I Tried DIY Pinterest, Dry Skin Remedies To See If I Could Finally Fix My Flaky Skin Issue

Pinterest is home to some of the best DIY recipes in the world. It's the hub of all do-it-yourselfer knowledge and trial-and-error tested remedies. So someone is bound to help me on quest to replenish and hydrate my skin, right? Right!?

Hi, I'm Kayleigh and I have ridiculously dry skin.

Kayleigh Barber / Via instagram.com

While I am lucky that I have very little acne and have never truly had a breakout, I can only really attribute this to the fact that my skin is so dry that no acne bacteria could possibly survive in the cracked, salty desert known as my facial tissue. OK this may be a bit of an exaggeration, but on most days there is at least one patch of skin that is red and flaky, often by my nose and mouth, that burns when I use moisturizers and gets all cake-y when I put on too much makeup.

Weather and seasons have an affect on my skin as well. During the humid summer, I have less issues with flaky skin, unless of course I get sunburn then all heck breaks loose. And the rest of the seasons are pretty much open range for dry skin to occur. The worst is when I am sick with a cold or whatever ailment happens to overcome me (because I get pretty sick at least five times a year) and all of the moisture leaves my face for weeks at a time.

Certain beauty routines can dry me out as well. Waxing and other hair removal techniques (hello peach fuzz, ladies) have been known to steal all water and oils from my skin and leave me chaffed and red. Foundation clings to each flake as it breaks away from my face and I dread every time I have to put on make up for an event or work.

Over the years, I have tried several masks and played with different moisturizers and makeups to try to fix the issue myself, but none have truly and successfully worked. I'd claim Neutrogena as my go-to brand for store-bought moisturizers. And Bare Minerals and Tarte have been pretty good brands when it comes to foundations and cover-ups, though still not as smooth as I'd like it to be. But recently I gave up on foundations altogether and opted for tinted moisturizers as my base. Even though I have managed to cover over and fight the some of the flakiness, I would ideally like to get rid of the dry skin once and for all, allowing for healthy, glowing skin to be my default.

Currently, the areas of dry skin are around my nose and mouth, which I attribute to the changing seasons and the fact that I just waxed my lip. Observe:

Kayleigh Barber

So I turned to Pinterest to teach me how to fix the flakes. I found three, well-pinned DIY remedies for dry skin, and tried them to see how they worked in hydrating my face.

Brown Sugar & Olive Oil Scrub

Via pinterest.com

I first made and used this scrub before I used the two avocado masks. The scrub was only three ingredients and was very cheap because I already had most of the ingredients in my pantry. I expected that the scrub would take off the excess dry skin around my nose area and leave a clean base for the masks to hydrate.

The post had been pinned 4.5k times so far, so I had really high hopes that it would work for me. I also hoped that the oils in the scrub would replenish me a bit.

Kayleigh Barber

Difficulty level: 1/10

This was not hard AT ALL to make. It was maybe a little messy.

Did it work?: Yep!

Honestly, I don't know if this is specifically meant for the face, but I used it there and it worked so, there ya go. It got rid of the loose flakes and left some hydration from the olive oil so I was happy with it. I also used it on my hands and it helped to work off some of the dry skin there as well. This recipe yielded quite a large batch and I was able to save it in a small mason jar for later which is nice. Definitely got my money's worth with this one!

Cost: $2

Nearly nothing since I had most of the ingredients already.

Worth it?: Yes!

You can use it everywhere on your body and you get your money's worth.

Egg, Lemon & Avocado Mask

Via pinterest.com

The first of two DIY masks that I used is a simple avocado mask, but with egg and lemon. The post I found has 2.5k pins so far and suggests that you leave it on until dry (from the egg white). I hoped that it wouldn't dry out my skin as a result and that the avocado would do some hydrating.

Kayleigh Barber

Difficulty level: 6/10

OK, so it was only three ingredients and DISCLAIMER I do not eat or work with avocados, like ever, so mashing it was pretty difficult for me and that could have easily been my downfall with this mask. I also really can't tell when an avocado is ripe and I put it in the microwave to try and soften it (don't yell at me if that's like a culinary sin because I really don't know!!), so if you are better at that and at mashing an avocado, then this mask might be significantly easier for you.

Did it work?: Ehh.. honestly I don't know.

I think the egg white was the major player in this mask and did help to hold the avocado on my face. As for the effects, my face wasn't drier than before, like I worried it would be. It left pretty smooth and soft skin, so I guess at the end of the day I'm not mad that used it. Would I make it again though, no. It was too much trouble for me.

Cost: $

Very cheap, just the cost of one egg, an avocado and lemon juice--all of which are very inexpensive ingredients (depending on where you live).

Worth it?: Nah.

Avocado & Honey Mask

Via pinterest.com

The last mask is another avocado base, but with honey and coconut oil and it stays on for 15 minutes. I anticipated hydrated skin with a bit of a glow, hoping that the area of rough, dry skin around my nose would be soothed. The recipe called for only three ingredients, so that's nice and easy on my wallet; and making the mask was also pretty straightforward and seemed easy in theory.

The pin itself was pinned 3.1k times, so I have some pretty high expectations going in. There were also four reviews on the pin, and three of them were positive--the other was not in the mask's favor, so we'll see...

Via pinterest.com

Via pinterest.com

Kayleigh Barber

Difficulty level: 5/10

The avocado was once again a pain to mash, but the oil and honey softened the avocado more than I could, so it was softer than the other face mask.

Did it work?: Yes...?

Honestly, I don't know how much the avocado worked because it was in rather large clumps still, but the coconut oil and honey definitely did something. I had seen other recipes on Pinterest that were honey, coconut oil and lavender oil, so maybe the magic is mostly in the honey and coconut oils, I don't know. But after I washed it off, my skin did feel very soft and the area around my nose and mouth felt hydrated. Has my skin been this hydrated before? Definitely. I think I've gotten the same result from a store bought mask. But if you're trying to to save some money, then this is the mask for you.

Cost: $

I already had coconut oil at home, so I don't have a specific price but between the avocado and honey it was about $5. So you could probably make this mask at home for around $10 depending on where you live and how much your groceries are.

Worth it?: Yeah, I'd say so, but honestly I think just the honey and coconut oil did the trick so keep that in mind.

The Results...

Kayleigh Barber

LOL at the before--it was quite a hot mess honestly. But overall, I think my skin does look softer and smoother, as well as hydrated. The problem area around my nose and mouth didn't have any flakes and wasn't red anymore. My favorite DIY was by far the scrub. It was easy to make and moisturized as well. Plus, I had extra scrub that I can save and use again later! My least favorite was the avocado, egg white and lemon mask because it definitely wasn't worth the effort (whoomp, whoomp).