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You don’t even know how long overdue this post about my natural skin care routine is….

Let’s just say I established this routine last August. As in 11 months ago. Well, at least I can confidently say it works for me!

Creating a natural skin care routine is never easy. There are a LOT of factors to consider – what type of skin you have, what your needs are, where you live, the time of year, etc. Even if you are purchasing your products online or from a store, how do you know what is going to work for you? I created the below routine for myself with help and guidance from Liz Wolfe’s Purely Primal Skincare Guide. I highly recommend it if you are going to take on creating your own skin care products.

Being frugal and lazy (let’s be honest here), I stick with the basics. Sometimes, I will go long stretches of time without really washing my face. Thanks to clean eating, I can get away with this without the acne getting too bad. But if I want a clear, smooth complexion, I need to put a bit more effort in. I’ve tried a lot of things in the past from soap and shea butter (didn’t balance my skin well enough) to the Beautycounter Face Collection (made my skin look and feel amazing, but a bit over the “but I don’t want to spend money on food or gas” budget mindset I harbor at times). A simple routine of oil cleansing, toner, and facial serum helped me achieve the balance I wanted at a price I love.

Morning Skincare Routine

In the morning, I simply wipe my face lightly with a damp washcloth to remove any excess oil, eye crusties, etc. With my current routine, my skin is so balanced that it is not very oily in the morning, so I really don’t need to do much. Some days, if I am not going to wear makeup, I don’t do anything in the morning!

If I do plan on putting anything on my face, I start by misting my face with my apple cider vinegar toner. You can just let this dry, but I choose to just use a reusable cotton round (nursing pads work well for this) to spread it evenly and absorb any extra. I follow this with a couple drops of a nourishing facial serum.

From here, I am either ready for my day, I’ll apply a safe sunscreen, or I’ll do a simple makeup routine.

Nighttime Skincare Routine

Before bed I oil cleanse. I do this by massaging an oil blend customized for my skin into my face. Then I drape a hot wash cloth over my face for about 30 seconds before wiping the oil off. I clean the oil off the cloth with a small squirt of Castile soap. You can learn more about the details of oil cleansing from the Purely Primal Skincare Guide or from this post over at Mommypotamus.

Next I rub a few drops (usually more than in the morning) of the nourishing facial serum into my skin, focusing on any areas that are in particular need of healing. If I have any blemishes, I will apply an overnight spot treatment such as tea tree essential oil, hydrated bentonite clay, or a charcoal mask.

Natural Skin Care Routine Recipes

It all sounds simple, doesn’t it? Once you get your natural skin care made up and have the routine down, it really is! So how do you go about creating your own custom skin care line?

Once again, I recommend reading the Purely Primal Skincare Guide for a more detailed look at how to care for your skin and how to customize your homemade products for your unique needs. I could not have created this simple, frugal, and effective routine without it! But for a quick look at what I use on my sensitive, combination, acne-prone skin, here are the recipes I use for my natural skin care routine: oil cleanser, facial serum, and toner:

Acne-Prone Oil Cleanser

• 1/4 cup castor oil
• 3/4 cup grapeseed oil
• 20 drops tea tree oil
• 20 drops vitamin E oil

Combine all ingredients in an 8oz glass pump bottle. Use one pump of the oil to cleanse. Note that the pump will leak (even if locked) while traveling. I recommend using a small bottle, like a 2oz with a dropper for traveling.

Nourishing Facial Serum

This is the same recipe as my DIY Facial Serum. If you don’t have an anti-aging blend, or some sort of skin repairing blend, available to you, a blend of essential oils such as frankincense, helichyrsum, and lavender will also provide good results.

• One 10mL bottle Anti-Aging Blend
• 2 Tablespoons jojoba oil

Combine the ingredients into a 2oz glass amber container.

Refreshing Toner

• 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 3 Tbsp purified water
• 5 drops Roman Chamomile essential oil

Combine in a 2oz amber spray bottle. Don’t worry – the smell dissipates quickly!

All these products should be stored in a cool, dark place.

Not the DIY type?

It’s definitely not for everyone, and it can be hard to find what works well for your skin. Getting started by purchasing safer options that have been formulated for a wider range of skin types may be just what you need. Below are my 2 favorite brands for safer skincare.

Pronounce Skincare – DIY without the DIY. Created with minimal ingredients that you can not only pronounce, but you could purchase yourself to create your own facial products! The Total Face System is a great option for purchasing a very simple line for your natural skin care routine.

Beautycounter – High-end products without the junk. You can buy any of their skin care products individually, or you can buy a whole set like the Face Collection, which is what I have used before. I absolutely love the way it makes me skin look at feel. While Beautycounter is not completely natural, all the products in this collection have an EWG Skin Deep rating of 2, so I feel comfortable using and recommending this safer option for an effective skin care routine.

My DIY natural skin care routine completely replaces either of these lines for me (minus the exfoliator in the Beautycounter line. I still purchase that one on occasion). But note that both of these skin care lines use more traditional cleansers, as opposed to oil cleansing. While a detox period is possible whenever you switch to a new product, especially with cleaner and naturally active ones like these, these facial care systems will be much closer to what you are used to.

Get even more natural skincare tips and suggestions from my Skin Care Love newsletter. Receive emails twice a month about my favorite products and DIYs, as well as my story of finding what works for my skin and my lifestyle. All subscribers will also get 15% off their first Beautycounter purchase.

What does your natural skin care routine look like?

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