Classic Southern Skin Care

Beauty From The Garden
I come from keepers of the old southern traditions. Their old gardens grew the foods to enrich, herbs to enliven, and flowers to beautify. We still use their old garden methods today.

Southern ladies of today are beholden to those gentle ladies who turn to the garden to find ways to pamper their skin and soothe their senses.
Summer Skin Care
I always use moisturizers which contain oils, even in the summer. The best (and only) ingredients a good moisturizer needs are oil, water, and beeswax. Oh, I could go on and on about the inferior fillers added to moisturizers to cut costs and then sold to us as improvements, but I will simply say all skin types need oils.
I apply fresh cream to my face, decollete, and hands before I draw my evening bath. This will help keep freckling at bay and it exfoliates and softens the skin.
Skin Brightening Scrub

Pour a tablespoon of powdered milk and a small amount of sea salt into the palm of you hand and add one drop of water or oil at a time to achieve a thin paste. For troubled skin, you may add a small amount of kaolin or French clay powder to thicken the paste and draw out impurities. Apply paste to decollete, neck and face and work into skin. Rinse well.

Sun Stressed Skin

Apply arnica infused oil to under eye area. The oil will soften the skin and the arnica will ease sun-frowns.

Make a strong, strong calendula tea and allow to cool. Apply to clean skin, and moisturize as usual.
Skin Restoring Summer Baths

I mix special ablutions for my evening bath. During the summer I will always have a salt-based bath, always with a little milk, rose, and often with either chamomile, rosemary and verbena, lavender, or calendula.

If you have had a rather physically taxing day, create an Epsom-based bath. Mix Epsom salt, sea salt, powdered milk, and lavender (essential oil is simplest) into a warm bath.
To brighten skin, mix 1 c lemon juice, 2 c Epsom salt, and fresh rosemary sprigs with a warm bath. Put the rosemary in first and allow to steep before adding lemon juice and salt.
Exfoliating Bath Soak And Scrub

For the Bath: Add 1 c powdered milk to warm bath. Relax in milk bath for ten minutes. Drain tub.

For the Scrub: Mix 1/2 c base oil, 1/2 c sea salt, and 1 tablespoon clay in a bowl. Apply to shoulders, decollete, arms, and legs and scrub skin in small circular motions. Rinse well.
Apply a mild soap or cleanser and gently loofah previously scrubbed skin. Rinse well. Skin will be pink baby soft. Apply a gentle moisturizer to skin.
For The Hair

Apply a colorless aloe vera gel to freshly washed, damp hair. Aloe vera will supply a bit of texture and only minor, minor hold to the hair, but it will help shield the hair from sun exposure and provide a bit of moisture.
Brew a very strong chamomile tea and allow to cool. Transfer to a spray bottle and apply to hair while working out-of-doors. The chamomile will brighten naturally occurring highlights.
To Cool Summer Skin
Mix water (or vinegar if you have a sunburn) and aloe vera juice in a spray bottle and leave in the ice box. This will soothe sun and wind-burned skin.

Brew a very strong mint tea and leave to cool to room temperature. Pour into a spray bottle and leave in the ice box. Nothing will cool fevered skin like it.

Ingredient List
Base Oil
Grapeseed oil
Apricot oil
Aloe Vera juice
Oil Infusions
(avoid herbs infused in soy, corn, peanut, canola, vegetable oils)
Arnica oil
Calendula oil
Dried Herbs
Spearmint
Chamomile
Lemon Balm
Verbena
Salts
Epsom
Sea salt
Powdered Ingredients
Powdered milk
Powdered French clay
Dried Flowers
Calendula
Chamomile
Rose
Lavender
Materials
Muslin: add dried or fresh flowers and herbs to little muslin sachets for herb baths
Loofah