Facial Serum & Facial Balm Recipes
Stunning carrier oils, essential oils, and herb infusions star in these decadent facial recipes.
Raspberry Marula Facial Serum
I have so been enjoying using this silky Raspberry Marula Facial Serum. Not only is it a joy to use thanks to its lightweight consistency and luxurious slip, it also leaves my skin dewy and glowing. Oil serums were one of my first DIY/natural beauty loves, but it's...
read more
Solid Olive Primrose Facial Serum
This silky smooth, light-as-a-feather solid facial serum is really neat. It has all the satiny, lightweight loveliness of a liquid serum, but it's easier to transport (no leaks!), and application is even easier thanks to the elimination of the dropper bottle....
read more
Angela’s Calendula Eye Balm
Last autumn Angela wrote in asking for a DIY version of an expensive calendula-infused eye balm she was using in Portugal. The ingredient list was beautiful, and as usual, the price tag was a touch shocking. So, with her enthusiasm for the product I took that...
read more
Sea Buckthorn Mattifying Moisturizer
If you're looking for touchable, smooth, soft skin, this Sea Buckthorn Mattifying Moisturizer is right up your alley. It's a creamy, orange-hued moisturizer features a few scoops of silky smooth arrowroot starch to give your hydrated skin a beautiful dry touch. It was...
read more
Moringa Rose Serum
I've had quite a few requests for this popular rose serum over the years. I think Karen's was the first, back in 2014, but it certainly hasn't been the last. The original looks utterly lovely; a blend of fantastic carrier oils like pomegranate and baobab, with rose,...
read more
Orange Abyssinian Overnight Balm
This juicy, honey-hued Orange Abyssinian Overnight Balm is utterly lovely. It has an almost unbelievable dry finish, leaving skin hydrated, but not greasy. It smells of pure, juicy oranges with the slightest hint of sweet, floral Tahitian gardenias. It's smooth and...
read more
Rose Gold Facial Serum
Last week I was watching a makeup tutorial with Adele's makeup artist, Michael Ashton, and as he was prepping his beautiful model's skin, he used two products that really intrigued me. One was a fancy-sounding French facial serum; Decleor's Aromessence Rose D'Orient...
read more
Luxury Facial Serum
The amount of money some shop-bought natural skincare products sell for never ceases to amaze me. You'd think I'd be used to seeing price tags north of $150 for a few tablespoons of something, but I'm not. I'm perpetually astonished to find a blend of oils or a simple...
read more
Pomegranate Primrose Summer Facial Serum
My new Pomegranate Primrose Summer Facial Serum is a fantastic way to lighten up your skin care routine for warmer days (I'm calling it my PrimPom Serum for short, ha!). It is silky and light, absorbing into your skin quickly and leaving it beautifully hydrated, and...
read more
Magical Primrose Argan Serum
This recipe is ridiculously simple. So simple, in fact, that you might think I just threw it together one day as a bit of a random idea. And you would be right. This project wasn't supposed to be a blog entry—just an experiment. I figured I'd try it out and see, and...
read more
Winterlight Argan Serum
This milky facial oil is pretty much the opposite of my Argan bronzer. While the bronzer is designed to impart a summery glow, this serum lightens and brightens the complexion, smoothing out imperfections and giving you that Downton Abbey complexion I'm so in love...
read more
Gentle Argan Silk Milk
A few months ago Meredith sent me a link to this product, accompanied by a hearty digital laugh. And a well deserved laugh it was. I've talked before about the astonishing markup that Josie Maran sells their argan oil at—closer to $1/mL than the $0.12/mL New...
read more
Rosehip & Tamanu Healing Facial Serum
I think rosehip oil is about to become the next big thing in commercialized natural skincare, making the leap to Sephora shelves a la argan oil & Josie Maran. It's starting to pop up on my non-natural/DIY beauty Pinterest feeds, accompanied by photographs of...
read more
Tallow Balm for Mature Skin
Sometime last year I stumbled across this really neat blog entry about the benefits of using tallow on the skin—especially for aging skin. Over the months I've mentioned it to readers who have tried it, and reported back with positive results, so I thought it was...
read more
Brighten & Renew Facial Serum
I'm pretty happy with this recipe. It's easy, inexpensive, fast, and the sort of thing you'd pay $50 for at the beauty counter. There's just six ingredients, and the results are quickly noticeable. In the short term you'll notice smoother skin, and over time you'll...
read more
My Favourite Argan Oil Serum
Meredith and I exchange a lot of things—recipes, ingredients, articles, and ideas. Out of all the things she's introduced me to over the years, Argan oil is far and beyond my favourite (the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day cookbook series is a close second). I cannot...
read more
Intense Facial Moisturizer
Winter is always dry, but Calgary is a special case. It's the sort of place where it is regularly thirsty out, in addition to being cold and/or windy. My skin has always been acutely aware of this, sparking a lotion-toting habit bordering on the ridiculous. A few...
read more