Houseplants add a nice decorative touch, but they can also be useful. Many enchanting indoor plants are also ideal for making blemished skin beautiful. With just one basic recipe and daily cleansing, those ugly red spots can be a thing of the past. Best of all, these plants have a multitude of other uses, too.
Clarifying Soap-Free Face Wash
Making a homemade facewash doesn’t take long. Just add 45 ml (1.5 oz) of aloe vera, 15 ml (0.5 oz) of coconut oil, and four drops of essential oil to a bottle and shake it up. This recipe only makes approximately two ounces, but it’s enough to last for weeks.
To make essential oil from fresh plants, start by drying them. Begin by harvesting the herbs in sprigs before the plant flowers. Then, remove any yellow leaves and any leaves on the bottom inch of the stems. Tie the sprigs together, drop the bunch into a paper bag with several holes punched into it, and hang it up in a cool, dry location. Once they’re dry, put them into a dry, sterilized jar and fill it to the top with sunflower or olive oil. The oil will be ready in three to six weeks after which it can be strained and stored.
Aloe Vera
Well known for its healing properties, aloe vera contains a wealth of ingredients to leave skin nourished and moisturized. It also has anti-inflammatory property, which makes it a perfect acne treatment. Best of all, it’s low maintenance.
Aloe vera doesn’t like a lot of water. Therefore, a thorough watering once every week or two and a sunny window are all it needs. Just make sure the container it’s in has drainage holes in the bottom so the extra water can escape. (If it doesn’t grow fast enough to make a sufficient amount of facewash, pure aloe gel can be purchased at any pharmacy.)
Comfrey
Comfrey isn’t as common as aloe vera, but it can be just as helpful at clearing blemished skin. This large plant has astringent properties, which makes it a great cleanser, as well as chemicals that protect the skin. However, its healing and anti-aging properties come from the allantoinin it contains.
While it requires watering a bit more often than aloe vera, Comfrey is still easy to grow. It will flourish in almost any soil. And while it likes sunlight, it can thrive almost anywhere. Just make sure it’s in a large pot.
Thyme
Thyme tastes divine and smells even better. However, it’s also one of the most powerful antibacterial ingredients on the planet. Research recently found that it’s more effective than benzoyl peroxide, which is the active ingredient normally found in acne treatments. This plant flourishes when it gets regular trimming, watering, and sunlight.
Lavender
Aside from making the house smell nice, lavender’s pretty purple flowers and delicate leaves contain several blemish-fighting ingredients. Because it’s an antiseptic, it’s an excellent ingredient for cleansers. However, it also has strong anti-inflammatory properties to calm angry skin.
Lavender doesn’t like a lot of moisture, so any pot it’s planted into will need rocks or some other type of drainage in the bottom. Other than that, keep the soil moist. It also likes a lot of sunlight and a little pruning.
Calendula
Loaded full of antioxidants, calendula nourishes and moisturizes skin while carrying away impurities. Their pretty orange flowers are also pleasant in a warm bath or as a hair rinse. This flower doesn’t require much attention either. It just needs a little water, a shady corner, and cool temperatures. These plants are all easy to grow indoors, but they’re even easier to turn into a highly effective facewash for blemish-prone skin. It doesn’t have to stop there either. These plants can also be made into creams, rinses, and many other products that work just as well if not better than their commercial counterparts.