Facial Steam Recipes

One old fashioned, simple, but effective way of giving the skin a deep cleanse is to steam your face occasionally. I am a great believer in facial steaming as it removes pollution and dirt and dislodges dead skin cells, making them easy to remove.

A facial steam can be done very simply by filling a large bowl with very hot water and essential oils of your choice. Soak a face cloth in the mixture, rinse out the excess and pat it gentle all over your face, or alternatively place the cloth on one area, leave for a minute, and repeat the process until all areas of the face have been heated. When the heat goes out of the cloth, repeat the process 4 or 5 times.

The other more effective technique is to boil some water and place it in a bowl, then sit with your face over the steam for five minutes. This very simple technique has excellent results. However, if you have rosacea, sunburn, dilated or broken capillaries a steam treatment may make them worse. If you are asthmatic or have any lung conditions you would be best not to use any essential oils in the water unless you are confident your breathing will not be affected.

• Oily skin should be steamed once or twice a week
• Normal skin should be steamed once every fortnight
• Combination skin should be steamed once a week
• Dry or aging skin should be steamed once a month
• Sensitive skin should not steam at all, as this may make the condition worse

• 1 large bowl
• Boiling water to half fill the bowl
• Essential oils or herbs (optional)
• 1 towel

After steaming, pat your face dry with a soft towel and use toner to remove any impurities lying on the surface of your face. It’s a great idea to exfoliate after steaming. Steaming opens all the pores so a good exfoliation helps to remove any dirt or toxin which are still hanging about. This is great for blackheads.

Some essential oils which can be used in your facial steam recipes and can benefit your skin and can be added to your facial steam :

• Chamomile - calming, antibacterial, anti inflammatory
• Clary Sage - calming, regulating, balancing
• Mandarin - regulating, balancing, calming
• Lavender - calming, healing, anti inflammatory, regulating, balancing
• Tea tree - anti bacterial, anti inflammatory, fungicidal, anti viral
• Neroli - calming, healing, anti inflammatory, anti bacterial, regulating, balancing

• Normal or Dry skin - Lady’s mantle, marshmallow
• Normal or oily skin - Fennel, Lemon balm, rosemary
• Oily Skin - Sage, mint
• All skin types - Chamomile, comfrey, elderlower, linden flower, nettle