Cruelty Free Vegan Budget Facial

My beauty challenge has always been dry skin. How to slough off dead skin cells without turning my face into the Sahara desert? And how to moisturize without having to reapply a layer of expensive lotion every few hours?

The answer to my questions came from an 85-year-old Frenchwoman named Odette, who was my landlady in my last year of college. When I asked her how she managed to retain her beautiful complexion, she told me her secret. And now I’d like to share it with you.

For this beauty regimen, you’ll be using food items from your kitchen to create toner, moisturizer, and exfoliating scrub. I’ve used this system for years and as a result of spending next to nothing on basic skin care, I’ve been able to deploy my budgeted cosmetic dollars on makeup and hair care instead. If you have oily skin, the moisturizing part of this regimen probably won’t work for you, but the exfoliating and toning parts will pose no problem.

The ingredients you’ll need are simple:

• Organic oatmeal
• Extra virgin olive oil
• White vinegar
• A bar of your favorite cruelty-free face soap

Other equipment:

• Coffee grinder
• Empty jars and bottles
• Cotton balls

Olive Oil Moisturizer

Odette’s moisturizing secret was pure olive oil. If you have dry skin, you’ll love the deep moisturizing quality of extra virgin olive oil. I’ll show you how to use it so that there is no oily residue, and you won’t smell like a salad bowl, either.

Step #1: Pour olive oil into the recycled bottle of your choice.

Toner

Toner restores the protective “acid mantle” that deters bacteria and viruses.

Step #2: In a measuring cup, add 1 teaspoon white vinegar to ½ cup of water, and then pour it into an (empty, clean) bottle.

Daily Beauty Regimen

• Wash your face and neck with cruelty-free soap
• Rinse with cool water and pat dry
• Soak a cotton ball with toner and apply to your face and neck. Let it dry.
• Pour olive oil into your palm and rub your hands together. Apply liberally to your face and neck.
• Lather up your hands with face soap, then spread the lather on top of the olive oil.
• Rinse thoroughly with cool water.

Voila! You have just experienced Odette’s deep moisturizing technique. Now for the exfoliating part of the program. If your skin looks dull, feels rough, or is very oily, you can do an oatmeal scrub every day. For dry or sensitive skin, you may want to limit it to once per week. However, oatmeal “milk” can be applied daily with no detrimental side effects. Just soak the oatmeal, strain off the solids, and apply the liquid to your face.

Oatmeal Scrub

Oatmeal has a softening effect on the skin.

Step #3: Fill a coffee grinder with organic oatmeal, and grind it to a fine powder. Pour it into your favorite glass jar.

Weekly Exfoliating Treatment

Shake a tablespoon of oatmeal scrub into your wet palms. Add enough cool tap water to make a soupy paste. You don’t want it to be too thick, because it will tug at your skin as you smear it on. Let it dry (about 5 minutes). Rinse it off with cool water. Apply toner, olive oil and soap as described above.

On the days when you do the entire regimen: toner, olive oil moisturizer, and oatmeal scrub, you won’t believe how soft to the touch your skin feels afterward. And you’ll have the rosy cheeks and healthy glow usually associated with milkmaids and Renoir portraits.

Enjoy!

Penelope

Guest Article By: Penelope Smith, a freelance writer who enjoys sharing tips on a variety of topics, including beauty, nutrition and dieting. She helps her readers save money with an ediets coupon code discount and an ediets promo code discount. She is currently contributing to a coupon site that offers both a diets to go coupon code and a diettogo coupon code.