h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Well, it's Easter weekend, so I figured that this little remedy for acne was particuarly timely:

Seperate an egg yolk into a dish (just the egg yolk-- you can make yourself a zero-fat omelette later with the white) and grab a clean beauty brush (artists' brushes will do too, but it must be clean) and paint a medium-thick coat onto your face. Let it dry to the point of pseudo-crustiness, and wash it off. Repeat this 2-3 times a day for 1-2 months, or until you start seeing signifigant results. You might have to continue doing this to maintain your clear skin, but perhaps only once a day, or once every two days.

My younger sister (who has astonishingly bad skin due to her love of pancake makeup) tried this at my suggestion and sure enough, her skin gradually cleared up when nothing else really helped in the long term. Unfortuanately, with her skin cleared up, she didn't see any reason for continuing to slather her face with egg-yolk and she stopped; the zits came back within weeks.

I'm not exactly sure why this works, but we've speculated that it has something to do with the enzymes that are present in chicken eggs.

It's supposed to be an old eastern indian remedy, if anyone's curious.

Or, after separating, you can use the whites. spread the whites on your face with your fingertips, and put the leftovers in the fridge. Let your face dry (it will be very stiff), and then wash the egg off.

But what good do egg whites do for your skin? Isn't it just protein-- no different than smearing a raw steak on your face in the name of beauty?

It does the same as a peel-off mask--grabs ahold of all the loose stuff that's on your skin, and IIRC, it absorbs the oil. Also much cheaper than a steak...

It does the same as a peel-off mask--grabs ahold of all the loose stuff that's on your skin, and IIRC, it absorbs the oil. Also much cheaper than a steak... Probably not much different than using the yolk.

Well, I think that the yolk does not serve the function of a peel-off mask at all. There's something in the chemical nature of the egg yolk that prevents pimples. There is much evidence to suggest that merely cleaning the face religiously will not stop all cases of acne. Acne is an infection, and there is something in the egg yolk that kills the acne 'bug'.

I have not tried the egg-white-as-peel-off mask thing. Where did you hear about it?

So you could use the whole egg--the white to clean and the yolk for prevention Much better than tossing half an egg. My mom swore by egg whites, as well as breaking open a vitamin E pill and spreading the gel on your skin. (Yolks have vitamin E, don't they? Could that be what works? 8)) You can't actually peel the dried whites off, but 'peel mask' is what it feels like.