Have you ever wanted to try making your own skin care products at home?  Well here is your chance!  The recipes below have been created by Carla Oates, otherwise knows as ‘The Beauty Chef’, who has written hundreds of articles and also a book on natural skin care using the beautiful plants, herbs and oils that our earth produces.


Mandarin and Almond Face Scrub

Rich in both skin refining acids, vitamin C and vitamin E, this scrub will dissolve and slough off dead skin cells while nourishing emerging skin cells.  The perfect autumn skin treat - when the skin can often be imbalanced - dry, dehydrated and lack luster. 

2 tsps almond meal
1 tsp honey
1/2 tsp mandarin juice

Method:
Combine all ingredients thoroughly. Massage into a damp face, wipe off with damp flannel.


Organic Strawberry and Green Tea Refining Facial Mask

A great exfoliating mask for unclogging the pores, improving hydration, brightening, deep cleansing and evening out skin tone.  Alpha hydroxy acids are found in both fruit and dairy (and red wine!) and work by dissolving the intercellular glue that holds dead skin cells together, allowing for a fresher and healthier skin to emerge.  They also help to enhance moisturisation within the skin's layers.  Green tea is rich in skin protective polyphenols.

Ingredients:

2 tbps apple juice
1 tbsp strong green tea infusion (cooled green tea)
1 tbsp strawberry juice
2 tsps citrus pectin

Method:

1. Combine the fruit juices and the tea. If possible use organic produce.
2. Sprinkle the citrus pectin over the juice and whisk to achieve a gel consistency.

To use:

Apply to a clean face and leave for fifteen minutes. Rinse well. Always do a patch test on the inside of your arm to check for allergic reaction before putting on your face.

Soya Milk, Honey and Flaxseed Rejuvenating Facial Compress

Soya milk and flaxseed are both rich in phyto oestrogens, touted to be firming on our skin when employed in skincare.  Flaxseed is a wonderful ingredient in skincare products but must be used fresh as it oxidises quickly.  Add this oil, rich in omega 3's and plant oestrogens, to fresh food masks or simply massage the oil into the skin. Flaxseed oil should be kept in the fridge.  Honey is rejuvenating to the skin's layers and is also anti-bacterial.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 cup of soya milk
2 cups water
2 tbsps honey
1 tsp flaxseed oil

Method:

Mix all the ingredients, except the oil, together in a pot over the stove. As soon as the mix is warm and the honey melted, take off the heat. Add the flaxseed oil and mix well.  Dip a cotton flannel into the mix, wring a little, and place over the face.  Do this three times.

Herb and Honey Skin Cleanser

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp fine oatmeal

2 tbsp runny honey

3 tsp. distilled witchazel

2 tsp dried and finely ground herbs and flowers (sage, fennel peppermint, rosemary, lavender, chamomile, hops)

Method:

Mix all the ingredients to form a paste.  Rub into a damp face.  Can be rinsed off straight away if used as an exfoliant or left on for 10 minutes if used as a mask.  Do a patch test on your arm before applying to the face. 

AHA deep cleansing gel mask

A wonderful, skin refining, gel mask for deep cleansing, unclogging the pores, evening out skin tone, improving hydration and brightening.  It is replete in vitamin C and skin refining alpha hydroxy acids found in the fruit.

Ingredients:

2 tbsps apple juice

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 tsps citrus pectin

Method:

Combine the fruit juices. Sprinkle the pectin over the juice mix then whisk to achieve the desired consistency.  Apply and leave on for twenty minutes.  Rinse off well.


Source:

• Recipes sourced from Carla Oates blog 
  
• Buy her book: ‘Feeding your skin’
  
• Carla has recently released a range of products for external and internal use, designed to maintain the skin’s own ecosystem. Check them out in her store