Natural skin care recipes can be very simple or highly complex. They can be made from fresh fruits and vegetables, natural skin care oils and herbs, essential oils and butters, waxes and other natural ingredients. Click natural skin care recipes to share your best of best!
I started creating natural recipes in 2004 when I got involved with herbal medicine, healthy eating and practices of yoga and tai chi. For me, caring for my skin naturally was a likely next step- I didn’t want to eat chemicals and preservatives so why would I want them on my body?
Here are some questions to ask yourself before creating a recipe:
1) What is my purpose for creating this recipe? Cleansing, moisturizing, dealing with (fill in the blank), for pleasure, for the bath? This will give you a good idea of what type of product to make as well as herbs and oils to use.
2) Am I looking for something to use up now or to store for regular use? Many fun facial masks, cleansers and scrubs will be stored dry and so stay fresh. Having fun with food items will need to be used up right away.
3) What do I have on hand? It’s always great to have a range of ingredients and herbs on hand to use for multiple applications.
Staples in my natural skin care chest:
- Natural skin care oils like extra virgin olive oil, jojoba oil, castor oil, coconut oil
- Herbs including calendula flowers, marshmallow root and rose petals
- Essential oils from the more common patchouli, tea tree and lavender to exquisites including rose, sandalwood and jasmine
- Clays- I like rhassoul and green clays
- Beeswax
- Shea butter
- Hydrosols- rosewater is a staple here
- Bottles and jars can be reused!
- Labels
I buy many of my ingredients and supplies from Mountain Rose Herbs. They have outstanding quality, wide selection and valuable ethics that they stand behind.
Feel for Synastry
Once you are familiar with some herbs, oils, clays and essential oils, formulating natural skin care recipes often becomes much more easy, graceful and effective. Certain substances work better with others- just like people, they all have personalities. This is based on the knowledge of the “energy” or “personality” of the plant or substance. Everything from the Earth is alive and has its own unique spirit. Learning through reading and practice will help you to hone your formulation skills.
A word on number of ingredients: crafting natural skin care recipes is an enormously creative process. It is so easy to get really excited and want to keep adding more to a recipe! Elaborate recipes certainly have their place!
Working with groups of 3 is powerful and creates a stable synergistic effect. It is also wise to work with one to get to know that substance and then increase from there. I’ve gotten so enthused about all the miraculous plants, etc. and then overwhelmed and ended up composting a lot of stuff!
Any Cautions?
Just be sure to thoroughly investigate the substances you will use. If it’s a food, it’ll generally be safe on your skin though I am thinking of the photosensitivity of citrus fruits as an example of why to be educated. If you have questions, check in here, feel free to ask below in the comments box or check out some other knowledgeable sources.