These homemade pore strips are vegan, effective, easy to apply and peel!

Pore strips aren’t the kind of thing you’d think you could go DIY on, but doing so couldn’t be any easier! Regular pore strips that you find at your local pharmacy or beauty shop are packed with all sorts of chemicals that may get the job done but aren’t necessarily doing your skin any long-term favors. Homemade pore strips take the mystery out of unclogging your pores and make for a much healthier alternative to the traditional version. Unlike most homemade recipes for pore strips, which call for egg whites, milk, or gelatin, the following pore strip recipe is vegan and boasts a longer shelf life–about three months.

Keep your pore strips in the refrigerator to ensure optimum freshness, but they are also relatively stable at room temperature. You can switch up the essential oil added to the mix, but try to opt for one that does more than just emit an appealing fragrance and make sure that the oil has natural antibacterial properties. This recipe calls for eucalyptus oil, but other oils you can use include: peppermint, lavender, tea tree oil, bergamot, lemongrass, oregano, thyme, clove, and rosemary.

DIY Pore Strips

Makes about 1 cup

Ingredients

• ¾ cups water
• 1 tablespoon xanthan gum
• 10 drops eucalyptus oil
• Tissues

Directions

Blend all of the ingredients together except for tissue paper and pour into a plastic or glass jar. Use a makeup brush to apply the mixture over areas of your skin with clogged pores (nose, cheeks, chin, etc). Cut tissue paper into pore strip shapes. Place the tissue strips over the area(s) on your face where you placed the solution and brush a thin layer over the top of the tissue to further saturate it.

Let the pore strip dry. This may take up to ten minutes. Gently peel it off. Once peeled, splash face with cold water and apply a soothing essential oil with antibacterial properties over it.

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Girl Applying Pore Strips Image from Shutterstock

The post Yes You Can DIY Pore Strips for Clean, Blemish-Free Skin Naturally appeared first on EcoSalon.

Warmer weather is encroaching and you may realize your facial skin is starting to beg for a different kind of regimen – a lighter moisturizer, less makeup and more sun. The spring and summer seasons call for products that are refreshing, light and breathable. And nothing will put a spring in your spring step quite like a deliciously aromatic face mist.

Fresh out of the shower, with your face’s pores wide open and hungry, a spritz of an all-natural face mist is just what your skin needs to offer an otherwise still-sleeping or sluggish complexion a fresh start. It wakes up your senses and infuses your skin with nutritious and protective ingredients.

The following face mist recipe is packed with skin-boosting ingredients that will refresh both your skin’s appearance and your overall mood. Cucumber is a natural tonic that has phytochemical and therapeutic potential. It eliminates toxins, moisturizes and infuses the skin with antioxidants. The aloe vera improves skin hydration while the witch hazel fights inflammation, which is associated with acne.

All you need are a handful of ingredients that you can find at your local pharmacy or health shop. You will want to store the face mist in a 4-ounce spray bottle, preferably made of glass. Carry the bottle around with you throughout the day so you can always have the option of a pick-me-up spritz. I like to store my face mist in the fridge overnight so that when I spray my face in the morning, after cleansing, the experience is far more refreshing and cooling.

Cucumber Face Mist

Makes one 4-ounce bottle

Ingredients

• 1 small cucumber
• 1/3 cup distilled water
• 1 teaspoon aloe vera
• 1 teaspoon witch hazel
• 4-ounce glass spray bottle

Directions: Juice the cucumber and pour the juice into the spray bottle along with the remaining ingredients. Shake and mist away!

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Photo Credit: Stacy Spensley

The post Spring Beauty Skincare Recipe: DIY Cucumber Face Mist appeared first on EcoSalon.