Aside from acne and minor breakouts, having dry skin is one of the most irritating and embarrassing skin conditions to have to deal with. It can also be downright painful if it’s bad enough. There are multiple products out there that you can buy to treat dry skin; we’re willing to bet you’ve seen them all. You might have even tried most of them on the market and still found that nothing worked as well as you’d hoped. Or, maybe you’re tired of paying such high prices for them or even concerned their chemical-based ingredients could be doing more harm than good. Exhausting, right?
If these are concerns you have, the good news is that you can solve your dry skin without using commercial products.
What’s the Big Deal About Commercial Skin Products?
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If you think about it, commercial products are nothing more than a recipe created in a lab. And while they usually have a reason for why a certain ingredient is used to treat dry skin, many of them are just used for convenience, cost, and application purposes. For instance, mineral oil. This oil is found in many dry skin products, along with most commercial eczema lotions on the market. There is no magic behind this oil except for the fact it’s cheap, easy to source, and spreads on well without a harsh fragrance. But do you know what mineral oil is? Basically as some call it, “liquid petroleum.” Yep – you heard that right. It’s actually a byproduct of petroleum used to make gasoline and has been linked to multiple forms of toxicity in the body. Oh boy.
The thing about mineral oil (and most all commercial oils in skin products that aren’t organically sourced), is that they’re pointless. They offer nothing that real oils can’t do; they’re just cheaper and easier to produce in massive quantities. Many of the companies that make them also test on animals and they’re almost all sold in plastic containers, which contribute to environmental wastes and expose you to more harmful toxins.
Better Options to Try That Treat the Problem at Hand
You can easily make your own healthy skin concoctions at home, and very inexpensively at that. One reason being that these the ones you make at home won’t need to be applied as often because they actually work; they treat not just the symptom (dry skin), but also the root cause (irritation and inflammation of the skin).
Try these at home recipes you can make in just minutes. They will keep for awhile either in your fridge or in the pantry, as noted for each recipe. You should find that after a few uses, (or even after a week or two’s application), that you probably won’t need them as often as you need those commercial products.
1. Coconut Aloe Cream
This cream is made of coconut oil and fresh aloe gel. It’s a wonderful soothing oil if you have redness, itching, or general irritation. It can also help with sunburn and is a better option than chemical-based aloe lotions on the market.
Ingredients:
- coconut oil (about a cup)
- aloe gel from 2 aloe leaves (the organic bottled aloe vera gel at stores like Whole Foods will also work, make sure it’s 100 percent pure aloe vera gel)
Directions:
- Make sure the coconut oil is at least room temperature. If not, place the jar in a pot on the stove in some water and warm up a bit to soften.
- Mix the ingredients together in a bowl or mason jar. It will keep for one week at room temperature with fresh aloe and up to three weeks with bottled aloe from the health food store.
- Apply to your skin as needed and pat dry to remove excess oil if it goes on too heavy.
*Additional Benefits*
Aloe and coconut are two of the most healing skin applications you can use. Coconut oil is great for your immune system and fights off bacteria while also moisturizing the skin. Aloe will help soothe redness and even sores you might have from dry skin. It also aids in healing quickly.
2. Olive Tea Tree Oil
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Tea tree oil is a common remedy for treating dry skin, especially dandruff. It helps soothe the skin and can reduce flaking. Olive oil contains vitamin E which softens the skin and also contains antioxidants to aid in healing. It will also stay liquid at room temperature, so there’s no need to warm or soften before use. Just put the lid on tight. Also, don’t keep this in the fridge or it will thicken up and become harder to apply.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup olive oil (use organic if you can since many non-organic oils contain a mix of canola and olive for cost purposes)
- 5-6 drops of tea tree essential oil
Directions:
- Mix everything together (a blender will help it incorporate) and apply as needed.
- Store in a well-sealed jar at room temperature.
*Additional Benefits*
Tea tree oil can also help fight bacteria and skin fungal infections. Olive oil is also great for healing smaller sores or scratches and even stops itching almost immediately by reducing inflammation due to its healthy fats.
3. Hemp Avocado Spread
This recipe doesn’t just soften and soothe to fight dryness, but also fights aging! Hemp oil is full of healthy fats, vitamin E and chlorophyll (denoted by its green color) that all help in reducing inflammation and improving dry, scaley skin. This spread is also super mushy so it’s fun to apply and can be used as a mask. When using this on your face, apply it very lightly since it’s pretty dense.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup organic hemp oil (buy organic and non-GMO to avoid the chemical hexane often made with cheaper varieties)
- 1 ripe avocado, pitted and removed from the shell
Directions:
1. Mix the ingredients together in a food processor so it gets nice and thick. This also helps ensure it’s even in consistency.
2. Apply as needed and keep the rest in the fridge; it will go rancid at room temperature since these fats are very sensitive to heat and light.
3. Rinse after 30-45 minutes since you don’t want to be walking around with avocado on your skin all day!
*Additional Benefits*
Hemp seeds also contain omega 3-fatty acids, so applying this to your skin may benefit you in more ways than one. Since we absorb everything we put on our skin, this spread may also lift your mood and spirits too! For dryness, it will help aid in reducing itching, repairing the skin and reducing fine lines and wrinkles thanks to the avocado.
Important Notes:
If using any of these for acne-related dry skin, be sure your skin is completely clean first. You can use coconut oil to remove makeup. Then, apply apple cider vinegar to the skin as a toner which may sting a bit, but will keep bacteria from seeping back into your pores. Add the juice of one lemon to the recipes above to help fight bacteria further, then apply them as needed very lightly and follow the ingredients for each.
See more of our skin tips here on our Life Monster channel. Do you have a secret remedy for treating dry skin?
Lead Image Source: Jaana Silla/Flickr
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