This will be the last post from the soap nut series for a while, I promise : D I just couldn’t resist sharing this soap nut based face wash recipe as well. It’s quite simple really, the base is soap nut liquid again just as with the soap nut shampoo plus loads of added skin purifying and rejuvenating ingredients.
So first what you need to do is make the soap nut liquid by boiling 7 whole soap nuts in about 2 cups of water for 30 minutes on a medium heat. I also added a green tea bag into the boiling soap nut water because it has antioxidant (read: anti-aging) and anti-inflammatory activities when added to the skin. Then let the mixture cool and drain out the soap nuts and tea bag.
Then I used mortar and pestle to grind about 2 tablespoons of whole stevia leaves and 20 tablets of activated charcoal (if you’re using capsules of activated charcoal then skip the grinding part and just open up the capsules). Turns out that stevia leaf powder isn’t only good for your oral health but also for your skin. It effectively softens and tightens the skin, smoothes out wrinkles and helps to heal acne. Activated charcoal when added topically absorbs into the pores of your skin and draws out dirt and oils, meaning that it can help eliminate acne, bumps and blackheads.
I also added 4 tablespoons of Dead Sea mud, 2 tablespoons of neem powder and 2 tablespoons of rice powder to the face wash mixture. The Dead Sea mud helps in treatment of various skin ailments such as acne, eczema and psoriasis, it is said to improve the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles and hydrate and moisturize the skin. And just like activated charcoal it sucks out impurities and toxins from the skin. The neem powder acts as an astringent and tones the skin. The rice powder contains ferulic acid and allantoin. Ferulic acid is a powerful antioxidant and allantoin is a good anti-inflammatory agent, it soothes sunburns and promotes the skin’s repair. Rice powder also has some whitening effect on the skin.
When you have mixed all the ingredients together then add about 1 tablespoon of vitamin E oil for better preservation. You can also add a few drops of your favorite essential oil.
*If you want the face wash liquid to be less like a liquid and more like a paste so that you could also use it as a face mask then feel free to add any clay of your choice to make it thicker (I would recommend Rhassoul or French green clay for example)
