Clean Glow: Recipes for Homemade Beauty Products

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Clean, non-toxic skin and body care is becoming an increasingly popular…and pricey…trend. However, homemade beauty products are not only a lot more affordable, many are actually a lot easier to make than you would imagine.

Why You May Want to Consider Homemade Beauty Products

Here’s the deal, your skin is basically a sponge. Not only is it the largest organ of your body, it is porous. Just like a sponge, your skin absorbs what you slather on. This can be a good thing OR a very bad thing—depending of course on what products you use.

Unfortunately many beauty products are downright toxic. It is particularly disturbing that full disclosure of beauty and skin care ingredients is not required by law in the United States.  It is even more unsettling to know that the European Union has banned more than 1,000 ingredients from use in cosmetics and that the FDA has only banned a handful.

Just because a skin care product is packaged up all pretty does does not mean it is safe to use. The truth is, the FDA does very little to regulate the ingredients safety of skin care products.

At least if you use homemade beauty products you can see exactly what you are putting in them. To me, that’s the main reason I’m a big fan of DIY clean beauty products.

Reality Check

Now, don’t get me wrong, homemade beauty products are not the only thing I use! For example, if you’ve heard the rage over face oils then you may be inclined to think you could concoct your own at home. But the reality is, when it comes to something like face oil you would have to spend an enormous amount of money to buy all of the individual special oils used to make some of these “Super Oil” skin concoctions.

For example, I swear by Kypris 1,000 Roses beauty oil, which not only includes rose oil but also vitamin C ester (this type of vitamin C is absorbed into the skin significantly better than conventional vitamin C). Kypris 1000 Roses also contains antioxidant-rich pomegranate seed and cranberry seed extract, vitamin-rich sea buckthorn berry and a number of other pricey and hard-to-track-down ingredients. The point is, there is no way I am going to try and make my own 1,000 Roses beauty oil in my kitchen sink.

However, there are other products that most definitely lend themselves towards going the home-spun route…

Affordable and Easy-to-Make Recipes for Homemade Beauty Products

One of my favorite online destinations for homemade beauty products is Homemade For Elle, a website created by a mom named Andrea as a way to document how she goes about reducing her family’s exposure to toxic chemicals. Her site is filled to the brim with helpful tips and tidbits, and I am absolutely crazy about her collection of recipes for homemade beauty products.

My top four favorite homemade beauty products featured on Homemade for Elle include:

1. DIY Bath Bombs.  Made with Epsom salt, lavender and chamomile, these bath bombs are the best way to unwind after the end of a long day. And if you have little kids who fuss about taking their bath, a bath bomb is sure to lure them into the tub (wink.)

2. Homemade Lip Scrub.  I’ve noticed as I’ve gotten older that if I don’t exfoliate my lips at least once a week they just aren’t smooth. This lip scrub gently, but effectively works in minutes.

3. Shea Body Butter. I haven’t used a conventional body moisturizer ever since I was diagnosed with MS in 1998 (you can read my story HERE) and have used primarily extra virgin olive oil or extra virgin coconut oil as a moisturizer instead. I was always thrilled with my results….until I tried shea butter. Without a doubt, one of my favorite homemade beauty products is Homemade for Elle’s decadent Shea Body Butter recipe. It will transform your skin.

4. Facial Toner with Rosemary. This super-easy-to-make toner is one you’ll definitely want to try. The two active ingredients are rosemary and apple cider vinegar (Note: for optimal results be sure to use REAL fermented apple cider vinegar, such as Bragg’s.) The rosemary is rich in antioxidants and the apple cider vinegar is a rich source of alpha hydroxy acids, which are incredibly effective at exfoliating dead skin cells.  Believe it or not, apple cider vinegar can help lighten age spots and it is much safer than the ubiquitous skin-lightening ingredient, hydroquinone.

A Clean Cuisine Face Mask/ Scrub

And last but not least, here’s a recipe for one of my favorite homemade beauty products, a Hemp, Honey and Matcha Green Tea Face Mask/ Scrub. This concoction seriously does wonders for moisturizing, exfoliating and infusing your skin with serious antioxidants.

While raw honey will work fine for this recipe, if you want serious therapeutic benefits then you’ll definitely want to use Manuka Honey. Now, this stuff isn’t exactly super cheap, but it has a broad spectrum of external and internal healing properties (and yes, you can definitely eat it!) that go way beyond regular raw honey. If you want to save money then you’ll definitely want to order Manuka Honey from a discount website such as VitaCost.

Hemp, Honey and Matcha Green Tea Face Mask / Scrub

• Author: Ivy Larson

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Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon manuka honey (or raw honey)
• 3 tablespoons hemp seeds
• 2 tablespoons matcha green tea powder

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Instructions

1. Put all of the ingredients in a mini food processor and process until well-combined. If mixture is too thick, add 1 teaspoon of water.
2. To use: Cleanse your face and gently pat dry. Apply the mixture all over your face and then use small, circular motions with your fingertips to exfoliate and scrub your face. Do not wash the scrub off. Leave the scrub on for 10 to 15 minutes as a mask. Rinse thoroughly and pat dry.

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Notes

Mixture will keep in a mason jar for up to a week if stored in the refrigerator.

Do You Use Natural Beauty Products?

If So, Please Share in the Comment Section Below. I’d Love to Learn What You Use!

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