I always wondered why men's skin a lot of the time looked healthier than women's, especially since a lot of men don't have a skin care routine. I did a lot of research in my early 20s and found out that a lot of the skin care products on the market are full of harmful chemicals that actually age our skin more! It was eye opening for me. The products that claim they are providing you with protection and more youthful skin was actually doing the opposite. Then, we end up buying more of the stuff thinking we are helping!
Luckily, there are more products on the market now that have less of these chemicals, but you have to know what you are looking for in order to find them. I do the best I can when it comes to reading what ingredients are in my products, but terms like "fragrance" or "natural ingredients" are misleading and a lot of chemicals can slip into the category without being specifically called out on the label. One website that has been helpful for identifying some of these chemicals is the Environmental Working Group site. The other way you can make sure you know exactly what is going on your skin is to make your own.
Everyone's skin is different so some oils work well for some and not for others. I have combination skin that is a little more oily in my T zone and can be normal to drier in the winter in the other areas of my face. It was some trial and error with the oils, but I tested oils that are known to work with most skin types. I first tried Argan oil in this recipe which works wonderful for most people. It didn't do well with my skin. Whether is was the oil itself or the quality of the oil (I have since gotten much better quality oils than when I first started. See Mountain Rose Herbs for quality oils), I opted to switch to Jojoba oil and it works wonderfully for me. Jojoba mimics the natural oils your skin already produces, which in turn actually lessens the amount your skin has to make so your skin is less oily (hooray!). Then I added a couple of wonderful anti-aging oils and essential oils and it produced an awesome face serum that I have been using for years now. My skin looks and feels wonderful.
The carrot seed oil in the recipe adds a natural SPF to the serum, however, I do add an extra moisturizer with SPF on top of the serum for added protection. My recommendation for a safe commercially produced moisturizer with SPF is Paula's Choice Wrinkle Defense Moisturizer.
Note: Any new product you put on your face will take you around 4-6 weeks to know whether or not it is working for you. That is because of the cell turnaround time on our face.
Ingredients:
1 tbsp Rosehip Seed Oil
1/2 tbsp Jojoba Oil
1/2 tbsp Pomegranate Seed Oil
5-10 drops Vitamin E Oil
10 drops Lavender Essential Oil
3 drops Frankincense Essential Oil
2 drops Carrot Seed Essential Oil
Combine in a colored glass 30ml bottle with dropper lid. Shake to combine.
Use about 4 drops to a lightly damp face and a couple drops to the neck. (I put Thayers Alcohol-Free Rose Petal Witch Hazel Facial Toner with Aloe Vera in a small glass spray bottle to spritz my face before application)
Note: Make sure you get essential oils from a reputable company otherwise they may be fake or processed with harmful chemicals. Some examples of reputable companies are Mountain Rose Herbs, DoTerra, and Young Living.