Clean Living; DIY Face Wash & Cleanser

My newest Clean Living product is my favorite one I've made so far. Not only does it smell so so wonderful, and works so well. I have always used Proactiv Face Cleanser (the one with Benzoyl Peroxide), but looking at the ingredients more than 7 landed on the cosmetics dirty dozen. So no thank you to that. After looking around for a facial cleanser that could lightly exfoliate, clean off makeup, sweat, dirt, prevent acne, maybe some anti aging benefits thrown in, etc. I finally found the perfect one at Kinsey's blog. This cleanser is really perfect because Oats and Cranberries and Coconut Oil and Orange Peel all have amazing skincare benefits. Here is how to make your own;

Ingredients;

1/2 cup of Oatmeal

1/3 cup of Cranberries (frozen or fresh)

Dried Orange Peel from 1/2 of an Organic Orange

2 tbsp Coconut Oil

How To;

-Peel one organic orange, and scrape off most of the white pith on the peel. Cut your peel into strips. To dry, put in an oven or toaster oven at 150 for 20 minutes, or however long it takes for them to crisp. Your orange needs to be organic, because otherwise you will be rubbing your face with pesticides and chemicals (sort of would defeat the purpose of a clean living product..).

-This time of year, fresh cranberries are not readily available, but frozen ones are. Either way works! I used frozen, but come fall I will make the switch to fresh!

-Using a food processor (I'm sure a good blender would work as well!) blend all of your ingredients. You will want to do the orange peel first, as well as the cranberries if you are using frozen. This is because these are thicker substances.

-Once blended transfer the paste to a container with a lid. A jar with a large opening (so your hand fits) works best.

-To use this take a small bit and massage onto your skin as you would any other facial cleanser. Rinse with water.

I have fairly normal skin, dry if I don't moisturize, not too oily, I hardly ever get acne spots (if I do it is only one spot at a time). I luckily have not had a single breakout this summer. Not one. This is much due to the fact that the air in the mountains of Maine is so clean (especially compared to Boston, where I spend the rest of my year), I have been fairly stress free, and because of this cleanser. It doesn't irritate and it leaves your skin looking healthy and glowing. I wash my face with this every morning and every night.

Also, remember my Rose Water as Toner post? After using it for a week I loved it so much, so I made a few jars more to freeze and use later on. Rose water freezes wonderfully (to a beautiful pink color!), just make sure to freeze in a wide mouth jar to avoid the glass cracking. If you have any Clean Living recipes and tricks you use, I'd love to know them!

xo, Stay Infinite