Pinterest Challenge #4: Homemade Makeup Remover

I am notorious for never taking my makeup off before bed. Sometimes, it goes so far as going days between washing my face. I know, I know, SO bad, but I've never claimed to have good skin or even good skin care habits so no judgment. I think my problem is the time. I always wait until I'm already exhausted and then the thought of trying to keep my hair out of my face and water dripping down my arms and blindly trying to find my towel just doesn't appeal to me. And any makeup remover I've used in the past has left my skin so oily that I had no choice but to wash it off immediately after anyway. So much trouble.

Anyway, I found this homemade makeup remover idea on Pinterest and I thought I'd give it a shot. I mean, what could it hurt? If I hate it, than I won't use it. Big deal. It sounded like the perfect solution to my lack of face washing at night- quick and efficient. And it has baby soap in it so I'm thinking using it is as good as washing my face, right? So here's the recipe I used to concoct my makeup remover:

1/2 cup water

3/4 tablespoon of no-tear baby soap

1 teaspoon coconut oil

4 drops lemon essential oil

I definitely improvised the recipe a little. Jillee always makes such big batches of things and I didn't want quite so much of certain ingredients in it. Also, I didn't make the reusable pads. I didn't have any flannel just lying around waiting to be used and I wasn't going to go out and buy some just for this project. Maybe I'll tackle that project another time, but for now, cotton balls work perfectly fine for me. 

My reaction to this project is very positive. I used to use baby wipes to try to get my eye makeup off, but I'd end up scrubbing quite a bit to get it off. With this, there was absolutely no scrubbing. A few swipes and all my mascara is on the cotton ball and off my eyelashes. Best part- absolutely not oily! This will make taking my makeup off before bed so much more worth the effort. 


A couple notes:

Jillee says to use any essential oil of your choice. Be SO careful when choosing your oil. Definitely DO NOT use peppermint. Your eyes will sting and burn for quite awhile. Even getting peppermint NEAR your eye can cause it to water and sting. I'm not sure about other oil options so do your research before making your selection. Btw, lemon doesn't burn.

Also, there was a comment about avoiding introducing bacteria on Jillee's post that I thought was worth sharing. It's by Catherine's Not Naturally Crafty. She says: 
'Now, under no circumstances should you pre-moisten the pads and let them sit OR should you keep that solution for more than a week or two. Also, do not dip a pad and re-dip a used or partially used pad. And make sure your hands, jar etc. are scrupulously clean before you mix up your cleaner and use clean hands before you apply. 'Cause otherwise that would be silly and you might introduce bad bugs into your solution. If you can tolerate tea tree oil a drop of that is a natural disinfectant and in small amounts has a nice "clean" smell.'

Thanks so much Jillee and Catherine!