I had found wild Plantain and Chamomile upon a summer's walk in the city's urban park, called Fish Creek Park here in Calgary, Alberta. I had found quite a bit growing all over actually but I only took what I needed and picked a handful of each and brought it home to clean. I washed it really well, blended it up and made a great facial mask with the natural and wild herbs.
I am telling you this facial works crazy good. My skin was more refreshed and soft afterwards than it has ever been from any commercial store-bought facial or even some professional salon ones. I kind of winged it though, but seen both herbs can be used for helping the skin. Plantain is useful for irritated skin and Chamomile is also good for its calming properties. Plantain can be used to stop the itch from bug bites,by boiling the leaves in some water and then cooling the mixture, and using the leaves to sop up the water, and place it on the bug bite.
Knowing that, I just wanted to collect some anyways, but then I found the Chamomile.... and I got to thinking.........uh oh. :) Yes, I as I did have some wild herbal knowledge and I recently took Applied Botany, but am by no means trained at combining herbs..... I thought I might formulate a DIY facial mask. This really is my own personal blend and I tested this only on myself, when it was fresh and then I bottled the rest in small recycled glass and sterilized containers. I put those jars in the freezer to use at another time. I hope the consistency remains the same and the mixture's efficacy is held up in a frozen environment.
Now I usually don't like to read a recipe that is drawn out or long, on blos or website alike, super wordy and I'm out. So just to TRY to make this easy here are the quick steps: I used my new blender (Oster) and chopped up the herbs finely. I added some other ingredients such as alkaline water and rosewater. I used what I had on hand and that would help to make the herbal ingredients bind or be absorbed into the skin. That's the short end of it.
So, mostly I eyeballed it, so meaning if the mixture didn't seem like it could be smoothed onto my face just yet, I whipped it in the blender a little more or added a touch more liquid(s). The end product smelled quite nice and is a little creamy. I think I could find another way to whip it better, but I was truly impressed with my finished product. Not only did it smell good, but it really hydrated my skin, and I plan to use it in the winter when my skin is dry and irritated. I hope it gives me a refreshed spa facial when I need it most!
So, I recommend you consult the experts if you have no prior knowledge to herbs or plants and if you are new to using something you never have in your life, you may or may not be allergic. This is somewhat of a disclaimer just in case and you are on your own if you make ANYTHING even with a partial idea you got from here, and then stuff goes wrong. Also/perhaps you could write me a line back letting me know if you made something that works, and what you did! Not all wild herbs are the same so always do a patch test on your particular type of skin too. DIY facial masks can be a great and inexpensive alternative to chemical-laden store bought ones. Enjoy!
UPDATE: If you found this post, and got this far in reading then you may be interested to know a quick update as of December 2015. You will see that is over a year later since my original post, so you will know I stuck to using this "home-made DIY" product afterwards. I did end up taking out a small bottle or container from the freezer and un-thawed it, and used it on my face when I needed some skin therapy and brightening. It did not keep the same consistency and was runnier after it thawed out. So that said, it was a little more difficult to keep on my face and also seemed it didn't work as well. I am not sure if it would change if it was sealed somehow or kept preserved another way. I still did see good results, just not as miraculous as when this formula is fresh. Yay to you if you did try a DIY home facial!
I am telling you this facial works crazy good. My skin was more refreshed and soft afterwards than it has ever been from any commercial store-bought facial or even some professional salon ones. I kind of winged it though, but seen both herbs can be used for helping the skin. Plantain is useful for irritated skin and Chamomile is also good for its calming properties. Plantain can be used to stop the itch from bug bites,by boiling the leaves in some water and then cooling the mixture, and using the leaves to sop up the water, and place it on the bug bite.
Knowing that, I just wanted to collect some anyways, but then I found the Chamomile.... and I got to thinking.........uh oh. :) Yes, I as I did have some wild herbal knowledge and I recently took Applied Botany, but am by no means trained at combining herbs..... I thought I might formulate a DIY facial mask. This really is my own personal blend and I tested this only on myself, when it was fresh and then I bottled the rest in small recycled glass and sterilized containers. I put those jars in the freezer to use at another time. I hope the consistency remains the same and the mixture's efficacy is held up in a frozen environment.
Now I usually don't like to read a recipe that is drawn out or long, on blos or website alike, super wordy and I'm out. So just to TRY to make this easy here are the quick steps: I used my new blender (Oster) and chopped up the herbs finely. I added some other ingredients such as alkaline water and rosewater. I used what I had on hand and that would help to make the herbal ingredients bind or be absorbed into the skin. That's the short end of it.
So, mostly I eyeballed it, so meaning if the mixture didn't seem like it could be smoothed onto my face just yet, I whipped it in the blender a little more or added a touch more liquid(s). The end product smelled quite nice and is a little creamy. I think I could find another way to whip it better, but I was truly impressed with my finished product. Not only did it smell good, but it really hydrated my skin, and I plan to use it in the winter when my skin is dry and irritated. I hope it gives me a refreshed spa facial when I need it most!
So, I recommend you consult the experts if you have no prior knowledge to herbs or plants and if you are new to using something you never have in your life, you may or may not be allergic. This is somewhat of a disclaimer just in case and you are on your own if you make ANYTHING even with a partial idea you got from here, and then stuff goes wrong. Also/perhaps you could write me a line back letting me know if you made something that works, and what you did! Not all wild herbs are the same so always do a patch test on your particular type of skin too. DIY facial masks can be a great and inexpensive alternative to chemical-laden store bought ones. Enjoy!
UPDATE: If you found this post, and got this far in reading then you may be interested to know a quick update as of December 2015. You will see that is over a year later since my original post, so you will know I stuck to using this "home-made DIY" product afterwards. I did end up taking out a small bottle or container from the freezer and un-thawed it, and used it on my face when I needed some skin therapy and brightening. It did not keep the same consistency and was runnier after it thawed out. So that said, it was a little more difficult to keep on my face and also seemed it didn't work as well. I am not sure if it would change if it was sealed somehow or kept preserved another way. I still did see good results, just not as miraculous as when this formula is fresh. Yay to you if you did try a DIY home facial!
No comments:
Post a Comment