The natural skin care routine that gives me glowing skin every day
My natural skin care routine is simple but effective…just the way I like it! Keep reading to see my favorite natural skin care ingredients, my essential DIY skin care products, and how I put them all together into a skin care routine that gives me glowing skin every single day. And don’t forget to download my free printable Natural Skin Care Recipe Guide at the end of this post!
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As someone who struggles with super sensitive skin, finding a skin care routine that agrees with my face has been an uphill battle for most of my life.
When I was a teenager, I was extremely limited in my choice of cleansers, scrubs, and moisturizers. I always had to use the basic, boring stuff and leave the trendy new products on the store shelves. It was frustrating, but I found a handful of products that worked well without making me break out in an itchy red rash.
I used the same cleanser, moisturizer, and scrub for probably the better part of a decade before I realized that they weren’t exactly the best things to put on my face.
See, a few years ago I started making better, more informed choices about the products I use and buy. Thanks to the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Guide to Cosmetics, I discovered that my beloved products had some pretty questionable ingredients that I couldn’t keep putting on my face.
I don’t know about you, but it’s kind of hard for me to keep using a product that has ingredients known to cause cancer, organ toxicity, and endocrine problems!
So I went back to the drawing board. This time I wanted to see if I could make my own skin care products using natural ingredients that wouldn’t irritate my skin or have negative health consequences.
And you know what? I did!
And the best part is that my new skin care routine is natural, non-irritating, and more nourishing to my skin than anything I’ve ever used before.
Let me tell you all about it!
Also, be sure to grab my free Natural Skin Care Recipe Guide at the end of this post! It has all of these DIY skin care recipes packaged up into a pretty guide that you can print and keep for easy reference.
My Favorite Natural Skin Care Ingredients
First things first: we need to talk about the ingredients.
There are a handful of natural skin care ingredients that I use to make my natural skin care products, and some of them are ingredients I already had in my kitchen! Here are some of my very favorites:
Unscented liquid castile soap
This is a gentle soap that won’t make your skin feel stripped or tight after you use it. I like Dr. Bronner’s brand because I know the ingredients are safe.
Jojoba oil
Jojoba oil is an oil that closely mimics skin’s natural sebum. It’s very light and soaks in quickly, so your skin doesn’t feel greasy. Also, you pronounce it like this: ho-HO-buh oil.
Coconut oil, virgin cold-pressed
Coconut oil is another light oil that works well in skin care products. It’s especially good for acne-prone skin because it has antibacterial and antimicrobial properties.
Clay
I actually use two different kinds of clay these days: white kaolin clay and bentonite clay.
White kaolin clay is one of the gentlest clays out there because it isn’t as drying as other clays. This makes it perfect for sensitive skin and dry skin. It can absorb excess oil from your skin without over-drying, and it also pulls toxins, dirt, and impurities from your pores.
But as much as I love my kaolin clay, sometimes I want something a little stronger. In those instances, I go for bentonite clay. It does dry tighter than kaolin clay, but I’ve never had any issues with it irritating my sensitive skin.
Sugar
Granulated sugar, the white stuff you probably already have in your pantry, makes a fantastic exfoliant. The crystals are big enough to give you a quick and efficient exfoliation, yet small enough to be gentle on sensitive skin.
Baking soda
Baking soda is another pantry staple that makes a fantastic exfoliant. Baking soda scrubs have a much finer grit than other scrubs, so they gently give a nice, polished glow to your skin.
I like to compare scrubs with sandpaper. You start with a coarser grit (like sugar) to make quick work of the job at hand, but then you follow with a finer grit (like baking soda) to get a smooth finish.
Essential Oils
There are three main essential oils that I use in my natural skin care products: lavender, tea tree, and frankincense.
Lavender essential oil has antibacterial and antimicrobial properties, so that’s a plus for acne-prone skin. It also helps blemishes heal more quickly.
Tea tree essential oil is great for acne-prone skin because it has antibacterial properties. Personally, I think it’s much more potent than lavender essential oil, and when I have a stubborn breakout, it’s the one I go for.
Frankincense essential oil helps skin cells regenerate. Lots of people like this essential oil because it helps with aging skin and elasticity problems. Personally, I like that it helps with acne scarring.
I rarely have breakouts, but sometimes a stubborn breakout leaves me with a dark spot or two. I can tell that frankincense regenerates those skin cells so that I no longer have the dark, scarred spots. Woohoo!
My Essential DIY Natural Skin Care Products
So now that you know which natural ingredients I like to use in my natural skin care products, let me share with you my favorite DIY skin care recipes that I use on a regular basis.
Foaming Cleanser
I LOVE making my own foaming cleanser. I know the ingredients won’t irritate my skin, and since I use Dr. Bronner’s baby unscented liquid castile soap, I feel more comfortable using this cleanser around my eyes.
I especially like that this cleanser removes all of my makeup without making my skin feel stripped or tight afterward.
Chocolate Citrus Sugar Scrub
I’ve been making my own scrubs since I was a teenager, but I only recently starting using this chocolate citrus sugar scrub recipe on my face. Let me tell you what: this stuff makes quick work of the job at hand, AND it smells like a sinfully delicious chocolate treat at the same time!
Double win.
Baking Soda Scrub
Even though the sugar scrub does a great job of sloughing off dead skin, I like using this baking soda scrub immediately afterward so my skin has a nice, polished glow. Remember the sandpaper analogy I used earlier? Using a two-step exfoliation process really does make a big difference for my skin.
Clay and Oatmeal Mask
I love a good face mask, and this particular clay and oatmeal mask recipe is one I’ve been using for the last six months or so. It leaves my skin feeling silky soft and makes my pores look smaller!
I do switch between kaolin clay and bentonite clay depending on the effect I want to achieve. If I’m trying to get rid of the occasional breakout, then I go for the bentonite. If I just want a gentle mask, then I go for the kaolin.
Simple Serum (truly the best moisturizer ever!)
This is the recipe that started it all. This simple face serum was the first natural skin care recipe I ever made, and I still use the exact same recipe to this day. It’s just that good! It makes my skin look hydrated without feeling oily or greasy.
My Natural Skin Care Routine
Now let’s talk about how I actually use my DIY skin care products in my natural skin care routine!
Morning
Sometimes I’ll splash a little water on my face and pat it dry with a towel, but most days I don’t do anything at all. Nothing. Nada. I don’t wash my face or put on any moisturizer before I apply my makeup.
It may seem weird that I don’t do anything to my skin first thing in the morning, but I find that my skin looks best when I just let it rest in its natural oils with minimal intervention.
Since my skin is pretty normal – not too oily or too dry – it doesn’t produce enough oil to warrant a wash in the morning, yet it has enough oil to feel moisturized without me adding any moisturizer to it.
I say if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
Evening
Before I go to bed, I wash my face with the foaming cleanser to remove my makeup, then I apply 3-4 drops of the simple serum. Easy peasy!
Throughout the week
Two or three times a week I do a two-step exfoliation process starting with my sugar scrub followed by my baking soda scrub. I usually do this first thing in the morning when I’m in the shower because
- My skin is already clean so I don’t need to remove any makeup
- It’s much easier to wash away scrubs in the shower
Also, since both scrubs have oils in them, my face feels perfectly moisturized when I rinse them off. For that reason, I don’t usually apply my simple serum after I exfoliate. Instead, I immediately apply my makeup like I would any other morning.
Once a week (usually on Saturday evenings) I apply my face mask after removing my makeup with the foaming cleanser. I usually leave the mask on for 20 minutes or so while I watch TV before I wipe it away with a damp wash cloth.
Now, clay masks DO leave my skin feeling dry and tight, so I immediately apply my simple serum after I remove the mask.
And that’s my simple skin care routine! It’s easy, natural, and makes my skin feel nourished and pampered.
How Going Natural Has Improved My Skin
So I mentioned that I have sensitive skin and normal skin – not too oily or too dry. Even though my skin has been pretty good my entire adult life, I have seen some significant improvements since switching to natural skin care products.
Less Maintenance
In general, my skin requires far less maintenance now than it ever has before.
I can let my skin hang out in its natural oils without worrying about breakouts, and my skin produces the right amount of oil now that I use gentler products.
Before, when I used my old cleanser, my skin felt tight and stripped of its natural oils. Then, to compensate, my skin produced even more oil to replace the lost moisture. It was a vicious cycle!
But now I can get away with a single cleansing each day, and my skin seems happier than ever with that little bit of maintenance.
Less Makeup
I wear far less makeup now than I ever have before.
Honest to goodness, my main makeup bag now consists of eye shadow, eye liner, mascara, lip gloss, and concealer. That’s it. And sometimes I don’t even need the concealer! I only keep it for the occasional breakout.
I don’t wear foundation, powder, blush, bronzer, or anything else on the rest of my face.
(Well, I do keep these products on hand for pictures, but they aren’t part of my daily makeup look.)
Why? Because my skin tone is much more even. I don’t need to cover anything up, and my skin has a nice dewy look on its own.
Less maintenance and less makeup? I’ll take it!
Free Printable Natural Skin Care Recipe Guide
And now for that free printable guide I promised you! You can get it here.
Final Thoughts on My Natural Skin Care Routine
Making the switch to natural skin care products was probably the best decision I ever made for my skin. Not only are the products safer and more nourishing for my skin, but they’re easy to make and pretty cheap too.
I’m constantly impressed by how good my skin looks these days and how little maintenance I have to do to keep it looking this way. It wasn’t always like that, ya know!
But now I’m a true believer in natural skin care, and I’m very happy with my new natural skin care routine since it helps me have glowing skin each day.
If you’ve been thinking about making the switch to natural skin care, then just do it! Your skin will thank you, and you’ll probably wonder why you ever waited this long to make the switch.
Honestly, I can’t even imagine going back to my old skin care routine. It doesn’t even come close to the DIY stuff I can whip up in my kitchen.
Be sure to download my free printable Natural Skin Care Recipe Guide so you can make your own skin care products too!
What about you? Do you have a natural skin care routine? If so, what are your favorite natural products? Let me know in the comments below so I can check them out!
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