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My dermatologist explained to me that I have adult acne. It sucks. I missed it when the others had it as a teenager and it’s decided to hit me with a vengeance as an adult. I’m not quite sure how, but once my breakout was hormonal and another time it appeared to be stress induced. I was told that with hormones I just had to use a gentle cleanser on my face and for stress, well I needed to calm the heck down.
I used the recommended bar soap but it made my face feel tight and weird. And it helped but it seemed as though I just had less really bad, cystic acne. And then one day I was talked into purchasing a face wash and toner based on tea tree oil at a fancy schmancy shop. I forked huge was of cash, came home and realized that it was working so, so well for me and then, when I started running low I just quit using it. I mean, I didn’t want to fork out another $75 or whatever for it at the store and so I just went back to my cheap bar soap that made my face feel weird and kind of helped.
But since I’ve gotten into using essential oils here and there I realized, tea tree oil is, in fact, an essential oil and I can use it however I please. And this might sound a bit weird, but now I just run plain water over my face, whether in the shower or at the sink, and kind of use my fingers to “scrub” makeup and dirt and stuff away. But I don’t use soap. I follow up with my homemade toner pads and I’m doing just as well as I was on the fancy stuff as I was with my expensive store bought regime of 3 different things. So get ready to take 2 simple ingredients and make a huge difference in the acne you see on your face!
For this project you will need:
- Tea tree oil
- Cotton rounds/pads
- Distilled water
- Mason jar
Now I always think you should buy decent essential oils but since this is going on our faces, we especially want to get the good stuff. And just kind of quickly, this stuff works so well because it’s antiviral, antifungal and antibacterial. It isn’t the greatest smelling essential oil but you get used to it’s scent after a bit of use. It makes your skin kind of tingle/go numb, FYI, but I actually quite enjoy the sensation.
First make sure your cotton rounds fit inside of your jar. This is a little (I think) pint jar with a wide mouth and it perfectly holds 40.
Fill the jar 1/4 to 1/2 full of water, depending on how “juicy” you like your toner pads. I like mine REALLY juicy.
Add tea tree oil, 1 part for every 9 parts of water is typical. I actually up mine to 2 parts for every 9 parts of water because I feel it helps to better prevent that horrible, hormonal cystic acne by being a bit stronger.
Shake that business up hard until it looks white instead of clear and then start pushing your cotton pads in kind of quickly. They’ll start soaking up the liquid FAST.
Turn the jar over for a while so that the top and bottom pads are about the same moisture-wise. I typically do this until the first time I use them because I forget to flip it back around.
I keep mine in the dark, in my side table drawer by the bed, though I don’t know that a lack of light is entirely necessary.
Peel the top one off when you need to clean your face and wipe all around, taking care NOT to get it in your eyes. In fact, it’s kind of strong for your eye tissue in general. I stick with my T-zone and cheeks mostly, keeping away from my eyes.
And that’s all there is to that. With tea tree oil, distilled water and cotton pads, all inexpensive, and a reusable mason jar, you’ve got a chichi boutique worthy toner that will help keep that acne at bay, whether it be due to stress, hormones or teenage angst. :)
