The Do's & Don'ts Of Natural Skincare Products

Making your own natural skincare products can be fun, rewarding, and great for your skin (here's EVERYTHING you need to know to get started with DIY). And in the last five years, I've made countless lotions, lip balms, face creams, and more.

And thus, I have failed. A lot. So to help you create the perfect DIY skincare routine with items like homemade body butters with beeswax, and DIY lip balms, I wanted to prevent some of your stumbles by giving a list on everything you should do as well as what's best to avoid.

Making your own natural skincare products is awesome and trust me, your skin will thank you! Some of the benefits you'll notice are:

• DIY lotions and homemade lip balm recipes are far more cost-effective than purchasing natural skincare products
• There's less chance of internal issues because YOU control the ingredients
• DIY natural skincare products are easy to customize to exactly what you need
• It's fun to experiment with homemade body butters (style, oil, textures)
• Making your own natural skincare products is better for the environment 
• By avoiding some of these ingredients (and using the others) your skin becomes softer, smoother and less irritated

Not only are you using real, pure ingredients (you can grab the ingredients and brands I use here) so there are less chemicals on your skin and more chances to customize, but homemade natural skincare is fun too!

However, if you want your homemade body butters and DIY lip balms to work, there are some practices you should put into place *said from years of experience, kitchen explosions, and epic fails*.

What You SHOULD Do When Making Natural Skincare Products

Do make sure you use the same equipment (jar, whisk, spoons etc) for melting and mixing your homemade lotion and DIY lip chaps every single time. I promise you, the oils and butters never really come off. So using your good measuring cup will kind of ruin it.

Do be careful not to always add essential oils in your melting/mixing jar. Your scents will eventually permeate the jar and become mixed. Instead, try and pour the mixture into it's holding container and then add your oils.

The exception to this is with DIY lip chap recipes as you need to move quickly. I have a separate jar I use for DIY lip balm. The other option is to use real ingredients instead of essential oils like in this chocolate cinnamon DIY lip chap.

Do make sure you have your holding containers (be they jars, bottles or lip chap containers) ready the second you remove from heat. The mixtures solidify very quickly and you won't have time to run around and get everything ready. Especially true with DIY lip chap and homemade lotion bars.

Do make sure you always label your products! I always think I'll remember what it is but two months later I forget. Always throw a label on it.

Do use a heat-proof jar and not just one you find. Many natural skincare recipes have been wasted because the jar I used cracked from the heat in the water. 

What You SHOULDN'T Do When Making Natural Skincare Products

Do not use a small jar and a large pot as your double boiler. You want to make sure NO water gets into your mixture as it causes it to mold. Instead, use a smaller pot so there's less chance of water "splashing" from the sides.

Do not wash out the jar you used to heat the ingredients in. The water will stick to the oil and you will have the same issue as above (mold). Instead, just wipe it out as best as possible with paper towel. Try to do this while it's warm as again, it solidifies quickly.

Do not place your DIY lip chap containers on the counter to pour. Naturally, you spill everywhere and it takes forever to get the oil off the counter. Instead, line a cutting board with parchment paper.

Do not "guestimate" the ingredients in your natural skincare products (I do this far too often!) it causes your creations to turn out funny. Either they don't solidify or they're gritty or something else but it's much better to actually measure.

Do not buy blocks of beeswax. This is an epic story but the summary is that you'll never cut it into pieces (you have to freeze it, use a hammer, strain it. Jeesh what a fail!). Instead, always buy it in cubes or pellets.

Do not put tight clothes on or lay on the bed immediately after applying a DIY lotion. Because natural skincare products are butter and oil-based they're naturally greasy. When the DIY body butter is still fresh on your skin it stains your clothes/bedding. Instead, give the oils a few minutes to absorb into your skin. This was especially true with my homemade belly butter for stretch marks. I ended up having to use a specific shirt for bedtime and throw it out post-pregnancy because it was so badly stained!