One thing I learn from the pandemic is that being zero waste enthusiast and knowing a lot of DIY comes quite handy when you need to stay home and not every services and stores are open. I have to say my self-care and beauty routine has not changed because of the pandemic.
I use beauty salons from time to time and get an occasional facial but pandemic or not pandemic most of my self-care and beauty routine happens at home by me. From taking care of my skin, coloring my roots, doing my nails to shaping my eyebrows.
I’m just one to those people who like to learn things to do themselves. And that came quite handy in the pandemic both for me and my daughter. The other day she proudly called me an essential oil mom. I had no idea there was a term for it. But she is right I’m an essential oil mom, I’ve got some sort of home remedy for almost anything and everything. I also make a lot of my own beauty products, from lip balm to sunscreen and serums.
I did tap into making my own sunscreen around 9 years ago when my daughter developed a skin sensitivity to the combination of sunscreen and chlorine. We still don’t know exactly what is she allergic to but I know if she puts store-bought sunscreen and goes to the pool, she gets a skin reaction that stays with her for days. What I learned soon is that she is not alone a lot of kids are just like that they are sensitive to the chemical reaction of chlorine and one of the ingredients in the sunscreen. So I make my own and solved the problem.
Since sunny days are coming I thought sharing my recipe would help. Now I had made two different types of sunscreen one that is like a cream and another one that is a serum. I like the serum kind better it is moisturizing can apply better but needs to be applied more often.
Sun Protection Face Serum
A lot of essential oils provide UVA and UVB protection. Among them are Raspberry Seed Oil, Carrot Seed Oil, Jojoba Oil and Coconut oil. There are many more that you can research about but these are the ones I tried and used. Not only they have sun protection quality some also have vitamins and fatty acids that have anti-ageing and anti-inflammatory qualities.
Here is the recipe for my Everyday Face serum that has some sun protection
- Jojoba Oil, 15ml
It resembles the skin natural sebum and absorbs well into the skin. This quality makes this oil the perfect carrier oil for mixing and diluting any essential oil. It is rich in Vit A + E effectively treats bruises, psoriasis, sunburn and chapped dry skin. Jojoba contains anti-inflammatory Myristic acid with SPF 4.
- Raspberry Seed Oil 30 drops
This oil is rich in omega 3 + 6 fatty acids and antioxidants. It offers UVA and UVB sun protection and is similar to titanium dioxide protection, found in most mineral sunscreens. In addition to providing SPF 8 UVA and SPF 28-50 UVB protection, it also helps heal eczema and psoriasis as well as prevents stretch marks.
- Tea Tree Oil 20 drops
Tea Tree Oil has anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. It helps with acne and itchy skin. I use this to keep our face as clean as possible. My teens use this serum and so far had minimum acne on their face.
- Lavender oil 20 drops
It has inflammatory properties and it’s soothing to the skin
- Rosehip oil 30 drops
This oil is packed with anti-inflammatory fatty acids and vitamins A and C. It has anti-ageing properties and firms the skin.
Use a 30 ml glass bottle preferably dark color. Your essential oil serum will preserve it’s the quality better if it’s in a dark bottle and away from light. And remember never store essential oils in a plastic bottle, plastic can leach into the oil the combination is not healthy.
Working with essential oils is both fun and dangerous. You can get severe skin reactions or even skin burn if you use too much and undiluted oil. Like anything else you need to do a patch test on your skin to make sure they work with you.
If you are trying any oil or a combination of them for the first time I suggest trying in smaller doses and in single oil and gradually increase the dose and add other oils to make sure you don’t have a reaction to them. Safety comes first.
Both my daughter and I use this serum daily, sometime a few times a day depending on if we were in the sun or not. It feels great on our skin and I feel my skin is firmer and brighter than before.
Hope you enjoy this simple skin serum.
