My Extremely Simple and Natural Skincare Routine

Skincare is a topic relevant to nearly everyone. Recommendations of products, techniques, dietary changes, and lifestyle changes saturate every social platform as we all do our best to keep our skin the healthiest it can be. But like so many other aspects of life, it can quickly become an overwhelming, demanding activity. Over the years, I have developed an extremely simple, all-natural skincare routine that takes me less than 5 minutes per day.

My Story

When I was 11, I went from never experiencing the pain of acne to having the worst acne of my life, to this day. It was painful, embarrassing, and took place in the ripe years of public middle school.

After consulting a few local doctors, it was determined a shift in my diet had caused the terrible outbreak. My parents have always supported a healthy, balanced diet for my siblings and I, but at this time I was eating a lot of dairy on a daily basis. I mean a lot.

Although I don’t have lactose intolerance, my body became overloaded and couldn’t process the dairy normally anymore. It had decided enough was enough and expressed its uncomfortable state in the form of forehead acne, bad forehead acne.

The Remedies

I tried every natural remedy my parents and I came to know.

– Dietary changes—no more dairy! Lots and lots of bone broth and ACV became my best friend.

– Essential oils—tea tree and lavender, yes, please.

– Cleaning my face regularly—a new habit for me; first with mild soap and later with witch hazel

– Other remedies included supplements like black seed oil, zinc, and vitamin D.

We took the approach of healing from the inside out, ensuring we supported my gut health while also using topical remedies. This was truly the start of my skincare journey.

The Results

Over the years of healing, from that first incident and then dealing with a surge of hormonal acne, I’ve learned a lot about natural remedies for keeping bright, healthy skin.

Don’t get me wrong, my skin is not perfect. I still get acne, though significantly less, and I still have scarring from that first breakout, 10 years later.

Despite the imperfect nature of my skin (which I happily accept and continue to work towards healing), it is currently the healthiest it has ever been over this 10-year journey and with the simplest skincare routine I’ve ever had!

I do have the advantage of no longer being a teenager. As I went through my teenage years, my acne morphed from being mainly diet based to being almost entirely hormone-triggered. Now, in my 20s, even the hormonal acne has calmed down significantly.

Nevertheless, here is my current skincare routine to bring you insight into all-natural options and inspire you to simplify your own routine!

A Simple List of Natural Products

I have found a simple routine works best when it comes to skin. Too many products can cause irritation and become less effective over time as your body becomes accustomed to their presence. It’s a good thing to keep things simple and mix it up every now and then for that reason.

It’s a bonus if you can source natural remedies that don’t contain unnecessary extra ingredients that can sometimes make things worse. I prefer as pure of a remedy as I can get my hands on.

Over the years, I have collected a large arsenal of information on natural remedies for fighting and healing both acne and acne scars. There are ways to heal acne from the inside, which I encourage you to always explore as a first option, but that requires a serious look at your individual dietary needs and can be incredibly nuanced.

Here, I will provide a simple list of the topical products I have used over the years and their benefits before outlining my current routine.

Natural Topical Remedies

NOTE: All terms highlighted in bold text have definitions written at the end of this list.

Qasil Powder

Contains natural saponins that cleanse and detoxify, polysaccharides that retain moisture, and is rich in anti-inflammatory properties and antioxidants. ¹

These properties are promoted by the vitamin C, vitamin E, zinc, and selenium found in Qasil powder. The rough texture of the powder can also serve as an exfoliant. ²

Rosewater

Contains phytonutrients that provide anti-inflammatory properties along with being antiseptic, antibacterial, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anti-anxiety. ³

Rosewater is known to hydrate, balance and tone, and nourish and revitalize the skin, among many other incredible health benefits. ⁴

Essential Oils – Lavender and Tea Tree

Lavender essential oil has antiseptic, wound-healing, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antimicrobial properties. ⁵ These properties promote treatment of acne, dry skin, wrinkles, scars, bug bites, and more. ⁶ ⁷

Tea tree oil contains properties that make it an excellent antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antimicrobial, and anti-fungal. It is commonly used to treat acne, acne scars, hyperpigmentation, and both dry and oily skin. ⁸ ⁹

Aloe Vera

Aloe vera is a cactus plant that contains vitamins, minerals, sugars, enzymes, salicylic acids, and amino acids. The gel from this plant helps soothe sunburn, fade dark spots, moisturize skin, and treat acne, psoriasis, and eczema. ¹⁰

Apricot Oil

Apricot oil can be used both by itself and as a carrier oil for essential oil blends. The naturally occurring oleic and linoleic acids and vitamin E in the oil work to moisturize skin, heal acne, eczema, and psoriasis, and protect against pollution. ¹¹

Additionally, the oil has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that help heal aging and irritated skin. ¹²

Witch Hazel

There are few skin woes witch hazel can’t help remedy. It is a natural antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, astringent, and vasoconstrictor. These properties make it an excellent option for toning skin, eliminating excess oil, fighting acne, tightening pores, reducing redness, and so much more! ¹³

Honey

Honey is not only delicious, it is also filled with a plethora of wonderful skin healing properties! It is antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anti-aging, antibacterial, an exfoliant, antiseptic, and moisturizing. The combination of these properties makes it an excellent choice for healing wounds, acne, eczema, and psoriasis; skin lightening and brightening; and scar fading, to name a few. ¹⁴ ¹⁵ ¹⁶

While Manuka honey is known to be especially adept at providing these benefits, all honey will work to provide similar outcomes.

Black Seed Oil

Black seed oil is not well known but boasts an extraordinary arsenal of health benefits. It is anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, moisturizing, antioxidant, antihistamine, antimicrobial, and anti-fungal. ¹⁷

It may be used to treat acne and acne scars, eczema, psoriasis, skin fungus, hyperpigmentation, skin allergies, and skin tightening and aging, as well as many internal health struggles.¹⁸

Definitions:

NOTE: Click on the term to view the reference article.

Antibacterial – “destroying or suppressing the growth or reproduction of bacteria.”

Anti-fungal – “destructive to or checking the growth of fungi.”

Antihistamine – “An agent that counteracts the effects of histamine released during allergic reactions by blocking histamine (H1) receptors.”

Anti-inflammatory – “Preventing or reducing inflammation.”

Antimicrobial – “Capable of destroying or inhibiting the growth of microorganisms.”

Antioxidant – “An agent that inhibits oxidation.”

Antiseptic – “Any substance that inhibits growth of microorganisms.”

Astringent – “Causing contraction or arresting discharges.”

Exfoliant – “A product that is applied to the surface of the skin to remove dead cells.”

Vasoconstrictor – “An agent that causes narrowing of the blood vessels.”

My Simple and Natural Skincare Routine

If the list above looks overwhelming, I agree. There are so many natural options for skincare, and my list barely scratches the surface. The beauty in there being so many options is what works for me may not work for you, and that’s okay!

Natural skincare is all about doing research, trying things out, and finding what works best for you. It’s okay if your list of helpful products changes over time! The simple routine I’m sharing with you today may change as I continue to learn and grow too.

So here it is!

Morning Skincare Routine

When I wake up each morning, the first thing I do is head to the bathroom and move through a short get-ready routine. I spritz rose water on my face (eyes closed!), brush my teeth, roll on a homemade blemish oil for any acne or scarring, and do my hair.

That’s it! Rosewater and blemish oil. That’s my morning skincare routine, and I love it.

UPDATE: Even since writing this post, I have mostly removed the blemish oil from my morning routine, as I don’t need it nearly as often. As we begin to move into the summer months, I have increased the frequency of putting aloe vera on in the mornings to help soothe the effects of intense sun exposure.

Evening Skincare Routine

I’m an evening shower person, so when I decide it’s time to start getting ready for bed, I go straight to taking a shower.

While in the shower, I dump some qasil powder into the palm of one hand, hydrate it with water, and mix it together into a loose paste. I lather the qasil between my hands and then wash my face, rinsing it off before I finish my shower.

Once out of the shower, I spritz some more rosewater on my face and allow it to dry while I brush my teeth. The last thing I do before bed is roll on some more blemish oil.

The only additional step to my evening routine is cleaning my face with the qasil powder in the shower. It takes me less than 5 minutes total each day to do my skincare routine, and I love it!

UPDATE: As with my morning routine, my evening routine has also changed slightly. I recently ran out of qasil powder, so I started washing my face with our basic olive oil bar soap while in the shower. It tends to leave my skin a little more dry, so in addition to the rosewater, I will often rub in a little apricot oil or aloe vera to finish off the routine!

Optional Additions

Every now and again, when my skin is particularly dry, I’ll rub apricot oil into my skin and let it soak in overnight. I usually only take this step when I do a face mask as they can be more drying to my skin.

Currently, my favorite face mask is mixing together qasil powder and honey into a thick paste and applying it to my face. I’ll leave it on for 20-30 minutes before rinsing off with a washcloth. My skin is always super bright, tight, and healthy the next day!

Conclusion

I hope that by sharing my knowledge of natural topical options for skincare and my extremely simple routine, I have inspired you to reevaluate your own skincare routine. Whether that first step is simply paring down what you use or moving to more natural options, I encourage you to take it! Small progress may be slow, but it’s still progress!

As I mentioned, my skin isn’t perfect, and I don’t promise that any of these methods will make your skin “perfect” either. What I have found is skin that is healthy and makes me happy. I wish you the best on your journey to happy, healthy skin too!

References

#health lifestyle natural remedies routine