100 ORGANIC
SKIN CARE
RECIPES
Make Your Own Fresh and Fabulous Organic Beauty Products
JESSICA RESS
Founder of
Avon, Massachusetts
INTRODUCTION
Do you want to slather your lips with an edible Chocolate Lip Scrub? Lay in the bathtub and drift away on the clean scent of an Invigorating Ginger Citrus Body Wash? Wrap yourself in the luxury of a Glowing Goddess Face and Body Mask?
Throughout 100 Organic Skincare Recipes, youll find amazing skincare products that will take your skinand your mind, body, and spiritto places theyve never been before. Filled with all-natural ingredients like fresh herbs, flowers, honey, shea butter, or a unique essential oil blend ( you will find facial care treatment plans to help you create a natural beauty routine thats perfect for your unique skin type.
These recipesfrom the Layered Lavender Flower Water to the Lemon Poppy Seed Scrubare inspired by the simple things in life that make you feel alive. The gorgeous flowers blooming in the garden. The fresh and tangy scent of fresh fruit. A softly scented breeze. Nature provides an amazing world full of divinely decadent and infinitely therapeutic ingredients for you to create these exquisite spa products. Each recipe is organic, natural, and chemical-free. Because why would you put something on your body that you wouldnt put in it?
Each one of these replenishing products is special and unique, and they are deceptively easy to createwhich means they make impressive gifts for holidays, birthdays, or any other special occasion. You can make these skincare recipes in your own kitchen with the tools and ingredients you have on hand. Most of the ingredients can be found at the natural food store or farmers market. There are a few specialty ingredients or types of packaging that are easily found online with a quick Internet search.
I formulate these gorgeous recipes with love. Its simply what I do. I hope that shows. And I hope you will love discovering these creations as much as I enjoyed putting them together for you. I created space for you to add your personal touches with decorative packaging, layering scents, and dreaming up fabulous ways to plan an absolutely divine Home Spa Day. I humbly suggest that you make these recipes with focused healing intention and lots of love. Those two little things are my secret and favorite ingredients and I include them in all of my recipes.
May your skin glow like the petals of a flower and smell as sweet
xoxo
SpaGoddess
CHAPTER 1
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SKIN CARE
Have you ever not washed your face before bed and awakened to a bunch of little pimples? Probably. Have you ever eaten a bunch of French fries, chocolate, or junk food and had your skin erupt in an epic breakout in the next day or two? Who hasnt! The relationship between your skin and your body is symbiotic, mutually reliant, and interdependent. Its important to realize that the foundation for healthy, radiant skin starts on the inside.
Your skin is the largest and fastest-growing organ of your body and accounts for 6 to 10 percent of your body weight. All of your cells require good nutrition, proper hydration, oxygenation, and detoxification to thrive. What you put on your skin is just as important as what you put in your body. With this in mind, healthy skin can be achieved by making positive, well-considered choices in relation to your mind, body, and spirit. In addition to your skincare regimen, you want to pay attention to additional factors that can contribute to healthy skin, including:
- Sun exposure
- Eating habits
- Hydration
- Exercise
- Environmental pollutants, and more
All of these factors combine with your genetic makeup and overall wellness to comprise the health of your skin. And while skincare products can help combat and correct some of the inherent issues and skin conditions, it is best to think of healthy skin holistically, as part of a completely healthy you. After all, a healthy you is a happy you. Keeping that in mind, lets take a look at the simple things that make the recipes in this book decadent, healthy, and inspiring!
Fresh Ingredients
Throughout the book, you will find many recipes that call for fresh fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers. Just like the food you eat, these natural skincare ingredients are best used when fresh. Fresh ingredients are at their peak of vitality, and plants that are picked at their peak and used immediately will contribute their nutrient-rich vitality to the recipe. Youll also find superfoods in quite a few of the skincare recipes due to their high concentrations of vital phytonutrients that greatly benefit your skin. But no matter which recipe you make, remember that fresh is best!
Make the Right Size
Youll find both single use and large batch recipes throughout the book. Most of the single use recipes are made with fresh, perishable skin food ingredients and are intended to be used immediately. The larger batch recipes can be made ahead of time and used in your daily facial care routines and weekly home spa rituals. Youll also find a variety of recipes that make multiples, such as the Bath Fizzies and Body Butter Bars that you can creatively package as party favors and gorgeous handmade gifts for your loved ones.
Natural and Organic
For me, organic is a lifestyle. My skincare company, Angel Face Botanicals, was founded on organic principles. My main goal when I started my skincare company was to offer consumers highly effective, ultra-luxurious botanically based products with incredible natural scents. The recipes youll find throughout this book allow you to create your own natural and deliciously scented products in your own home. So, when shopping for the ingredients, keep the quality of the final product in mind. Your creation will only be organic if the raw materials you source are organic. Unfortunately, if the ingredient isnt organic, then you can almost guarantee that it was grown with synthetic fertilizers and pesticides and/or is a genetically modified ingredient. I make conscious choices to limit my exposure to manmade chemicals in our environment, and I encourage you to do the same. I am a firm believer in the benefits of organic farming for our food and water supply, for our skincare products, and for the overall health and well-being of our planet Earth and all of her inhabitants.
Aromatherapy and Herbal Skin Care
Many of the skincare recipes in the book will benefit all skin types, and others are intended for specific skin types and conditions. You many wonder how the same facial cleanser could benefit dry, maturing skin and also be good for oily, acne-prone skin. Well, many botanical ingredients are adaptogens, or balancers. This means that, as the plant substance makes its way through the bloodstream, it attends to the specific needs of the individual person. For example, a product can be either calming or stimulating depending on the person who uses it. While this concept is not widely accepted in Western medical philosophy, it has been effectively employed for thousands of years in traditional Chinese medicine, as well as Ayurvedic medicine, which has a similar concept called rasayana. Additionally, all skin types benefit from increased cellular health and regeneration. Many of the skincare preparations included in this book are formulated as tonic skin conditioners to promote vitality and support balanced oil production in all skin types.