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Budget Squeeze: Making Your Own Face Products

Since living on a "sustainable community" in Oregon I have had a very strict rule on body products and their usual "fillers" and preservatives; I use organic and natural products, from toothpaste to shampoo, and I don't budge on it. Thankfully now those products easier to find and even makeup can be found au-naturale, but it wasn't always so. Even still, those products are usually more expensive than non-natural products depending on brand name, and now is the time to consider shrinking your budget while you can. A great way to do this is to make your own face scrub and toner.

I had this idea last February and hosted a "Girls Night" where we actually made it together, making it even more fun, and I still have "leftovers!" I'm going to break this Idea into two posts, so first, while that Valentines bouquet is just starting to wither, let's make the toner.

I got this recipe from The Woman's Book of Healing Herbs (Harrar and O'Donnell) and adore it. Herbalist Shatoiya de la Tour from Dry Creek Herb Farm is quoted as saying "Whenever I meet an older woman with beautiful skin, I ask her what she uses... [and most] often the answer is simply apple-cider vinegar."

I've now been using this toner for a year and my skin feels tighter and my small monthly acne breakout has completely disappeared!

INGREDIENTS FOR FACIAL TONER:
NOW:
8oz Dried or 16 oz Fresh Herbs and Flowers
16oz Apple Cider Vinegar
16 oz jar with tight lid

LATER:
Distilled Filtered Water
Witch Hazel
12 oz Plastic Cosmetics Bottles

This is a two-part recipe where the toner "steeps" for 3 to 6 weeks, so combine all of the "NOW" list into one jar, close tightly, date it, and set in a dark cabinet that you come to often so you can shake it occasionally.

Tips for Part 1:
  • Fresh roses are only good if they smell - some factory (more inexpensive) flowers simply don't smell. Roses are the best.
  • Flowers and Herbs great for the face: Comfrey (tightening and cleansing), Calendula (soothing and antibacterial), Chamomile (repairing), Lavender (the original shampoo, from Latin lavre meaning to wash), Rosemary (tightening), but there are plenty more.
  • Label the ingredients on the bottle
  • Make the toner on a new moon and let steep until next new moon for best intentions
  • Take dried or fresh herbs from your own garden, or as mentioned, use some of the flower petals from your bouquets.
  • You can open up tea bags such as Green Tea and Chamomile for herbs.
After the Toner has steeped for a moon cycle (-ish), pour the bottle through a strainer to remove the herbs and flowers. Set this aside as your "mother batch," it will last up to 2-2 years. The mother batch might develop what's called a "mother layer" on the vinegar that is a coating that can be removed but doesn't affect the quality of the toner.

Then dilute:
1 tsp Witch Hazel
1/4 cup of Mother Batch Vinegar
2 cups Distilled Filtered Water

Apply after washing with a cotton ball or pad or store in misting bottle for spritzing.
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