Face Finesse

In this page,  see recipes for:
Homemade Aromatherapy Facial Oil Blends:
Normal/Dry Skin: Nourishing,
Acne/ Oily Skin: Extra Detox Blend, Spots,
Mature Skin: Skin Rejuvenating, reduces Wrinkles
Floral Waters ,  Puffy Eyes Compress
Toners, Scrubs, Masks, Creams

This recipe collection will be updated constantly. Mail us at Naturals@Katuri.com for any specific info

Why Aromatherapy Oils Heal

A variety of Home made creams and skincare products can be made at home, ranging from cosmetics, face packs and skin care to soothing balms and salves to help you achieve a naturally healthy and younger looking face and skin.

Commercial creams stay on the first layer of skin. Pure Essential Oils seep through to the 2nd layer of skin and carry out their healing properties in deep tissue. This coupled with their cell rejuvenating capacity make them excellent for facial needs.
Try out any of the following recipes and tell me if they don't work!!

If you find that these recipes do not bring about visible results or give very negligible results, then possibly you have bought "fragrant oils", "botanical fragrances" which are not pure. These have Zero or negligible therapeutic properties.
Pure Essential Oils are the raw essence of the plant and smell stronger than fragrant or diluted oils. Don't be fooled by better smelling, cheaper perfumed oils, unless perfume is all you want.
All oils on sale on this site are 100% pure Essential Oils and their healing properties have been verified.

What is to be remembered is that you need to be patient and let your skin regenerate in order to see the difference - and the older you get the longer the cycle of regeneration is. On average you should see results between 28 and 37 days.
However, the Cell regenerating Oils will show results within 5 days of application, I'd personally vouch for Spikenard, Frankincense, Neroli & Rose Absolute to work faster than other oils. Choice of Carriers also helps.. Aloe Vera, Carrot Seed, Wheat Germ, Evening Primrose Carriers are really good.

Essential oils have various therapeutic properties which add zing to any cream, and some of them have very specialized properties to help with skin conditions. If you have never used essential oils, and are prone to allergic reactions, please do a skin patch test with any new ingredient you use.

Some people say these oils should be considered for facial creams to help fight wrinkles and the traces of ageing:
Camomile German, Carrot, Clary sage, Fennel, Frankincense, Geranium, Hyssop, Lavender, Myrrh, Neroli, Palma rosa, Rose, Rosemary, Yarrow

When selecting essential oils for facial or body creams and lotions, stay away from sun sensitizing essential oils, as they will cause a problem if you go into the sun.

Do not exceed the recommended dilution of essential oil to the base, since more is not better, especially since facial skin is more delicate than the rest of the body and you could burn your skin with too strong a mixture. Yes!! that's true!! I burnt myself in the first few weeks of dabbling with aromatherapy

Aromatherapy Facial Oil Blends:

NIGHT OILS: Take 2-5 minutes to give yourself a gentle facial massage. You will see the difference within 7 days- or nights time.
To test , blend 2 tsp base oil + 5 drops Essential oils from the recipes

Normal/Dry Skin: Nourishing
50ml base: 2 drops Geranium + 10 Lavender + 5 Ylang-ylang +8 Sandalwood
OR 5 drops Geranium+ 16 Lavender + 4 Rosewood

Acne/ Oily Skin: Extra Detox Blend
50 ml base: 12 drops Cypress +13 Lemon
OR 14 drops Bergamot + 5 Cypress + 6 Juniper
Spots: Touch spot with undiluted (neat) Lavender or Tea Tree oil with an earbud. These Antibacterial oils will kill the bacteria and regenerate the skin. Drying. Need some persistence with this as the spots took a long time to form.

Mature Skin: Skin Rejuvenating, reduces Wrinkles
50ml Base: 16 drops Frankincense + 5 Neroli + 4 Lavender
OR 16 Spikenard + 5 Neroli + 4 Lavender
Use of Aloe Vera , Wheatgerm Carriers is recommended for quicker results
Rose, Myrrh oils can also be used

You can use these NIGHT OILS blends in the daytime too, if you don't mind the shine on your face. YOu could also blot out excess oil after 1 hour which will give time for the essential oils to sink in.

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FLORAL WATERS: Use 10 drops of Oil to 100ml Mineral water, preferably bottled spring water. Shake vigorously before use. Essential oils are not diluted by water, hence, they have to be dispersed really well. If water quality is not good, discard after a week. Keep checking regularly if tap water is used as it may become rancid.
Wipe with wet cotton ball. You can buy and use Rosewater too.
Normal/Dry Skin : 4 drops Geranium, 6 drops Lavender
Greasy Skin: 6 drops Bergamot, 4 drops Lavender

Lavender, geranium for all skin types
bergamot, camphor (warming) , peppermint (cooling) for greasy,acneic skin
Rose, Neroli for dry skin.
Vary them depending on the weather and the type of your skin. Mix 2 of them and adjust so they don't dry your face too much. Otherwise, use a massage oil after cleansing with the water.
Try a ClarySage floral water in the morning to feel cheerful and ready to start the day..

Puffy Eyes Compress

Tired eyes, eyes irritated by contact lenses, by smoky atmosphere or eye that have cried a lot.. Although crying is very beneficial and can release a lot of stored emotions and tensions in the body.. but only till you look in the mirror!
Puffy red Eyes can be soothed and made to regain their normal appearance quickly by applying a Lavender / Chamomile or a Neroli Compress to each eye.

Use 1 drop of oil in 500ml bottle of spring water and shake well. Soak 2 cotton wool pads in this, squeeze out excess liquid and place a pad on each eye. The pad should be the size of your palm to cover area your eyebrows and your upper cheeks. Lie down for half hour with some soothing music in the background.
Always remove contact lens before using an eye compress.

Toners

Toners are used to remove the oily residue of facial cleansers. They tone and refine the skin. Simple home made toners can easily be created and the skin can be wiped with a wet cotton ball after cleansing.

Home made toners
The toners are all made the same way. Place the rosewater base into a clean glass bottle and add the essential oil of choice. Close the bottle and shake the mixture vigorously to help disperse the oil. Leave the mixture for at least 36 hours before shaking it again vigorously and then filtering it through a paper coffee filter to remove the larger amount of essential oil. Re-bottle the filtered toner and remember to shake it before use to ensure proper distribution of the mixture.

Dry to normal skin: 100 ml rosewater, 1 drop camomile oil, 1 drop geranium oil.
oily to normal skin: 100 ml rosewater, 1 drop juniper berry, 1 drop rose otto.
normal to sensitive skin
100 ml weak infusion made from chamomile and 1 drop German camomile. The infusion is made exactly as you would make weak, black and bitter tea. You can use a good commercial camomile tea if fresh material is not available.
Astringent : 25 ml witch-hazel, 75 ml rosewater, 1 drop cypress, 2 drops sandalwood. Eliminate witch hazel if too drying for your skin.

Easy toner : put 5 drops of oil in 100ml distilled or bottled water. Shake well before use. Camphor, Peppermint, Lavender, Cypress make excellent cleansers for makeup or Toners as they tend to close pores. Try Lavender with Rosewater as a night cleanser - pleasant dreams..

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Scrubs:

When you look in the mirror and you are faced with a dull and dry flaky skin, you may need to do some exfoliation to get rid of dead cells clogging the top layer of skin and bring out the hidden more youthful looking skin to the top.

Younger people with skin problems should take care not to over-exfoliate, as we have found that over-exfoliating or scrubbing can aggravate the problem instead or alleviating it, since the skin is irritated instead of being assisted along to help heal itself. So - people with a problem skin can exfoliate, but gently and not too often, and if in doubt, please consult your licensed medical practitioner and/or dermatologist.
But for those amongst us that are fighting the aging battle (and for those not yet there) exfoliation of the skin, helps with blood circulation and the removal of the dead skin cells that can cause it to look dull and dry. Exfoliating can be done every 14 days, and in some cases weekly.

Although there are various commercial scrubs on the market, we have found that the following home made scrub is most invigorating to the skin, leaving it rosy and keenly healthy.

Natural exfoliating scrub with Oats, Honey and essential oil
Take 2 - 3 teaspoons raw oats (not the pre-cooked type) and crush into smaller bits either by hand or in a grinder. Mix the dry oats with pure honey and 1/4 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar until it forms a smooth mixture. Add more honey as needed. Then add 1 drop of basil oil to the mixture.
For a problem skin, you can replace the basil oil with tea tree oil to help the healing process along.
After washing the face and drying it gently by patting with a towel, apply this sticky mixture in gentle circular movements. Avoid the eye area. Leave the mixture on for about 15 minutes and wash off with lots of tepid water.

Although it is a messy skin treatment to perform, the results are excellent and it costs only pennies to make.

Good Tip: If you really are not upto making a homemade scrub, buy one of the available natural scrubs like St.Ives, add 1-2 tbsp of Carrier oil -Grapeseed works really well and scrub gently. The thing about natural scrubs is that they are too abrasive on the skin as compared to rounded synthetic beads and said to bring about microscratches in the dermis. Adding a carrier oil helps to make a film around the grain. Be gentle on your face, use more oil and less scrub and use slow, smooth movements.

Home made natural face masks (face packs)
Although it takes some time out of our busy day, we still believe that a face mask, or face pack as some refer to it, is one of the best facial treatments that you can perform, for a variety of results - from cleansing, stimulating, assisting anti-ageing, improving skin tone etc.

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Facial Masks and Packs:

The idea of an essential oil mask is not really a new idea and a few very expensive rejuvenating clinics have been using them for some time. Scroll down to view recipes for Normal skin mask , Dry skin mask , Oily skin mask , Problem skin mask , Rejuvenating skin mask

Although clay masks are thought to be drying, they contain great benefits for the skin, and can be used very successfully in your beauty routine. Green clay has become the talk of the beauty world, but if it is not available in your area, you can still use the old dependable white kaolin powder, Fullers earth or Multani mitti

As a base, use the clay (mixed with a floral water or distilled water) together with a little cornflower and a quarter teaspoon of powdered raw oats (optional gives good results). Before applying the mask, make sure that the skin is cleansed properly and dried by patting it with a towel.

After applying any of the masks, leave on for 5 to 15 minutes (Dry to Greasy )while relaxing, wipe out gently with cotton dipped in floral water. Pat dry the face and apply a little facial oil to counteract the dryness.

Normal skin: Add 1 drop geranium oil and 1 drop neroli oil. Mix well to form a paste and apply.
Dry skin : Add 1 teaspoon wheatgerm oil or evening primrose oil plus 1 drop camomile (Roman or German) oil and 2 drops carrot oil. Mix well to form a paste and apply. I personally prefer Sandalwood during the winter months when the skin becomes dry and parched.
Oily skin : Add 1 drop lavender oil and 1 drop frankincense oil or juniper oil. Mix well to form a paste and apply.
Problem skin mask : Add 1 drop lavender oil or tea tree oil and 1 drop neroli oil. Mix well to form a paste and apply.
Rejuvenating skin mask: mix the clay/kaolin, cornflower and oats together with one beaten egg white and floral water. Add 1 teaspoon jojoba oil, 1 drop camomile oil, 1 drop frankincense oil and 1 drop myrrh oil. Mix well to form a paste and apply.

Warnings: Maximum of 25 drops pure Essential Oil for 50ml Carrier Oil. Work carefully around the eye area. If oil blend comes in contact with eye, dissipate with carrier oil like sweet almond. Do not wash with water.
Facial and Neck skin is more sensitive than rest of the body, test a drop on face/ neck to check for irritating sensation. Irritation means that dilution must be increased.

If you have never used essential oils, and are prone to allergies, we suggest that you perform a skin patch test before using any of them.

Home-made Creams :

Aqueous base cream
If you do not want to get involved with too much mixing, you can make a simple moisturizer by using a neutral aqueous base cream, obtainable from your pharmacy, druggist or health shop, and add your desired essential oils to it.

Beeswax and oil cream
Below is the recipe for a richer cream than just an aqueous base cream, but please note that it should be kept cool and for no longer than six weeks.
Melt 15 g of pure beeswax together with 130 ml sweet almond oil, in a bain-marie. ( Or put in an watertightdish inside a larger dish containing water. Take care to see that Water level should be higher than cream level at all times) Do not melt the beeswax in a pot on direct heat from a plate on the stove (electric or gas) since it can burn easily and cause a fire hazard.
Another fixed oil can be used instead of the almond oil, although sweet almond oil does do wonders for the skin.

Some people are hesitant to use beeswax in skin products, since they think that it will "block the pores" but when used in a mixture like this, not only does it do wonders for softening the skin, but will not cause any problems. If you are allergic to bee products, care should be taken when using it.

While the beeswax is melting, gently warm 50 ml rosewater, or any other floral water, using the same method as above. Next start to mix the floral water to the beeswax and oil mixture, mixing it with a whisk or electric mixer. This should be done slowly and as soon as a quarter of the water has been added, remove the pot from the bain-marie, and complete the water addition.
When you have finished adding the water the mixture will start to set, and before it does mix in 8 drops of your chosen essential oil.

Kokum Butter Cream
Another Excellent substitute for Beeswax is Kokum butter -the result is soo smooth, you don't need to add a carrier to it. We stock Kokum butter in its raw form which is a waxy solid but softens on contact. When used as a cream base, it was so luxurious and velvety. I got rid of my chapped feet and rough elbows real fast. It has a very light odor and is excellent for extra-dry parts of your body. Think in terms of the consistency of rich Chapstick.
The first time, I used it with fresh pink damask rose petals and the aroma was so beautiful. The smell of Rose Damascena is without compare and couples with the smoothness of the butter, it was heaven. However, it got rancid in a week's time. Having learnt my lesson, I now use Rose Absolute and only make small batches and share with my friends who really appreciate it.

I use a watertight tin to put the butter and place it in an open vessel with water. You don't need to heat it for too long as it melts quite soon move the tin to feel the butter swirling. Then take it off the heat - put in a dry, airtight jar, add 3-4 drops of favorite Essential Oil for 100g of solid. Stir well, let it cool and store in the fridge. I put 1 drop of Rose Absolute coz its my favorite essence. Once you smell the real Rose, it will always be the favorite essence..
(I had a disastrous time once when I bought an "essential oil of Rose" that gave me a horrible headache when I left the just opened bottle on my desk. I never buy essential oils that don't say "PURE" after that.. atleast it could be mentioned, added fragrances or something... People want to cheat any which way..)

Anyway, back to Kokum butter, its good, its terrific on elbows, knees and other dry areas. I really love to put it on my behind becoz it makes it smoooth..Take a little effort and try once. This homemade cream surpasses anything I have used so far, commercial or made. .

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