Thursday, April 25, 2013

Make your own Make-up Removing Wipes




Wow, I haven't written a post in so long, I've missed writing! Recently I've discovered the blog Wellness Mama. I love all the health tips and natural, green beauty tips. One of the blog posts covered making natural baby wipes. Some of the other posts cover natural alternatives to retail cosmetics. What really caught my eye was the post on the baby wipes. Mainly it's because the wipes could be made in other variations for all purpose hand wipes too! This led me to experiment in making my own make-up removing wipes.
So far I've tried it and it works great!

Previously, I really liked using Yes to Blueberries Brightening Facial Towelettes. I've also used Neutrogena Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover and Yes to Cucumbers Facial Towelettes. All of these products work exceptionally well but the cost does add up. At anywhere from $6-$8 dollars for a 30ct supply, it adds up every month. According to the post on the wipes, using aloe, witch hazel, essential oils, and castile soap, I could fashion my own solution to use with paper towels. A commenter asked about using witch hazel with aloe and was told that would likely work fine. I have previously stated I love Thayers Witch Hazel with Aloe toners. Knowing some paper towels are very rough to the skin, I knew the Viva Paper towels I had in the Kitchen were a nice enough texture for the wipes. I also regularly use Dr. Bronner's Pure Castile Soap. Both Thayers and Dr. Bronner's products are available with or without essential oils, thus eliminating the need to add any more. After some experimentation, I like using the ratio below.

What you need:
1 Clean Bath Towel
Viva Paper Towels (1 roll)
Thayers Witch Hazel Alcohol-free Toner (12 oz)
Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap Pure Castile Soap (liquid) (8 oz or 16 oz)
1 plastic container, either flat for folded wipes or tall cylinder/jar for 1/2 roll of paper towel
sharp knife (optional)
clean, empty 1 oz travel size refillable bottle or larger

Using a new clean package of paper towels over a clean bath towel, I unrolled and folded (into quarters) a stack of paper towels into a clean plastic container with a cover. I repurposed a disposable food container that I throughly washed and dried. You can also skip this step and cut your paper towel roll in half crosswise with a sharp knife, then remove the cardboard. Just like the original post stated, it's easy to just make enough solution for the wipes and make the wipes as you need them. You can either presoak them and store them that way or like me, dampen them when needed. Just by eyeballing it, I add 1/3 part Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap* in my 1 oz bottle with 2/3 parts Thayer's Witch Hazel Aloe Toner**. You can play with the ratios, but I found 1/2 and 1/2 to be too soapy for me and harder to rinse off. That's it! It's ready to use!

To use:
Remove one wipe (one towel), which was prefolded into quarters. Completely dampen with very warm to hot water (to activate the castile soap which doesnt work well in cold water). Shake the bottle of makeup remover to mix, squirt a few drops onto your wipe, and squeeze out excess water. Use one side of wipe to remove makeup, then switch to other side. Rinse the makeup off wipe with warm water, and slightly wring out then unfold to cleaner side. After rinsing, use wipe to remove eye-makeup. (The reason for this is so that there is less soap to irritate eyes, but just enough remaining to be effective in removing eye makeup.) Rinse with water and wipe, adding remover if needed. Although you can finish wiping with the same towelette, I recommend changing it if it has a lot of residue or if a lot of makeup remains on your skin. I am currently using a natural-based foundation and don't usually wear waterproof makeup, so I use just one towel to wipe. This works great to remove makeup! You can also use a clean, cold terry cloth  afterwards to remove any remaining soap and to close pores. My face always feels so refreshed afterwards. 

*I like Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Castile Soap
**I like the Thayers Witch Hazel Aloe Toners with: Cucumber, Lavender, or Rose

Thanks for reading! Tata for now. :)

sincerely yours,
rOsE

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