Home Made Facial Cleansers & Toners

Simple but sophisticated homemade facial cleansers/Toners are easy to use, healthy, inexpensive and effective.

The legendary beauty Cleopatra's famed milk baths made her skin soft and supple because milk contains alpha-hydroxy acids (AHAs). AHAs such as those that are found in milk are also found in lemon juice, vinegar, blackberries, grapes, oranges, tomatoes, and apple juice and they exfoliate the skin by dissolving the glue that holds dead skin cells together. They cleanse the top layer of skin, allowing the body's natural emollient oils to reach the surface cells and help moisturize and relieve dryness. They also cleanse oily skin and remove blackheads.

AHA chemical peels of between 20 and 70 percent acidity are available from some doctors, but they are so strong they can leave scars, and the FDA believes that these strong peels could expose the skin to an increased risk of sunburn. The ingredients I mentioned here, such as organic apple cider vinegar, are all-natural AHAs that you can use at home (avoid the eyes), have seven percent acidity, and all are a safe and sure way to get the benefit of fruit acids without danger to the skin (although even at this low level, you should be aware of the increased risk of sunburn).

The benefits of homemade fruit acids become evident as soon as you start using them; your skin starts feeling soft and smooth. To my skin's great benefit I squeeze a lemon once a week and keep its juice in the refrigerator. In the morning, I dab some of the juice on my fingers and pat it onto my face, leave it on for ten minutes or so and then rinse.