As you know I have spent four months in Lima, Peru. During that time I obviously went on a mission to find products that the Peruvians use to create a little me-time at home and that without breaking the bank as well because travels. Just for clarity I mean their bank and mine😋. As the saying goes, be careful what you look for because you just might find it. Find it I did! Apparently a me-time product that they vehemently use is Tocosh. A product that you can scrub with or use as a face mask. Obviously I have done both and I am here to report.
I’d give you a list of ingredients but a ticket to Peru is included in it which made me decide against doing it. I have seen listings for it on amazon but I am hesitant to recommend those as I do not know whether they are the real thing and do not want to recommend something I have not tried myself.
What is Peruvian Tocosh
I don’t know how to explain what Tocosh is as you can make a facemask of it but it also is seen as a superfood in Peru. The local health store I visited while there was selling it as well as the store where I bought mine for the face mask. They both mentioned that people eat it too, hence the health store selling it. For some it is a delicacy for others it is something of daily use. This is heavily dependent on where you are in Peru. In the Andes and higher up parts of Peru you can find the use to be way broader as there is also where Tocosh is mostly made. I suppose having it so on hand does lead to an easier integration in the culture. Even though I must say that it is part of Peruvian culture as a whole.
As you can probably tell, Tocosh is a product that has been around for many years. Actually it goes back all the way to the Inca’s. They believed it was a gift from God to help keep up with their health. And they were right as the product has many health benefits, one of which is actually used in modern medicine to this day.
How Tocosh is made
The lady at the store explained to me that Tocosh is a product that they make in Peru itself and has quite the extensive produce time. I won’t go into the whole production of how to get the product because the steps are indeed extensive but I’ll give you the short version of it. It basically comes from fermenting white potatoes in a special way. Now don’t go thinking you can do this in your backyard as I doubt that you can! Remember I gave you the short version of how it is made. The fermenting process takes more than a year FYI!
Just now I mentioned the health benefits of Tocosh, I am going to get into that more in the next section but I wanted to mention something that is made alongside Tocosh. The modern day medicine that is made alongside Tocosh is penicillin. Now penicillin was discovered in 1928 by Alexander Fleming. However as I have already said Tocosh dates back all the way to the Inca’s and their empire is from 1428. This leads to believe that penicillin might have been around for longer than the ‘’West*’’ have known about it.
*The west is in quotation marks to reflect the thinking of the times spoken of and to indicate that I despise the usage of it. Purely personal.
The Benefits of Peruvian Tocosh
While in Peru I visited a lot of health stores as I love the fact that they have many natural remedies. I’m not against modern medicine at all but I do believe natural medicines can be equally helpful with proper use. Obviously the best place, in my eyes at least, to get the best information about the health benefits of Peruvian Tocosh would be in Peru.
The lady I spoke with at the store explained to me that one of the health benefits of Tocosh is its antibacterial properties. Especially when used in a face mask. This is perfect for me as I had acne when I was younger. I still get some zits here and there so combatting them with the antibacterial properties of Tocosh seemed perfect. It can also really help with infections. As someone who never picks at their zits this could be a very promising thing.
When you ingest the peruvian superfood it has the additional health benefits of being extremely good for your gut health. It is said to improve digestion and aid in the flora of your intestines.
As far as I have understood, the health benefits for Tocosh are both internal as external. Internal mostly for helping in aiding intestinal issues and external for infections. I do think there could be more as they led me to believe that Tocosh is actually a very powerful product however this is what I was told by both ladies.
Tocosh Mask Recipes
When I bought the Tocosh powder the lady recommended the following use which I have not deviated from as I did not know the product at all!
PERUVIAN FACE MASK PSA
Do not mix this in just any bowl. Use a glass bowl and a wooden spoon. This was stressed to me then so I am relaying the stress of how important that is. I wasn’t told exactly why but I assume it has to do with the way the mask behaves in plastic and metal as is the case with many masks.
Peruvian Tocosh Mask Recipe:
Peruvian Tocosh Powder
Honey
How To Mix The Facemask
I don’t think you can guess what is coming next. The way to mix the recipe. Seeing that it is only two ingredients you literally just mix them together until they form a paste. I used about a tablespoon of each. Once I put it on I let it sit for about 15 minutes and then I took it off with my face cloth. Did not have my fancy one as during my travels I like to keep things to a necessary. So I used my freshly washed fingers to, in circular motions, take off the mask and then did the rest with a cloth.
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Mask Results
Now there is something I have not mentioned in the entire post which is quite important. Let me start by saying that I have stood in front of this dilemma before with another super healthy ingredient. The ingredient being fresh Aloe Vera. What the Aloe Vera face mask has in common with a Tocosh face mask is the way they offend your nose.
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Yes unfortunately the smell of Tocosh is worrisome to say the least. The lady at the store who sold it to me actually let me smell it before purchase to warn me of what I was buying because obviously this has been a complaint before. She also told me that the smell of Peruvian Tocosh was one of the reasons why it’s such a best kept secret. The smell kept it from appealing to the masses.
Obviously I found the smell of putting and it truly is. I still went ahead and purchased it because the benefits surely outweigh the negatives. Luckily for me this resulted in being true! My skin felt significantly softer after the mask and the attack of the travels (I’m looking at you dry airplane air) had significantly become better. My skin responded really well to it.
The next couple of days I could see that the zits that were trying to come and say hello were actually saying bye bye. Packing their bags and closing up shop, which is exactly what I wanted. The anti-bacterial workings of the Peruvian Tocosh face mask did its job.
For those of you wondering about the smell it dissipates after a while but it was not completely gone. I don’t know if that means that you just got used to it or that it has actually dissipated but it became bearable. Yes, that sounds about right..
Conclusion
Do not let the smell throw you off of trying Peruvian Tocosh if ever given a chance. It is a great product and what they say it is supposed to do it actually does which is fantastic. I have continued my use of it and the results keep making the nose startle worth it.
Recommended: More Peru Reports
Understanding My Surrounding In Peru
The End Of My Peruvian Adventure
My trip to Peru would not have been complete without diving into their beauty scene and learning how to treat myself with some Peruvian flair.
Love,
DCPR.
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This was such an interesting read. I’ve never thought of Peruvian methods for my skincare but you’ve made it sound excellent!
Rosie
Thank you! If you come across it definitely give it a try! They have many wonderful products🌹
Oooh I have never heard of this before. I’m definitely going to see if it is possible to make this vegan friendly!
Yess, Peruvian Tocosh is really a gem in hiding. I believe you can also use it with Olive Oil which would be vegan friendly, but I myself have never tried the mask that way.
It’s a shame about the smell of the mask but at least it does its job! x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
Indeed, Indeed!