Best Way to Make Herbal Skin Care Products

It is important to treat your skin type appropriately. For oily skin, steam cleansing is very beneficial. Sit over a bowl of steaming water to which one or two drops each of lavender and yarrow oils has been added; place a towel over your head to help contain the steam. This treatment helps reduce problems with blocked pores. Once it has been cleansed, oily skin will benefit from rinsing with an infusion of mildly astringent herbs such as chamomile and chervil; these tighten the skin and close up pores. Another good toner for oily skin is a face splash made from a cooled infusion of lady’s mantle leaves. (If you have particularly sensitive skin, you can rinse with cold, soft water after a minute or two.)

Flower-water skin toner

This toner uses gently stimulating and antiseptic purchased flower waters. It is suitable for all skin types.

• Makes 450 ml (1 pint)
• 225 ml (1 cup) rosewater or lavender water
• 225 ml (1 cup) distilled witch hazel
• 3 drops of rose or lavender essential oil (to match the choice of flower water)

Put into a dark glass bottle, and store in a cool spot. Use within six months. Shake the bottle to mix before each use.

Cucumber and lavender cleansing milk

The combination of cucumber and lavender provides a soothing, gentle action that makes this cleansing milk invaluable for oily and normal skin types.

• 110 ml (1/2 cup) buttetmilk
• Section of cucumber about 10 cm (3 inches) long
• 5 drops lavender essential oil

Peel the cucumber, then liquefy in a blender. Pour into a bowl; add the buttermilk and lavender oil and fold in. Let the mixture stand for two hours, strain and bottle it, and then refrigerate. Use within a week.

Caution – Those with highly sensitive skins may find that cucumber causes a reaction; test on a small, unobtrusive part of the body first.

Rose moisturizing cream

A pleasant, fragrant cream for dry or normal skin. The mixture of almond oil with lanolin and sunflower oil makes it useful soothing chapped or weathered skin.

• 4 tablespoons lanolin
• 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
• 4 tablespoons almond oil
• 1 teaspoon borax
• 4 tablespoons rosewater
• 5 drops rose essential oil

Melt the lanolin in a double boiler over low heat. Gently heat the sunflower and almond oil together in another saucepan. Add the oils to the lanolin and stir to combine, lake the pan off the heat. In a third pan, warm the rosewater and dissolve the borax in it. Then slowly add the rosewater and borax to the oil mixture, beating until cool. As thickening sets in, mix in the rose oil. Transfer the cream to an attractive, clean small pot or jar. Wait until the mixture has cooled thoroughly before tightening the lid. Use within a few days.

Caution – Before using, test a small, unobtrusive patch of your skin for any allergy to lanolin.