Fish scales, beetle juice, snail ooze, and grease of sheep—sound like a recipe from a witch’s cauldron? These are just a few of the common ingredients you might find in store-bought skin care products. If this disgusts you as much as it does us, you’re probably already ransacking the Internet looking for better options. The best way to know for sure what you’re putting on your skin is to make your own products. It’s much simpler than it sounds, and with these top natural ingredients for your homemade skin care products, you can create something you actually want to slather all over your face.
Coconut Oil
We can’t all have an island getaway, but we can bring a little island luxury to our skin care routines with coconut oil. Coconut oil is perfect for skin care because it contains healthy fats as well as antioxidants such as vitamins E and A. These moisturize and protect skin as well as fight blemishes and aging. Coconut oil is also known for alleviating irritated skin and, when paired with sugar or salt, making an excellent exfoliant.
Aloe Vera
Most of us know to reach for the aloe vera after spending too much time in the sun or accidentally burning ourselves on a kettle. But what about the rest of the time? The things that make aloe vera perfect for fighting off burns—being anti-inflammatory and antibacterial—also make it perfect for fighting acne and mouth sores. It also moisturizes, cleanses, repairs, and exfoliates skin without leaving a greasy residue.
Essential Oils
There has been a lot of buzz about essential oils in recent years, but what exactly are they? Essential oils are extracts made from a variety of plants such as lavender, chamomile, sandalwood, lemon, peppermint, and eucalyptus, to name a few. Essential oils contain many health benefits. They can relieve skin rash, oily skin, or acne and moisturize dry skin, depending on the type of oil used.
One thing to keep in mind is that incorporating essential oils into skin care products isn’t as simple as with the other ingredients on our list. If you want to create your own essential oils, you’ll need to use a solvent-based extraction method such as ethanol extraction. And you’ll want to mind the potency of the oil and dilute it before applying it to your skin or adding it as an ingredient for your homemade skin care product.
Honey
Back in the old days, people didn’t just use honey to enhance their afternoon tea. They also used it to treat wounds, and to good effect in some cases. That’s because honey is a soothing, antibacterial substance chock-full of antioxidants. That makes it perfect for skin care. It also moisturizes and repairs skin, opening up pores and removing old, dead skin. You have to admit, that’s pretty sweet!
XOXO
