Cheap Tricks: Homemade Toner

Just in case yesterday's cheapie post wasn't MINDBLOWING enough, I have more for you.

So, I have a confession to make: my skin sucks. Like, big time. It's a huge jerk and I'd punch it if the face if it wasn't, well, my face. Seriously, it's totally T-zone oily but dry around the edges and literally every product I use irritates the crap out of it. And I've tried pretty much every product possible to clear up my skin and nix oiliness without completely drying my face out. And I've never been loyal to anything because I've never found anything that was super-effective.

A couple of months ago, I was suffering through a particularly heinous stress breakout when I turned to Google for help. After doing some excellent research and by research I mean reading online forums, I came up with a recipe for a toner that has seriously transformed my skin. Yeah, I'll get the occasional zit, but this stuff zaps 'em. This stuff has also changed the appearance of my skin, getting rid of faded scars and shrinking pores, too. When I went to Moab, I didn't bring it with me and the next week my skin was back to its old tricks and I was so mad at myself.

In short, this is my favorite thing ever. And the best part is that it takes like, pennies to make.

 

Here's all you need:

1/3 cup RAW apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. tea tree oil

1/2 cup water

Spray bottle 

That's it!

I should note that I got both the apple cider vinegar and the tea tree oil from my local grocery store -- nothing special. Just make sure you get the raw stuff. I bought a huge bottle of filtered without thinking and it now is my floor cleaner. Unfiltered is what you want because it has all of the good fruit acids inside. Anyway, the ACV was about $1.50 and I spent $4 on the tea tree oil and both will last forever. I figure I'm mixing this stuff up for like, 25 cents a bottle. And it actually works, unlike pretty much every product that I've spent serious money on.

Now, all I do is mix all the ingredients in a spray bottle and give it a good shake. At night, I wash my face -- right now I'm just using an Olay cleanser -- and then spray my toner on a cotton round. Swipe it all over your face and you're finished! If I do have a zit, I like to saturate the cotton a little more and hold it over the blemish for 10 seconds or so. By the next morning it's way smaller and almost gone. 

Another tip? Keep some in the fridge for morning use. I find that it cuts oiliness first thing in the morning and the cold shrinks pores so my makeup looks better too.

You can totally adjust the amounts, as well. If your skin is way oily and doesn't dry out, I'd add some more ACV. If your skin is more acne prone, up the tea tree oil a bit. Play with it until you've got the combo that works for you. And yes, your husband will complain about the smell of the tea tree oil: it's really strong and herb-y. But he can deal with it, because this is your skin we're talking about! 

Give it a try and lemme know what you think!