I love making my own soap with all natural ingredients . . . but I don’t always like to use soap on my face.

As nourishing as it is, it can still leave my face feeling a little too dried out. (And this doesn’t even touch on the way store-bought soaps can affect my skin! I avoid them altogether.) 

Instead, I like to wash my face with cleansing, nourishing aloe, carrier oils and essential oils. Argan oil and aloe vera gel are a combination I particularly love. Argan oil comes from Morocco, and has a very light silky feel. The aroma is gently nutty. I love the way it moisturizes my skin without making it feel greasy or oily.

I add a few drops of essential oil—a very few! I don’t like to use too much essential oil on my face. Here’s a recipe I put on YouTube for an Argan Aloe Face Wash where I add just two drops of essential oil total: one of Lavender, and one of Frankincense.

Argan Aloe Face Wash

Make your Argan Aloe Face Wash in a 1 oz (30 ml) glass bottle. I don’t measure this recipe perfectly. I just fill my bottle with…

• ¾ Argan oil (Argania spinosa)
• ¼ Aloe vera gel (Aloe barbadensis)
• 1 drop Lavender essential oil (Lavandula angustifolia)
• 1 drop Frankincense essential oil (Boswellia carterii)

You can follow along with the YouTube video and make the face wash with me (it's a good way to see how much argan oil and aloe I’m actually adding).

You can use your Argan-Aloe Face Wash just like soap. Put a small amount in your palm, massage it gently into your skin, then rinse it off with warm water. I bet you won’t need moisturizer after washing your face anymore! I recommend making yourself a fresh bottle of this every few weeks.

I chose Lavender and Frankincense for this recipe because I love their aromas and they are gentle on the skin.

You can use different skin-sweet essential oils if you prefer. Here are a few ideas:

• Patchouli (Pogostemon cablin)
• Geranium (Pelargonium roseum x asperum)
• Roman Chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile)
• Myrrh (Commiphora myrrha)
• Helichrysum (Helichrysum italicum)