Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Make Face Wash Without Leaving Your Home

I finally finished our bottle of face wash a couple of weeks ago. My old face wash had about forty ingredients, including parabens in a couple of different forms. I've always been prone to pimples and used a clear, anti-acne gel.

It was a moment to try out some alternatives. So for the past couple of weeks, I've been trying cucumber blended with the liquid over from making yoghurt (the whey). A website suggested cucumber blended with milk-- the only reason I didn't do this was because the whey lasts longer and is cheaper and I'm pretty protective of our fancy milk. I put it in the bottle, keep it in the fridge and use it as I would regular facewash.

It's easy. It's very cooling, so maybe it's better to use this ice-cold facewash during summer rather than winter. My skin feels great. I'm riding around 10 miles/day, in summer, and I don't seem to be getting pimples.

Depending on the time of year, there may be extra cucumbers hanging around that are no longer in their prime.  I tried this recipe largely because it was free this time around. I love that if the ingredients are already in the house, you don't need an extra bottle or an extra shopping trip. The chances are high that you already have the ingredients for at least one of the natural facial cleanser recipes out there.

The second alternative facewash I've tried is 1 part extra virgin olive oil, three parts castor oil (You can change the proportion towards olive oil if you have more dry skin). It also seems great, but I've only tried it a few times so far. You need more time to be able to rinse well and do the whole relaxation thing. I could see this combination removing any need for a moisturizer.

I'm going to be trying out a variety of different natural face washes over the next several months. In general, I'd like them to be cheaper and healthier than commercially made stuff. I'm not sure of the impact of using commercial soaps over a lifetime. There have been studies that have found parabens to mimic estrogen and to be present (in small amounts) in breast cancer tumours. Which is not something I spend a lot of time worrying about. I just don't like things that have a ton of ingredients that I know nothing about.

Apart from the fact both face washes actually seem to work, I find it liberating that there are all these household products-- cucumber, whey, olive oil, oats, plain salt, baking soda, egg and so on-- that you can use with very similar result to using something made by professional skin care people in a factory or lab. Does that mean we're all professionals on our own skin?

4 comments:

Bridggymama said...

I love the oil cleanser method. I don't take as long as i COULD TO MAKE it a relaxation thing, but it's lovely. also crunchy betty is the best site EVER for putting food on your face, in your hair etc, she is funny to boot. http://crunchybetty.com/nutmeg-microdermabrasion-and-exfoliator just saying. I'm about ot go put nutmeg and milk on my face ;)

Concrete Gardener said...

Very cool. I'm going to try the nutmeg =). I'm liking the oil cleansing more and more every day as my skin gets used to it. I really like that I won't have to use moisturizer any more, also...

Concrete Gardener said...

I REALLY liked the nutmeg milk, Bridget. My skin felt so clean and shiny! How did it go for you?

Bridggymama said...

sorry forgot to check back in. the nutmeg went like this: oh the baby is sleeping and luke is busy i can FINALLY try that nutmeg thing. who needs to really measure the nutmeg....I'm grating it fresh...that's about the right amount of milk....then off to the bathroom. hmmm I guess i should of measured the nutmeg...this is a little runny, oh well I'll get a little messy but it's for BEAUTY. scrub scrub...annnnnnd that's the baby crying...loudly. and Luke is busy with a school assignment....rinse rinse rinse run to baby. h ah aha. HOWEVER. I will say I felt like the parts of my face that the nutmeg milk touched felt smoother, so I am anxious to try it again...maybe when Luke is holding eliot ;)