Facial Care Done Right - and Easy!

I talk a lot about the DIY products I use. I use several each day and have posted here about many of those. I had a friend recently who wanted to find a new regimen for her skin. She said it needed to be affordable and it needed to work. I got the idea to put my own skincare protocol into ONE post where you could find it all together. There are THREE different pieces to my skincare regimen. I use facial cleanser and toner, facial moisturizer, and a facial scrub. Below we will go through each one of these. Note along the way though, that you can customize these with different essential oils - or use no essential oils at all! If you need some other recommendations let me know. Let's get started!

Facial Cleanser and Toner: 
I have two different things that I use. One is a wipe that cleans quickly and removes makeup. I got this recipe from a friend, reworked it just a bit, and now use it daily! I make both of these cleansers into facial wipes. However, you CAN just mix up the liquids and use it without making wipes. If you do that, just store the liquid in a squirt bottle and squirt it onto clean cotton daily to use it.

Daily Facial Wipes & Makeup Remover

Try making this in a small jar – like a 4 oz mason jar or sealed plastic jar.

•   Approx. 30 cotton rounds
•  One tsp of baby shampoo OR Castile Soap
• One tsp of olive oil, OR another oil such as liquid coconut, jojoba, grapeseed, etc.
• 5 drops tea tree oil and 5 drops lavender oil
•  Filtered Water

Add the ingredients into the jar first. Then add water to fill the jar about ¾ way full. Put in your cotton rounds and press them down into this liquid. Add more cotton rounds until you’ve soaked up all the liquid. You can add more water if necessary.  Keep in a sealed container. Use to wash face, remove makeup, even eye makeup. If you’re too tired to wash your face before bed, at least give it a good wipe off with this. As an extra tip, using these essential oils makes this a very antibacterial blend. So you could also use this as a hand wipe!

Daily Facial Cleanser & Toner

• Witch Hazel
• 15 drops tea tree, 10 drops frankincense, and 10 drops lavender essential oil
• 1 tsp olive oil or liquid coconut oil (or any carrier oil you like)
• Cotton rounds

 Pour witch hazel into a seal-able container. Add in your essential oils and carrier oils. Stir this together well or just shake it up well. Put cotton rounds into this and press them down to soak up all liquid. Add more cotton rounds until you don’t have any free liquid left over. Wipe face 2- 3 times a day especially before bed and first thing in the morning. Change pillow cases every night if you have an issue with acne.

 

Facial Moisturizer

Now that we've discussed how to clean your face above, lets move onto moisturizing. I need something that I can use daily, that will provide moisture, not feel greasy or oily, and that is affordable of course. I have two recipes for that and they both start out the same - with the basic balm.

My recipe for Basic Balm is very simple. I'm posting it here again to get you started! Melt this together over low heat.

• 1/8 cup of beeswax (grated or pellets)
• 1/2 cup of solid coconut oil
• 1 tsp of olive oil, OR Vitamin E oil

To that you’ll want to add essential oils for your skin. Add these drops to EACH 4oz glass jar first. After you’ve put in your essential oils, you’ll simply pour in the melted mixture. No need to even stir it up. There are two different choices below for the types of essential oils. I use #1 below but the other one is great if you have acne prone skin.

Face Serum 1 - Add 5 drops of patchouli, 5 drops of frankincense, and 3 drops of sandalwood. This is great for the over 40 set as it has great properties to help with skin regeneration and wrinkles.

Face Serum 2 - Add 10 drops of lavender, and 5 drops of tea tree oil. Good if you need help with break-outs.

Full details about this balm, and the blog about the basic balm is located here: http://kygypsymama.blogspot.com/2014/09/customized-basic-balm.html

Facial Scrub

Next we have a recipe for a scrub that I use ONLY ONCE per week. I don't mix this up in advance, and so this recipe makes enough for ONE use.

 Note that my measurements are approximate. I don't think you need to be too specific with this product.  This one feels like microdermabrasion and I love it!

Facial Scrub Recipe

• Baking Soda - 1 tablespoon
• Honey - 1 teaspoon
• Lavender Oil - 5 drops
• Tea Tree Oil - 10 drops
• Vitamin E Oil - 1 teaspoon (+,-)

I mix the ingredients together in a small cup and added the Vitamin E oil last. This oil was mostly just to get it to the right consistency. It may take a bit more or less. You'll want this to be thick enough to pour in your hand or on a washcloth. In the shower I wet my face, poured it on a wet wash cloth and scrubbed my face, neck and chest in a circular motion. I then rinsed with warm water. If you find that the baking soda is too harsh for your face, you could use sugar instead. All of the details, plus why I used each one is on the original post. 

 To read the original blog post please check here: http://kygypsymama.blogspot.com/2014/07/new-face-scrub.html

 

So, that sums up my facial protocol. I've been using this for several months now with no tweaks or complaints. My skin never felt better! Let me know if you try any of these! If you need some substituted oil suggestions let me know as well. 

Blessings,

Kymber

Customized - Basic Balm

I've been talking for over a year now about Basic Balm. I make it almost weekly these days. The thing is there are SO many things you can do with this recipe! The possibilities are endless.

My recipe for Basic Balm is very simple. I'm posting it here again to get you started!

• 1/8 cup of beeswax (grated or pellets)
• 1/2 cup of solid coconut oil
• 1 tsp of olive oil, OR Vitamin E oil

Melt together over very low heat. Pour into glass jar. Let sit on counter until cool. Keep sealed in a cool, dark area. I mostly use 4oz baby food jars. You can always double or even triple this recipe if you need to make a larger batch. This Basic Balm (BB) can be used as is for great skin moisturizing. If you are sensitive to smells or essential oils, etc. just use this plain. BB can be used as a great balm for babies as well. Just make sure they don't have a sensitivity to coconut oil or beeswax. As with all skin lotions, etc. try a patch test to make sure that it works well for you. You can even use this as a nightly facial moisturizer. Coconut oil does not clog pores and is okay for either dry or oily skin! By the way, if you are still using Vaseline - throw it out! Use this instead!

Now, of course once you make this, you'll want to customize and use it for all sorts of things. I am providing a few ideas and recipes for customization below. But you can do all sorts of things with this BB.

IMPORTANT NOTE: THE RECIPES BELOW HAVE # OF DROPS OF EACH ESSENTIAL OIL, ETC. THESE ARE FOR EACH 4OZ JAR YOU MAKE. PUT THE ESSENTIAL OIL DROPS INTO THE JAR FIRST - BEFORE YOU EVEN MELT THE BB. THEN POUR THE MELTED BB INTO THE JAR. IT WILL MIX WITH THE ESSENTIAL OILS - NO NEED TO STIR.



Also - you can do your own research for different types of essential oils and make your own custom balms! Please ask for recommendations if you need a bit of advice. I often make these much stronger - i.e. use more essential oils. But to start with you will probably want to use a low amount. Remember less is more when it comes to essential oils.

Face Serum - Add 5 drops of patchouli, 5 drops of frankincense, and 3 drops of sandalwood. This is great for the over 40 set as it has great properties to help with skin regeneration and wrinkles.

Face Serum 2 - Add 10 drops of lavender, and 5 drops of tea tree oil. Good if you need help with break-outs.

Sleep balm - Add 10 drops of lavender, 5 drops of ylang ylang, 5 drops sweet orange, and 2 drops of marjoram. For snoring, also add 6 drops of thyme oil to this recipe.

Massage - Add 5 drops of Tea Tree,  5 drops of Ylang Ylang and 10 drops Lavender essential oils.

Decongestant Rub - 8 drops of Eucalyptus, 5 drops of Rosemary, 8 drops of Peppermint and 8 drops of Sweet Basil essential oils. (Peppermint should not be used on babies. Add lavender instead and rub on bottom of feet.) Adults and older children, use this on chest as you would any vapor rub.

Pain Rub - Add 5 drops Peppermint, 3 drops Wintergreen, 3 drops Marjoram, 3 drops Cinnamon, 3 drops of Black Pepper. Note please wash hands after use as this contains oils that can irritate eyes/nose/mouth.

Bug Repel -10 drops of citronella, 5 drops Eucalyptus, 8 drops Peppermint, 5 drops Patchouli, and 5 drops Thyme.

Daily Balm - Add 10 drops lavender, and 10 drops of tea tree to use as a daily body balm.

Psoriasis and Eczema balm - 6 drops lavender, 4 drops rose geranium, 5 drops cedarwood, 4 drops of frankincense, 5 drops tea tree.

Now if you want to add some EXTRA ingredients, you can even do more with the BB recipe. The recipes below are NOT for each jar!!! Take your melted BB and add these items directly to the entire batch. Stir/whisk well until all dissolved, and then pour into jars.

Sunblock -  Add one tablespoon of pure zinc oxide.

Diaper Cream - Add one tablespoon of pure zinc oxide, and 1/2 tablespoon of pure cornstarch.

Anti-Chafing balm - Add one tablespoon of cornstarch and one tablespoon of baking soda.

Obviously I could go on and on with this recipe! As you can see, you really can do all sorts of things with this BB recipe. If you have a favorite oil blend, just add it to the BB and customize it your own way!

Be sure and share with me how YOU use the BB recipe to customize!

~Kymber