(ARA) – Setting aside a day of beauty for yourself before or during the busy holiday season could be your key to not only looking good, but keeping yourself safe and healthy for the rest of the year. Think of cooler weather as the essential season for good skin care. Go about it naturally by crafting your own toxic-free skin care products that feature the benefits of pure, plant-derived essential oils.
Step 1: Start your new yearly routine by examining and evaluating your skin. Everyone should periodically perform a thorough skin examination. First, get naked, and then use a handheld mirror in a well-lit room to look over your entire epidermis. Map out the location, size, color and form of any mole, scar, birthmark or discoloration. Make a note of any troubling changes that occur in any of these permanent skin features, such as blemishes, moles or lesions that are or become persistently itchy, bleeding, waxy, translucent, and hard or clustered together. Pay special attention to any blemish that increases in size and has an irregular edge. Make an appointment with your doctor or dermatologist if you note anything out of the ordinary.
Step 2: Adjust your skin care routine. Now is the time to help your skin recover from summer sun and wind as well as get yourself ready to look your best for the parties, family, friends (and photos) of the holiday season. To that end, the most effective approach isn’t premium cosmetics – simply get adequate rest, good nutrition and hydration. Here are some lifestyle tips to promote great skin:
* Minimize caffeine.
* Get at least eight hours of sleep every night.
* Eat right – you already know what to avoid.
* Eat whole, fresh fruits and colorful vegetables. Beta carotene-rich carrots, pumpkin and sweet potatoes can even skin color and help prolong your summer glow.
* Drink pure, clean water instead of coffee, soda or sweetened juices.
* Get exercise and fresh air – 20 minutes every day is adequate and easy.
Expensive cleansers are mostly water with a small percentage of “active ingredients” thrown in, while high-end lotions and creams are mostly water emulsified with a bit of oil. Both of these types of formulations are inherently unstable and must be preserved and stabilized with a whole host of potentially toxic and irritating ingredients that have everything to do with maintaining the product on the store shelf and nothing to do with maintaining your healthy skin. Why pay for what you don’t need or want?
Step 3: Create your own safe and natural skin care products. What’s not in your skin care products is perhaps more important than what is in your skin care products. You can control what goes on your body by making and using a few essential skin care products yourself. Aromatherapy expert Tom Havran offers cleanser, moisturizer, and hydrating mist recipes that call for lavender and geranium essential oils which are toning, calming and adaptable to all skin types.
Cleanser. A gentle, natural liquid soap created when an alkaline mineral salt is combined with a natural vegetable oil such as sweet almond is the cleanest clean you can use. Soap can be drying for sensitive individuals, so don’t overdo it and make sure you follow up with a moisturizer.
Ingredients:
1 cup unscented liquid vegetable oil based soap
2 tablespoons water or unflavored green tea
1/4 teaspoon lavender essential oil
1/4 teaspoon geranium essential oil
Directions:
Combine soap, water (or tea) and essential oils in a small bottle. Apply about 1 tablespoon to a soft, wet washcloth and gently scrub damp skin in a circular buffing motion (not too long or with too much force). Rinse with warm water and follow with moisturizer below.
Moisturizer. We need a moisturizer to re-fat the skin after cleansing. Washing with soap lifts away dirt, make-up and dead skin and keeps skin bright and pores clear, but it also strips our skin of its natural, protective (and wrinkle-fighting) oil known as sebum. A light-bodied and absorbent, non-clogging oil such as grapeseed or jojoba applied to still-damp skin after rinsing away your liquid soap-based cleanser will perform the same function as costly lotions and creams – but at a fraction of the price.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup grapeseed oil
1/2 cup jojoba oil
1/4 teaspoon lavender essential oil
1/4 teaspoon geranium essential oil
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a small squeeze bottle, apply a teaspoon to the palm of hand, rub hands together and smooth over damp, freshly cleansed skin, pat dry any excess water or oil.
Toning and hydrating mist. As the day goes on, you’ll inevitably lose that fresh glow of the morning. Some areas of your skin might become increasingly dry while others might be oily. A simple mixture of pure water and toning lavender and geranium essential oils can help diminish an oily appearance while moistening dry areas.
Ingredients:
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon lavender essential oil
1/4 teaspoon geranium essential oil
Small spray mister bottle
Directions: Combine water and essential oils in a bottle. Shake vigorously and apply two to three spritzes of the mist to skin. Smooth over surface if needed.
For more information and valuable skin care tips, visit www.auracacia.com.
