Thursday, January 16, 2014

How to make {almost} everything - my facial routine

_MG_5448-001

This post is starting a series called ‘how to make almost everything’ in which I will share with you my tried and true recipes for all of the things I use on a daily basis.  Everything from face wash to cough syrup to dog biscuits.

My facial routine could also be named “I put food on my face” because that’s what I do.  My scrub, toner, face mask, cleanser, and face wash.  All food items.  First off… let me show you my skin.  I decided to take pictures in all kinds of light because skin looks different in different lightings.  So please excuse the sudden overload of my face:

IMG_8196IMG_8191IMG_8194IMG_8192

Ok, that’s enough…. but there you have it.

I am 35 years old and I don’t ever use soap or concealer/foundation on my face.  It’s not perfect skin.  And by ‘not perfect’ I mean ‘I have pores’.  But it is good, even, blemish-free skin and I have no issues with buildup, breakouts or blackheads.

Why do I chose to put food on my face?

Well, that starts with a simple anatomy lesson.  My skin is my biggest intake organ.  It brings in quite a bit of stuff into my body via my environment.  So, frankly, I chose not to add to that with chemicals in my cosmetics or lotions.  But I know NOTHING about cosmetics.  I just recently entered into a realm of “all things not eye liner” as eye liner had been the only cosmetic I used in the first 30 years of my life.  I didn’t even use a ‘facewash’.  Just soap.

Usually made from oatmeal and goats milk.

See?  Food.

Food, I know well.  I have been interested in nutrition since middle school and have marinated in every superfood factoid and diet fad that comes along (and how to avoid all of that).  I know how to read labels and what feels good inside my body… so I decided to use that same stuff on the outside.  Now-a-days it doesn’t take long to research ‘homemade’ beauty products. Pinterest alone had many suggestions on how to wash my face with food.  So I printed out a few recipes I liked, copied a few more from books I found in the library and started some experimentation.  This is the routine I came up with and have been using for the past year.  I am very happy with it.  When I go to bed at night, my face feels fantastic and I can rub my eyes without worrying about looking like a clown when I wake up.

The routine:

It all starts with a little concoction:  2 Tbs baking soda and a little bit of warm water to make a paste.  I gently rub this onto my face and wash it off by splashing warm water over my face.  Then I pat dry.

After this, I wash my face with coconut oil.  I just put a teaspoon or so size dollop in my hand, mix it around in my fingers until it’s liquid (because coconut oil is mostly solid at room temp) and rub it gently all over my face.  Even my eye area gets this treatment.  After I do this, I put a warm washcloth on my face for about 10 seconds, just letting it sit.  Then I gently rub it all off.

If I have a particularly grimy day… like I worked in the sun for a long time or cleaned out the chicken coop, then I use a baking soda mask:  2 Tbs lemon juice and enough baking soda to make a paste.  I spread it on my face and leave it for about 30 minutes.  (I usually take this time to take a bath, read a book, or watch an episode of some twaddle - like “How I Met Your Mother”.)  You can do this as many times per week as your face enjoys.  I find that if I do it every day, it dries my face, so I have settled to about 3 times per week max.  If you have oily skin, try it with honey or water instead of lemon juice.  I find that without the acid to help balance the alkaline of the baking soda, I get this mild burning sensation for about an hour after my mask.  So I like the mix of lemon and soda for myself.

If I don’t feel I have time to do a mask, I dab a cotton ball with 1/2 and 1/2 apple cider vinegar and water and wipe that all over my face.  It will work in a pinch to dull down the shine and has the added quality of being an excellent ‘toner’.

Then, my face feels amazing!  Like seriously.  I love this routine.  It doesn’t dry anything, make anything itch, or make me feel as though my skin is too tight.  It just cleanses beautifully.

Look for my other posts soon on 'how to make {almost} everything'!

SHARE:

No comments

Blogger Template Created by pipdig