Save Big Money with These Easy Homemade Skin Care Recipes

Homemade skin care recipes are a dime a dozen. Affordable homemade skin care recipes are another beast altogether. For an affordable spa getaway that doesn’t require you to leave home, try these four cruelty-free mixtures on for size.

After-Shower Body Mist

In an empty spray mist bottle, mix one part witch hazel to one part water. Add in up to a half part olive oil and several dashes of your favorite essential oil or flavor extract. Seal the bottle and shake well before using. I like to spray this on right after the shower and rub it into the skin on my legs, arms and torso before drying off. I find I need way less lotion this way. If you and your spouse both want to use this mist and you don’t feel like making a double batch, consider a unisex scent like orange, ginger or grapefruit.

Moisturizing Balm

The easiest night balm in my book is to mix a high-quality vegetable shortening with a few shakes of soothing peppermint oil. I found the easiest way to do this is to melt the shortening first before adding the scented oil. Then I pour it into my container of choice and put it in the fridge to solidify. A little of this lasts a long while, and can be added to your nail care routine as a cuticle treatment, used to moisturize heels and elbows and even as a lip moisturizer before you go to bed.

The batch I’m currently using up cost me roughly twenty-five cents to make and has been going strong for a few years now. If you want to take it up a notch and still stay on budget, consider the organic coconut oil shortening by Spectrum. I get mine at Whole Foods, but it’s available online as well.

Sugar Scrub

Using a short, somewhat flat container for easy scooping, fill up to three quarters of the way full with raw sugar. Add enough olive or soy oil into the sugar to reach the top of the pile, followed by a dash or three of your chosen essential oil. Mix up with a wooden craft stick or spoon and store in the shower. Because this particular skin care recipe always gets used in a rather slippery zone, I recommend a plastic container to avoid shattering.

Scented Oil

If you prefer something closer to baby oil than an after-shower mist, try making your own scented oil to spread on your legs and other typically dry body areas prior to drying off. Basically, you take an empty squirt bottle and fill nearly to the top with olive oil. Then you add your special scent. Lavender’s fun, or you can coordinate all of your homemade skin care recipes to have the same scent if you want. Seal, shake and use. That’s really all there is to it.

In addition to being cruelty free, these particular skin care recipes can also be easily prepared with the spoils of your next organic food shopping session. Organic skin care can cost big bucks if you purchase the products already made. But making them yourself and you can easily pay less than you would for a bargain conventional brand.