homemade, all-natural and organic skincare

Since embarking on my quest for healthy goodness I set myself a little challenge to revamp my skin and haircare routines and do beauty naturally.  I’ve already posted about going no ‘poo and hair-related things but realised I haven’t yet mentioned skincare.

Let me remedy that right now!

Since the whole natural haircare experience wasn’t so scary in the end, I decided it was time to trial organic, natural skincare.  Which was a MASSIVE step for me.  You see; I’m pretty darn protective over what goes onto my skin. For the past ten years my face has displayed the wonderfully attractive combination of extremely dry, peeling skin coupled with outbreaks all over the place.  Nice.  Doctors have been scratching their heads and referring me onto colleagues and specialists  and so on and so forth; you get the picture.  No amount of creams, dermatology or medication has had a positive impact so far.  In fact, normally within minutes I’d react to anything other than cold cleansing cream.  Even water would have an impact.

But after discovering how many toxic chemicals are in beauty products, cosmetics and skincare products (search yours on the  Environmental Working Group website and you’ll catch my drift) I reckoned maybe I should at least try going all-natural.

So all-natural I went!  And so far (2 months in) so good 🙂

The ‘recipes’ below are what works for me – if you’re gunna try it you may wanna adjust some of the quantities – it’s up to you!  I cleanse and moisturise my face every morning and night, use the oil cleansing whenever I take off make-up or every few days and use the face masque about twice a week before I get in the shower.

Cleanser

• 1 part Apple Cider Vinegar (with the mother left in)
• 2 parts water

Apply a little with a cotton pad.  It smells of vinegar (obviously) but only for a few seconds – don’t freak out!

Moisturiser

• Argan oil

A tiny amount goes a long way – honest!  I use 2 squirts which is about the size of a 5p piece for my whole face and massage it in for a minute or so.  As with the cleanser don’t panic when it smells (this will be nutty though – not vinegary!) – the odour disappears within a minute!  Make sure the argan oil is 100% pure, cold-pressed and stored in a tinted (probably brown) glass bottle.  I bought the Truly Moroccan argan oil for £10 (the cheapest I could find for the quality) – I know it’s pricey but so far I’ve used about 1/4 of the 100ml bottle I bought 2 months ago, which works out at about £1.25 a month and THAT’S not too shabby!  AND I use it for the oil cleansing method!

• Coconut oil

A-MAZ-ING.  Seriously. If you haven’t read 300 versions of ‘100 uses for coconut oil’ doing the rounds on pinterest, blogs and other sites check one out.  Coconut oil is awesome.  Just not for you face – it clogs the pores!  The rest of your body, however, will flippin’ love it!  It smells yummy, is soooo good for your skin and again a little goes a long way! Make sure to buy cold-pressed organic virgin coconut oil – I use Coconoil organic virgin coconut oil which was £10 for 465g and lasts FOREVER!

Face Masque

• 1 part Raw organic honey
• 1 part Apple Cider Vinegar (with the mother left in)
• 1 tbs fresh lemon juice

Mix this all together and apply to your face.  It smells amazing!  Leave on for 15 minutes then wash off.  Enjoy silky soft skin!

Oil Cleansing Method

• Argan oil
• Flannel face cloth

This sounds kind of strange but it works – oil dissolves oil and the hot flannel means that you are effectively steaming your face and opening your pores which helps them clean out!

1. Wash your face with the flannel then pat it dry with a towel
2. Run the flannel under hot water (dont go crazy and scald yourself but as hot as you can handle), wring it as dry as possible and place it over your face until it cools down.
3. Massage argan oil into your skin for a couple of minutes.  I use 4 squirts or about the size of a 10p piece.
4. Repeat step 2.
5. Once the flannel is cool, use it to gently wipe your face
6. Rinse the flannel and repeat steps 4 and 5
7. Allow your skin to air dry.  I then massage a small amount or argan oil into my skin as a moisturiser, but that’s optional!

Voilà! Lovely soft skin 🙂

big love

gollygoshgirl xx