Papaya extract has found its way into a lot of beauty products, and for a good reason. It contains vitamins A, C, E, pantothenic acid, folate, magnesium, and potassium that help nourish your skin, keeping it young, healthy, and hydrated.
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Papaya also has proteolytic enzymes papain and chymopapain, which help nourish the skin and have antifungal, antibacterial, and antiviral properties. These enzymes also exfoliate dead skin cells and keep your face looking young, radiant, and hydrated.
And if you don’t like eating the papaya fruit, there are ways to benefit from this nutrient-filled food without necessarily eating it. The leaves, seeds, skin, and fruit themselves works wonders in bringing back your natural glow while maintaining a beautiful glow. You do not want to miss out on the goodness of the fruit. If you’ve been looking for that clear glass-like skin associated with the Asians, the papaya is a sure step to achieving that.
Constituents of the papaya
Antioxidants: the papaya is rich in antioxidants. Antioxidants are charged with fighting off free radicals. Free radicals usually cause damage to the skin and health, and antioxidants also help strengthen your immune system. Papaya mainly contains more beta carotene when compared to carrots.
Vitamins and Minerals: papaya contains vitamins of high content. Especially vitamin C is essential in boosting your immunity, fighting against ailments, reducing the risk for skin cancer, and helping nourish the skin. It is also a good source of sunscreen and protects your skin from damage from the sun rays.
It contains other vitamins like vitamins A, E, and minerals like potassium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, calcium, manganese, pantothenic acid, and folate, which work for the face and aid the general well-being of the body.
Fiber: fiber aids digestion and helps eliminate all toxins from the body. Papaya is packed full of this essential nutrient. By eating papaya, you’re not only providing the avenue for your face to maintain a beautiful glow, but you’re also keeping your insides healthy.
Benefits of papaya to the skin
1. Helps Treat Acne
Acne is every women’s nightmare, and it can be painful, frustrating, and embarrassing. Also, they come when you least expect them, which can be annoying. If you’re trying to stop the acne outbreak on your face, you should try using papaya. Adding papaya to your face mask or eating it will have your face clearer than you can imagine within a short while.
The enzymes, papain, and chymopapain present in papaya help reduce acne by clearing pores clogged up by dead skin cells, usually the leading cause of acne. Not only that, but they also remove damaged keratin build-up on the skin, generally forming small bumps.
This is why most acne treatment products and exfoliating products contain papain as a core ingredient. It also contains vitamin A which helps in treating acne and inflammation. Constant use of papaya will help clear acne from your face in no time. Not only that, it helps reduce your skin’s susceptibility to acne and inflammation. That means, if you religiously use papaya, you can say bye-bye to acne forever.
When making a face mask to treat acne, you don’t need to add anything. Blend raw papaya, extract the juice, and then use a cotton pad. Gently apply the juice to your face, let it stay for nothing less than 10minutes. You can then wash off with lukewarm water and pat dry. For faster results, do this every day.
2. Anti-aging
Stress and old age have a lot of impact on our skin, wrinkles and sagging face usually seem to accompany both. And despite having sleepless nights and undergoing a lot of stress, the last thing we want is the visible signs of aging for everyone to see.
One of the many antioxidants papaya contains is lycopene. Antioxidants fight against free radicals that are, most often than not, the reasons for wrinkles and evident aging. Using papaya for your skin will help keep your skin youthful and healthy. Also, those dark circles under your eyes need to go. They only make you look older than you are.
Research has also shown that papaya can help increase skin elasticity, invariably reducing wrinkles. Papain enhances the secretion of collagen, which increases the elasticity of the skin and skin hydration, and removes dead skin cells, allowing the face to breathe.
The ingredient to achieving and maintaining youthful skin is nothing complex. All you need is the peel, which contains a high amount of papain. Rub the peel all over your face and neck, and rinse off after 20minutes. It is not a single day’s result, but in no time if you’re consistently doing this, all age spots and wrinkles will be gone.
3. Fades Dark Spots
If you have darl spots resulting from acne outbreak, or maybe dark knuckles, or dark elbows and knees, or perhaps you’re looking to get rid of skin tans, papaya can clear all blemishes evens your skin tone and also helps improve your compLexion. The presence of beta carotene in papaya helps clear pigmentation and scars, also helps promote skin lightening.
Papain is also a protein dissolving enzyme that works with alpha-hydroxy acids to exfoliate and dissolve dead skin cells. This is why constantly using papaya for the face ends up rendering the face lighter and softer. These cleansing properties function in getting rid of impurities and blemishes and protect your skin from sun damage. You can go out in the sun all day long without worry since you’ve got papaya.
Time to get rid of those spots; to achieve that, you’ll be needing 4 cubes of ripe papaya, 1 tablespoon honey, and 1 tablespoon turmeric powder. Mash the papaya, add the turmeric powder and honey, mix the three to get a thick paste. Apply the mixture to your face or dark areas evenly and leave for 20 minutes or more, then wash off with lukewarm water. Once a week consistently is enough to see changes.
4. Helps Treat Melasma
Melasma is another relatively common skin problem peculiar to pregnant women. The natural healing properties of the papaya, which are enzymes, antioxidants, beta carotene, phytochemicals, have skin lightening properties that will efficiently eliminate even the barest trace of melasma. Who says you can’t look good while pregnant? Papaya will help you prove them wrong.
Papaya seeds cold-pressed oil, when it is applied daily, primarily works wonders in treating melasma. Nothing is going to spoil your shine, friend. Not only does papaya clear every form of melasma, but it also lightens your face and makes it feel baby soft.
Another method is blending raw papaya, extracting the juice, and applying it evenly to the face using cotton pads, then washing it off with lukewarm water after it’s been on for about 29-30 minutes.
Also, you can make a thick paste by blending half a cup of mashed papaya, a quarter cup of yogurt, one teaspoon of rose water, and a pinch of turmeric powder. Apply the mixture on your face and leave it on for about 15 minutes. You can then wash off using cold water and pat your skin to dry.
5. Moisturizes the face
Dry face? Worry no more, papaya to the rescue. Papain and chymopapain help hydrate the skin, getting rid of dryness and flakiness, making your skin soft and supple. Say bye-bye to dry skin today and enjoy the moisturizing effects of papaya.
To achieve glowing moisturized skin, you need papaya and honey. Mix a tablespoon of mashed papaya and a teaspoon of honey, apply the mixture evenly on your face, and leave on for about 30 minutes, wash with cold water, and pat to dry. Follow this regimen every day, and not only will your skin be moisturized, but it will also glow differently.
Conclusion
In the world of fruits, papaya should be considered a superhero; this fruit is packed with lots of nutrients that help in rejuvenating our skin. It also helps us achieve healthy glowing skin, and get rid of blemishes and imperfections, making you confident in your skin. But that’s not all papaya does, and it rejuvenates the hair too. Papaya extracts can be found not only in beauty products but in hair products.
And for those who love papaya and eat it a lot, it’s no wonder why you’re looking so radiant and healthy. Papaya is the most beneficial when eaten. What we eat affects us not only on the inside but also our appearance. Papaya’s natural healing properties also work wonders on the inside, which radiates to the outside.
However, suppose you’re going to be using papaya for your skin. In that case, you should discuss this beforehand with your doctor or dermatologist, who will inform you if it will work for you or not depending on your skin type or recommend other products or regimens for you if it doesn’t work.
Some people are allergic to papaya, some to papain, and others to latex. If you’re allergic to latex, it is best not to use papaya at all. And if you experience any signs of discomfort, you should stop immediately. If otherwise, then I hope you do enjoy all the benefits papaya has to offer.