Using common ingredients you can find in your grocery store, you can save a lot of money on skin care products. Not only that, but you'll be avoiding a lot of chemicals and other possibly dangerous ingredients.

• Milk is a good facial cleanser just like it is. You need to use whole milk. Just dip a cotton ball into the milk and apply it to your face. Rinse with warm water. Yogurt is good for cleaning oily skin. Use it like milk.
  
  You can infuse the milk with an herb if you like. Just take 1/4 cup milk and about a teaspoon of the herb and let it soak for an hour or two. You could leave it in the refrigerator to soak for 4 hours or overnight. Strain out the herbs and use as above.
  
  For oily skin try lemon peel.
  For dry skin try rose or elderflowers. See our wild foods page for identification.
  Lavender, rose and chamomile are good for all skin types.
  
  
• Lemon juice diluted with water makes a good astringent and toner.
  
  
• Masks can be make out of a lot of things.
  
  
  • Avocado mash 1 avocado, mix with a squirt of lemon juice, or leave out the lemon juice for dry skin.
    
    
  • Honey or mashed banana and honey both work to soften, moisturize and nourish the skin.
    
    
  • Cooked oatmeal softens and nourishes. Good for all kinds of skin.
    
    
  • Egg White tightens the skin and shrinks the pores.
  
  
  The purpose of a mask is to add moisture and nutrients to the skin. They also clean and refine the pores. To use, apply to clean face for about 15 minutes (take the time to really relax) then wipe off very gently with wet cloth. Rinse with warm water and follow with a cool splash.
  
  
• In your Bath try a salt scrub. take a handful of salt (dry) and scrub it gently over your wet skin until it is gone.
  
  
  • Use oatmeal bundled in a cloth in your bath. Place the bag under the faucet as the tub fills, then use the bag all over your body. You will emerge with lovely smooth skin.
    
    
  • Make a "tea" by bundling a handful of herbs in a cloth bag or washcloth to steep (See above for some herbs you can use).
  
  
  • Use instant milk in your bath. The milk protein is what gives your skin it's smooth surface.
    
    
  • Best of all, take the petals off of 3 or more roses and put them in your tub. Settle in with your favorite drink, put on some soft music and soak like you have nothing else to do in the world!
  
  
  Try a vinegar rinse, dilute about 1/4 cup of white vinegar in 2 cups of water and pour over your hair and body after a bath or shower, then rinse well. The vinegar is thought to help in the control of dandruff. Used after your shower it will help to restore the natural acid mantle of your skin. You may even be able to eliminate your conditioner use!
  
  Here's why: Soaps and shampoos are usually very alkaline, the vinegar counters this. Alkalinity in shampoo causes your hair to be a tangled mess. This is because your hair stands up and gets a rough surface when faced with the unnatural alkalinity. Your hair follicles even stick up. The vinegar makes your hair lay down and feel slicker. Just use white vinegar (seems to rinse cleaner with less smell). If you can't stand the smell of the vinegar until it dries (it will pretty much go away then) just dilute it a little more.
  
  
• Deodorant, you can make your own powder deodorant. Just mix baking soda and corn starch half and half. Use a little less baking soda if you're sensitive. If desired, add a few drops of an essential oil that you like. Sift the ingredients together about 6 times until well incorporated and fluffy (you may have to press the oil through the screen initially with the back of a spoon). Put it into an old spice shaker with small holes. Be careful not to get any on your clothes.