My first attempt at making natural skin care

[Not a sponsored post]

Whoops, where has May gone? It’s been really quiet here these past three weeks or so!

The weather has been dreadful in the first couple of weeks of May - very untypical for Denmark, where May is usually a month you can count on for some sun and warmer temperatures. Somehow, despite the lack of summer weather, I’ve kept quite busy - seems like time really has flown, and I simply haven’t found a free minute to update the blog.

But here I am, with a bit of a different post this time! I’m by no means a skin care expert, and it’s never been much of a topic for me. Recently, as with many other things - food, clothes - I’ve been more mindful about what I buy. I started focusing on organic and more natural skin care, mainly from sustainable brands; the kind you find in health food stores or at Isangs. I follow a few people on Instagram who make their own skin care, and I got intrigued and decided to give it a try myself.

I already knew Danish brand Urtegaarden from health food stores like Helsam or Helsemin, and I had bought some of their products before. But I wasn’t aware that their assortment includes the “raw ingredients” to make your own skin care, hair products, and even candy!

They also have recipes for various products ready on the website, and I browsed around a bit and found one that didn’t seem too complicated: a skin tonic with ylang ylang essential oil.

The ingredients and recipe were pretty straightforward: aloe vera juice (good for skin regeneration), isopropanol (an alcohol that helps dissolve essential oils in other liquids), and a few drops of ylang ylang oil - an essential oil with a lovely exotic scent (it’s used in Chanel No 5!). It is also said to regulate sebum production and have antiseptic properties.

Apart from the aloe vera juice, which contains a few stabilizers (E numbers), the other ingredients are 100% pure, and organic as well.

I went a little bit off script and also added a few drops of Urtegaarden’s essential oil mix for clearer skin, which contains thyme, lavender, tea tree, and sage. My skin tends on the oilier side and is prone to breakouts, so I thought this couldn’t hurt.

The approach is super simple, too:

• Warm aloe vera juice until it reaches 30 degrees Celsius
• Mix the alcohol and essential oils
• Take the aloe vera juice off the heat and mix in the oil-alcohol mixture
• Fill into bottles and let cool

According to the recipe, these can be kept for up to 2 years. I’ve been using this tonic for about a week now, twice a day after cleansing my face and before applying mosturizer or night cream.

So far, I’ve been really happy with the skin tonic, but of course I’ll have to use it for a bit longer to give a full verdict.

Have you ever tried making your own skin care or hair care products? If you have any great recipes, share them in the comments!