How to Make Cucumber Basil Skin Toner for All Skin Types? : Do It Yourself

Hey endearing ladies!

Today I am going to share with you a homemade toner recipe combining two of the most basic ingredients available in each household. Well, needless to say, how crucial is the basic CTM routine for each skin type. And finding a toner which suits you is indeed a difficult task as most of the toners available in the market are brimming with all sorts of alcohols and other chemicals. There are some alcohol – free ones too, but either they are too pricey or of limited reach to the masses.

Ingredients:

• Half a cucumber
• Knife
• Basil leaves (15 – 20 leaves)
• Half a lemon
• Honey
• A spoon
• A strainer
• A mixer/grinder
• An old toner/ spray bottle to store the toner
• A bit of patience

A bit about the ingredients:

Cucumber :  Remember those thele-wala bhaiyas carefully peeling the cucumbers, cutting them into 4 pieces to be exact and serving you along with a pinch of salt? Cucumber is one of our very own street foods which your mum would never disprove of consuming. Loaded with Vitamins A, B and C; cucumbers form a great skin food as it has the same pH as that of the skin. Regular usage of this healthy gourd would combat blemishes and pimples.

Basil : It is a boon for the oily skinned girls suffering from bouts of acne, pimples and other frightening stuff. Regular consumption of one or two tulsi leaves along with pepper corns or kali mirch regularly in the morning would clear off the blood and would eventually clear off skin issues.

Lemon : One can’t just get enough of the benefits of this wonderful ingredient. From clearing away spots to tan removal to a lip exfoliater, this wonderful ingredient finds its place everywhere.

Honey : It has this wonderful virtue of adapting to the needs of every skin type. For oily skin- it would clear up acne and would moisturize dry skin.

Procedure:

• Peel the cucumber and cut it into half. Properly wash the peeled cucumber.
• Slice the cucumber roughly.
• Wash the basil leaves thoroughly.
• Grind the cucumber slices and the basil leaves together.
• The pulp would look something like this.
• Now strain the whole thing. Use a spoon to get the juice out of the pulp as we don’t want to waste the extract.
• After straining, squeeze half a lemon it the mixture and add a bit of honey (less than one fourth of a spoon)

The homemade toner would look like this – A refreshing green color appropriate for this humid weather! Store the mixture in a spray bottle if you like using your toner as a spray. If you are like me and follow the classical way of taking the toner on your cotton swab and cleaning your face with it, store it in a normal stopper kind of bottle. I use my old rose water bottle for this.

Preferably store the mixture in a refrigerator and at any cost don’t use it after 5 days because it contains all the kitchen ingredients and the whole thing starts smelling eeky after a period of 5-6 days.

Use it whenever you feel like because it is totally natural with none of the skin drying ingredients. This can also form a great replacement for you good old rosewater and you can even use this in your multani mitti or other home made face packs.

I have an oily skin and my mom has a dry skin and this toner suits both of us. So I think that it would be perfect for all the skin types.

The only downside of this is that you need to prepare this every 4-5 days. If you find it difficult to do this every time after the usage duration of the toner gets over, at least make this toner once in a while when you find your skin over loaded with all the chemical stuff. Your skin would surely love this treatment.

Note : All the ingredients used above in this recipe are mild enough and according to my belief should not cause any kind of allergies to anyone. However, do not try this if you find your skin to be sensitive to any of the above mentioned ingredients!