If you hadn't noticed, 2012 and maybe even a year or so earlier, the newest rage is to eat more healthy (whole foods, less processed foods, etc) - what are you putting INTO your body? Another area is what are you putting ON your body? We really don't think about that as much, but it's true. What you put on your skin soaks into you and can (potentially) cause damage - even if it claims to be a good thing.
I think this all started early this summer when Allyson started breaking out after putting on sunscreen. After a post on Facebook to get some advice, a friend (and you should now who you are) got me thinking how bad sunscreen can really be. I did some research and found a great, more natural, sunscreen for the girls, and Allyson did not have any other problems the rest of the summer.
This friend also posted later on FB that she started using organic, cold pressed, extra virgin coconut oil as her new moisturizer. I decided I'd give it a try. To be honest, it was just ok. It did it's job, but I thought it was just a touch bit "greasy" looking/feeling, so what I did was just use it at night before bed. I continued to use my normal moisturizer in the morning thinking that using the coconut oil part of the time is better than not at all. :o)
A month or so later as my face cleanser was getting low, I decided I would look online to see what kinds of natural skin cleansers are out there. I very quickly found a great blog article on one and decided once again I was going to try something new. I was a bit skeptical about it but thought what would it hurt to try it. Want to know why I was skeptical? Here are the ingredients of my new facial cleaner: castor oil and grapeseed oil! And when I want to have a scrub, I add sugar to the mix. Yes you heard right - oil and sugar! :o)
Here is a link to the article that I found. I encourage you to click on it and read it for yourself. click here
I basically do as the article says but instead of the EVOO, I decided to use the grapeseed oil as I have always tended towards oily skin. I also started out with a three part castor oil ratio to the one grapeseed oil, but I think my ratio is now one to one. To get started, I went to Walmart and purchased a small travel size bottle, funnel and the oils.
I only do this routine in the evening, so in the morning I only "scrub" my face with my hands while in the shower. That's it! Here are a couple of things I've noticed since starting this. First, I haven't had to use a lot of moisturizer anymore (or should I say coconut oil). Since winter and dry skin season has set in, I've had to use a bit more, but still it only averages to maybe twice or three times a week. The second thing I've noticed is that before I switched to this routine, I was ALWAYS oily by the end of the day and actually even earlier in the day. But now I can honestly say that the shine of oil is far from what it had been! Yes, I'm still a touch oily, but nothing like before. Who'd have ever thought that by using oil to clean your face would actually reduce the oil on your face! But it does for me.
To make a twice a week scrub, all I do is put about one or two teaspoons of the oil in my palm and then add about one teaspoon of sugar and mix it around. I then spread it on my face in small, slow circles for about one minute. Then you rinse with warm water.
There you have it! What a great and natural way to cleanse your face without all the chemicals and junk that most everything out there has in it.
