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I am proudly Mrs. Homemade Everything. I haven’t used a commercial shampoo in 6 months (and that was a one-time thing). I haven’t used store-bought deodorant in 2 1/2 years! I am very proud of the fact that I use essential oils in so many areas of my life and can eat most of the products in my house. But there is one thing I just can’t nail down:
Homemade skin care.
To preface, I should say that I have suffered from mild acne my entire life. It has never been excruciatingly bad, but it has always been there and impossible to tame. I tried all the commercial cleansers I could afford and even a few prescriptions. But nothing ever worked well enough. I just wanted skin like the people in the commercials. I would even have settled for skin like other people in my classes!
After I switched to natural products and real food, I saw improvements. But I still felt like I tried it all. For example, I used black soap and shea butter for a long time, and this was great. The black soap kept my skin clear and the shea butter moisturized beautifully. But I get really dry skin in the winter and the soap didn’t clear up everything.
So I moved to using essential oils for skin care. I discovered a blend of essential oils that made a great spot treatment. I loved my own blend of lavender, geranium, melaleuca, and frankincense to help soothe my skin (lavender and geranium), cleanse it (melaleuca), and promote healing and reduce the appearance of blemishes (frankincense). Eventually I was just using the essential oils, but I realized that not washing my face at all probably wasn’t the best for it. I mean, I was still getting dirt and stuff on it! What now?
I currently use oil cleansing every night, which works great. But the first time I started to oil cleanse, I found it to be tiresome in the evenings, and I hated the transition period.
Eventually, I learned that if I eat 100% clean and sugar-free, I can keep my acne to a minimum. Truly, that is the only way to me to fight acne. No matter what I try, it will not clear my skin unless my plate is filled with clean foods. And if I wasn’t eating clean, the transition period of oil cleansing was brutal. It was too much for me.
So I cheated. I began using commercial skin care again.
Essential Oils for Skin Care
I still tried to keep my skin care as natural as possible. I didn’t go out an buy a bottle of Clean and Clear. Actually, if I didn’t already own these products, I likely would have stuck to homemade. I’m a cheapskate when it comes to beauty products and I wouldn’t have shelled out for anything I could (theoretically) do myself.
But in fact, this fall I tried two plant-based skin care lines. I have to admit: it made my skin feel good. The ingredients for the products I tried aren’t ideal, but they could be much worse. Both lines contain therapeutic grade essential oils for skin health, which is definitely a plus.
It started one day when I was thoroughly fed up with my skin care routine and my acne: I broke out the products and started using them. And the results were wonderful! My skin cleared up at a faster rate than normal; it felt incredibly balanced and much healthier. I didn’t have extremely oily skin like I used to, and my skin wasn’t dried out either. When my diet (and therefore my acne) really got out of control, I switched to a line designed specifically for acne. It dried my skin out more than I would like, but it did really help. Of course, starting GAPS is what it took for my acne to really heal.
When I did start GAPS, I decided to move off of these store-bought products and back to 100% homemade and natural skin care. I mimic my products after these products that worked quite well for me, which I will write about more next month. Today, I am just going to share one homemade product that I use every night: my DIY Facial Serum.
The key to this DIY serum is an anti-aging blend blend of essential oils. But don’t be fooled by the name; it isn’t just for reducing the appearance of wrinkles and aging skin: this blend of the best essential oils for skin (Frankincense, Helichrysum, Lavender, Myrrh, Rose, and Sandalwood) is also amazing for healing, nourishing, smoothing, and beautifying the skin in general. It can help reduce the appearance of blemishes and promote more radiant-looking skin. All things these are things that my skin desperately needs after so many years of acne and harsh cleansers.
Best of all, it is extremely simple to make.
DIY Facial Serum
In less than a minute, I created my own DIY facial serum that I now use every single day. It uses jojoba oil, which is wonderful for skin health. It moisturizes and balances the oils on your skin, as it very closely resembles the skin’s natural sebum. It is light and absorbs quickly. I absolutely love it!
I only use about 6 drops of this serum a day, which comes out to less than $25 a month for the best anti-aging serum you will find. A pretty great deal if you have already been using a high-end anti-aging product.
But that can still be expensive for some – I know it is for me! Thankfully I am able to receive bottles of this oil for free, making my DIY Facial Serum cost less than $1 per month! If I do need to purchase is, the facial serum still only costs $17/month. Contact me to learn more about how to make this natural skin care affordable.
Ingredients:
- One 10mL bottle Anti-Aging Blend
- 2 Tablespoons jojoba oil
Instructions:
- Combine the ingredients into a 2oz glass amber container.
- Roll container between your hands to mix the oils.
- Store in a cool, dark place.
To use: After cleansing and toning, warm 4-8 drops between your fingers and massage into face, focusing on dry and damaged areas. Use alone (more drops) or follow with an additional moisturizer (fewer drops).
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You should try a blend of jojoba and hemp seed oil ( cold pressed, organic), and grape seed oil. All inexpensive. They are each individually great but together they are a powerhouse especially for your skin type. Then, try adding a few drops of your anti aging blend. Good luck!
Thanks for the tip! I try to keep my ingredients minimal, but I’ll keep that in mind!
I have GOT to get better about taking care of myself. My skin has actually done very well for not doing ANYTHING to it for the last couple years while I endure babyhood (I think diet has something to do with that), but I love the idea of taking care of my skin like this…
You’re lucky! If I’m eating well, my skin does okay – that’s a HUGE factor! But it still needs something and until recently I’ve been so bad about taking care of it.
Looks great! I love EOs but haven’t used them much in my skin care routine.
One of the best things for my skin has been helichrysum essential oil and baking soda. It makes a very gentle exfoliant. I haven’t used conventional products in many years and my skin has never felt better. Thanks for this post!
Great idea! I’ll have to try that!
I LOVE helichrysum 🙂 I have a wonderful hydrosol that is infused with it and it works wonders for my acne prone skin. I’ll have to give serum a try! Thank you 🙂
Thanks for sharing all of this. I have never had skin issues on my face and just use water and a wash rag, followed by jojoba oil. But I appreciate knowing others’ experiences.
Just started using immortelle and I like it.
That’s great!
Thanks for sharing your experiences Chloe! I am yet to find a product that works perfectly for my skin so might give this a go!
I hope it helps! It is so hard to find the right product for your skin, and it can be even harder to find the right natural product!
Hey! I just discovered your blog by poking around at pinterest. Have to say: i love it 🙂 It is exactly my theme too. Look: http://www.purehabits.de
It’s everything in german. Have to work on my english 😉
I have a question from blogger to blogger: Wich software do you use to edit your photos? I am looking for a software wich is very easy to use.
Best regards from Germany, Katharina.
Hi Katharina! I will definitely check out your blog. I am moving to Germany in a month, so I need to practice my German. 🙂 I usually just use picmonkey.com to do some basic editing on my pictures. It basic version is free.
Thanks Chloe for sharing this wonderful beauty tip. I will surely use them in my beauty salon.
LOVE DIY skin care things like this. Jojoba is one of my favorites for the face too.
Wow! That blend sounds so luxurious! All of those oils are fantastic for skin too. Love this recipe!
I need that anti aging blend 🙂
I have never mixed EO’s before I don’t know what carriers I need or what they are.
If you can shine some light for me.
I have acne scars I need to get rid of and regular scars in general.
So I bought Rosehip Oil
But I want to make a mixture of at least these 3
Rosehip oil
Carrot seed oil
Frankincense oil
But don’t know what else to add or what is even good to add out of the below ones…
Myrrh oil
Sea Buckthorn oil
Helichrysum oil
Sandalwood oil
And in every mixture I see either JoJoba or Macadamia or coconut. Is this the carrier and how much of this each time?
Thank you
My favorite carrier is fractionated coconut oil. It is very light. It absorbs easily and doesn’t stain or have any scent. For my face I use jojoba oil as the carrier oil, which is very similar to the natural oils of the skin. Basically, any “normal” oil that you can buy – almond, grapeseed, jojoba, macadamia, olive, coconut, etc. can be a carrier oil. It is just used to dilute the oil, and certain oils have properties that may be better for certain uses.
I have been using a mix of argan and evening primrose oils as a facial serum. I like the idea of including EOs, but this seems a bit stronger than I thought was recommended. I’ve always heard 1% up to maybe 5% for some oils, so it’s more like 1 drop for 1 tsp. of carrier.
If you have very sensitive skin, you may need it to be diluted further, however this is the amount of dilution used in an amazing skin care product that I was attempting to recreate. I have found this blend to be very mild on my own sensitive skin.
Hi! I read many of these DIYs and they all use glass bottles for their stuff. Can I use plastic since I have a few ready?
Glass bottles are definitely preferred, but most of these will be acceptable in plastic as well. Citrus essential oils can eat away at plastic, so you will not want to use plastic in any recipes using essential oils such as lemon, orange, etc.
Not sure of your actual recipe above. If I’m using 2TB jojoba, how many drops each of Frankincense, Heli…, Lavendar, Myrrh, Rose and Sandalwood? I may sub Rose for Geranium since so expensive.
I use a pre-made blend, so I do not know the exact ratios. 10mL of essential oil is about 160 drops.
Hi! Really great diy! Absolutely gonna try this. Anyway, can i mix any essential oil with carrier oil? Like i wanna use frankincense, clary sage, sandalwood, tea tree, lemongrass and lavender oil and mix it with jojoba oil. Is it okay to mix all of these essential oil? And how can i know how many drops to use for each essential oil?
Yes, you can mix whichever oils you want to you for your skin. How many drops you need to use will depend on how much you are making and what dilution you need. I recommend looking up dilution charts for this calculation.