Whip Up A Little Something Wednesday: Homemade Face Soap and Face Oil
Each morning and night for a little more than a month now I’ve been using a face soap and face oil that I made myself. Neither of them are really anything fancy, and the soap is not entirely made from scratch, but they work well and smell nice.
The face soap (which doubles as hand soap in our bathroom) is a carefully calculated mixture of Dr. Bronner’s liquid baby soap, rose water, lavender, and aspirin. It’s simple and fun to make and I can add or remove any ingredient that I wish to make a unique concoction. I made some yesterday and it took about 1/2 an hour, including the time to make the rose water. So, here’s how to do it:
things you’ll need:
- a liquid measuring cup
- a teaspoon
- a teapot or pan in which to boil water
- a glass jar that will hold 1+ cups of HOT water
- a lidded container that will hold 3+ cups of liquid (A wide mouth, reusable water bottle works well. You know, the kind you have laying around but are afraid to use anymore because of BPA.)
- a reusable tea bag or a tea ball that will hold 2 tsp. of dried herbs
- a mortar and pestle (or a plate/bowl and a spoon)
- a bottle with a pump top for your finished product
ingredients:
- 2 tsp. dried roses (in a reusable tea bag or ball for steeping)
- 2 C. boiling water
- 1 C. liquid castile soap
- 2 aspirin, crushed (for pimples! ack!)
- 5-10 drops lavender essential oil
process:
Put tea bag/ball with dried rose in a large jar (mason jar works) and pour 2 C. boiling water over the top (I use my teapot to boil the water). This is easier if your rose water is warm but not hot, so sit that aside and allow it to steep until just warm while you do the rest. Crush two aspirin by whatever means available to you (I use a mortar and pestle, but I’m pretty sure you could do it on a plate with the back of a spoon). Put 1 C. of soap, the crushed aspirin, and the lavender oil into a lidded container that will hold 3 C. of liquid. When your rose tea has cooled to a manageable temp remove the tea bag/ball (squeeze out that extra water!) and pour the water into the jar with the other ingredients. Put the lid on to avoid splashing and slosh it around to dissolve the aspirin without causing the soap to foam up too much. Pour your new soap into a clean bottle with a squirt top and your done. Get to washin’.
The face oil that I use is totally awesome, I think. It’s also almost a non-recipe it’s so easy. (Are you seeing the trend here?? If it isn’t easy, I don’t bother.) The recipe below is for my oily skin, if your skin is normal or dry you should use different oils.
things you’ll need/ingredients:
- 2 ounce dark glass bottle with a dropper top
- 2 oz carrier oil (I use grapeseed. If your skin is dry try olive oil, if you’re lucky and it’s normal try apricot kernel oil)
- 15 drops essential oils (I used 10 drops tea tree oil and 5 drops lavender oil. Bonus: Lavender smells nice and is good for all skin types, yay!)
process:
Fill your little glass bottle with 2 oz of chosen carrier oil. Drip you essential oils in. Cap it, shake it about, and it’s ready to use.
to use:
Start with a clean, dry face and a slightly moist hand. Drop 2-3 drops of your face oil into your moist palm, rub your hands together and then rub it on your face. Adjust the ratio of oil to water depending on the dryness of your skin (I use 6 drops of oil). Enjoy.
Sometime in the next few weeks we’ll talk about the family body oil that Cheeks refers to as, “Oooooooo!” and Cody’s new deodorant (still in it’s test phase). Stay tuned!