Recipes for Facial Cleanser and Facial Toner

It is my 43rd birthday today and as a special treat I have decided to share my own recipes for facial cleanser and facial toner. I have been using them for a while and like them better than any commercial products I have bought for the same purpose.

Last Summer, I came up with the toner recipe. I ran out of the toner that I usually use and realized that it would probably be easy to just make my own. I keep a lot of the ingredients on hand, so it was just an easy experiment. I have read on different websites that people use apple cider vinegar or witch hazel when they want a natural toner. I have tried both of those and haven't been impressed. The scent of the apple cider vinegar turns me off. The witch hazel, by itself, isn't impressive. Witch hazel is a great ingredient for recipes with essential oils because it keeps the oils from separating. I thought about ingredients that are great for skin and aloe vera was at the top of my list. I chose the gel for this one because it is thicker and adds a velvety feel.

I used my old 4 oz toner bottle (no need to invest in a nice bottle for an experiment). I filled 1/2 of the bottle with aloe vera gel and the other half with witch hazel. The next step was to pick out oils. I happen to know which ones are great for skin. I chose 4 of the oils for my experiment:

Frankincense Essential Oil: known for supporting skin regeneration, which is great for wound healing and wrinkles as well as scars and stretch marks.

Geranium Essential Oil: often used topically to help with tissue regeneration, which aids with cuts and wounds. It also helps to balance oil for skin and scalp issues and can be used as a moisturizer.

Lavender Essential Oil: can be used to soothe and promote skin healing for sunburns, burns, scars, cuts, wounds, and blisters.

Melaleuca Essential Oil: known for being a great oil to support the body when dealing with cuts, wounds, skin conditions, and more.

Several months later, when my facial cleanser ran out, I felt confident that I could make a better one of these too. I knew exactly what ingredients I wanted to use.

For the cleanser, I used a foaming pump bottle. I added unscented castile soap, aloe vera liquid (the gel is nice, but clogs the pump), witch hazel (keeps it mixed), and vitamin E oil. I used the same oils, but added an additional one.

Cypress Essential Oil: this is good for promoting circulation. 

At this point, I knew that I was happy with the recipes, so I decided to invest a little money into the bottles and even make labels, which I am sharing with you for free too. You can save them and upload them to Moo.com to have them printed with a professional vinyl coating. (check out all of the free labels on our blog here: Labels).

Here is how they turned out:

DIY Facial Mask

Last Friday, Tiffany taught a class on skin care. The highlight was definitely the DIY Facial Mask. She mixed up the recipe above. She was careful to use a non-metal bowl and utensil. We had two wonderful volunteers. The rest of us were amazed by the results. I went out the next day to Sprouts and purchased one of the ingredients (Bentonite clay). Together, the clay and the vinegar pictured below are about $10. It is amazing how little you use, so it ends up being VERY inexpensive.

 Of course, I already had the Geranium essential oil. It is one of my favorite oils for skin care.

I mixed the recipe up and put the mask on as soon as I had the ingredients. I also put some on my kids' noses. We had it on for about 15 minutes and then washed it off. My skin was flushed and felt warm to the touch for a little over 30 minutes. I have heard that this reaction is a good thing because it is stimulating the collagen. I know for sure that my face was smoother and looked healthier.

Over the last few days, quite a few people from the class rushed right out to buy the Bentonite Clay and Apple Cider Vinegar as well. I'll definitely be doing it again.