Cleansing lotions are useful if you do not like to use water on your skin. They are applied and removed with damp cotton wool. A toner must be used afterwards to remove any oily residue.

Basic Lotion

For the herb infusion use any of the herbs mentioned in the previous soap recipe. Use about one tablespoon of herb, pour on 40 ml boiling water, leave to cool, then strain off the liquid. Dissolve the borax in the infusion and mix with the other ingredients. Keep in a capped bottle in a cool place, preferably in a refrigerator.

Herbal Beauty

Yogurt Cleanser

Obtain a ‘live’ yogurt if possible

One 5 fl oz (150 g) carton natural yogurt 1/4 pt (150 ml) herbal infusion

Once again choose any of the herbs described for the soap recipe. Pour 1/4 pt (150 ml) boiling water on to two tablespoons of the herb, leave to cool, strain, then mix with the yogurt. Keep in a capped bottle or jar in the refrigerator.

Rose Lotion

  • 1 oz (30 g) beeswax

Melt the beeswax in the top of a double boiler or a basin set in a pan of simmering water. Gradually add the almond oil drop by drop, beating constantly with a wooden spoon. Then gradually add the rose water, a little at a time. Remove the pan from the heat (or the basin from the saucepan) and continue stirring until the mixture is lukewarm. At this point you may add a few drops of essential oil of rose if you wish. Stir thoroughly, then pour the mixture into a suitable bottle. Put on the cap and keep shaking the mixture every few minutes until it has become entirely cold. Store in the fridge.

Cleansing Cream for Normal Skin

Cleansing creams are particularly good for more mature skins.
Galen was a Greek physician working about AD 200. Below is a variation on his original recipe for a good cleansing cream.

Rose Cleansing Cream

Heat the rose water with the borax so that the borax dissolves. Meanwhile melt the waxes and oil together in a double boiler. When the waxes and oil are thoroughly melted and mixed, remove both containers from the heat and add the rose water slowly to the waxes and oil, stirring continuously until the mixture is cooler. Then add the rose oil. Continue stirring until completely cool, then put into a jar. This is a variation on the Rose Cleansing Lotion theme. It gives a thicker, creamier mixture. Keep it cool.

Toners for Normal Skin

Toners are a good idea after cleansing. They help to remove any remaining film of cleanser and improve the texture of the skin by closing open pores. They are applied on slightly dampened cotton wool. There are simple herb infusions which work well to tone the skin. Make an infusion using 2tablespoons of dried herbs or flower heads to a pint of boiling water (use three handfuls of fresh herbs or flowers). Leave the mixture covered for an hour, strain and bottle. Good herbs are: marigold, meadowsweet, comfrey, marshmallow, elder-flower.

Plain rose water makes a good toner or, for a slightly more astringent effect, combine:

75 ml rose water and 25 ml witch hazel

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Herbal Cleansing Lotions for Normal Skin