We don’t mean to be dramatic, but winter can kind of wreck your skin.
For people with combination skin, the dry areas of your skin can become drier, and the irritation that results can actually cause more breakouts.
For people with dry skin, the need for moisture becomes even greater during this chilly season. If you don't tend to your skin's extra needs, it can get flaky, cracked, or generally unhealthy looking.
On top of that, less time in the sun can take a toll on our healthy glows, as can less exercise, which might start to happen as jogging or hiking outside becomes less appealing.
The benefits of winter?
Okay, we’re being a little negative here. The good parts about winter? When it gets dark earlier, we’re more likely to get to bed early and get a good night’s sleep. This benefits the complexion as well as… pretty much everything.
And of course, pumpkin appearing in our favorite dishes is delicious, festive, and the extra vitamin A can add warmth to your complexion.
DIY skin care recipes for dry skin
But pie can only distract you from your dry skin for so long. We have a few DIY dry skin remedies to help you get through this winter without giving up on a luminous complexion. No dryness, no dullness, no cracking! We’re covering everything from your face to your hands.
Let’s start simple with our recommended DIY skin care recipes for dry skin:
1. Apple facial mask recipe
We’ve talked about the health benefits of apples before, both for your skin and your insides. Apples make a great mask ingredient for people with combination skin, because they help combat oily skin while also moisturizing. If you ever find yourself with a few wrinkly and unappetizing apples, this is a great use for them!
Ingredients:
- 1 apple
Directions:
- If you have a food processor, you can roughly chop your apple (omitting the core) and process it into a textured paste (not all the way smooth). If you don’t have or want to use a food processor (they’re not known for being quick and easy to clean), peel, core, and steam the apple, then mash it up.
- If you have them on hand, add 2 tablespoons of whole milk and a teaspoon of honey to the mixture. You can also use the apple alone for a nice, simple mask.
- If you steamed the apple, make sure it cools enough before you apply it to your face. Spread the mask evenly across your face and leave on for 15-20 minutes (more is fine, too).
- Massage the mask into your face as your rinse it off.
2. Natural face mask recipe for dry skin
We challenge you not to eat any of this! This recipe was based a great recipe from rawmazing.com. We swapped the avocado for some banana, because it makes for an even more appetizing smell, and bananas are underutilized as a skin-nourishing ingredient. You can definitely use avocado in here if you’d like.
Cocoa powder contains anti-oxidants that help protect from environmental stressors. We like the cocoa powder from Equal Exchange.
Banana is soothing and softening, plus it contains vitamin C for anti-aging benefits. Use a ripe banana that mashes easily.
Of course, coconut oil is an amazing moisturizer (and also contributes the yummy smell of this mask). If you have oily or clogged skin, you can use some hazelnut oil instead, though it will make the consistency a little less thick.
The final ingredient is honey. (Learn more on why honey such a great ingredient for your skin)
Ingredients:
- 1 ripe banana
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp raw honey
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
Directions:
- Mash banana with a fork in a small-medium size bowl.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and blend together.
- Apply to all areas of your face and leave on for 15-20 minutes.
- Rinse off with warm water.
3. Homemade hand moisturizer recipe for winter
Winter’s toll is often seen first on the hands. They become dull, cracked, and dry, which can be uncomfortable in addition to unflattering. We recommend moisturizing regularly with our Radiant Skin Silk, but we also found this luxurious, at home recipe to massage into your hands and bring them back to life.
You could even use this oil to massage a loved one. You’ll get the hand soothing benefits while also extending the gift of massage.
This recipe is from one of our favorite natural beauty books (you’ll notice we reference it often): Natural Skin Care, by Joni Loughran.
Ingredients:
- 1 tsp wheat germ oil
- 400 I.U. vitamin E
- 2 oz. avocado oil
- 2 oz. apricot kernel oil
- 4 drops lemon essential oil
Directions:
- Mix ingredients together and massage into hands. If you have leftover, store them in a sealed container (pro tip: you can reuse the containers from our products)
4. DIY avocado deep hair conditioner recipe
Ingredients:
- ½ mashed ripe avocado
- ½ tsp olive oil
- 3 drops rosemary or lavender essential oil
Directions:
- Combine all ingredients
- Massage into hair and scalp, concentrating on the ends
- Leave on for 10 minutes, then rinse well
This recipe could also be left on longer. Personally, if we sacrificed half an avocado, we'd want to make sure we got the full benefits from it! Apply this mask then do a few sudoku puzzles, go on a vacuuming spree, or knit something. For more ideas, visit our blog to learn more about avocado oil benefits.
5. DIY naturally tinted lip balm recipe
Ingredients:
- ⅛ ounce alkanet root
- 1 cup olive oil
- ¼ cup beeswax
- 1 tbsp honey
- 5 drop essential oil (vanilla, peppermint, or cardamom)
Directions:
- Simmer the alkanet root in the olive oil at a low temperature for 15 minutes, or mix them together in a dry glass jar for two weeks.
- Strain, pressing the oil out of the root with clean, dry fingers.
- Add the beeswax and heat or reheat gently until the beeswax is melted.
- Remove from the heat and add the honey and essential oil.
- Pour into lip balm containers and allow it to cool before sealing the jar. If you have ever purchased a sample kit from us, the containers for the cleansers and dry powders (the Ayurvedic Facial Scrub and the Purifying Mud Mask) make great lip balm containers! Simply clean them out and pour in your lip balm. Put the lid on once it has cooled.
Be sure to check out some of our other DIY skin care recipes like homemade body washes and scrubs!
These simple tips are really helpful and easy. I am following some of them already! Loved it
Thank you for your suggestions.
I absolutely love the ideas here and cannot wait to try them! Thank you!!!
Do you have a recommended replacement oil for the wheat germ oil in the hand saver recipe?
omg this website is so cool ! it taught me alot of natural things i can use to make my face look much better
Thank you for all these “natural/organic ways to take care of your skin and hair! I have thrown out a lot of personal products from skin, bath, hair! I have been looking for product replacements! I have also gone all organic food, no gluten, dairy, grains ( for now) detoxing via a Womderful Functional Dr. !
Detoxing me / & home products! Need to be a Healthy me! Thank you for your site! ❤️ My whole family just got me essential oils and a diffuser! I have MUCH to learn!
I also haven’t had a facial for yrs! It’s Time! Thank you!
I received a restore sample kit, which I liked and decided to order. I entered their website and checked the ingredients of the products I wanted to order and with displeasure they contained (CARRAGEENAN)! This ingredient is related to Cancer! Therefore I did not order. How is it possible that your beauty line is advertised as natural and organic, not gmo etc, contain this ingredient. You must remove that ingredient from your beauty line.
Thank you for reaching out to us, and for your concern.
We have not yet seen any studies that link topical use of carrageenan to any health concerns.
We are aware of the issues surrounding the safety of ingesting carrageenan. We know that when degraded and used as a filler in food products this ingredient could potentially be harmful to the immune system, and could cause inflammation of the intestines.
Luckily, when used topically, carrageenan has too large of a molecule to penetrate the skin, so it cannot be absorbed into the bloodstream and cannot get into your intestinal tract.
We use this ingredient in our Serums, our Anti-Aging Eye Cream, and Radiant Skin Silk as an emulsifier, to create a more even and rich texture. Our carrageenan is extremely high quality and is un-degraded. I hope this may be helpful!
Here’s an article from our blog about carrageenan, why we use it and what the effects are in skin care if you’d like to hear more: https://www.annmariegianni.com/carrageenan-in-skin-care/
Hello,
I would love to see some home remedies for dark/age spots on face and hands.
Thanks
You should never hear oil directly, as it breaks down some of the beneficial vitamins & minerals. You should place it in a glass container & then place that in another container of hot water. This will gently heat the oil without affecting the make-up. Also coconut oil is non-clogging & shouldn’t clog pores.
Another really good handbalm is to mix a tsp of coconut oil and a tsp of manuka honey (I use min 15 grade), slip on a pair of loose socks over your hands and enjoy a deep night’s sleep. I’m recovering from deadly nightshade poisoning on my hands and had to resort to steroid cream from the docs. I avoided the steroids until I could barely save myself from peeling the skin off my hands, the itching was so bad. The skin was swollen, hard and bumpy – horrid. Now I’m in full recovery mode and the coconut oil and manuka honey is a godsend to my cracked and sensitive hands.
Sorry to hear about your poisoning Kate. You wrote about itching and I couldn’t help but reply because I know how it is. I had an awful case of poison ivy in 2012 and the only thing that saved my sanity was aloe vera gel peppermint oil. Not doctors’ steroid prescriptions, not dozens of tips I found on the internet, which I tried all of them probably. So if itching is still an issue, give it a shot… Hope you heal soon…
On the other note, great recipes in this article. I’ll definitely try these if I have more time. For my lips I found (while living in WA) a small company that makes an amazing lip balm Jayme Jayne and for my hands absolutely nothing works better than Optimal One eye gel, which is weird because it is made for eyes, not hands. I discovered that by accident. I used all kinds of creams on my hands, including my own recipes with coconut oil, but for my skin, which is very thin on my hands, there is no comparison, really… Just my 2 cents… Thanks for the article Ann Marie. I always find something useful here.
I love these recipes! Thank you so much and they’ll form part of my own DIY facial and body oil recipes. Can I ask advice re homemade exfoliating scrub pls? How do I get it to “stick” to the skin more easily? I use small grain himalayan rock salt, a few essential oils and sweet almond oil. However it falls off the body too quickly when rubbing on the skin. Any suggestions would be really helpful. Thank you!!!
Hi Kate! I suggest adding coconut oil or honey to it. 🙂
I also love coffee grounds in my scrubs, though it can get a little messy.
I have done, almond oil, sugar, and coffee grounds. I add a couple of drops of essential oil, like rosemary, lavender, eucalyptus,. Yes, coffee grounds make a mess. Even though it falls off, I just keep massaging it into my skin and then rinse off in the shower. I got my daughter and son-in-law hooked on the stuff.
Quick heads-up from someone with bleached hair – go easy on the rosemary and lavender oils. I’ve found these make my bleached hair fall out. 🙁
thank you ann marie
elsa
Thank you for giving us these great all natural tips. I can’t wait to try them and see the awesome results. Have a wonderful holiday season!
Thank you so much. The DIY recipe for the Tinted Lip Balm looks amazing. Can you give me an idea of how many lip balm containers this recipe will fill?
Thanks so much! Sheryl
Hi Sheryl! The recipe is Brigitte Mars’ book doesn’t state how much volume is in the final product. It should fill quite a few containers, though, since you use a whole cup of olive oil.
Wow – these recipes are amazing! Not only are they simple, I have most of these in my cabinets already!! Can’t wait to try the recipes for dry hair and dry skin!! Thank you for sharing and I soooo love your products, especially the Antiaging Oil; it pampers and leaves my skin so very supple!!