Unexpected Outcomes in Facial Toners.

Been trying some new concoctions for facial toners, so thought I'd share with y'all. There was my original toner concoction that I've used since spring of 2013, and blogged about as part of my Homemade Facial Cleansing Cloths. Still an oldie and a goody, but always fun to experiment. 

Pretty sure, this should be on every post.
And possibly tattooed on my forehead.

First some reminders on my ingredients:

• I use unrefined, cold pressed, organic, virgin coconut oil. 
• This means it is the oil created after the first pressing of the coconut meat, with no added chemicals, etc.
• Cold pressing ensures the chemistry of the oil remains intact (heat doesn't muck about with the bonds and such). 
• I'm currently using Carrington Farms, which my BFF got at Costco (she's a member, I am not) and if I recall, the 54 oz. bottle was like $15. 
• I use distilled water.
• I use essential oils that are organic or as pure as I can find.
• Your skin is your largest organ, and I use as pure ingredients as I can find, so my skin isn't absorbing any more crap than normal.
• Coconut oil has a low melting and low solidifying point, so you just have to play around with how much is too much, when you are creating items. It's a fine line between too much and not enough. 

Green Tea and Lavender
My first trial was to brew some strong green tea and concoct from there. I brought 4 cups of filtered water up to a good and hard boil, and poured it into a appropriately sized Pyrex measuring cup, added four organic green tea bags, and let them steep until the water was cool. 

From there I added what was probably about 2-3 tablespoons of lightly melted coconut oil, and this time a great lavender oil. Gave it a good shake every few hours, so the coconut oil would mingle nicely, filled up my spritzer bottle and put the rest in the frig. 

I chose green tea because of its amazing and healthful properties, including the antioxidants that are formed naturally. 

What I failed to take into consideration with such a big batch is, that while organic, the green tea is also a degradable ingredient, i.e. over time, it will go bad, no matter what you've put in in. 

Rut row, Raggy. After a few weeks, the batch in my bottle got a little skunky, and while the larger batch in the frig was great straight out of the frig, after a few hours on the counter, also skunked. #LessonLearned

I still thinks it is a swell idea, just make it in a single small batch, and use it within two weeks. Maybe one cup of boiled water and one green tea bag. I do have to say, it smelled delightful and would probably be awesome as a light summer spritzer on a hot, sweaty visage, so I may just keep a small bottle in the frig. (Note, the colder it is, the more solid the coconut oil will be....just to keep that in mind!).

Rosewater
Second concoction, was a variation on the original. Took distilled water, rosewater, about a tablespoon (maybe a bit less) of lightly melted coconut oil and mixed it all together. It smelled heavenly - to me. I made enough to whip up a new batch of facial cleansing cloths (has used the green tea batch and well, it skunked too. Dang) and a new batch of toner. 

I used the green tea & lavender version for a few weeks, and I've been using the rosewater version for a week. Both have been lovely, but for every day, I like the rosewater version better. In addition to being easier and faster to make (no boiling, waiting for water to cool, etc.), I feel like it is a bit more hydrating. And, as an old soul, I do lerv the rose scent. 

I think I'm going to stick with the main recipe, and just experiment with waters and other hydrosols to add, plus experiment with other essential oils.

If you choose to purchase coconut oil personal care items, do take heed. I read a story just yesterday from Refinery29, about personal products that also contain Cocamide DEA causing cancer. Not good, at all. So if you still want to be part of the coconut oil bandwagon, make sure you are reading the labels.