Curious about DIY skincare? These days, there’s an unlimited supply of information from self-declared beauty experts claiming their DIY skincare recipes are the best. So how do you know which DIY skincare ingredients are safe to use to make sure your homemade skincare doesn’t cause more harm than good? Keep reading to find out.
We’ll dive into ingredients you should avoid using on your skin and why, as well as which ingredients can actually help your skin from the inside-out.
Does DIY skincare work?
Wondering if a few ingredients in your kitchen can improve the health and appearance of your skin? When you consume food, your saliva breaks it down and your digestive tract helps identify and distribute nutrients throughout your body where they’re needed. But your skin doesn’t have this type of digestive system for distributing nutrients from food placed on the face. Plus, did you know that most active ingredients in professional skincare come from pieces of the plants that you don’t eat like seeds, stems and roots?
If you’re looking to clear up your acne without damaging your skin, stick to a proven dermatologist-tested acne-fighting system such as one from proactiv.
Is DIY skincare safe?
Love whipping up a quick DIY face mask using common kitchen ingredients? Then we hate to break it to you, but these ingredients actually do more harm than good. In fact, DIY home remedies can damage your skin. One reason is that harmful bacteria like salmonella can easily develop in a homemade product, such as one that contains eggs because it won’t contain preservatives. Plus, if you make a scrub out of an unpolished ingredient, it can make microscopic cuts on your skin, which can invite in more bacteria.
If you do decide to still try making your own skincare, continue reading below to see what DIY skincare ingredients to avoid, to make sure you don’t experience more damage scenarios.
DIY skincare ingredients not to use
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Lemon juice
This ancient remedy was thought to lighten age spots because it has a high vitamin C antioxidant content (ascorbic acid) and citric acid, an alpha hydroxy acid.
Sadly, using lemon on your skin can make the condition you’re trying to treat worse because it’s very acidic so it can burn, causing irritation and inflammation, compromising the skin’s barrier function and increasing your risk of sunburn, skin cancer, and premature visible aging.
Tip: Drink lemon water, rather than putting it on your skin.
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Baking soda
Even though the pH of skin is slightly acidic at a 4.5-5.5, baking soda has a pH of 9-11 and can damage the skin and throw off your skin’s pH balance, preventing it from regulating its oil production, which can lead to more acne.
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Apple cider vinegar
Though drinking a spoonful or two has become a popular way to aid in digestion, apple cider vinegar is too acidic to put on your face.
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Toothpaste
There’s a rumor that putting toothpaste on acne can help dry or shrink a pimple because toothpaste formulas used to have triclosan, a bacteria- killing chemical. But triclosan is no longer used because it can negatively impact thyroid hormones. Other ingredients in toothpaste such as hydrogen peroxide can be drying, which can lead to more acne. Plus toothpaste is made for the hard surface of your teeth, not your skin, which has a more easily irritated sensitive surface.
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Vegetable oils
Though you may think of moisture when you think of oil, chemically- produced and genetically modified vegetable oils such as sunflower oil, corn oil, and palm oil have polyunsaturated fats and should not be used in DIY skincare.
The bottom line
Why experiment with your skin, the largest organ in your body, with chemicals that can damage it and throw it off balance? Instead of making your own skin a test subject, we encourage you to use skincare products proven to work that have been lab tested to help cleanse, exfoliate, treat and moisturize for your healthiest looking skin.
