Make your own (mostly) organic face wash
Our skin is our largest organ and will absorb what we put onto it, straight into our blood stream. Think how nicotine patches work!
When you start really looking at all the products we use and what’s in them, it will freak you out! This short video explains it really well for those of us without a science degree. You can also check how toxic your cosmetics are at Skin Deep Cosmetic Database.
I have been using natural skin care for a few years now. In a perfect world, I would love to be able to afford organic products, for the whole family, all of the time. But, seeing as it’s not a perfect world, I have to be content with finding ways to avoid the toxic chemicals that are within my budget.
One option I am investigating more and more is making my own products at home. I like to keep it simple though, as I don’t want to spend hours tracking down unusual ingredients and fiddling around like a mad scientist!
One thing I have been able to make at home, really easily, is face wash. In fact it’s embarrassingly easy. It’s also very economical – which is handy with kids who like to splash stuff around!
I start with Dr Bronners Unscented Baby Castile Soap and then add essential oils. I decant it into smaller bottles, then I add essential oils, shake well and label. You only need to use five drops of the mix to wash your face – told you it was economical!
DIY Acne Face Wash
For the teenagers, who need a good face wash for acne, I use:
100ml Dr Bronners Pure Castile Soap
10 drops of tea-tree oil
10 drops of eucalyptus oil
10 drops of manuka oil*
10 drops of lavender oil
*Manuka oil is an essential oil I picked up in New Zealand. It is the pure essential oil from the manuka tree (yep, same one as the honey!) It is absolutely incredible – I find it to be much more powerful than tea tree or eucalyptus. If you can’t source it, then just leave it out.
I usually just play around with whatever essential oils I have on hand, so experiment yourself! You can also add things like some herb-infused water, jojoba oil and rose-hip oil.
That’s it. Pretty easy, right?
If you are interested in learning more about making products yourself, take a look at these awesome DIY beauty recipes. They also have all the ingredients you need as well!
Do you DIY?
You might also like to read:
The Best Natural Australian Skincare Brands
How to make your own natural handwash
thanks for the recipie as I’m running out of facewash FAST! I will need to try to see if i can get something similar to the Castile baby soap, I’ve never seen that brand for sale here before
you can get it online if you have no luck ! 🙂
I love the idea of just adding on to Dr. Bronner’s, as that is my essential washing item. I travel full-time and convenience usually overcomes beauty and sense. I visited my esthetician yesterday that I’ve been seeing for about 6 years and she confirmed that my skin has never been as oily or as broken out as it was yesterday (and had been for a little over a month). I told her that I pretty much only use Dr. Bronner’s and she informed me that although it is a great cleaner since it strips oils, it also is doing damage to your skin by stripping those oils. Once the oil has been stripped, your skin thinks it needs to start purging oil so you come out with more oil than you started with.
So I’m not sure if adding more oils to Dr. Bronner’s will counteract the natural oil stripping that Dr. B’s does but I thought I would offer my insight.
thanks Emily, my son has been using it for a while now and it has improved his skin, so I guess you just have to see what works for you, hey?
Hi this looks fabo! I’m just wondering, I have a 2 & 1 yr old and I know some essential oils aren’t suitable for littlies…would you happen to know if this would be too harsh or should I perhaps change the quantities/oils? Thanks heaps 🙂
You would have to check up on that one as I am not sure 🙂
A few drops of lavender or mandarin oil would be great for littlies. Both are suitable from newborn age and are fine even to be dabbed on neat, so a few drops would be no harm to them at all.
I will have to find some mandarin oil – I have never used it!
I’ve been making my own soap/body wash/shampoo with soap nuts and it’s brilliant! The soapnuts have cleaned everything in my house that needs cleaning from people to bathrooms to dishes to clothes.
You started using soapnuts not long ago (and inspired me to finally take the plunge), so have you tried using them to clean things other than clothing?
HI Donna, No I haven’t gotten around to making the liquid yet… must do so!
Great idea Sonia. I’ve just ordered some Castile soap only thinking I would use it for hand wash but now will try it as a body wash as well.
It can be a little drying if you have sensitive skin, but give it a go!
Hey Sonia, I’ve had Dr Bronner on my ‘to-do’ list for a while now. It just got bumped to the top, espeically that unscented castile soap. I’ll make sure these are on the shop in the next couple of weeks. Castile soap is an oil based liquid soap. The solid bars from the Olive Oil Skin Care Co are divine too, and a little cheaper bought in packs of 3. I’ll keep an eye out for manuka oil too, it’s so incredibly healing.
I personally find cake soap drying on my skin and always go for oil based liquids for myself. I haven’t thought of using it for my face though, I’ll give it a test run one morning. Great tip!
We pretty much use Castile for all sorts of things – bubble bath, handwash, bodywash ! I will look out for the packs of three soap.
I can never work out why there’s so much dedicated ‘bubble bath’ available. That’s what liquid body wash is for !! A couple of drops of essential oil if you like and you’re good to go. Now to find time to actually take a soak in the bath …………
This sounds lovely. There are so many beautiful smelling essential oils and being able to tailor them to different needs is always a bonus.
I wonder, for the Natural new Age Dad’s skin could you add vitamin e or jojoba oil?
oh that is a brilliant idea! I am still experimenting with making my own stuff!