I'm not sure what it does, but it does *something*.

I admit that I have a weakness for "home brewed" beauty stuff. My sisters and I used to make our own facial masks out of oatmeal and god-knows-what-else, and we'd steam the heck out of our faces using my mom's big mixing bowl full of hot water. Ah... those were the days.

I have to give credit where credit is due, here. It was actually The Boy who showed me this. He stumbled over it on the vastness of the internets, and immediately knew I'd be fascinated with it.

Remember how Beta Hydroxy Acid became one of the big catch phrase in facial moisturizers and cleansers a few years ago? Also, remember Salicylic Acid--the active ingredient in all kinds of expensive facial cleansers and products that tout abilities from clearing up acne to preventing razor burn to "resurfacing" skin? Well, surprise--both of those are basically the same thing. And double surprise--they're basically both aspirin. I suddenly saw my budget bottle of plain Target brand aspirin in a whole new light.

It looks like people are starting to catch on to this fact, and I found a bunch of places talking about using uncoated aspirin tablets to make an exfoliating facial mask. Of course, I had to try it.

What I did:

I used just one tablet--put a few drops of water on to it, and it started dissolving into mush almost immediately. I dampened my face a bit, and used my fingers to smooth some of the mush around my face, concentrating on where I tend to get redness from a mystery allergy. The aspirin mush is just grainy enough to exfoliate pretty nicely. I left it on for a few minutes and rinsed with warm water.

The verdict:

Okay, I might be imagining this, but I felt like the redness in my face had evened out noticeably. My skin was nice and smooth, and felt just a bit tight, so I moisturized right afterward. I'll definitely try it again.

Oh--Also, I guess you're not supposed to do this more than a couple times a week or it becomes less effective.