Make your own simple skincare products to give as gifts and to use yourself.
Just as a plant-based diet is beneficial for you and the planet, so is plant-based skincare. The vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants found in many vegan foods are also perfectly suited to nourish your skin and level up your beauty routine.
This holiday season, try making your own skin care products. It’s budget-friendly, and with some pretty and simple packaging (repurposed and reusable is best!), these homemade skincare recipes make for great gifts.
Simply put, making your own skincare products is a chance to practice both self-care and gratitude. You’ll be glad you added these seasonally-scented homemade skincare recipes (seriously, they smell so good!) to your holiday to-do list. They’re so simple and clean that you may already have all the ingredients on hand in your pantry and medicine cabinet. This is the perfect recipe collection for DIY vegan skincare newbies and gift shopping procrastinators alike. Let’s get started!
Peppermint Sugar Scrub
Adapted from Simply Designing
Putting sugar on your body has great benefits. Sugar grains act as an exfoliant, which makes them perfect for softening rough patches of skin on your elbows, knees, and feet. And the peppermint essential oil will really make everything feel more like the holidays.
With this heavenly-smelling DIY skin scrub, silky smooth skin will soon be yours.
Ingredients:
1 cup granulated sugar
4 tbsp coconut oil
50 drops peppermint essential oil
Steps:
Mix all ingredients together in a glass or metal bowl. Add more or less coconut oil until you get the desired consistency. Put it all in a cute jar.
To Use:
When dry skin strikes, use 1 tablespoon in the shower. Gently massage into your skin and rinse well. Scrubs are great for exfoliating dead skin off of your hands, face, and body. They're gentler on your skin than salt scrubs for regular exfoliating.
To Gift:
Use a holiday tree-themed adhesive label as a gift tag and wrap a pretty cloth ribbon around the jar. Or add red and white twine if you want. Either way it makes a wonderful gift for yourself, or for someone else.
Gingerbread Bath Bombs
Adapted from The Pistachio Project
DIY vegan skincare that entices you to soak up some self-care in the bathtub? Yes, please! As a bonus, the cookie-like ingredients in these gingerbread bath bombs have some skin and health benefits. While the baking soda and citric acid provide the fun fizz, epsom salt relaxes sore muscles and provides a nice magnesium boost. Cinnamon and ginger act as powerful antioxidants and anti-inflammatories.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup baking soda
1/4 cup epsom salt
1/4 cup citric acid
1/2 tsp cinnamon or 2 drops of cinnamon essential oil
1/2 tsp ground ginger or 2 drops of ginger essential oil
1 tbsp melted coconut oil
1/2 tsp molasses
Note: Find citric acid online or at natural food stores.
Steps:
- Whisk all dry ingredients in a bowl. Add melted coconut oil and molasses (and essential oils, if using) and mix well. You should be able to mold the mixture in your hand; you want it to be on the dry side. If you need a bit more moisture, add water one spritz at a time until the proper consistency is reached.
- Pack mixture into molds and let dry for 24 hours before removing.
- Store in a dry place until ready to use.
To Use:
Add 1-2 bombs to bathwater and enjoy a nice warm soak!
To Gift:
Use a gingerbread men mold to transform this DIY vegan skincare recipe into the cutest Christmas gift ever. As for packaging, you can’t go wrong with a wide-mouth pint or quart mason jar, ribbon (red gingham, anyone?), and festive label.
Soothing Peppermint Foot Soak
Adapted from A Cultivated Nest
This super simple homemade skincare recipe is a perfect gift for all the healthcare and essential workers in your life. Thanks to the ingredients, this peppermint foot soak exfoliates, softens, cleanses, relaxes, and rejuvenates tired, overworked feet (and quite possibly your emotions, too!) in one sitting.
Epsom salts contain magnesium, which reduces stress and pain. Baking soda deodorizes. Peppermint essential oil has antiviral properties when used topically. And breathing in the aroma may improve both your mood and your sleep.
Ingredients:
¾ cup epsom salts
¼ cup baking soda
2 peppermint tea bags
6-8 drops peppermint essential oil
Steps:
- Empty tea bag contents into a bowl and add all other ingredients. Stir to combine.
- Store in an airtight container.
To Use:
Add ⅓ to ½ cup to a basin or bathtub. Add water that’s as hot as you can tolerate — enough to completely submerge your feet and ankles. Soak for 15-20 minutes.
After soaking, you can give the tough, dry spots on your feet some extra TLC by massaging them with a pumice stone followed by applying moisturizer.
To Gift:
Stick with the above-mentioned mason jar, ribbon, and gift tag combo, but this time add a fun candy cane motif. To make it a set, include a pumice stone and your favorite foot moisturizer with the gift.
Pumpkin Spice Face Mask
Adapted from Feed Your Beauty
It’s your chance to get the spa treatment at home. This DIY pumpkin spice face mask is so nourishing. Pumpkin is your skin’s best friend. It’s rich in vitamin A, which aids in healing and acne prevention. Pumpkin’s lutein can help reverse sun damage. Oats soothe itchy, dry irritated skin. And of course there’s the good-smelling, inflammation-fighting properties of this recipe’s warming spices. Show your skin and your senses all the love with this DIY vegan skincare recipe.
Ingredients:
3 tbsp pumpkin puree
1 tbsp oats, ground into coarse flour with a blender or food processor
1 pinch of ground nutmeg or pumpkin pie spice
1 drop of cinnamon essential oil or 1 pinch of ground cinnamon
For dry skin: add some of your favorite facial oil (e.g. almond, hemp seed, jojoba, coconut, etc.)
For oily skin: add a few pinches of turmeric and extra cinnamon
For sensitive skin: omit cinnamon
Steps:
Mix together all ingredients and refrigerate in an airtight container until ready to use.
To Use:
Apply to your freshly-cleansed face, being careful to avoid your eyes, nose, and mouth. After 10-15 minutes, gently wipe off and rinse with warm water. Follow up with your favorite moisturizer or facial oil.
To Gift:
You guessed it: a small mason jar with a cloth ribbon makes for perfect packaging. Add a pumpkin-themed label with a note to keep the mask mixture refrigerated. To delivery, wait for a cold day to do porch drop-offs of this perishable gift.
With these recipes you can incorporate the season’s best scents — evergreen, ginger, peppermint, cinnamon, and nutmeg — into your DIY skincare routine and holiday gift-giving. Self-care and gratitude never felt so good, and certainly never smelled so good.
Photo: Pistachio Project
Make your own simple skincare products to give as gifts and to use yourself.
Just as a plant-based diet is beneficial for you and the planet, so is plant-based skincare. The vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants found in many vegan foods are also perfectly suited to nourish your skin and level up your beauty routine.
This holiday season, try making your own skin care products. It’s budget-friendly, and with some pretty and simple packaging (repurposed and reusable is best!), these homemade skincare recipes make for great gifts.
Simply put, making your own skincare products is a chance to practice both self-care and gratitude. You’ll be glad you added these seasonally-scented homemade skincare recipes (seriously, they smell so good!) to your holiday to-do list. They’re so simple and clean that you may already have all the ingredients on hand in your pantry and medicine cabinet. This is the perfect recipe collection for DIY vegan skincare newbies and gift shopping procrastinators alike. Let’s get started!
Peppermint Sugar Scrub
Adapted from Simply Designing
Putting sugar on your body has great benefits. Sugar grains act as an exfoliant, which makes them perfect for softening rough patches of skin on your elbows, knees, and feet. And the peppermint essential oil will really make everything feel more like the holidays.
With this heavenly-smelling DIY skin scrub, silky smooth skin will soon be yours.
Ingredients:
1 cup granulated sugar
4 tbsp coconut oil
50 drops peppermint essential oil
Steps:
Mix all ingredients together in a glass or metal bowl. Add more or less coconut oil until you get the desired consistency. Put it all in a cute jar.
To Use:
When dry skin strikes, use 1 tablespoon in the shower. Gently massage into your skin and rinse well. Scrubs are great for exfoliating dead skin off of your hands, face, and body. They're gentler on your skin than salt scrubs for regular exfoliating.
To Gift:
Use a holiday tree-themed adhesive label as a gift tag and wrap a pretty cloth ribbon around the jar. Or add red and white twine if you want. Either way it makes a wonderful gift for yourself, or for someone else.
Gingerbread Bath Bombs
Adapted from The Pistachio Project
DIY vegan skincare that entices you to soak up some self-care in the bathtub? Yes, please! As a bonus, the cookie-like ingredients in these gingerbread bath bombs have some skin and health benefits. While the baking soda and citric acid provide the fun fizz, epsom salt relaxes sore muscles and provides a nice magnesium boost. Cinnamon and ginger act as powerful antioxidants and anti-inflammatories.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup baking soda
1/4 cup epsom salt
1/4 cup citric acid
1/2 tsp cinnamon or 2 drops of cinnamon essential oil
1/2 tsp ground ginger or 2 drops of ginger essential oil
1 tbsp melted coconut oil
1/2 tsp molasses
Note: Find citric acid online or at natural food stores.
Steps:
- Whisk all dry ingredients in a bowl. Add melted coconut oil and molasses (and essential oils, if using) and mix well. You should be able to mold the mixture in your hand; you want it to be on the dry side. If you need a bit more moisture, add water one spritz at a time until the proper consistency is reached.
- Pack mixture into molds and let dry for 24 hours before removing.
- Store in a dry place until ready to use.
To Use:
Add 1-2 bombs to bathwater and enjoy a nice warm soak!
To Gift:
Use a gingerbread men mold to transform this DIY vegan skincare recipe into the cutest Christmas gift ever. As for packaging, you can’t go wrong with a wide-mouth pint or quart mason jar, ribbon (red gingham, anyone?), and festive label.
Soothing Peppermint Foot Soak
Adapted from A Cultivated Nest
This super simple homemade skincare recipe is a perfect gift for all the healthcare and essential workers in your life. Thanks to the ingredients, this peppermint foot soak exfoliates, softens, cleanses, relaxes, and rejuvenates tired, overworked feet (and quite possibly your emotions, too!) in one sitting.
Epsom salts contain magnesium, which reduces stress and pain. Baking soda deodorizes. Peppermint essential oil has antiviral properties when used topically. And breathing in the aroma may improve both your mood and your sleep.
Ingredients:
¾ cup epsom salts
¼ cup baking soda
2 peppermint tea bags
6-8 drops peppermint essential oil
Steps:
- Empty tea bag contents into a bowl and add all other ingredients. Stir to combine.
- Store in an airtight container.
To Use:
Add ⅓ to ½ cup to a basin or bathtub. Add water that’s as hot as you can tolerate — enough to completely submerge your feet and ankles. Soak for 15-20 minutes.
After soaking, you can give the tough, dry spots on your feet some extra TLC by massaging them with a pumice stone followed by applying moisturizer.
To Gift:
Stick with the above-mentioned mason jar, ribbon, and gift tag combo, but this time add a fun candy cane motif. To make it a set, include a pumice stone and your favorite foot moisturizer with the gift.
Pumpkin Spice Face Mask
Adapted from Feed Your Beauty
It’s your chance to get the spa treatment at home. This DIY pumpkin spice face mask is so nourishing. Pumpkin is your skin’s best friend. It’s rich in vitamin A, which aids in healing and acne prevention. Pumpkin’s lutein can help reverse sun damage. Oats soothe itchy, dry irritated skin. And of course there’s the good-smelling, inflammation-fighting properties of this recipe’s warming spices. Show your skin and your senses all the love with this DIY vegan skincare recipe.
Ingredients:
3 tbsp pumpkin puree
1 tbsp oats, ground into coarse flour with a blender or food processor
1 pinch of ground nutmeg or pumpkin pie spice
1 drop of cinnamon essential oil or 1 pinch of ground cinnamon
For dry skin: add some of your favorite facial oil (e.g. almond, hemp seed, jojoba, coconut, etc.)
For oily skin: add a few pinches of turmeric and extra cinnamon
For sensitive skin: omit cinnamon
Steps:
Mix together all ingredients and refrigerate in an airtight container until ready to use.
To Use:
Apply to your freshly-cleansed face, being careful to avoid your eyes, nose, and mouth. After 10-15 minutes, gently wipe off and rinse with warm water. Follow up with your favorite moisturizer or facial oil.
To Gift:
You guessed it: a small mason jar with a cloth ribbon makes for perfect packaging. Add a pumpkin-themed label with a note to keep the mask mixture refrigerated. To delivery, wait for a cold day to do porch drop-offs of this perishable gift.
With these recipes you can incorporate the season’s best scents — evergreen, ginger, peppermint, cinnamon, and nutmeg — into your DIY skincare routine and holiday gift-giving. Self-care and gratitude never felt so good, and certainly never smelled so good.
Photo: Pistachio Project
