Curious about using potatoes for skin lightening? Join the club. At last, the humble tater is finally getting the attention it deserves. Found in pantries around the world and sadly under-utilized as the beauty resource they truly are, it’s finally coming to light that these little potatoes are packing a lot of skincare benefits.
For starters, these tubers make for quick, cheap, convenient and extremely effective face masks especially in the summer when already overactive pores are positively oozing oil. Just half a hour with them on your face and you’ll find skin that’s soothed, refreshed, dewy-hydrated, and mostly matte – just the way most of us like it.
Okay, you say – so the potatoes are great for getting rid of oily skin. But what about when it comes to lightening the skin? Well, here’s the low down on whether potatoes lighten skin and exactly what you can expect!
Can Potatoes Lighten Skin?
The simple answer is that potatoes contain starch – which gives the immediate effect of lighter looking skin – as well as an enzyme called catecholase that’s often used as a skin lightener, which makes them great for brightening and lightening skin – a plus if you’ve recently acquired a bad tan or have some discoloration you want to gently fade.
But at the same time, you need to have reasonable expectations when it comes to using potatoes for skin lightening. After all, a potato is just a potato and it’s not going to give you the kind of results you’d get from using more concentrated skin lightening ingredients, such as kojic acid or hydroquinone.
So what sort of results can you expect? The effect of a potato mask is akin to the lightening effect you’d see when you lightly powder your face with a loose foundation that’s a shade lighter than your current skin tone. It’s a subtle difference but one that may be worth it, especially when you consider that this is a very gentle, all-natural and very cheap method of skin lightening.
And that’s a huge upside in and of itself – potato juice is much, much less irritating than pretty much any skin lightening ingredient you’d find on the market and there are precious few people who are going to have reactions to it, no matter how sensitive your skin is.
So overall, as long as you’re not expecting miracles by using potatoes for skin lightening – there’s absolutely no harm in donning a potato mask or two and seeing how it goes!
How to Use Potatoes for Skin Lightening
I like to store my potatoes in the fridge so they’ll be nice and cool by the time I’m ready to put them on my face. I end up with quite a lot of potatoes in the fridge since I run through them like crazy. They’re great on their own as well as with a range of other skin mask ingredients. Below are my favorite combos!
Quick potato hint: Make single applications – potatoes oxidize quick!
Green Clay and Potato Pack
If your skin is feeling especially oily, go straight for a green clay powder… and a potato. These two are the perfect partners in combating oily skin – green clay pulls out oils, toxins and impurities from your skin while lending a firmer consistency to the slushier potato. The clay tends to be a bit harsh, however, which the soothing, moisturizing potato totally relieves.
A totally simple, totally effective mask that both lightens skin and leaves is wonderfully matte.
Super Brightening Potato and Orange Peel Powder Mask
Both potatoes and orange peels are well-known for their whitening and brightening effects, but combine them together and you get a powerful solution to dull, discolored skin.
You’ll need orange peel powder for this one – you can either get already prepared orange peel powder here or find out how to make your own orange peel powder here.
Yogurt and Potato Pack
Not only is yogurt deliciously rich, creamy and wonderful feeling on your face, it’s also a very gentle yet effective natural exfoliant, thanks to its lactic acid content.
Combined with grated potato, it makes the perfect face mask to soothe and brighten dull skin.
