How to Incorporate Microgreens into Your Beauty Routine – Part 1/4

Homemade cosmetics made from a tray of greens. That is what this four-part series is, and it is worth saying so at the top.

Microgreens turn up in a lot of DIY skincare, almost always with a promise attached about what their vitamins and antioxidants do to your face. Skin is a barrier, and the nutrients in a blended plant largely do not cross it, so that is not a promise we make. What is left is simpler and still worth your afternoon: these recipes are cheap, they use something you already grow, and they are pleasant to make.

Today, let’s look at two simple ways to use them: masks and smoothies.

Microgreen masks

One of the easiest things to make with microgreens is a face mask. Microgreens do contain:

• Vitamins A & B, which the body uses in skin cell turnover when eaten
• Vitamin K, involved in blood clotting and found in leafy greens
• Potassium & carotene, an electrolyte and a carotenoid pigment
• Vitamin C (ascorbic acid), which the body requires to synthesise collagen — from the diet, not from a face mask

Why Spinach Microgreens?

Spinach is the microgreen we reach for here for practical reasons: it blends to a smooth paste, it is mild, and it is easy to grow. It does contain vitamins B3, B6, K, E and C — and those matter to skin when you eat them. A mask is a mask, not a delivery route, so we are not going to tell you spinach suits mature or flaky skin better than any other kind.

Here are 3 DIY spinach microgreen masks, from easiest to most advanced:

1. Nourishing Mask (Beginner-Friendly)

You’ll need:

• 100gr spinach microgreens
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil (sunflower, corn, or olive)

How to make:

1. Wash and dry the microgreens.
2. Blend or grind them into a paste.
3. Mix with 1 tbsp of oil.
4. Apply evenly to your face and let dry.
5. Rinse off with lukewarm water.

2. Hydrating Mask

You’ll need:

• 3 tbsp spinach microgreens
• ½ cup milk

How to make:

1. Boil the spinach microgreens in a small amount of milk.
2. Strain well.
3. Apply the warm leaves to your face as a compress for 15 minutes.
4. Remove with a cotton pad soaked in the leftover milk broth.

3. Mask for Peeling

You’ll need:

• 100gr spinach microgreens (juiced or blended)
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp flax seeds
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil

How to make:

1. Boil flax seeds in ½ cup cold water until thick, then strain.
2. Mix in 1 tbsp spinach juice, honey, and oil.
3. Apply to your face for 10 minutes.
4. Wash off with lukewarm water.

Smoothie booster

The dietary side is where the evidence actually sits, and it is narrower than it sounds. Skin needs vitamin C to make collagen, and microgreens are a measured source of it — that is an argument for eating vegetables, not a promise about your complexion, and we set the whole case out in our article on vitamin C, collagen and microgreens. The practical reason to put them in a smoothie is that their flavour is mild enough to disappear into fruit.

Microgreen and fruit smoothie

Ingredients:

• ½ cup coconut water (or almond milk/juice)
• 2 bananas (sliced & frozen if possible)
• 1 cup pineapple (chopped)
• 1 cup mango (chopped)
• 2 cups spinach or kale microgreens
• ½ avocado (sliced)

You can swap in strawberries or blueberries for a different flavor twist or any other fruit.

Instructions:

1. Add all ingredients to a blender in this order: coconut water, banana, pineapple, mango, microgreens, avocado.
2. Blend until smooth.
3. Adjust with more liquid if needed.
4. Pour into a glass and enjoy!

Summary

Today we covered microgreen face masks and a microgreen smoothie: two cheap, simple things to make at home from a tray of greens.

Not quite your thing? Part 2 covers toners and bath soaks, on exactly the same terms as this one.

In the meantime, our companion article “Eat your skincare: vitamin C, collagen and microgreens” sets out what the evidence does and does not support. Or browse the rest of the site for more on these tiny mighty little leaves. 

See you in Part 2!
Julia

Links of interest:

“Eat your skincare: vitamin C, collagen and microgreens”

Eat your skincare: vitamin C, collagen and microgreens

Glowing Skin Smoothie | Sally’s Baking

Microgreens in Cosmetics

https://www.baby-greens.com/home/microgreens-in-cosmetics