4 Amazing Skincare Products To Make Using Essential Oils
By Gaye Levy
Every month or so, I grab a few simple ingredients and play kitchen chemist while I concoct custom skincare products using essential oils. It recently occurred to me that it has been awhile since I shared some DIY products using essential oils so what better time than now while we are getting into the holiday gift-giving spirit?
Today I am going to share how I make some amazing, everyday skincare products along with some simple variations so that you can customize them yourself. These products include:
Fantastic Facial Toner
Manly Man Beard Oil
Luminous Face Serum
DIY Makeup Wipes
Widget not in any sidebars
Using your existing supply of essential oils plus fractionated coconut oil, alcohol-free witch hazel, or BDS Simple Salve as your base, you can make an endless variety of products. You do this by mixing and matching your oils. Depending on your skin type, you can tailor each of these DIY products for dry skin, oily skin, combination skin, or sensitive, aging skin. The only differentiator are the essential oils.  It does not get simpler than that.
Let’s dig right in and get started because I know you are going to want to make some of these 4 amazing skincare products yourself.
Fantastic Facial Toner
Facial toners are used to remove soap residue and help exfoliate skin after washing your face and/or removing makeup. They are also used to remove environmental pollutants, and to either remove excess oil or to add moisture back to dry, thirsty skin. Facial toners can restore your skin to normal PH and will leave it feeling soft and velvety.
Funny how that works; a facial toner using a single essential oil can help with both oily and dry skin. That said, some EOs are better for one type of skin than the other so you can pick and choose the oil that work best from the list I have included below.
Here is the recipe for Fantastic Facial Toner.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup alcohol-free witch hazel (like this)
15 drops of your favorite essential oil (my favorite is Tangerine)Directions:
Combine in a storage container (I used a glass spray bottle) and shake vigorously to blend.To use, apply to a cotton ball or cotton pad and apply to the face. Your face will feel clean and soft to the touch.
Manly Man Beard Oil
Beard oil is used to soften and tame beard hair and also to hydrate the skin below. Using beard oil is going to help keep the underlying skin supple and prevent those nasty ingrown hairs. The nice thing is that nothing could be simpler to make.
Here is how to make Manly Man Beard Oil.
Ingredients:
1 ounce Fractionated Coconut Oil (liquid coconut oil) or other carrier oil
5 to 10 drops of your favorite essential oil (we like Patchouli because it smells woodsy and masculine)Directions:
Combine in a storage container and shake vigorously to blend. To use, apply a small amount to your facial hair and massage down to the skin level. The best time to do this is after washing your face.
Luminous Face Serum
Have you ever priced facial serums? You can easily spend $20 or more for a single ounce. Ouch. Here is what I use but of course, you can change out the essential oils to meet your needs.
Ingredients:
1 ounce BDS Simple Salve
20 drops of essential oil alone or in combinationI use this combination:
4 drops Lavender
4 drops Frankincense
4 drops Geranium
4 drop Lemon
4 drops BasilDirections:
Add Simple Salve to a 1 ounce jar. Be sure to leave some room at the top for the oils. At this point, I like to gently heat the Simple Salve in the microwave to so that it becomes liquefied but you don’t have to do this.Add your essential oils then stir well. I like to use those stir sticks you get at the local coffee shop or a chopstick.  If you have liquefied the Simple Salve, cap the jar and shake it up. Then open the lid and wait for your salve to solidify before putting the cap back on.
DIY Makeup Wipes
I shared this recipe on the Buzz awhile back but it is worth repeating. This what you need to make up a small, 4-ounce jar (such as a mason jar).
Ingredients
1/4 cup warm water
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon liquid Castile soap (I used Dr. Bronner’s Lavender)
1/2 tablespoon fractionated (liquid) coconut oil (like this)
4 drops essential oils of choice (I use a combination of lavender and ylang ylang)
Round cotton padsDirections
Mix all of the ingredients except for the cotton pads in measuring cup. Set the cup aside.Take a stack of cotton pads and put them in the jar. Fill the jar to the top then scrunch them down and add a few more.
Pour the wet ingredients over the cotton pads then put a lid on your container. It takes a few minutes but they will soak up the liquid. To ensure that all of the pads are evenly soaked, let them sit for 30 minutes then turn your tightly capped container upside down for 30 minutes.
That’s it. When you are ready to take off makeup (or wipe down a sweaty, grimy face), remove a pad and use it to clean things up. The coconut oil ensures that you face stays nice and moist. The essential oils add skin healing properties plus fragrance.
I like making this up in small batches because the small jars fit nicely in a drawer but this DIY can easily be doubled, tripled, or quadrupled.
Variations: Essential Oils for Various Skin Types
We all have our favorites when it comes to essential oils and, to be honest, there is so much goodness in E.O.s that almost any type will work in these recipes. The following list can be used to help identify those that are best for your skin type but be forewarned, there is a lot of overlap.
For dry skin:
For oily skin:
For combination skin:
For blemish prone skin:
For aging skin:
In addition to this list, the chart on pages 392-395 of Valeria Worwood’s Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy
BDS Simple Salve
You might be asking: what is BDS Simple Salve? This easy to make salve is a mixture of coconut oil, olive oil, and beeswax. No more, no less. You can find complete instructions here or follow along with the CliffsNotes version.
Backdoor Survival Simple Salve – The Recipe
Ingredients:
1Â Cup Coconut Oil
1Â Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Pure Olive Oil
5 to 5 1/2 Tbl. Organic Beeswax PastillesContainers:
8 x 2 ounce jars (mason jars or ointment jars) ** OR **
4 x 4 ounce jars (mason jars or ointment jars)1. Put a pot of water on the stove to simmer. While the water is heating, put the coconut oil, olive oil and beeswax pastilles in a heatproof jar or measuring cup.
2. Set the jar filled with the coconut oil, olive oil, and wax into the water and leave it there until it melts, giving it a stir from time to time. You want a slow, gentle melt so take your time. It could take 15 or 20 minutes depending on the temperature of the water bath.
3. Pour the melted oils into each of the smaller jars and allow to cool.
4. Set the jars aside for up to 24 hours. Although the salve will start to firm up within minutes, it takes at least 12 hours to complete the firming process. If you are in a hurry, you can refrigerate the salve and it will solidify in just a couple of hours.
That’s it. Easy peasy.
The Final Word
Frugality is one of the cornerstones of preparedness, as is self-sufficiency. For that reason I choose to make my own products whenever I can. In doing so, I not only save a lot of money, but I become less dependent on supermarkets, drugstores, and department stores for my basic needs.
Rarely mentioned on prepping sites is the fact that if you look good, you feel good. When I wake up in the morning with the stress of the world on my shoulders, I apply skincare products made from essential oils knowing that I am doing something good for my skin and for myself. I like that my skin looks better in my 60s than it did when I was in my 30s and for that I am ecstatic.
I encourage you to give some of these products a try; and if you like them, package some up as gifts for your friends and family. Don’t forget to include the recipe because I can almost guarantee that you will be asked.
Enjoy your next adventure through common sense and thoughtful preparation!
Gaye started Backdoor Survival to share her angst and concern about our deteriorating economy and its impact on ordinary, middle-class folks. She also wanted to become a prepper of the highest order and to share her knowledge as she learned it along the way. She considers her sharing of knowledge her way of giving back and as always, we at Natural Blaze are grateful for her contributions. If you would like to read more from Gaye Levy, check out her blog at http://www.backdoorsurvival.com/. You can also visit her Facebook page or sign up for updates by email by clicking on Backdoor Survival Updates.
