21 Homemade Skincare Recipes You Can Make Cheaper & Better At Home

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Experts say the global skincare market will be worth $273.3 billion by 2023. But making your skin look and feel fantastic doesn’t have to break the bank! Homemade skincare recipes can deliver the same or better results than big-name brands, often at a fraction of the cost.

Today, we’re highlighting 15 of these more natural DIY solutions. From natural cleansers and specially formulated face scrubs to eye serums and lip balms, you’ll discover an array of recipes you can make at home to combat the signs of aging or use as gifts for loved ones!

Sound good? Let’s begin at the beginning with a lovely body butter.

1. Lovely DIY Body Butter Recipe For Glowing Skin

DIY chocolate body butter

I love a good body lotion because it helps our skin stay young. But what about making a top-quality body butter? I’ve tried it before, but this week, I decided to become an expert at it. Let me show you, step by step, in detail, how to make body butter at home. I absolutely love the consistency of this recipe. It’s like slathering your body with clouds!
Get The Recipe: Lovely DIY Body Butter Recipe For Glowing Skin

2. Lavender Body Scrub Recipe

DIY lavender sugar scrubs

Sugar is a fantastic (and gentle) natural exfoliator that removes dead skin cells and cleans dirt from clogged pores. This popular sugar scrub recipe leverages those properties to leave skin feeling smooth, supple and rejuvenated. Lavender essential oil is a star ingredient, so it smells divine and has a wonderful calming effect.

The scrub also contains vitamin E, which has antioxidant properties that protect delicate skin, and jojoba oil to nourish and hydrate it.
Get The Recipe: Lavender Sugar Scrub

3. More Homemade Body Scrubs

diy lemon body scrub 1

Sometimes, exfoliation gets a little forgotten about. In the sea of high-performance moisturizers, lotions, and serums, it’s easy to get distracted and hyper-focus on moisturizing the skin. After all, everyone talks about how important it is to use a moisturizer, but less so about using a homemade body scrub. 
Get The Recipes: How To Make A Homemade Body Scrubs For Glowing Skin

4. Green Tea Face Scrub

diy green tea face scrub

Do you have oily or sensitive skin? If so, this green tea face scrub could be a brilliant alternative to traditional scrubs that can be highly oil-based.

This gel scrub uses water-based ingredients to create a much lighter product without sacrificing moisturization. Moreover, the recipe uses free-radical-fighting, antioxidant-infused matcha (a special type of green tea), which means it packs a powerful anti-aging punch.
Get The Recipe: Green Tea Face Scrub

5. More Gentle Homemade Face Scrubs

Face Scrubs, Cleansers & Masks That You Can Easily Make At Home

A homemade face scrub is the best way to get smoother, brighter, and clearer-looking skin for longer. It can also leave your skin feeling ultra-soft, and who doesn’t want that? A good exfoliant can go a long way, and you’d be surprised how easy they can be to whip up.

With just a few simple ingredients, you can develop a decent exfoliating face scrub recipe that will freshen your skin. 
Get The Recipes: 12 Gentle Homemade Face Scrubs For Glowing Skin

6. DIY Foaming Cleanser

Step 9: Your cleanser should last for about 6 months with a preservative

Cleansers play an increasingly valuable role in your skincare regime as you age. They remove dirt, clean pores, and help other skincare products work properly. If you enjoy wearing makeup or have oilier skin, then foaming cleansers work best – and ours is hard to beat!

Unlike many store-bought products, this DIY recipe uses a more natural, gentler surfactant called coco glucoside. Similarly, the two hydrosols (Witch Hazel and Tea Tree) are terrific for people with oily skin and/or who are susceptible to acne.
Get The Recipe: DIY Foaming Cleanser

7. Homemade Micellar Water

how to make micella water

Micellar water is an effective and gentle option for cleaning oily skin, getting your makeup off, and clearing away dirt and grime.

As a combination of mostly hydrosols and surfactants, it isn’t recommended for dry skin (as the hydrosols evaporate, it can remove the skin’s natural oils and lubricants). It works well for everyone else, though! This recipe contains lemon balm hydrosol and lavender hydrosol, so it smells wonderful and has anti-bacterial properties, too.
Get The Recipe: Homemade Micellar Water

8. Natural Toner For Clear Skin

my favourite clear skin toner

This gorgeous-smelling natural toner is a great skincare recipe for anyone with problem skin, particularly acne-plagued skin. It’s also great for pretty much anyone with oily skin. While acne is often thought of as a teenager’s problem, many people over the age of 21 suffer from ‘adult acne.’ It can be debilitating, but this toner could help a lot!

Although I just said that it’s an excellent toner for anyone with problem skin, particularly acne-plagued skin, it’s also great for pretty much anyone with oily skin.
Get The Recipe: Natural Toner For Clear Skin

9. Easy 2-Step DIY Hydrosol Toner

Add the water and hydrosol

This recipe is the super easy, hydrosol-only toner I discussed in Toners 101. While you could just use a single hydrosol right out of the bottle, combining two complementary hydrosols lets you get a double-action toner without much effort. I’ve also included some blends for you to try or use as inspiration.
Get The Recipe: Easy 2-Step DIY Hydrosol Toner

10. Homemade Facemask Recipe

homemade face mask

Aside from being a good excuse to get your girlfriends together and open a bottle of wine, facemasks offer a range of benefits for your skin!

For example, the ingredients in this recipe have been formulated to soothe and hydrate it, stimulate skin cell renewal, boost suppleness, remove dirt, and reduce redness. The addition of Rose and chamomile hydrosol also lends a beautiful, calming aroma to the facemask.
Get The Recipe: Homemade Facemask Recipe

11. Natural & Affordable DIY Face Cream

natural DIY face cream

Most of you will agree that shop-bought skin creams can be expensive. But did you know that a natural DIY face cream recipe is often better for your skin, is very simple to make at home, and comes at a fraction of the price?

When I say a fraction of the cost, there are two caveats. First, there will be an initial outlay to buy your ingredients, but after that, you are good to go for months. Second, you’ll have a high-quality moisturizer without the high price tag of a top-quality product, not cheap buy products.
Get The Recipe: Natural & Affordable Luxury Face Cream Recipe

12. Homemade Wrinkle Cream

homemade anti wrinkle cream

People have sought ways to keep their skin wrinkle-free since Ancient Egyptian times. Back then, you might cover your body in almond, moringa, or castor oil. While not quite the same, our overnight wrinkle cream contains similar oil-based ingredients…

Among other things, there is avocado oil to help soften, soothe, and recondition the skin, and argan oil, which is rich in vitamin E. Compared to store-bought wrinkle creams, this one is significantly gentler – and much less expensive!
Get The Recipe: Homemade Wrinkle Cream

13. Face Moisturizer Formulated For Dry Skin

add the frankincense and lemon essential oils and give it another good stir after each oil

This face moisturizer combines primrose oil, rosehip oil, shea butter, lavender essential oil, sandalwood essential oil, and other goodies to create a superb salve for dry skin. It’s anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-wrinkle, and intensely hydrating. Give it a try if you want deeply hydrated skin that feels as good as it looks.
Get The Recipe: Face Moisturizer for Dry Skin

14. Wrinkle Cream Recipe With Honey And Orange

diy orange and honey wrinkle cream

This natural anti-wrinkle cream is another excellent overnight treatment. It’s perfect for smoothing out fine lines and wrinkles in facial skin, but you can also get great results when using it on cracked heels or dry hands.
Get The Recipe Wrinkle Cream Recipe With Honey And Orange

15. Lavender and Aloe Face Cream

my best DIY moisturizer

I’m loving this lavender and aloe face cream recipe right now, it’s one of my best face creams. While I know many people think of lavender as a basic essential oil, I think they forget that it’s one of the best for your skin.

It’s great for sensitive skin; it speeds up healing, soothes, calms, and restores your natural glow! It’s also available everywhere; practically all essential oil brands sell it.
Get The Recipe: Lavender and Aloe Face Cream

16. Rose and Argan Oil Face Cream

Luxurious Natural Face Moisturizer Recipe with Rose and Argan Oil

My Rose and Argon oil face cream is a very luxurious take on my popular DIY face cream. Rose and Argon oil are two of my favorite oils for a natural face moisturizer recipe.

The wonderful scent of freshly cut Roses is enough to put a smile on anyone’s face, so imagine how it feels to apply a super age defiance lotion (also thanks to the Argon oil) that smells exactly like freshly cut roses, tinged with a mild scent of African Shea butter. It’s going to make you feel great.
Get The Recipe: Rose and Argan Oil Face Cream

17. DIY Hyperpigmentation Cream

Step 6d: Spoon into a glass, PET plastic or aluminium container

Certain types of hyperpigmentation can occur more frequently with age. But don’t worry. While it isn’t a cure, this potent homemade hyperpigmentation cream can help alleviate the condition’s visible signs. Primrose oil, rosehip seed oil, and carrot seed essential oil are among the ingredients that should make a positive difference. All of these should help to even out dark spots and skin tones.
Get The Recipe: DIY Hyperpigmentation Cream

18. DIY Eye Cream with No Preservatives

DIY eye cream

Unlike many store-bought eye creams, this recipe doesn’t contain preservatives. That’s good news, given the delicate skin on this part of your face! The fewer unnatural products, the better.

The caveat is that this isn’t technically a cream (because if it was, it would need water, which would then necessitate the use of preservatives!). Instead, it’s a butter. Shea butter’s nourishing nature makes it a great base for a moisturizing eye cream that doesn’t require preservatives.
Get the recipe: Eye Cream with No Preservatives

19. Homemade Green Tea and Cucumber Eye Gel

my amazing green tea and cucumber eye gel

Ditch the toner you use on the skin beneath your eyes each evening and make this eye gel instead! It’s a great way to keep this part of your face (one of the first to show signs of aging) tight, supple, and smooth.

Two notable ingredients are cucumber hydrosol and green tea extract. The former will make your skin feel beautifully fresh, and the latter has loads of antioxidants and helps fight free radicals. As a result, it’s a potent solution for tightening the skin and minimizing wrinkles!
Get The Recipe: Green Tea and Cucumber Eye Gel

20. Natural DIY Face Serum For Glowing Skin

Rosehip & Camellia Hydration Serum Recipe

This one could be perfect if you’re looking for a high-performance face serum to hydrate your skin and alleviate early signs of aging. It is full of nourishing and intensive ingredients, including olive squalane (the facelift in a bottle!) and vitamin E. It will soften the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles and firm and brighten your skin.
Get The Recipe: How To Make A Natural DIY Face Serum For Glowing Skin

21. DIY Mud Mask

Last but not least add 2 drops of tea tree essential oil. Then, give the mask a real good stir making sure the essential oil is well combined.

This combination of bentonite clay and dead sea mud is perfect if your skin is desperate for a deep and cleansing detox. It will remove impurities and provide minerals that are crucial to maintaining strong and supple skin. Silk peptides provide the proverbial cherry on top! They’ll leave your skin feeling silky-smooth and soft.
Get the recipe: DIY Mud Mask

22. DIY Lip Balm Recipes

homemade lip balms

Lip balm is a magical skincare product that keeps our lips moist and flake-free all year round. We need this homemade skincare more during the winter months because moisture loss from the skin is at its highest during the festive season.
Get The Recipes: Tried & Tested DIY Lip Balm Recipes

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Angela Wills

Angela is the founder and driving force behind Savvy Homemade. With over fifteen years experience in DIY home crafts, and a Diploma in skincare formulation, Angela brings a wealth of knowledge and dedication to every post she writes. She is fearlessly dedicated to creating tried, tested recipes & products that will work for everyone, and she infuses each DIY product with her passion and expertise.

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