DIY Skincare Tips
If you follow fashion, instagrammers or even just watch TV it’s easy to see why we get seduced by synthetic concoctions promising eternal youth, the reversal or time or that you too can look like an airbrushed 18 year old...but you can cook up your own skincare products which deliver on their promises - beautiful age appropriate skin, no poisons.
Here are some store cupboard essentials you can bring into your skincare regime:
Rolled oats – Oats have great anti-inflammatory properties. Soothe and gently exfoliate dry or inflamed skin with an oat facemask: mix with a little filtered water and cook gently for a few minutes (you’re not aiming for porridge here, just softening the oats), allow to cool completely, apply to skin with fingertips and enjoy a good book or a soak in the bath. Rinse off with warm water.
Apple Cider Vinegar – if you suffer from an itchy scalp, apple cider vinegar has natural anti-fungal properties which may help to balance the ph level and prevent dandruff. You can also get shampoo bars which include it as an ingredients such as Anam Cara’s Shampoo bars or ones formulated for itchy, dandruff prone heads from Zero Waste Path
Raw Honey – has natural antibacterial and properties so can be used to help reduce the inflammation and angry nature of acne. You do need all-natural, raw, unprocessed, and unheated honey with no added ingredients, ideally from organic hives – not the processed stuff you find in the supermarket! You also need to ensure you wash it off thoroughly.
Cucumber - Those 1950’s cucumber slices on the eyes really do work to add sparkle and refresh the surrounding skin with Vitamin C and folic acid which stimulates antioxidant activity.
Aloe Vera – great anti-inflammatory and soothing properties for irritated, itchy or sun burnt skin. Use a potato peeler to remove the outside layer of the leaf and reveal the gel inside.
Turmeric – another great anti-inflammatory you can use on the inside and outside! Drink it in a turmeric chai tea and/or use as a mask mixed with raw honey to calm skin redness and irritation
Coffee grounds – make a great body or facial scrub with the added benefit that you get to drink coffee and can use the used grounds. Winner in my book! Grab a tried and tested coffee body scrub recipe here
Natural yogurt – lactic acid is found in lots of anti-ageing lotions and potions to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles – use it straight and you miss out the nasties and the price tag. Use 100% natural, unsweetened yogurt – homemade even better J
Water – or Aqua as the posh products like to list it. This one is THE BEST skincare product there is and it does its best work from the inside. Drink it from the tap, preferably filtered – aim for 8 glasses a day. It helps clear troubled skin, reduces the prevalence of fine lines and wrinkles, makes skin look plump and fresh and is bloody good for the rest of your body too.
Less stress DIY skincare is a lovely mindful way to look after yourself, reduces stress and the toxic load on your body. Try a little TLC for yourself and give yourself a break. Go on, you’re worth it.
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