Skin is our largest organ, and having the right tools to care for our skin is of paramount importance. Today there are more skin care products than ever before and even more confusion amongst consumers. Caring for our skin need not be difficult or expensive, most of the tools we need are inexpensive and many exist right in our refrigerators and pantries. Here is a list of the top ten skin care tools for keeping your skin in optimum condition!
PH Balanced Cleanser
Our supermarket's and drug store's are filled with every available type of shampoo, soap and face washes. Many consumers are both overwhelmed and broke from trying so many. A quick, cheap and safe alternative is to buy a PH Balanced Cleanser with an alkaline level between 5.5 to 7.5 that can not only wash your hair but your face and body without stripping your skin of any precious moisture, and can also be used to wash your clothes.
Pumice Stone/Loofah
Essential for removing dry skin and calluses, a pumice stone can help keep our hands looking youthful and our feet looking feminine. A natural fibre Loofah is great for scrubbing hard to reach places such as our backs, and the backs of our knee's and acts as a great exfoliating tool. Never buy the man made loofah's their fibre's tend to wear down quickly resulting in scratches and irritation to our skin.
Cotton balls/ Cotton Swabs
Cotton balls are a great tool for not only blending make-up but for removing it as well. Usually bio-degradable they are extremely soft on the skin and cheap to buy; usually $2 for a bag of 100 balls. Cotton swabs work well in both blending eye make-up and using as an acne applicator to target specific blemishes.
Hydrogen Peroxide
Peroxide makes a great cheap facial toner. To make a toner, dilute three tablespoons of peroxide in half a cup of water and store in an airtight container in a cool dry place. Dab an oily skin or individual blemishes with the mixture to quickly absorb oil and dry up blemishes. To restore yellow smoker's fingernails, used peroxide full strength on each individual nail once a day for a week. Th peroxide will gradually bleach out the stains, restoring your finger nails to their original healthy color.
Tea Tree Oil
Available in most large supermarkets and natural health food stores Tea Tree Oil is a great antiseptic. Used full strength on a cotton ball, Tea Tree Oil can help remove unsightly fungus from our finger and toe nails, and disinfect any scratches and scrapes on our skin. To make a facial toner from tea tree oil, mix one tablespoon of oil with three tablespoons of water and dab on oil skin and blemishes. Never use full strength for acne as it can cause more irritations. A large bottle of Tea Tree Oil costs about $10 will last about six months, and is best kept in the refrigerator.
Mineral Oil
Absolutely fabulous for removing make-up, mineral oil works especially well on hard to remove mascara including the water proof variety, without drying out delicate skin around the eyes. This oil also works extremely well in removing hard wax from inside the ears; to do this use an eye dropper full of oil and stuff your ear with a cotton ball for about an hour, when you remove it you will find the wax has adhered itself to the cotton ball.
Olive Oil
Sophia Loren has boasted that Olive Oil is the only face and body moisturiser she has ever used! Extremely absorbent, Olive Oil is fabulous for the delicate skin around the eyes, as well as the face, throat and neck. Olive Oil can also be used as a whole body moisituriser and a large bottle of Virgin Olive Oil costs about $18 and lasts about four months. To keep the oil fresh, make sure to store in the refrigerator.
Petroleum Jelly
Considered an essential beauty tool by the movie stars of the 1940's; Petroleum Jelly has fast been making a comeback as a green beauty tool. If you are in a hurry and don't have time to apply make-up a quick swipe of jelly across your eyebrows will hold them in place for the day, and a little smear over each eyelid will give you a natural glow. Also a fabulous lip protector, Petroleum Jelly will keep lips soft and repair cracks around the mouth, knees, elbows and feet.
Orajel/Tweezers
Orajel isn't just for babies anymore; in fact it is a great tool for tweezing eyebrows. Simply apply a little Orajel to the hairs you wish to pluck and allow five minutes for it to freeze the skin. This will ensure a quick and painless tweeze and prevent redness and puffiness around the eye area. When you purchase eye tweezers, buy the metal ones, and the new plastic tweezers can quickly crack and accumulate bacteria which is harmful to the eye area.
Eye Lash Curler
While our eye lashes are not part of our skin, they are an extension of our eyelids and deserve consideration! There is nothing worse than looking at someone with long, mascara clumped, uncurled lashes. Even if you don't wear mascara do curl your lashes as they act as a barrier for the eyes. The best curlers are the metal ones as they can easily be sanitized with either tea tree oil or hydrogen peroxide. They also last for years, and cost about $5 in any drug store.
Anyone can have beautiful soft clean skin as long as they have the right tools at their disposable. You don't need a lot of money or expensive spa treatments to have great skin, most products we need are environmentally friendly green products that are readily available in our own homes. Let's start using them, a long with a little common sense!