Collegiettes (and male counterparts, too), it is tough to stay healthy–inside and out–in a world where processed foods are in our budgets and beauty products contain ingredients we cannot even pronounce, let alone comprehend. Like ammonium lauryl sulfate? Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate? Why is that going on my face? Through Pinterest, I started looking for an alternative. There are hundreds–thousands–of blogs featuring recipes for natural facial cleansers and scrubs. Determining ingredients in your recipe can be narrowed down by skin type and sensitivity level. Most of this process for finding a cleanser/scrub alternative is up to trial and error, but I’m going to tell you about two that I tried and worked for my slightly sensitive skin.
But first, Rules for Basic Skin Care whether you want to try going natural or use store products:
- Only exfoliate a few times a week. Three is probably a good number. Why? Because exfoliating removes dead skin cells, which is good, unless you scrub too often. This can rough up the skin cells that aren’t quite dead yet and irritate your skin.
- Cleanse your face in the morning. Why? Because during the night your skin can get oily. It’s also a good way to wake up and will make you feel fresher for the day.
- Cleanse your face at night. Why? Because oil and dirt have gotten on your face during the day. Washing them off at night will help stop them from creating acne the next day. I found that I like to choose my exfoliating times at night because there’s more dirt on my face by the end of the day.
- Use sun protection. Why? Because the Sun doesn’t care who you are. It’s gonna get you. And using sun protection–a moisturizer or face makeup with SPF in it is a great option–will keep your skin healthier, reduce sunspots and save you from skin cancer. It does happen.
Oil Cleansing Method
It sounds contradictory, but cleansing your skin with natural oils like extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), grapeseed oil, almond oil, and/or jojoba oil nourish your beautiful skin. According to acne.org, in basic chemistry “like dissolves like.” With this recipe from simplemom.net, the writer, TSH says, “It helps gently remove the dirty oil and replaces it with good, nourishing, healing oil.” The recipe suggests using castor oil and EVOO in a one-to-one ratio for normal skin. Use a clean, closeable container for any mixture.
My review: I didn’t have castor oil, so I started out with just EVOO. I instantly felt a difference in my skin. It was softer and seemed to have a more even tone. After cleansing with the oil in circular motions I washed it off with warm water. It felt amazing!
Full details at: http://simplemom.net/oil-cleansing-method/
Exfoliating with salt
Natural-homeremedies-for-life.com has a recipe using salt, honey, jojoba oil and almond oil. I only have salt, honey and grapeseed oil. The SimpleMom blog I mentioned for the oil cleanser also talked about using grapeseed oil or almond oil. Either of these oils should be fine as well. It’s all up to you, your skin sensitivities and any allergies. Do not provoke any allergies. That’s a no-no. Here’s the recipe from Natural-homeremedies-for-life:
- 12 tablespoons dark Organic Honey
- 1 cup Sea salt
- 1 cup of Brown Sugar
- 1 tablespoon Jojoba oil
- 1 tablespoon sweet Almond oil
My review: I varied my mixture based on what I had and used orange blossom honey, salt and grapeseed oil. Personally, I eyeball amounts when making mixtures. This is how I learned to cook, so following recipe measurements strictly or loosely is all up to you!
Also, check out this website for some interesting recipes you might want to try. They utilize ingredients like oatmeal, lavender, cinnamon, lemon, and even apple sauce in their selection of recipes.
Full details for salt scrub at: http://www.natural-homeremedies-for-life.com/homemade-salt-scrub.html
Give it a shot!
You can always experiment yourself with ingredients and variation! Basically:
- Honey helps moisturize and cleanse (it’s also delicious)
- Salt and sugar (white or brown) can be used as an exfoliating ingredient
- EVOO, jojoba oil, almond oil, grapeseed oil, even flaxseed oil can help with oily skin and soften it
- Tea tree oil is an antiseptic and can clear acne – but a little goes a long way. The bottles are very small and you only need a few drops per mixture, according to simplemom.net. She suggests trying it in your oil cleanser mixture if you want to clear acne.
- Oats/oatmeal (not the cooked kind) is good for your skin. It helps moisturize and relieve irritation.