Artemisia facial toner

The next product in my Artemisia beauty collection is toner. Artemisia vulgaris the mugwort, is a herb that soothes and deeply cleanses the skin. That is why it is also worth making a soothing toner from artemisia. The making of toners is quite easy. If you have dried artemisia in stock, you will make this toner really fast. My toner recipe has several ingredients that complete the effect of the product. It is up to you if you want to use all these ingredients.

To whom artemisia toner suit best?

Artemisia toner soothes the skin and makes the skin look clearer. Artemisia also cleanses the skin. It penetrates deep into the pores, and is also effective on nasty blackheads. I recommend this face lotion especially for impure and greasy skin.

About the preservation of toner

As the name suggests, toners always contain a lot of water. Without preservative, they can only be stored in a refrigerator for a week. This is why many makers of homemade cosmetics have replaced toner with diluted apple cider vinegar. Apple cider vinegar will be preserved in a refrigerator for months. However, sometimes you may want change and try the power of herbs. It is good to vary the toner according to the condition of the skin and the season.

I don’t want to add any preservative to my toner. All preservatives disturb the skin’s own bacterial activity. That’s why I only make toners for a need of a week. I always store toner in the fridge.

The ingredients in Artemisia toner complete each other

Artemisia toner base consists of an herbal infusion that you can make either from fresh or dried herbs. Herb infusions are easy to prepare. You will need 2 teaspoons of dried herbs or one tablespoon of fresh herbs. Pour 2.5 decilitres of boiling hot water over the herbs and let simmer for 10 minutes. The infusion is ready.

Glycerol

Glycerol is often added to facial toners. Glycerol, or glycerine, is a natural component in all oils and fats. Fats always consist of glycerine and various fatty acids. Glycerol is a humectant or moisturizing ingredient. Humectants are substances that love moisture and attract it. However, glycerol should not be added very much to products because of many different reasons. You can read more about glycerol here.

Witch-hazel water

Witch-hazel (hamamelis) water is a hydrosol like rose water or orange blossom water. Witch-hazel water works well in toners as it is a particularly astringent ingredient. Adding hydrosols to toners also improves the shelf life of the product. Instead of essential oils, I prefer to use hydrosols to give nice scent to my own products.

Arginine

Arginine is an ingredient I should write a whole new story about. Arginine is an amino acid used by athletes, and persons suffering from blood circulation problems. In cosmetics, arginine is added to products as a humectant. Arginine also stimulates the production of collagen and elastane. That’s why I often use arginine powder, especially in toners. If you wish, you can also exclude arginine from this product.

Pectin

Pectin is one of my favourite products. Pectin improves the structure of the facial toner and acts as a skin-protecting ingredient. You can buy pectin as a ready-made powder or make it yourself from autumn apples. Preferably use domestic organic apples or non-toxic ones growing on your own yard, the closer the better. If you use self-made pectin, replace some part (10-30%) of the liquid with a pectin solution. More about pectin and instructions for making pectin is here.

If you use ready-made pectin powder, the liquid must be acidic. Pectin is only soluble in acidic liquids. Therefore, citric acid is used in this recipe.

Tip

• Add very little pectin to the liquid at a time. Pectin gets lumpy easily and the lumps won’t dissolve by mixing. I myself drop carefully a dust-like layer of pectin powder on top of the liquid and stir. However, if the pectin gets lumpy, the small lumps are dissolved in the acidic liquid overnight.

Ascorbic acid

Facial toner is used to equalize the pH of the skin after cleansing. Ascorbic acid, or vitamin C, is a safe and relatively natural acidic ingredient in cosmetics. You can control the acidity of your toner by changing the amount of ascorbic acid.

If you use products that are too acidic or too alkaline, your skin will become easily irritated. You can check the acidity of your toner by using pH strips. The pH of normal skin is 4.5 to 5.5. If your skin is dry, then the pH will be higher. The pH of oily skin is always lower, meaning more acidic.

Acid also has another function in this toner. For pectin to dissolve in the product, the liquid must be acidic. You can also replace ascorbic acid with citric acid or a drop of apple cider vinegar. Some persons are sensitized to citric acid. So, first check if it is suitable for your skin.

Artemisia facial toner recipe

Purity cannot be overemphasized. Facial toners will get easily spoiled. This recipe does not contain any preservative. However, if you wish, you can add it to the product. Disinfect all utensils you use with strong alcohol or boil them, regardless of whether you used a preservative or not.

You need the following ingredients for 200 ml of toner:

• 140 ml artemisia infusion
• 50 ml of witch hazel water
• 1 teaspoon of glycerol
• 2-3 gr. citric acid
• 0.3-0.5 gr. Pectin powder, this is a really small amount that I can describe with the word pinch
• 1 gr. Arginine powder

Heat the artemisia infusion and glycerol to 80 degrees Celsius. Keep the mixture at 80 degrees for 30 minutes to improve shelf life.

Allow the liquid to cool down to below 40 degrees Celsius and mix thoroughly by whipping witch hazel water, citric acid, pectin powder and arginine powder.

Bottle the mixture in a sterilized glass bottle.

The mixture remains slightly lumpy because the pectin powder needs time to dissolve in the liquid. You can now put the bottle in the refrigerator. During the night, the pectin powder is completely dissolved and the mixture is smooth.

How is artemisia facial toner used?

Artemisia facial toner is a very astringent and soothing product for the skin. Use toner after cleansing your skin thoroughly. Artemisia toner closes pores and evens out skin tone.

You can also use this facial toner in the morning to clean the night marks on your skin.

Pour ½ a teaspoon of Artemisia facial toner into a cotton ball and wipe the skin of the face, neck and décolleté. Allow the toner to soak in peace and dry for a while before adding moisturizer.

I hope you like to try this facial toner. If there is some ingredient you do not like, you can easily replace it with something similar.

Please let me know, how did you  like this recipe?