Post from: beautytips4her.com
Do you use toner as part of your beauty routine? Many people skip toner, but you may not realize how important toner is to your beauty routine. In fact, with a quality toner, you can use toner instead of cleanser on your face to save some time – it works well as a face wash. Of course, you need the right toner if you’re going to use it as a cleanser and a DIY apple cider vinegar and green toner offers the perfect option.
Are Toners a Must?
Many of the popular facial cleansers happen to be alkaline. However, skin usually does better when it is just a bit acidic (around 4.7 pH). In fact, skin doesn’t just look better when a bit acidic, but studies show that it loses less water when a bit acidic as well.
If you don’t believe the research, try this yourself. Try using your cleanser for a few days without using a toner and see how your skin reacts. Then, use a toner after your cleanser for a few days and note the difference. It will probably convince you of the benefits of using a toner. However, you don’t want to use a toner that is extremely acidic, since skin that is too acidic can result in problems as well.
When making your own toner with apple cider vinegar, it’s essential to get the right proportion of the vinegar to make sure it isn’t too acidic. It’s best to use about a seven to one ratio of dilution when making your apple cider toner. It’s acidic enough to turn alkaline skin just a bit acidic and you won’t have to worry about making skin too acidic.
Adding the Right Essential Oils
Of course, it’s nice to add some essential oils to your toner. The right essential oils not only smell wonderful, but they can help to improve skin health as well.
- For those with dry skin, sandalwood oil offers a nourishing option to add to your toner.
- Lavender is wonderful for sensitive skin and combination skin, working to soothe skin.
- If you have oily skin, thyme works well and helps to prevent breakouts. However, you shouldn’t use it if you’re pregnant and it can irritate some skin, so test on skin before using.
Making Your Own Toner
- 1 tablespoon green tea, matcha if possible (or you can use distilled water)
- apple cider vinegar ( raw, un-pasteurised )
- ½ cup boiling water
- 12 drops sandalwood, lavender or thyme essential oil (optional*)
- 4 fl oz or 125 ml sterile or very clean spray bottle
- Start by placing the green tea in a mug and then cover it with the boiling water. Allow the tea to steep for about 30 minutes. (just skip this part if you are using distilled water).
- Once the tea is cool, strain it and add seven tablespoons of the tea in the spray bottle. Then, add the essential oil drops and the apple cider vinegar to the bottle. (1:1 ratio if you are on the oily side).
- Shake gently to mix. Write the date and ingredients on the bottle. Never use this toner for more than three months and you may even want to mix up a new batch each month for the best results from your ingredients.
For sensitive skin: Mix 1 part apple cider vinegar with 4 parts green tea / distilled water
For normal skin: Mix 1 part apple cider vinegar with 2 parts green tea / distilled water
For oily skin: Mix 1 part apple cider vinegar with 1 green tea part / distilled water
Special note: No matter what your skin type is, do a patch test on your skin to see how it reacts with the “sensitive skin” ratio. I also recommend using this ratio FIRST before increasing the amount of apple cider vinegar you use.
Don’t be afraid to experiment with the ratio to find whats best for you skin. Overtime, if you feel the solution seems to be too “weak” – slowly increase the ratio of apple cider vinegar to green tea water. Do not increase more than a 1:1 ratio of apple cider vinegar to water.
You can store this in a glass container and apply it topically with a cotton square, or you can store it in a spray bottle and use it to freshen your skin throughout the day. Do not rinse it off after use.
Kick it up a notch: Brew your favorite organic herbal tea (example: matcha green tea) and use it in place of distilled water. (I recommend you keep your toner in the refrigerator if you go with this option!)
Kick it up another notch: Add a hydrosol to make the experience a more nourishing one (1/2 – 1 tsp for every 8oz). You can also add a 2-3 drops (per 8oz) of tea tree essential oil for additional anti-inflammatory benefits, or lavender essential oil for a more aromatic, soothing experience.
Why These Ingredients
Apple Cider Vinegar: You may be wondering why you should use these ingredients. Well, both apple cider vinegar and green tea offer some excellent benefits to your skin. First, alpha hydroxyl acids are found in apple cider vinegar, which work to slough away dead skin cells, giving you a brighter, younger looking complexion. The apple cider vinegar also helps to encourage the growth of good bacteria, which keeps skin healthy.
This means it’s important to use the real deal vinegar with its mother (the cloudy plume at the bottom of the bottle) intact. To keep the mother load, the vinegar is made by fermenting the sugars in pressed apple juice without heating, filtering or pasteurising.
Green tea
While apple cider vinegar offers plenty of great skin benefits, you’ll also find that green tea offers some great skin benefits as well. Green tea includes polyphenols, which are excellent anti-inflammatories and they are also great antioxidants that help to fight free radicals. Free radicals accelerate aging, so since green tea helps to fight free radicals, it is effective at preventing the signs of aging. Keep in mind, some research is showing that green tea may effectively help to reduce the risk of skin cancer caused by UV rays, just another great reason to add it to skin care products.
