The skin and hair care industry is full of products that are toxic and full of chemicals that would NEVER be allowed in our food supply, let alone eat! But this is exactly what we are doing when we put toxic products on our skin because our skin is a breathing organ; anything we place on our skin becomes absorbed by the body to some degree.  High-quality organic skin care products can often be very expensive as well.  

This article is to share with you MY unique skin care routine that I have developed over the years and why it is surprisingly effective.

So keep in mind that everyone has different skin types and that this routine may not be best for everyone, but the principals of it should benefit almost everybody.

The best part of this skin care routine is that it works and will not bankrupt you either and uses 100% natural and organic products.

Here is what you will need:

• A shower
• A good dry skin brush
• Baking soda
• Raw Apple Cider Vinegar and a spray bottle
• Organic Oil for skin care of your choice, I use Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil

1. So to get things started we need to remove dead skin cells from the surface of our skin and begin to stimulate our skin and lymphatic system to help drain waste and stimulate the detox systems. We do this by getting naked and taking a dry skin brush and brushing the skin with it. The way that I dry skin brush is in long strokes toward the heart, this turns on the skin and promotes lymph drainage and begins the exfoliation process. Typically brushing in long broad strokes towards the heart is the most effective way to dry skin brush but I often find myself brushing my skin however stimulates it the most, this may be in circular motions or roughly in certain areas.   Make sure to get underneath your armpits, the palms of your hands, and the bottoms of your feet. Another great place to dry skin brush, if you have short hair, is your scalp and the rest of your head where you hair grows. I stay away from my face with the skin brush that I use for my body, as it is a bit rough.

2. Once we have dry brushed the entire surface area of our skin and removed dead skin cells and waste you will turn your shower on to WARM. Warm water is great to get blood flowing and open up your pores even more to allow your skin to really breathe and eliminate waste following the dry skin brushing. Stay in the warm water but do not make the water too hot like many people tend to do. Hot water can burn and dry out the skin. Allow yourself to relax and loosen up in the warm water for a minute or two.

3. Once you are relaxed and the pores are open I like to take baking soda and further exfoliate my skin, which may or may not be necessary. If I have not treated my skin with baking soda for a few days or I am very dirty that day I will use the baking soda. If I feel like my skin does not need it, then I will stay away from it. My recommendation would be to use baking soda as an exfoliator for the skin once every three days unless your skin really responds well to it. The way to spread baking soda is by taking a bit in the palm of the hand, maybe the size of a quarter, and then wet it in the water and spread it around your body. You will feel the baking soda spread almost like a gritty sand. Spread it over your whole body and make sure not to use too much, just enough to cover the body. I like to step out of the water during this process and get my entire body covered.

You can use baking soda for the armpits, your butt, and hair as shampoo on a daily basis. When I use baking soda in my hair as shampoo, at first it may not respond well but after a few days or weeks it adapts and starts responding wonderfully to it.  Allow the baking soda to work its magic on your skin for about a minute or two out of the water and then rinse it off with warm water.

4. Now that the skin is completely awake and exfoliated and the pores are open I like to then turn my shower to as cold as the shower will go. This serves to close the pores and send blood inward towards the heart, which has a pumping effect on the body and the lymphatic and circulatory systems, which will aid to detox and promote drainage. This excites the nervous system and tightens the muscles and nerves. Cold water will also cause you to breathe very deeply and rapidly, which also has a beneficial physiological response. Stay under the cold water for about 2 minutes.

5. Now turn the water BACK to warm and allow the pores to open up once again and the skin and nervous system to relax and blood to flow outwards towards the skin. Once you are relaxed and warmed up it is time to apply the Apple Cider Vinegar as conditioner for your hair and skin with a spray bottle. Make a mixture of anywhere between 30-50% ACV with water in the spray bottle and spray all over the body while standing out of the water. The skin may react a bit funny at first so I would recommend a more diluted blend, maybe 30% at first and work up if the skin responds well. The ACV, almost counter-intuitively because of its harshness, will completely balance and moisten the skin. I find the best time to apply is once the skin has been completely exfoliated from the skin brush and baking soda, the ACV really helps to balance the natural flora and micro-bacterial balance of our skin on a microscopic level.

Apply the Apple Cider Vinegar liberally to your hair as it serves as an AMAZING conditioner. In my opinion it is the best hair conditioner out there and you will almost instantly feel your hair come to life and will be able to run your fingers through it smoothly.   It really helps moisten the hair and bring it back to a great shine and glow.  Once you have sprayed your ENTIRE body and your hair with the apple cider vinegar you should allow it to sit on your skin for a full 2-3 minutes and work its’ magic.  Then rinse it off with warm water.

6. Rinse the vinegar off of your skin and turn the water back to cold, end your shower by closing up the pores and sending blood back inwards one last time ultimately draining the lymph and circulatory systems back towards the heart and lymph nodes. Allow yourself to breathe deeply in response to the cold water and tighten up the nervous and muscular systems and the skin one last time as well.

7. Now get out of the shower and preferably allow your body to air dry or lightly tap it with a towel, but try to keep some moisture on the skin because we want to lock it in with your oil of choice. I use Nutiva Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, I take the oil and spread it liberally all over my entire body to lock in moisture and soften the skin over time. The great thing about spreading coconut oil all-over the body liberally is that it is a natural sun block and also provides a layer of protection from the environment. Coconut oil also balances out the fungal/bacterial balance of our skins as well and will last for hours after you apply it because the skin will absorb it as needed.

8. Once you are all oiled up, if you have the time, allow yourself to take a naked air-bath for 20 minutes or so, your skin will love you for all the special treatment! Once you are ready to get dressed put on only natural fiber clothing and enjoy how amazing and smooth your skin feels and the awesome glow you have.

As someone who has a chronic skin disease (Vitiligo) I got to learn first-hand just how poor the condition of my skin used to be. I believe that my skin-care routine has been an integral part in my re-pigmentation of much of the skin that was affected, and even though I suffer from this condition my skin often has such an amazing glow that it almost makes me grateful I got the condition so I could learn how to make my skin look so good in the first place.   You should do this routine ideally once per day as the skin is a living breathing organism.

Tips for following this skin-care routine:

• Get a good shower filter so that the tap water does not potentially irritate the skin at all
• Give yourself time to adapt to the baking soda as shampoo and apple cider vinegar as conditioner, although you will feel the benefits instantly in most cases
• Never over-use baking soda or ACV if you notice negative reactions, however with the vinegar sometimes a red flush or slight burning/itching can be a normal reaction on larger surfaces of skin. Make sure to avoid contact with the eyes when using these products
• Use the contrast shower techniques described above (going back-and-forth between hot and cold) liberally as this pumps the circulatory and lymph systems and helps to stimulate the skin and detox the body.
• Definitely use the coconut oil for large surface areas of the body, I personally love it for my hair and apply it to my face when going in the sun, however for the face where the skin is more sensitive, lighter oil may do better. Try JoJoba oil for the face and hair if you find coconut oil is too much and causes you to break out.
• Try using Olive oil, Avocado oil, Jojoba oil, Shea butter, etc. constantly rotate the oils you use.
• On days you do not use baking soda as an exfoliate try experimenting with different high quality organic soaps and blends, and try exchanging baking soda with a good sea salt scrub.
• Do this skin care routine before/after exercise, getting dirty, and sun exposure when applicable.

There you have it, the best and most affordable, simple skin-care routine of all time! Try this skin care routine and enjoy the benefits of a healthy glow, skin that can truly breathe and will respond better to exercise and sun exposure. This skin care routine will exfoliate, stimulate, hydrate, and moisten the skin.  Always be open to new things and organic skin care products and make sure to find the right combination the works for YOUR SKIN.  This is just MY routine that has been very valuable to me I hope that it can help you in some way as well.