Rejuvenate your skin with a homemade facial

For renewed, refreshed, gorgeous skin, treat yourself to a DIY facial. From a facial scrub to a mask perfect for your skin type, you’ll find all the ingredients you need in your pantry. Try it and you may never want to pay for one again.

Prep Your Face

Pull or your hair back from your face, and wear a comfy t-shirt that you don’t mind getting dirty.

• Cleanse

Any facial should start with cleansing your face, so wash away any makeup, sweat and dirt with cleanser. Wet your face with warm water and apply the cleanser in gentle, circular motions. Rinse off with warm water. To make your own cleanser, use almond, olive or jojoba oil and then wipe off with a warm damp towel.

• Exfoliate

Exfoliate your skin by applying a scrub in gentle, circular motions. This removes dead skin, revealing fresh skin beneath. To make your own scrub to suit your skin type:

• Oily skin: mix 1 tsp water, 1 tsp sugar and 1 tsp honey
• Normal skin: mix 1 tsp milk, 1 tsp honey and 1 tsp ground oatmeal
• Dry skin: mix 1 tsp olive oil, 1 tsp honey and 1 tsp ground almonds
• Rinse

Rinse off all the scrub with lukewarm water. Pat dry with a soft towel.

• Massage

To leave your skin looking refreshed and to relieve stress, boost circulation, and combat puffiness and wrinkles, give yourself a facial massage. Move your fingertips in a circular motion on the cheeks, forehead and eye area.

Steam

Steaming opens up the skin’s pores and let impurities out, leaving your face feeling healthy. Here’s how to do it:

• In a small pot, heat water to simmering point and pour the water into a large, open bowl.
• Place your face over the bowl with a towel draped over both your head and the bowl, to concentrate the steam around your skin. Your face should be close enough to the steaming water to feel it massaging your face, but not so close that your skin feels like it’s burning or you’re having trouble breathing.
• Steam for 3-5 minutes.

Tip: for an herbal steam, add peppermint extract or 5 drops of lavender essential oils to the water. Alternatively, add mint or chamomile teabags.

Mask

A facial mask also draws out impurities from the pores, and a homemade one can be just as effective as a store-bought one – if not more so.

• Select the recipe that suits your skin type:
• Oily skin: mix 1 tsp of cosmetic clay and 1 TBS of honey
• Normal skin: mix 1 TBS of yogurt and 1 TBS of honey
• Dry skin: mix 1/2 a mashed banana with 1 TBS honey

• Smooth the mask over your skin and let it sit for at least 20 minutes to fully nourish the skin.
• Meanwhile, close your eyes and place slices of cucumber on your lids for 5 minutes, to reduce puffiness.
• For chapped lips, gently scrub dead skin away with a toothbrush and apply lip balm.
• Moisturize your neck from the chest up to the chin.
• Rinse off the mask with warm water. Pat dry and your skin will be glowing.

Tone

To close your open pores and make your skin look younger and brighter, splash toner on your face and allow it to soak in before wiping away excess. To make your own toner, mix 1 tsp of cool water with 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar, witch hazel and rosewater.

Moisturize

To complete your facial and prevent your skin from feeling dry, use your favorite moisturizer, or make your own according to your skin type:  

• Oily skin: aloe or jojoba oil
• Normal skin: almond or olive oil
• Dry skin: argan or coconut oil

Now that you’re all done, your skin should be glowing and feeling refreshed. Note: after a facial, your skin may feel sensitive, so wait a few hours before you apply makeup or other products.

Enjoy the effects of the facial for as long as you can!