The Green Beauty Guide: Your Essential Resource to Organic and Natural Skin Care, Hair Care, Makeup, and Fragrances (27 page)

Use this cleanser on your face, neck, and chest before a special occasion to give your skin a festive
glow.

1. Grind up the oatmeal in a food processor or in a mortar.

2. Add the remaining ingredients and blend well until the mixture becomes the consistency of a mayonnaise sauce. Add some water if the mixture is too thick.

3. Step into the shower and massage the scrub all over the face and neck for two to three minutes. Rinse with a washcloth and warm water.

Skin Rescue
Cleansing Cream

½ ounce cocoa butter

½ ounce olive oil

4 teaspoons non-GMO soybean wax

2 teaspoons vegetable glycerin

1 drop chamomile essential oil

1 drop clove essential oil

1 drop eucalyptus essential oil

1 drop tea tree oil

Yield
:
4 ounces

This is a green duplicate of the famous and outrageously priced Eve Lom Cleanser, which is a blend of mineral oil, lanolin, cocoa butter, essential oils, and a mighty dose of paraben preservatives. Instead of hops oil, we will use tea tree oil that has additional antibacterial properties.

1. Melt the cocoa butter, olive oil, and soybean wax using the double-boiler method described previously. Whisk until the mass becomes uniform without lumps.

2. Add the glycerin and whisk the mixture until it thickens.

3. Add essential oils and set aside to cool.

4. Pour into a glass jar. You can store this balm in the fridge for up to one month. If you want to prolong the shelf life, add contents of one capsule of vitamin C to the balm while it’s still hot.

Quick Green Cleansers

Organic full-fat milk is the ultimate quickie cleanser. Just pour some milk on a cotton wool ball and wipe off the eye makeup and refresh the skin. There is no need to wash off the milk. Top it off with your regular moisturizer or leave it as it is and enjoy a mild exfoliation as milk sours and gives your skin a natural glow. Plain Greek-style yogurt also yields excellent results, especially when left on skin for a few minutes and then rinsed off with tepid water. Dried milk powder (or a baby formula) and finely ground almond meal, mixed in equal proportions, make a great natural scrub. The lactic acid in yogurt, especially when joined by the antibacterial properties of honey, makes an excellent antibacterial cleanser. Simply blend two great natural foods with a fork or stick blender.

Oatmeal makes a wonderfully gentle buffing cleanser. You can use it plain with a few tablespoons of hot water, but make sure not to scald your face! Hot water is needed just to soften the oatmeal. You can mix cooked or steeped oatmeal with another great natural exfoliator: organic mayonnaise. If you need an even stronger cleanser, mix one tablespoon of organic oatmeal with two tablespoons of plain low-fat yogurt. Apply to dry skin, wait for five minutes, and rinse off.

When out of your regular eye makeup remover, saturate a cotton ball or a cotton wool disk with virgin olive oil or grape seed oil and gently wipe off mascara and eye shadows.

Many baby cereals work as wonderfully gentle cleansers. Just mash the leftovers from your baby’s breakfast with a few drops of olive or sweet almond oil and spread over your face, massage a little, and rinse off.

When my skin feels like staging a riot over all those sleepless nights, I cannot find a better second-step cleanser than milk of magnesia. Use the plain variety, without added sugar or strawberry flavors. Apply milk of magnesia with a cotton ball after you’ve removed makeup with facial oil or soap. Leave the liquid for a few minutes and rinse off.

When it comes to nonabrasive scrubs, nothing comes close to juicy, ripe papaya. Papaya skin contains an enzyme called papain that helps to remove dead skin cells and impurities. With regular use, papain helps fade postacne marks and blotchiness caused by sun damage. After cleansing your face, peel a ripe papaya and rub the inner side of its skin directly all over your face, avoiding the eye area. Leave on for five to ten minutes and rinse with tepid water.

Got a great all-natural homemade cleanser recipe? Drop me a line and share your bit of green knowledge with the world at
www.thegreenbeautyguide.com
.

chapter
7

green
toners

b
eauty experts seem to have mixed feelings about toners. Some say that this beauty category is so yesterday, it should be sold as a collectable antique item at auction. Some say toners are so versatile and beneficial that you should have a separate one for each of your body parts. I believe that, unlike sunscreen and moisturizers, toners are optional, but they can greatly improve the overall condition of your skin.

Do You Really Need a Toner?

You may know them under a variety of names: astringents, fresheners, clarifying lotions, facial mists, and floral waters. First, let’s define what we mean by “toner.” No matter what they’re called, toners are fluids or lotions designed to remove surface skin cells, soap residue, and oils from the skin. When you wipe a cotton ball soaked in a toner, your skin feels fresh and vibrant. Some men use toners as an aftershave splash.

Most conventional toners are alcohol-based liquids loaded with petrochemicals, artificial dyes, and synthetic fragrances, sometimes with a drop of witch hazel and glycerin, usually sold with a cleanser to “shrink your pores” and “remove cleanser residue.” Toners cannot shrink your pores. As you already know, skin is a very complex organ with delicate and intricate workings. The way it functions and the size of its vital parts, such as the pores, cannot be altered by a single lick of a cotton ball. The size of our pores is both hereditary and the result of years of exposure to the sun, makeup usage, and general skin care habits. If you double-cleanse, a toner does not need to become an additional cleansing step.

A good toner conditions, nourishes, soothes, calms blemishes, and delivers active ingredients to freshly cleansed skin. A mild toner also works as a weightless moisturizer, and sometimes in the evening, you can get away with a rich oil-based cleanser and a moisturizing toner, skipping the moisturizer and letting your skin breathe and heal itself during the night.

Toners also make a great multipurpose beauty product if you are on the run. For example, instead of carrying a whole beauty kit to the gym, pack a mini spray bottle of toner of your choice. Spray your face frequently after strenuous activity that makes you sweat, and finish your shower with a dab of toner to soothe your skin and prep it for a moisturizer. Toners are indispensable during air travel, but make sure to pack them in small containers according to airline specifications for onboard fluids.

Some toners make a very lightweight yet potent mask: saturate a thin gauze mask with exfoliating or hydrating toner and apply it to the skin for a few minutes. This is a great way to apply a treatment toner while in the bath!You can also mix your clay-based dry mask with a little bit of toner so you enjoy double benefits from two products working in harmony.

There are three types of toners available today. Mild, hydrating toners are called face fresheners or facial mists. They contain no alcohol and are water-based, sometimes with added glycerin that hydrates skin by helping it retain moisture. Mists and fresheners usually come in spray bottles. Spraying a toner from a vaporizer bottle is a very
hygienic and economical way to use a toner since not a drop is wasted on a cotton ball or your fingertips.

Skin fresheners, or classic toners, usually contain a small percentage of alcohol. They are most suitable for use in warmer months or if you feel that your skin is becoming oilier. Contrary to popular opinion, alcohol-based toners do not dry out pimples and do not decrease oil production. In fact, they can increase the production of sebum because the removal of oil from the skin can lead to excess oil production as the skin tries to compensate for this and prevent moisture loss.

Astringents are the heavy artillery. When used recklessly, they can cause more problems than they solve. Astringents usually contain a high percentage of alcohol (up to 60 percent), antiseptic ingredients, oil-absorbing clays, and essential oils. To prevent dehydration and premature skin aging, astringent toner is best applied only to problem areas of the skin, such as acne. Don’t overindulge in astringents in your pursuit of clean skin. Such potent alcohol solutions can lead to severe dehydration and premature aging of the skin.

The most common application of a toner is with a clean, pure-cotton pad, but the most economical way to use a toner is to spray or spritz it on your face. Hold the atomizer or spray bottle about ten to twelve inches from your face, close your eyes, and mist it over your face two or three times. Massage the liquid into your skin. And if some of the toner gets into your hair, don’t worry—it’s good for your hair and scalp.

Consider making a toner a part of your daily skin care regimen. A well-formulated and correctly chosen toner can hydrate, remove dead skin cells, help prevent acne, fade brown spots and postacne marks, as well as soothe sunburns or skin irritations and even slow down aging.

A Word About Alcohol

If a toner contains alcohol, it should be grain alcohol (ethanol), not petroleum-derived isopropyl alcohol (propan-2-ol), which is considered poisonous. Isopropyl alcohol, or rubbing alcohol, used in many conventional toners, is made of the known toxic chemical acetone, the alcohol denaturant methyl isobutyl ketone, and around 70 percent ethanol. It is cheaper than grain alcohol, but it’s not the safest substance for use in cosmetics.

SD alcohol, often used in natural preparations, stands for “specially denatured” alcohol. It’s often combined with a bitter substance, denatonium benzoate, to prevent some hungover individuals from drinking the product. European products often list denatured alcohol as “Alcohol Denat.”Most often, denatured alcohols used in beauty products are listed as SDAlcohol 23-A, SDAlcohol 40, and SDAlcohol 40-B. The numbers indicate which substance was used to “denature” the alcohol.

Witch hazel, rose water, and orange water are traditional facial tonics that have been used safely for many centuries. Calendula, licorice, green tea, and lavender suit all skin needs, while lactic, pectic, and tartaric fruit acids perform mild exfoliation. Zinc gluconate, hyaluronic acid, seaweed extracts, and squalene from olive oil add antiaging benefits. If you have acne, your best bet is a toner with salicylic or glycolic acid. Such toners are best applied with a cotton ball, not with a vaporizer. You don’t need any glycolic acid in your eyes!You may also use a mild acidic toner if you like to double-cleanse with an alkaline-based foaming cleanser that may leave the skin’s natural pH off balance. A mild acidic toner will neutralize the alkalinity and return the skin’s acidic balance to normal.

The best toners I have tested are formulated with floral water. They are essentially a mix of distilled water with a small percentage of plant extracts. Mineral water by itself can make a wonderful and inexpensive toner. A really good toner I once stumbled upon contained seawater as its main ingredient. Unfortunately, the same toner contained too many synthetic and even toxic chemicals to consider adding it to the Green Product Guide. For your homemade toners, choose mineral water with a high content of magnesium, which is very soothing.

Some companies advertise their toners as “irritant-free.” This doesn’t mean that you must blindly obey and skip checking the product’s ingredients list. If you notice any ingredients that bother your skin, find another toner. Common irritants include menthol (menthol, menthyl acetate, and menthyl PCA), citrus oils and juices (orange, grapefruit, bergamot, lemon, lime), ylang-ylang, jasmine, arnica, camphor, and many fragrance components.

As with all skin care products, don’t use any toner, organic or not, that makes your skin burn, sting, redden, swell, flake, or break out. Nor should the toner leave your skin feeling dry, tight, and irritated. Return it to the store where you bought it and try a different product. If any skin reaction lasts longer than three weeks, consult your doctor.

Green Product Guide: Toners

When you buy a new toner to replace your less-than-green astringent or add a specialized toner to clarify blemishes or soothe a sensitive complexion, it’s always better to err on the side of caution. Let your cleanser, exfoliating cream, and moisturizer do the major work. Let your toner complement your skin care efforts and gently soothe your skin after a day at the office or vigorous activity. Do not make toner the heavy-hitter in your beauty regimen. The following are my recommended toning products, rated from one to three leaves, with three being my favorite.