There are a number of ways to care for your skin with homemade ingredients. Homemade skin care tends to be less expensive than skin care products bought in the store, and it also allows you greater control over the ingredients in your skin care products. This can be a big advantage for people who often experience allergic reactions. A number of things you already have around the house can be used for skin and hair care at home, and you can order additional specialty ingredients through companies which specialize in raw ingredients for skin care.
A number of things are used in skin care, including soaps, exfoliants, moisturizers, and masks. You can make high-quality soaps for skin care at home using commercially-produced soap bases, or you can make your own soap, if you are feeling ambitious. Raw castile soap is a great choice for homemade skin care, and it is available in block and liquid form. You can also find plain gel soaps and other forms of soap through skin care catalogs. To make specialty soaps at home, add essential oils, dried flowers, herbs, or even spices to create things like rose soap, chocolate soap, lavender soap, or orange soap. For an exfoliating soap for the body, melt basic castile soap bars and stir in oatmeal, sugar, coffee, or finely-ground nutshells before pouring the soap into molds and allowing it to set.
Exfoliants are designed to remove dead skin, promoting the growth of new skin and keeping the skin smooth. To make exfoliants, all you need is an exfoliant, a carrier oil like grapeseed oil, and scents, if desired. For the delicate skin on the face and hands, exfoliants like sugar, fruit pulps, ground nutshells, oatmeal, and bamboo fiber can be used, while skin elsewhere on the body can be exfoliated with ground pumice, salt, coffee, or sand. Baking soda also happens to make a great exfoliant, and it has the added benefit of soothing irritated skin. Carrier oils are available from cosmetic suppliers, and you can also use plain olive, grapeseed, or nut oils from the grocery store. Some additional ingredients to exfoliants can include things like spices, herbs, dried flowers, and essential oils which can nourish the skin or promote a particular state of mind.
Moisturizers are products which are intended to condition the skin. Regular use of a moisturizer can prevent cracked, dry skin, and intensive moisturizing can help to treat rough, scaly skin like that found on the knees and oils. One of the best moisturizers is plain oil, which can be rubbed into the skin after a shower. Unscented oils like grapeseed work very well for this, and essential oils can be added to make a scented body oil. You can also purchase refined and solidified nut oils, cacao butter, and so forth from cosmetics companies, melting them down and blending them with grapeseed oil to make a body butter for homemade skin care.
Masks serve a number of functions, depending on the ingredients involved, and they are a key component of homemade skin care. A mask can firm the skin, moisturize, ease irritated skin, or draw out the excess oil which can contribute to the formation of acne. Many masks are based in clays, and cosmetic clays such as French green and Chinese white can be purchased through cosmetics companies. You can also make firming and drying masks with ingredients like fruit pulp, or soothing masks with cooked pureed oatmeal. Your kitchen has a lot of handy ingredients: pureed banana, avocado, yogurt, powdered seaweed, and honey can all be used in face masks, though not together.
Homemade skin care can also be supported with the use of therapeutic baths. If you have irritated skin, add powdered milks, cosmetic clays, baking soda, or powdered oatmeal to your bath water. Volcanic ash, pumice, ground and dried seaweed, and essential oils can also be added to bath water for skin benefits. To prevent clumping in the tub, mix your bath additives in a large bowl with some warm water, and pour the bowl into the tub as it fills.