Tutorial Tuesday: Homemade Facial Toner

My nightly skincare regime almost always includes a facial toner of some sort, and when my bottle hit my empty sack I decided to make my own instead of spending hours looking for just the right one. I needed something gentle on my skin, but with the acne busting powers of a stronger cleanser. My answer was right in my beauty stash. I already had a bottle of Tea Tree Oil and I had received a bottle of Rosewater that I was testing out (review coming later this week), perfect for my needs. And man am I happy with this recipe!

To make your own toner you will need:

• Tea Tree Oil. I recommend the Apothecary Extracts brand, I've been using it off and on since I received it and I'm really happy with it.
• Rosewater. I'm using Instanatural Moroccan Rosewater, which I'll be reviewing in full later.
• A 1/4 cup measuring cup
• Regular water. You can use distilled water if you want, I used tap since I know I'll use it up quickly
• A stack of flat, round cotton swabs. I buy mine at the dollar store.
• A small jar, I used one of my jelly canning jars.
• Something to poke the swabs down into the jar, I used a butter knife.

First, measure 1/4 of a cup water and pour into your jar.

Next, add 1/4 of a cup of Rosewater.

Now add 10 drops of the Tea Tree Oil. You can add less if you have extra sensitive skin, or more if you want to go nuclear on some acne. Just make sure you aren't allergic to Tea Tree Oil before you do this project.

Screw the lid on TIGHTLY and give it a really good shake to mix everything up.

Now in small stacks, start adding your cotton swabs, using the butter knife to press them down. Keep adding them until they are wet but not completely soaked. I filled my jar up about halfway once they were pressed down.

And you now have facial toner swabs, all prepped and ready to go. To use just grab one out and swab across your face and neck. No need to rinse off afterwards either. I like to do this after I've washed my face but before I've applied my moisturizer and eye cream. This should last for a while, if you use a swab a day you should rub out before the mixture goes bad. Using distilled water will increase the shelf life of this product. Store it in the fridge for added cooling/soothing effect as well.