used by hospitals to help in the healing process following a facial surgery, probably of the plastic variety. Luckily you don’t need to have had plastic surgery to reap the benefits from one of these Juyou masks. We gifted some of these to my mother during our last trip home, and she was pleased with the results!

San Sen Garden Firming & Sleeking Mask (RMB 65 for a pack of five)
Endorsed by Beijing beauty queen Fan Bingbing on the Xiaohongshu app, this brand has gained acclaim for helping to inject some much-needed moisture and firmness into millions of faces across China. We loved the packaging on this one. It made it look like this mask contained some ancient Chinese facial rejuvenation secrets. After using, it indeed left our skin feeling supple, but whether or not it had a much of a slimming effect would require us to break out a tape measure. We aren’t completely psycho.

Photos: Kipp Whittaker
This article appeared on p14-15 of beijingkids May 2018 issue