Tutorial Tuesday: Homemade Facial Toner

 like to make my own facial products when I can. Every Thursday, which I have claimed for my personal Spa Night, I use different homemade products depending on what I want to do that particular evening. Some Thursdays, I sprinkle homemade moisturizing bath salts into my foot soak, followed by a homemade foot scrub before I treat myself to a pedicure. I almost always do a homemade face scrub and mask on Thursdays, and like to do a deep conditioning oil treatment on my hair twice a month, but I'll save those recipes for a later post. Since the move, I haven't really made the time for my Spa Night and I can see the negative effects in my skin and hair. Today, I wanted to post one of my favorite homemade toner recipes. There are a lot of recipes out there but I like to use a tried and true mixture that works amazingly well for my crazy combination skin.

This is a recipe for a liquid toner that is meant for daily use. I just made a batch (my first in a long time) and it feels amazing on my stressed, broken out skin. Once my skin clears, I know this toner will help to keep it that way.

DAILY HEALING TONER

Ingredients:
3/4 cup Witch Hazel (available in the pharmacy section at WalMart near the rubbing alcohol). Witch Hazel will eventually help to tighten and reduce the appearance of pores so there will be less chance of clogs and damage to your pores.

2 drops of Tea Tree oil. Effectively treats and promotes healing in infections (pimples, blemishes). I got mine at Hobby Lobby for $6.

Water

1/4 cup Green Tea. It has healing, and supposedly anti-aging properties and soothes my irritated skin.

2 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar or White Vinegar. A natural astringent for cleansing gunk from your pores, but gentler than the chemical kind.

Favorite moisturizer

Directions:
-Boil water and steep 1/4 cup of green tea. Set aside to cool.

-In a bottle of your choice, add cooled green tea to witch hazel.

-Add tea tree oil and vinegar. Shake well.

-Apply to freshly cleansed face and neck with a cotton pad or clean washcloth. Let dry and apply moisturizer.

-Store in refrigerator. Shake well before each use. Great to remove excess oil throughout the day, after exercise, etc. Normal use would be once or twice a day, but especially at night after cleansing.

My toner made with this recipe. Fresh out of the fridge, shaken up and ready to apply.

I'll be sharing more of my homemade spa recipes in the future. Hope you get to try this! It's economical, all natural and doesn't have any harsh chemicals in it. I'm not an expert, but I have been using my own products for a long time and have loved the results. If you have any questions for recipes for different types of skin or a particular beauty problem, ask me and I'll do my best to find the right combination of ingredients for you. Happy Tuesday, people!