Bananas for Beauty and Healing

Whats in this story

Bananas are not only a healthy nutritious snack but they have many beauty applications as well as ingredients that have proved to have healing properties and are soothing to a number of skin conditions.

Banana Peels

If you think banana peels are only fit for the compost pile or the trash bin, think again. As it turns out, certain nutrients in bananas such as potassium, vitamin A and vitamin C are also retained in its peel making it useful for a variety of applications. Consider these ingenious and little known uses for banana peels:

  • The inside of a banana peel rubbed on a bug bite helps relieve itching. This is true for poison ivy as well.
  • The oil in banana skin is soothing to burns and scrapes.
  • To get rid of warts, bandage a piece of banana peel on a wart with the inside of the peel in contact with the wart. Change daily until wart is gone.
  • To remove a splinter, bandage a piece of banana peel over splinter. The natural enzymes in the banana peel will draw the splinter to the surface.

Bananas and Beauty

Not only are bananas a nutritious snack but the vitamins and minerals that they contain make them perfect for topical beauty applications. When applied to the skin, bananas moisturize, clean and refresh. Try these banana inspired beauty combinations.

  • 1/2 ripe mashed banana mixed with 1 teaspoon of honey makes a great moisturizer for dry skin. Apply to clean skin and leave on for a few minutes. Rinse off with cool water.
  • As an anti-aging mask rich in vitamins A and E, mash or blend 1/2 ripe banana with 1/2 avocado. Leave on for 15 to 30 minutes. Rinse with cool water.
  • To soften dry, brittle hair mash or blend 1 ripe banana and mix with a small amount of mayonnaise, milk or yogurt. Work from scalp to ends. Leave on for half an hour under a shower cap. Shampoo as usual.

No wonder bananas are the most popular fruit in the world. They contain nutrients to keep your body healthy; the peeling has surprising health benefits; and as an added bonus, bananas can be combined with other ingredients and used topically as an easy beauty treatment for skin and hair.