I Recreated Popular Beauty Banana Hacks From Pinterest To See If They Really Work

    Can a banana cure all of our beauty woes?

    Farrah Penn
    by Farrah Penn

    BuzzFeed Staff Writer

    Farrah Penn / BuzzFeed / Getty Images

    Hi, I'm Farrah, and I love browsing through DIY pins on Pinterest. The weirder, the better. When I came across beauty hacks using a banana, I thought these pins were ACTUALLY bananas. So of course I had to try them to see if they worked.

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    pinterest.com

    This hack says banana peels help reduce breakouts.

    I'm nearly certain that all this hack will do is clog my pores with banana bits, but you know what? It may just surprise me by working, so let's see how it goes.

    Here are the results:

    Farrah Penn / BuzzFeed

    Because I am an imperfect human, I decided to try this hack when I broke out on my chin. I rubbed the banana peel on it, and it did look smaller when I took a picture four hours later. I washed my face before bed and didn't re-apply any banana on it overnight. In the morning, the size of it had decreased again. I'm not saying it's BETTER than, like, benzoyl peroxide, but it didn't make my break out any worse! Also, I didn't break out further after trying this, which was a bonus.

    Result: It worked!

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    pinterest.com

    This hack blends honey and mashed bananas for a facial mask that's supposed to make your skin brighter.

    If you're wondering, wow that picture looks like baby food... it does. And it also SMELLS like baby food, too. But it's technically an ~organic~ mask and I'm a sucker for anything that'll supposedly help my skin, so slathered it all up on my face.

    Here are the results:

    Farrah Penn / Buzzfeed

    Agh, I did not like the cold, slimy texture of this baby food concoction when I put it on my face — but I wasn't mad at the results. My skin felt clean and hydrated. It didn't feel less brighter than before, but it also didn't feel exceptionally brighter. I'd say it's a good hack for anyone looking for a chemical-free face mask.

    Result: It worked!

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    pinterest.com

    This hack is supposed to easily whiten your teeth without chemicals.

    According to the pin, rub your pearly whites using a banana peel every day for roughly a week to see results. This is by far the most bizarre hack I've heard of for brightening teeth (aside from rubbing jet black charcoal on them, I suppose) but I was down to give it the ole try.

    Here are the results:

    Farrah Penn / BuzzFeed

    OK, while this looks like it WORKED, another article said to brush your teeth after you rub the banana peel on it. So, I was also using my teeth whitening toothpaste on top of this. Was it the banana, or was it the toothpaste? I'm not sure, but I guess it can't hurt to use both.

    Result: It *maybe* worked?

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    pinterest.com

    This hack promises to fade bruises faster if you hold the peel over the bruise.

    Sometimes I see something as weird as this and think... this person truly just wants to fuck with the internet. But since it IS such an odd hack, I knew I had to try it.

    Here are the results:

    Farrah Penn / BuzzFeed

    I took the first pic the day I had some blood work done and a bruise formed, and the after pic is the very next day when I tried the hack. I'm not sure this did anything. It looks slightly more faded, but the banana peel wasn't a true miracle worker in getting rid of the discoloration.

    Result: It didn't work.

    Farrah Penn / BuzzFeed
    pinterest.com

    This hack uses a banana, coconut oil, and honey to create a deep conditioning treatment.

    Another pin that's now deleted said to also use coconut milk, so I used all four ingredients when whipping up this hair mask. I had high hopes because the blend DOES look like a really thick conditioner and smells pretty incredible.

    Here are the results:

    Farrah Penn / BuzzFeed
    Farrah Penn / BuzzFeed

    To be fair, I could have blended the mixture a little better if I had a hand mixer or blender. Which is probably why — despite rinsing this out FOREVER — I still had tiny banana chunk reside leftover. Mmmm, sexy. But did I think it conditioned my hair well? Eh. Not really. It didn't seem sleeker or shinier afterward, and it's a lot of effort just for one hair mask. Go ahead and make a smoothie with these ingredients instead.

    Result: It didn't work.

    The winners from this experiment are banana peels for acne and the banana mask for brighter skin. I'm still on the hunt for a great hair mask that will make the texture noticeably different, but I suppose I'll have to keep combing through Pinterest for the perfect one!