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Vinegar for Healthy Skin
Beautiful Skin Tip: Apple Cider Vinegar Excerpted from Anti-Wrinkle Treatments for Perfect Skin, by Pierre Jean Cousin.
The use of vinegar with a variety of plants or essential oils for cosmetic purposes can be traced back to the Romans and was fashionable during the nineteenth century as vinegar de toilette.
Vinegar has a tonic action that promotes blood circulation in the small capillaries that irrigate the skin. It is also antiseptic, preventing the proliferation of bacteria, viruses, or yeast that trigger infection. It can dissolve excessive fatty deposits at the surface of the skin and reduce scaly or peeling conditions. Lastly, vinegar regulates the pH of the skin. Vinegar is most effective when used with lavender, rosemary, rose, or elder flower. It is essential to use top-quality white wine or cider vinegar. Dry any fresh plant material for two days before using.
Measure and mix only dried plant material and then add the vinegar. Apple ciders composed entirely of liquids can be used at once. Those containing plant material must be left to macerate. Prepare the latter in a screwtop jar and leave on a window sill as instructed, strain, and then bottle. To use, add 1 teaspoon of apple cider to a cup of bottled or spring water to wash your face or pour 3-4 tablespoons into a bath. |
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Lavender, Rosemary and Rosewood Vinegar: 17 1/2 fl. oz good-quality white wine or apple cider vinegar Essential Oils: 3/5 teaspoon each lavender and rosemary, 2/5 teaspoon rosewood Plus: 2 tablespoons glycerin
Calendula and Elder Flower Plant material: 2 oz calendula flowers and 3 oz elder flowers Vinegar: 2 pints good-quality white wine or apple cider vinegar Macerate: 2 weeks Lavender, Rose, Pink, and Lime Plant material: 1 oz each lavender and lime (or linden) flowers, rose petals, pinks Vinegar: 2 pints good-quality white wine or apple cider vinegar Macerate: 2 weeks
Macerate =to soften by soaking (in a liquid).
Excerpted from Anti-Wrinkle Treatments for Perfect Skin, by Pierre Jean Cousin. Reprinted by permission of Storey Books. Printed from www.care2.com
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