Food On Your Face : Mango (Yummy Recipe Linkies at the Bottom!)

After yesterday’s mango/melon fiasco (but a fab mango mask recipe nonetheless), I’m a little scaredy cat to write anything else about mangoes. But I must.

Why, you ask?

Because I need mango recipes below. If you have one posted on your blog, link it here, baby. I always overbuy fruit when I do these Food On Your Face posts, and I need to know what the heck to make to put in my tummy.

So I’m going to power through the fear, and talk a little about mangoes.

Let us learn.

Stuff You Never Knew About Mangoes

• Mangoes have officially (by the magistrate of mangoes, I can only assume) been declared “King of Fruits,” and are known as  such all over the world (except where I live, I guess).
• Ripe mangoes hold the largest amount of beta carotene, also known as vitamin A. This is the stuff in carrots that supports eyesight. It’s also scientifically shown to prevent cancer and boost the immune system.
• Unripened mangoes – the greener ones – are higher in vitamin C. We all know how great vitamin C is, so I’ll leave it at that.
• Mangoes contain proteolytic acid, which just so happens to be an effective meat tenderizer, making it a good cooking buddy with tougher meats, and it aids in digestion.
• Mango leaves and twigs are toxic, and for quite some time Indians would feed them to their cows, which would then dye the cow’s urine a special sort of yellow. Then they would die. Given that, in India, cows are sacred, eventually this practice was outlawed.

How to Cut a Mango

I knew this in my younger, less culinary frazzled days. I didn’t remember it yesterday.

There are a few effective ways to cut a mango, so here’s a little video tutorial, just in case you didn’t know, or are frazzled such as myself.

If you already know, skip on down to the info on why you should put mango on your face. And then the recipes. And then the comments.

Why You Should Put Mangoes On Your Face

If you walk into any self-respecting natural foods store and ask for mango butter, you should be directed to the cosmetics aisle. There you will experience one of the richest, most luxurious balms known to man (if they have a tester). You might not buy it, because it is pretty pricey.

I searched for ways to make my own mango butter, to no avail, so it can only be assumed that it’s a tightly-kept secret by the mango magistrate. He’s a bit of a tyrant, isn’t he?

In any case, using fresh mango gives you a number of the benefits as mango butter, only it doesn’t keep as long. It’s moisturizing and clarifying. And fresh mango has a benefit that mango butter does not: It contains active fruit enzymes that will eat up all the dead skin cells layered on your face.

Mango in the hair will improve the elasticity of the strands, and fosters strength at the roots.

I’ve read accounts of people who use a mango mask on their face twice a week and see a dramatic improvement in chronic acne. The beta-carotene in mangoes encourages skin regeneration (think antiaging) and wrinkle softening. You can be darned sure you can make your own mango facial masks at home identical to the ones you’d pay big kaching for in spas, for a smidgen of the price and none of the hassle.

Quick and Easy Mango Mask Recipe

Take 1/4 of a mango, mash it well, and mix it with plain yogurt. Apply to skin. Leave on for 15 minutes. Rinse.

Or try the recipe from yesterday: Nourishing Mango Mud Mask

MANGO RECIPES – LINKY PARTY TIME!

If you’ve been here before, you know the drill. If not, here’s a quick run-down:

INSTRUCTIONS

• Follow the link below and link directly to the page that contains your recipe that includes mangoes (and hopefully a pretty picture)!
  
• If you’re feeling frisky, leave a comment when you’re done.
• Have fun, and come back soon to see more mango recipes!

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