Tea Tree Oil-Good for Acne….

Cleanser for Acne

1/4 cup Witch Hazel

2 Tablespoon Aloe Vera Gel

12 drops Tea Tree Oil

Clean face thoroughly….Apply cleanser with a facial pad or cotton ball. Use 2 -3 times a day as needed. Tea Tree Oil can effectively help reduce acne inflammation. It works slower than benzyl peroxide lotions but it is gentler on the skin.

Tea tree has been shown to have antimicrobial properties, (An Antimicrobial is a substance that kills or inhibits the growth of microbes such as bacteria, fungi, protozoals or viruses)

That’s why it is a popular remedy for treating acne. It’s thought that tea tree helps kill propioni acne bateria, which is responsible for acne breakouts. Tea tree will take longer before you see improvement than over the counter meds…

One study, comparing tea tree oil with benzoyl peroxide, found tea tree improved both inflamed and non-inflamed acne breakouts but it  wasn’t quite as effective as benzoyl peroxide and did take longer to see improvement. Tea tree didn’t cause dryness, peeling, and flaking as the benzoyl peroxide did.

Tea tree oil has a medicinal smell, similar to eucalyptus.  You can be purchased at any health food store, make sure when you use you dilute before applying to the skin.

Preservatives for your home made facial or body scrubs

If you plan on storing your body scrubs  for longer than a couple of months mix a preservative into it.

If  giving the scrub as a gift and aren’t sure how long the person will keep it make sure you add a preservative.

Vitamin E oil and Sea Salt  are natural preservatives you can use in homemade sugar scrub.

Tea tree is not only antiseptic, and antibacterial but antiviral and antifungal as well…. I love this & it truly works…

Add a stronger preservative, if there’s a chance you’ll get water into your sugar scrub. Use a  preservative like Liquid Germall Plus, which fights bacteria in water-based products found this is on the web.

Liquid Germall Plus is a convenient, easy to use water soluble preservative. It is one of the most effective antimicrobials and inhibits the growth of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, yeasts, and molds.

Brown Sugar Body Scrub

Brown Sugar Body Scrub

1/2 cup of brown sugar
15 drops of allspice oil
1/4 cup of liquid Dove hand soap
1/4 tsp of  jojoba oil

Wet your body in shower….Stir your scrub and apply to your body… Gently rub &  stand away from the water so you are not rinsing the scrub off ( DO NOT use on face) Make sure you rinse thoroughly…

Allspice has a calming yet uplifting quality which improves mental clarity and relieves exhaustion.

The best container to use is plastic, glass get slippery….Make sure it is air tight…Sit on the ledge in your tub so you won’t forget to use it….

Silky Smooth Milk Bath

This recipe is for those of you that like to take baths…..Light a candle, get a book & lay back & relax and enjoy…….

Silky Smooth Milk Bath

Milk bath leaves your skin smooth and silky soft …

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, mix well. Add 1 cup of milk bath mixture to a tub full of  WARM water not cold water or ingredients will not dissolve.

Ingredients

1 Cup Powdered Milk
4 Tablespoons Grated Cocoa Butter
2 Teaspoon Jojoba Oil
2 Teaspoon Favorite Essential Oil

Champagne Chocolate Body Wrap

Champagne Chocolate Body Wrap

Yummy

16 strawberries

3/4 cup honey

1 cup chocolate pieces

1 1/2 cup champagne

1 cup water bottle

clean paint brush

plastic cling wrap

In microwave melt chocolate on low setting.While chocolate is cooling, puree strawberries and honey, then add to chocolate.  Apply to entire body with paint brush, starting at feet; once covered, spritz on Champagne and water mixture. Wrap well with cling wrap.  Wait 15 minutes.  Rinse well.

Masks for Oily Skin

Masks for Oily Skin

• 

• Egg white and lemon face mask
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 tsp honey
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 
  
• Beat the egg white stiff, and add a few drops of lemon juice and the honey.

Strawberry Face Mask

• 4 oz  mashed fresh strawberries
• 2 Tb powdered milk
  
• 1 Tb lemon juice

Mix together and apply. Rinse off with a little lemon juice or cider vinegar in warm water.

Toning Recipe for Skin

TONING

Regular toning after cleansing, a bath or facial steaming, is important to keep the skin firm and fine in texture. It counteracts any tendency to large pores, and sagging of the skin, and will help eliminate excessive oiliness and any residue left from the cleanser. Skin tonics are generally prepared with astringent fruits or herbs which have a refreshing and stimulating effect on the skin.

Rose water and witch hazel toning lotion

• 4 Tb lemon juice
• 4 Tb witch hazel
• 4 Tb rose water
• 3 drops essential oil of lavender

Mix all the ingredients together and bottle. Shake well before using. This lotion will help to restore the acid skin mantle, close the pores, tighten and freshen the skin

Several herbs can be used in tepid infusions as skin fresheners; these include chamomile, yarrow, sage, mint, lady’s mantle, elderflower and fennel. Add one or two drops of tincture of benzoin, to help preserve the lotion a little longer, per cup of infusion.

Cucumber juice

Wash a cucumber (organically grown is best) and put it through a juice extractor or in a blender, then strain off the juice. Wipe the juice over your face and leave it to dry.

Beauty Remedies

FACIAL  MASKS

If you have normal to dry skin and keep it cleansed and toned regularly, you need only occasionally use face masks for deeper cleansing and conditioning. If your skin is particularly oily you could use a facial mask up to 2 times  a week to tone the skin, particularly after steaming the face. When you have chosen and made your recipe, spread the mask mixture evenly over clean skin, avoiding the delicate areas around the eyes and lips. Lie down and relax, leaving it on for about ten minutes or until it sets. Rinse off thoroughly with tepid water and apply toners or fresheners to enhance the tonic effect. Herbal infusions to suit your skin type can be mixed with fuller’s earth to make “mud” packs.

Oatmeal Facial Mask

This recipe combines two ingredients oatmeal and almonds-traditionally regarded as deep-cleansing agents that are highly beneficial to the complexion. You can use prepared almond meal or you can make it by grinding almonds to a fine powder in a blender or food processor. For a smoother-textured mask, substitute the special colloidal oatmeal sold at your health food store.  Refrigerate the leftover infusion and use it as a face wash.

• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves
• 1 tablespoons regular oatmeal
• 1 tablespoon almond meal

Pour the boiling water over the rosemary, steep for 15 minutes, and strain. In a separate bowl, crumble the dried oatmeal with your fingers; then mix in the almond meal. Add just enough of the rosemary infusion to make a thick paste. To use the mask, first wash your face and  apply a warm, wet washcloth for a few minutes. Gently spread the paste on your  face, avoiding the eyes area . Leave the mask on for 15 to 30 minutes, letting it dry completely. Wash it off with a soft cloth soaked in lukewarm water.

Cleansing Skin Recipes

CLEANSING

Removing dirt and make-up is best done twice  a day in morning & at night. Cleansing creams and lotions are preferable to water and most soaps, which can over-dry the skin and damage its pH, especially if your skin is dry and sensitive. However non perfumed natural soaps and rainwater are suitable for many people for facial washing.

CLEANSERS FOR OILY SKIN

For simple cleansers you can use tepid infusions of either elder f lowers, yarrow, sage, lady’s mantle, calendula or chamomile to rinse the face. Rose water is also useful. Cucumber is an ideal cleanser for oily skin. Mix a little cucumber puree with half a pint of milk and keep it in the refrigerator for up to three days. Shake well before use. Alternatively if you grate half a cucumber and boil it in half a pint of milk gently for three minutes, cool, sieve, and bottle it, it will keep for a week.

Fennel helps to remove dirt and impurities from oily skin. Bran, oatmeal, or cornmeal can be used daily as facial scrubs to help absorb excess oil on the skin. Take a small handful of fine oatmeal and mix a little water, milk or buttermilk with it to make a paste, and wash the face gently with it. This will help prevent blackheads.

Almond milk cleanser

• 2 tsp.  ground almonds
  
• 1/4 tsp. rose water

Blend for 2 minutes, strain and bottle.

Buttermilk and fennel cleanser

• 1/2 c.  buttermilk
• 2 tsp.  fennel seeds

Heat the milk and crushed fennel seed slowly for 30 minutes in a double boiler. Leave to cool and infuse for 2 hours. Stain and bottle; this keeps in a refrigerator for up to a week.

CLEANSERS FOR DRY SKIN

Apricot oil is nourishing and moisturizing and makes a good cleanser. Wash off any excess oil with a tepid infusion of chamomile or elderflower. Lemons will help restore the acid pH of the skin.

Chamomile cleansing milk

• 1/2 c.  milk
• 2 Tbs. chamomile flowers

Heat together very gently in a double boiler for half an hour, but do not allow to boil. Leave to cool for 2 hours, strain, refrigerate and use within a week.

Lemon cleansing milk

• 1/2 c.  of natural yogurt
• 1/2 Tbs.  lemon juice
• 1 Tbs. almond oil

Blend the ingredients together and use within 3 days.

CLEANSERS FOR DRY TO NORMAL SKIN

Sweet almond oil is cleansing and nourishing and is excellent for removing dirt and make-up. Remove excess oil with elderflower or chamomile in tepid infusion.

Orange Flower cleansing cream

• 1 oz  Soya oil
• 1 oz almond oil
• 1 oz  orange flower water
• 1 oz  cocoa butter
• 1 Tbs.  beeswax
• 5 drops essential oil of neroli

Mix and warm the oil. Melt the coca butter separately, then stir into the oils. Melt the beeswax and stir it into the oil mixture. Add the orange flower water, leave to thicken and cool. Stir in the essential oil as the mixture thickens; spoon into jars. Neroli stimulates the formation of new skin cells.

Glycerin and rose water cleansing cream

• 4 Tbs. lanolin
• 2 oz  almond oil
• 1 Tbs.glycerin
• 3 Tbs. rose water
• 6 drops essential oil of rose
  

Melt the lanolin in one pan and heat the glycerin and almond oil to the same heat in another. Mix the two together, slowly stirring all the time. Add the rose water gradually, leave to cool and stir in the rose oil.

CLEANSERS FOR ANY SKIN

Buttermilk makes an excellent cleanser and can be mixed with juice or puree of lemons, strawberries, tomatoes, honey or beaten egg white.

Olive oil cleanser

• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. honey

Mix together and apply; rinse off with a tepid infusion of chamomile or elderflower.

Sage Cleanser Lotion

• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. honey
• 2 drops cider vinegar
• 2 tsp. sage infusion

Combine the oil and honey, and warm. Add warm sage infusion and the vinegar; stir well.

MASKS FOR SENSITIVE SKIN

MASKS FOR SENSITIVE SKIN

Chamomile and Honey Face Mask

• 2 Tb unprocessed bran
• 3 Tb chamomile infusion
• 1 tsp honey

Mix ingredients together and apply. After 10 minutes rinse off with chamomile  infusion.