Easy One Ingredient Natural Vitamin C Exfoliant
Hello my darlings,
What if I told you that you only need one ingredient to make a natural Vitamin C exfoliant for your face? I know, you’re welcome. I’ll teach you how to make this super easy exfoliant AND I’ll teach you how to upgrade your at home facial treatment with ingredients you have at home already!
Vitamin C is an antioxidant that helps to slow premature aging in the skin, prevent sun damage, and reduce the appearance of wrinkles, hyperpigmentation (dark spots) and acne.Â
Antioxidants help to fight free radicals, which basically are broken and unstable molecules that wreak havoc on your skin. Free radicals can be created in the body or enter externally. Things like air pollution (cigarette smoke, smog, pesticides, ozone, ultraviolet radiation, cooking byproducts, and industrial solvents are just a few sources of free radicals but your body also creates free radicals by small things such as metabolizing food into energy.Â
In low levels, free radicals aid in boosting the immune system and other positive body functions but if they run out of control, they cause oxidative stress on your DNA which results in fine lines, wrinkles, loss of elasticity, disease and even some cancers.
Vitamin C helps to fight this oxidative process by neutralizing the free radicals, stabilizing the molecules.Â
The added wonder of an exfoliant helps to polish dead skin cells from the surface of the skin and make way for healthy skin cell turnover. If you want to learn more about why you should exfoliate, please read this article.
The One Ingredient in this Vitamin C Exfoliant
Did you know that the peel of your orange contains about three times more vitamin C than the fruit itself? Seems like such a waste of valuable anti-aging gold! As a bonus, orange peel has antimicrobial properties so it is excellent for people with acne. So let’s make use of the potent part of the orange that we usually throw away by turning it into a natural vitamin C exfoliant!
How to Make a Vitamin C Exfoliant
The first step is easy enough. Eat oranges! Consuming vitamin C is just as important as using it topically, if not more so. You absorb the majority of vitamins through the food you eat, so having a diet with lots of vitamin C is actually a form of healthy skin care.Â
*Please make sure these are organic oranges and wash the peels with a good produce wash to be sure to remove all chemicals/debris!
The second step to making this vitamin C exfoliant would of course be to save the peels. We are going to dry out the peels by either using a dehydrator (here is the one I use, it’s also an air fryer so it’s pretty useful!) or by laying your orange peels out in the sun to dry.
*If you are using the sun to dry your orange peels, I would recommend keeping them contained somehow. If I dry in the sun, I actually spread them out on a pan and leave them in my car. This prevents critters from stealing my loot and the wind from blowing them away as the peels get lighter when dried out. Bonus: your car will smell delicious.Â
The third step is to use a mortar and pestle to grind your dried orange peel into a fine powder. Honestly, this can take a very long time, so if you want to cheat, use a coffee grinder to do it.Â
That’s it! This super fine, grainy powder is your Vitamin C Exfoliant!
How to Use Your Vitamin C Exfoliant
The easiest way to use this vitamin C exfoliant is simply to mix it with water! Gently scrub the skin and leave on for 5 to 10 minutes.Â
Make a yogurt mask! Add three tablespoons of your vitamin C exfoliant into half a cup of organic yogurt for a probiotic brightening mask! Yogurt is full of natural probiotics and lactic acid, these will aid in strengthening your skin’s microbiome and in brightening the skin while reducing pore size. Apply to the skin like any mask and leave on for 5 to 15 minutes.Â
Make a honey leave on conditioner for your skin! This one might be my favorite. Honey is an incredible natural ingredient in skin care. It contains antioxidants, it’s antimicrobial (good for acne), anti-inflammatory (good for rosacea and eczema), balances oil production, aids in cell regeneration, and helps draw moisture into the skin. Warm two tablespoons of coconut oil. Add two tablespoons of honey and mix well. Try not to let the honey get too warm, you want to retain the thick consistency in the coconut oil. Add two tablespoons of your vitamin C exfoliant. Spread on your skin and leave on for 5 to 15 minutes. This may get messy so I would do this before a shower or while in the bath even!Â
]Add your vitamin C exfoliant to any cleanser, mask, oil, or moisturizer to enhance its powers!
Easy One Ingredient Natural Vitamin C Exfoliant
Equipment
- 1 food dehydrator optional
- 1 mortar and pestle optional
- 1 coffee bean grinder optional
Ingredients
- 1 orange only the peel is needed
Instructions
- Peel the orange
- Spread the orange peels out on a pan and set out in the sun to dry OR use a food dehydrator to dry peels. This step can take several hours varying from 2 to 8 depending on how thick your peel is.
- Grind the orange peel. This can be done with a mortar and pestle, a coffee grinder or if you don't have these, you can put the peel into a zip lock bag and crush. This last method will take a lot of time and effort.
- The natural vitamin C Exfoliant is ready! For more uses, refer to the section How to Use Your Natural Vitamin C Exfoliant
Enjoy Your Easy, Natural Vitamin C Exfoliant
I love making natural skin care, whether it’s for topical use or internal. Healthy skin begins within, so while I encourage you to make avid use of this excellent vitamin C exfoliant, I also advocate that you eat as many oranges and other vitamin C containing whole foods in your diet as you can for glowing skin. As with any exfoliant, gentle scrubbing is all that is needed to polish the skin. Please use only as frequently as your skin type will allow! Again, if you need to learn more about exfoliation, please read this article. If you decide to make my recipe for this easy natural vitamin C exfoliant, tag me on social media so I can share you to my stories @bewitchedskinandsoul. Thank you for reading!
Wishing you a life full of beauty and blessings!
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