Spoiler alert: a lot of the "natural" face washes you see on store shelves aren't as natural as they'd like you to believe. The bottle may boast plant-based and botanical ingredients, but a closer look at the label could reveal stuff your skin is not into. The impossible-to-pronounce chemicals, and mysterious colors and "fragrance" companies slip in under the guise of a gentle, "natural" facial cleanser, are harmful to your skin and overall health. The best way to be sure of what's in your face wash? Make it yourself. 

Face wash recipes are a dime a dozen on the internet. Some are pretty simple, and others will have you out foraging for ingredients you’ve never heard of at your local health food store. If you’ve got that kind of time, forage away. We’re big fans of putting a little time and effort into crafting your own skin care products. What we’re not fans of is spending half a day—and who knows how much money—making a product we end up not liking, or ever wanting to use again.

If you’ve been wanting to try making your own all-natural castile soap face wash, our recipe is a good place to start—and stop, if you love the way it leaves your face feeling. We can’t guarantee it will do X, Y, and Z for your skin because we don’t know your skin. What we can guarantee is that it will gently remove dirt, grime and make-up without stripping moisture. Plus, it won’t take half a day to make, or cost a ton.

It’s also easy to customize (if you're into that sort of thing). We use Cove Castile soap, made with certified organic argan, jojoba, hemp, olive and coconut oils. Then we add a little sweet almond oil to help moisturize. We top it off with soothing chamomile tea—or filtered water if tea is not your jam—and you're good to glow. 

Here's the recipe:

Cove Fuss-Free Face Wash

Makes 8 ounces.

Gather:

• A foaming soap bottle or bottle with pump
• 3/4 cup brewed and cooled organic chamomile tea (or filtered watered)
• 1/4 cup Cove Unscented Castile liquid soap
• 1/2 tsp organic sweet almond oil

Do:

1. Add Cove Unscented Castile soap and almond oil to bottle.
2. Fill to top with chamomile tea or water.
3. Shake well before each use.

How to use it:

Wet skin with cool water. Add 2-3 pumps of face wash to hands and massage onto face. Mmm. Nice. After 30 secs to a minute of foamy bliss, rinse with cool water. Follow with moisturizer or serum—whatever your newly squeaky clean skin desires. 

We mentioned this recipe is easy to customize, and it's true. Add a few drops of your favorite essential oils for aromatic oomph and extra skin benefits. Astringent lemongrass and tea tree are known to help with oily and acne-prone skin. Rose otto is moisturizing and great for both dry and mature skin. Just be sure to do a little research, and a test patch before applying all over your money maker. You can also use a scented Castile soap, like Cove Tea Rose, Lavender, Citrus, Peppermint, or Tea Tree, with certified organic essential oils formulated right in.

Keep skin care simple, friends.
Cove

Ever been bamboozled by a skin care trend that was too good to be true? Tell us about it! The comments are for venting and the Cove community is all ears.