With so many beauty products on the market, we are lead to believe that we need to use a lot of different things to care for our skin.  There is a much simpler cost efficient way to care for our skin that is also much healthier for our bodies.  Our skin is our largest organ and also called our “third kidney”.  I’ve mentionned before the importance of eliminating toxic chemical ingredients from all of our beauty products, and also everything that we can consciously think of by educating ourselves on ingredients and how products are created.  This is the best way that we can take control of our health and beauty.

During my minimalist journey I’ve played around with ingredients that you usually find in your household that can be whipped up, mixed used in synergistic ways to create a balanced skin care routine.  I’ve also tried many different natural oils and butters to see what I liked and disliked.  Here are a few suggestions on things to try for a beautiful radiant complexion in a very cost and environmental friendly way.

1. Makeup Remover

Jojoba oil is a wonderful makeup remover, especially eye makeup.  It is very close to our skin’s natural sebum, and absorbs extremely quickly without the greasy feeling.  I’m not crazy about using oil cleansing as a primary facial cleanser, and also believe it is better not to use makeup to hide behind yet to enhance our natural beauty.  If you wear less makeup, you’ll have less to remove, and will then be more gentle with your skin on a daily basis.  If possible allow your skin to breath by being makeup free whenever you can.  That way you can skip this step as much as possible.

Update:  If you are acne prone and interested in oil cleansing or using oils to moisturize your skin, then read my latest oil cleansing regimen and also learn more about high linoleic oils. This is more recent information that has been extremely helpful to me and a lot of my readers.

2. Cleanse

Oh how I love honey!  Raw honey is the perfect facial cleanser!  Surprisingly it is not sticky to use while cleansing the skin and rinses off with ease.

I’ve noticed my skin become brighter with a glow.  Honey has a slow release of hydrogen peroxide when it comes in contact with water and the natural pH of skin and therefore is antibacterial.  It also has amino acids which are moisturizing, and antioxidants that protect the skin from free radical damage.  Raw honey has gluconic acid, a mild alpha hydroxy acid responsible for honey’s acidity.

Cleansing with honey alone does not remove makeup, yet it does make a wonderful overnight spot treatment for blemishes.  Just dab a tiny bit on the blemish and you will see great improvement in one or two days.  Mix a drop of honey with your evening moisturizer for extremely soft skin.   Raw honey is more nutritious to the skin still containing all of its healing properties that have not been pasteurized or eliminated with high heat temperatures.

3. Tone

This is one step that I skipped for about a year and a half once I decided to simplify my beauty routine.  Well I’m back to it and for good reason.  Using a toner really does benefit the skin and is also so refreshing.

My DIY Soothing Antioxidant Toner is a wonderful toner, yet sometimes I like things even more basic.  Green tea and apple cider vinegar are the main components of my toner recipe, yet apple cider vinegar and aloe vera juice are also perfect.  The pH of healthy skin ranges between a 4 and 6.5.  Apple cider vinegar has an ideal acidity pH level of 5-7 as well as malic acid which clears the skin of blemishes and scars, minimizes pores, and brightens the complexion.  Aloe vera has an average pH of 3.5 with vitamin B12, vitamin C, amino acids, minerals, and salicylic acid.  An imbalanced pH value of skin is one of the major cause for acne and other skin ailments.

For my extremely simple toner I use a 4:1 ratio of aloe vera juice to apple cider vinegar.  It is very important to always dilute apple cider vinegar.  Aloe vera is the perfect pH balancer and would make a good toner on its own as well.

4. Moisturize

I’ve tried many different natural oils and butters to moisturize my skin and have come across a few that I truly love.  Tamanu oil was my very first love and I also use it in my DIY Healing Face Body & Hair Oil which I also include my other favorites coconut oil and wheat germ oil.  Tamanu oil is extremely healing because it is antimicrobial, antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory properties, and possesses many antioxidants.  It completely regenerates new healthy skin which is why it is so valuable to good skin care.  To read more on tamanu oil go here.

My newest favorite is camellia oil.  Camellia oil is extremely close to our natural skin sebum therefore absorbs quickly into the skin.  It is one of the highest oils in oleic acid and is oxidation resistant .  I am looking forward to creating some new oil and butter mixes with camellia oil.

Skin care doesn’t have to be expensive to be affective.  My skin now is the best that it has ever been by using simple natural products.  Simple green beauty really is the best beauty!

(Image by D Sharon Pruitt)

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