Egg white masks are very dangerous unlike a safer alternative skincare product from Wander Beauty
Egg white masks are a surprising skincare accessory that I was not expecting. I polled my followers on Instagram and Facebook and you all were as surprised as I was! The majority vote had no idea people were using raw eggs as face masks! The number of Pinterest pins that suggest this is a safe DIY mask is astounding. Masks made at home are usually cheaper and have ingredients you can find at home. I believe that if you take shortcuts when it comes to skincare, you will have to deal with what follows.
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The examples that I have seen floating around are as follows. First, putting egg yolk, just the whites, into a bowl. Then, either putting them on your face plain or adding another kitchen ingredient. The other “hack” I saw was that people were using toilet paper (no joke). They put this on their nose, and then apply the raw egg whites over it. The idea is that you would peel the hardened toilet paper off your face and remove the blackheads.
Yes, like a pore strip. In this blog post, I’ll be going over why this is such a ridiculous and dangerous idea. Don’t worry, I’ll give you ideas on what you can do with your eggs instead and a skincare product alternative.
How Common is it to Get Sick From Raw Eggs?
A processing plant cleans and sanitizes eggs in the United States. The reason for this is because it lessens the risk that the consumers will get salmonella. The Centers of Disease Control estimates that the risk of getting an egg that has salmonella is 1 in every 20,000 eggs. However, most people are not just buying 1 egg at the grocery store. Your exposure for risk goes up when you are buying 12-24 eggs and are handling them at home.
Applying this to one person versus working in a restaurant were standards need to be high is a little different. They may end up sending multiple people to the hospital if they don’t cook their eggs thoroughly. If you handle your own eggs and get sick, you may be sick for about 7 days without antibiotics.
In the United States, our fear of Salmonella stems from the huge salmonella scare we had in the 1990s. Although standards for cooking have improved, we still see salmonella outbreaks from our food on the news quite often. It is always better to be safe than sorry, but ultimately the risk is up to you as an individual and it depends on the country you visit.
For example, Japan has a dish called “Tamago Kake Gohan” that appears to be a raw egg on top of steamed rice with soy sauce. Japan decided collectively that the risk of salmonella was low enough to risk making dishes with raw eggs, which is why there are so many dishes with raw eggs. They also use pasteurized eggs, which also lowers your risk for getting salmonella.
What is Salmonella?
According to the Mayo Clinic, Salmonella is a bacterial infection that effects your digestive tract. This bacteria lives inside of human and animals intestines and passes through in their feces. Most humans when they contract Salmonella will get it due to poor water conditions or through an animal that has the bacteria inside them.
While a lot of people may show no symptoms of being sick, there is a risk of getting symptoms that include; diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps. Most people recover within a few days to a week without antibiotics. In other cases, severe diarrhea can lead to dehydration and a trip to the hospital.
There are also cases where this could be a life-threatening condition where the bacteria in your intestines spreads to other places in your body and could possibly kill you. This risk is a lot higher when you visit countries that do not have access to clean water and proper sewage disposal.
Why am I Telling you All of This?
The reason I’m sharing this information with you, is because while you may not think this is a big deal and it may not happen to you, there is also a chance that it might. I would rather make an educated decision and hear both sides, rather than just jump into to a decision without any thought at all. If you have a lowered immune system, I would also stay away from dishes like this or ridiculous face masks made of raw egg yolk.
What do Raw Egg Masks Do for Your Skin?
In theory, raw eggs can reduce acne breakouts and shrink pores. Pores size is dependent on genetics. However, if you want to make your pores appear smaller or tighter, you could see a professional, like a licensed esthetician, and get a Glycolic chemical peel treatment.
You can read more about chemical peels here in this blog post. Getting a deep exfoliation treatment can help regulate the sebum in your skin as well as help with skin resurfacing by removing that layer of skin which will make your pores appear to be smaller.
Another reason people use raw egg masks is their “ability to remove sun damage”. When I tried looking for evidence that proves this theory, there was none. Instead, I found “recipes” of face masks for egg whites and lemon. The lemon is what is fading the sun damage or dark spots. Even this is a bad idea, because while lemon or in its formulated state of Vitamin C, can help with those issues, in its raw form it will hurt your skin barrier. It is much too harsh to use by itself. You can read more on vitamin c and it’s benefits in my blog post here.
If that wasn’t enough to make you roll your eyes, there are also “recipes” for adding yogurt and for adding honey along with your raw egg masks. If you want an alternative to using honey and raw eggs, you can check out my recommendation here.
At this point, if you are using that many groceries to make a skincare mask, you may as well just eat these ingredients. You are going to get more benefits from eating eggs and the other foods I mentioned by eating them.
What are the Benefits of Eating Eggs for Your Skin?
Eggs contain Biotin, B-12, and Omega-3 fats. Not only are these amazing your your skin, but also for your hair and nails. Fun fact: Farmers who raise chickens on pasture and fed alfalfa and clover have more Omega-3-rich eggs.
Additionally, they also play a really important role in your skin’s health because of the amount of protein they have. Your body uses these amino acids to create new proteins in your skin cells. Some of the proteins are collagen and elastin which help with the strengthening of your skin and to help keep its elasticity. Don’t all of these benefits of eating your eggs sound way better than putting them on your face?
Alternative Product Recommendation to Raw Egg Masks
Wander Beauty has a product called Fast Lane Instant Facial that will mimic the results that you would want from using a raw egg mask. It has glycolic acid, salicylic acid, and lactic acids that will smooth the texture of your skin, unclog pores, and help with cellular turnover (anti-aging).
As I mentioned before, you could get a Glycolic Chemical Peel treatment with a licensed esthetician, but I also realize that this isn’t financially available for everyone. This is not the exact same thing as a chemical peel, but a lighter version that is safe for the public to use.
Key Ingredients
Meadowfoam Seed Oil
Meadowfoam Seed oil helps to hydrate and soften your skin. It also helps reduce the appearance of scars and wrinkles. This oil has a comedogenic rating of 0-1 which means it also won’t clog your pores and is fast absorbing.
Licorice Root Extract
Licorice helps to restore skin’s suppleness and helps reduce flaking. This is important because of the active ingredients in this product. (Glycolic and lactic acid.)
How to Use
Fast Lane Instant Facial is an exfoliating gel-like mask that you use once a week for up to 20 minutes. I would start at the 10-minute mark to see how your skin reacts to the product before going the full 20 minutes. This mask is meant to be your exfoliating step in your skincare routine. I would recommend not adding in any other exfoliating tools or products to your routine while using this product.
Blog Update!
Fast Lane Instant Facial by Wander Beauty is no longer being sold. Here is a recommendation for an alternative product.
Alternative Product Recommendation to Raw Egg Masks
Wander Beauty hasn’t come out with a replacement for Fast Lane Instant Facial. The product I recommend is another brand and one that is similar.
Caudalie has a glycolic mask that is very similar. It’s called Vinoperfect Glycolic Peel Mask. This mask helps with brightening and resurfacing your skin to help with cellular turnover. Additionally, this mask is meant to replace your exfoliation tools and meant to be the only form of exfoliation when using this product.
How to Use
Apply twice a week to dry skin. Leave the mask on for 10 minutes and rinse with warm water. This mask can be used twice a week.
Wander Beauty and Net-A-Porter Net’s Sustain
In spite of the blog update, I would still like to continue with Wander Beauty’s feature in this post. Something I like about this company is that they work with Net-A-Porter. This is a company that I had never personally heard of until they mentioned it on their website. Wander Beauty meet the standards of the Net-A-Porter’s 9 key attributes.
“Our curated product selection offers the opportunity to invest in consciously crafted, lasting luxury across fashion, jewelry, beauty, and homeware. Every product is carefully selected to ensure it meets at least one of our nine key attributes.”
Net-A-Porter9 Key Attributes as Listed from the Net-A-Porter Website
- Locally Made: At least 75% of a brand’s products have been manufactured within their own community or country.
- Craft & Community: Products that showcase exceptional artisanal skills or techniques and brands that adhere to Fairtrade principles and invest in communities.
- Materials: Products where at least 50% of the materials used are grown and produced with a significantly reduced environmental impact.
- Process: All products are manufactured using processes that reduce resource use and pollution.
- Ingredients: Products where at least 50% of the ingredients used are grown or produced with a significantly reduced environmental impact.
- Reducing Waste: Products that are made with innovative, regenerated or creatively upcycled materials or packaging.
- Animal Welfare: Featuring cruelty-free brands that choose to invest in supply chains promoting good animal husbandry and the five freedoms of animal welfare, which means freedom from hunger and thirst, discomfort, pain, fear and distress, and the freedom to express normal behavior.
- Vegan: Our vegan brands are 100% committed to avoiding the use of any animal products or ingredients that are derived from animals.
- Designed for Circularity: Brands within this attribute use materials and manufacturing processes that promote recycling and/or repair and restoration services and take-back schemes.
Witchy Tip
The most popular form of fortune-telling that I have seen is called Oomancy. There are several different ways to read egg yolks, but oracular reading is the most common. This is done by cracking open eggs into hot water and watching the egg whites separate. An example of a reading would be, someone sees a bell in the yolk, and a wedding may be coming in their future or the person that they are reading for. This practice is said to come from ancient Greece but was a practice for ancient Druids in Scotland as well.
My Final Thoughts
Going to a licensed esthetician would be ideal to take care of your acne, blackheads and take care of your worries about your pore-size. However, I think that using a glycolic mask for home care would also be a great option. If you would like to use eggs for your skincare, please just find a way to eat them. In this economy, we should be making better choices with our money.
In Conclusion
If you would still like to check out Wander Beauty for their other products, you can click my affiliate link here. If you want to get 10% off as a new customer, just click this link and enter WELCOME10 at checkout. When you make a purchase through my affiliate link, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog!
Have you tried a glycolic mask before? Are you a victim of DIY skincare? Let me know in the comments below.
The images in this blog post belong to Canva and Wander Beauty and have been used with permission by those sources. Claudie pictures shown belong to Claudie.
Disclaimer:
The views expressed on this site are the author’s own and are provided for informational purposes only. The author makes no warranties about the suitability of any product or treatment referenced or reviewed here for any person other than herself and any reliance placed on these reviews or references by you is done so solely at your own risk. Nothing on this site shall be construed as providing dermatological, medical or other such advice and you are always advised to seek the advice of a doctor, dermatologist or suitable professional should you have any such concern.
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