DIY Acne Fighting Toner

I'm always looking for natural but inexpensive beauty products, especially ones that I can easily make at home.  I absolutely love LUSH products for their nautral ingredients.  But let's be honest, their prices are pretty steep & they're not (sadly) readily available in Alabama.  Some of my favorite LUSH products include their toner waters, specifically Breath of Fresh Air & Tea Tree Water.  If you look at the ingredients, these don't seem that hard to make at home.

Tea tree oil has a myriad of uses.  It can be used as an all purpose cleaner, laundry booster, bath oil, & insect repellant.  It is antibacterial & can be used to treat everything from acne to eczema.  If you feel a spot coming on, you can dab a qtip into the oil & apply direction onto the affected area.  Tea tree oil can be extremely potent though, so I put together this toned down version to keep germs & acne at bay. *Tip: you can also spray some of this solution onto your makeup brushes or pillows to kill any bacteria that might cause acne.

I picked up some tea tree oil from Trader Joe's.  You can find oil at most any health food store for $5-10 (depending on the size of the bottle).  I've been using this concoction for several months now & don't see myself purchasing any other toners in the near future. This 1 oz. bottle of oil has lasted me several months & I still have half a bottle left.  This toner can be made in less than 2 minutes & I don't have to worry about running out to the store to pick up some.  The $5 bottle of oil lasts for several refills of this solution so it's highly economical.

You only need three items:

• distilled or purified water
• tea tree oil
• spray bottle (I found mine at Sally's for less than $2)

 Make sure the spray bottle is clean, especially if you're reusing this from a previous product.  Pour approximately 10-12 drops of tea tree oil into the bottle.  Fill the bottle with the distilled water.  Give the bottle a good shake to mix the solution before each use.

*Note: if you began to notice your skin drying out after using this solution, try 6-8 drops of oil instead.  Tea tree oil is robust & can strip your skin of its natural oils so be sure to follow up with a moisturizer.