DYI Facial Toner/Makeup Setting Spray

Disclaimer: I purchased these.

Hope your 2017 is off to a good start! I'm still mulling over my beauty/wellness resolutions for this year, but I'm pretty sure one is going to be spend less money and use up what I already own. To that end, here is one successful strategy I've adopted. Way back in July I decided to try making my own makeup setting spray, and I'm now on my third batch and have been pleased with the results. For reference, I've got aging but oily skin and using a facial spray after applying my makeup helps to "set" my makeup and meld the creams and powders together, giving a more natural looking appearance (hopefully).

Manuka oil and Tea Tree oil from Pacific Resources International

I also want a spray with ingredients that can potentially help my skin beyond just setting my makeup, so after doing a bit of research I settled on the following ingredients for my concoction:

• Witch hazel: strong antioxidant and astringent properties and helps to kill bacteria on your skin
• Vegetable glycerin: natural humectant and helps to maintain skin's water balance
• Aloe vera liquid: antimicrobial properties, soothes, cools, and hydrates skin

• Rose hip seed oil: antioxidant rich (vitamins E, C, D, B-carotene, and a form of A) to help fight free radicals, essential fatty acids to help heal skin and improve skin texture and pigmentation

• Manuka oil: antibacterial, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, helps promote new cell growth. Manuka bushes grow only in New Zealand, and I purchased my oil from Pacific Resources International. You could substitute Tea Tree oil for Manuka oil, as they have similar properties.

As you can see below, the oils do not mix with the other ingredients so I always make sure to vigorously shake the bottle prior to applying. I eyeball the amounts, with witch hazel and aloe vera juice comprising the majority, about a tablespoon of glycerin, and vigorous shakes of the rose hop/manuka oils. Manuka oil has a pungent smell very similar to tea tree oil, so that and the witch hazel are the dominant fragrances. It's a little funky but I've grown to like it.

All of the other ingredients were purchased from iherb.com, and I purchased several aluminum spray bottles when drugstore.com was going out of business. Iherb.com has really replaced drugstore.com for me, and I like their loyalty program which gives you a percentage back to be used in the next 60 days on new purchases. 

This is one of the DYI projects that I can say has been a complete success for me. It also helps me resist buying items like Urban Decay's newly packaged setting sprays, which are $31 for a 4 ounce bottle. I feel like the ingredients I'm using are "cleaner" and I'm getting good results at a fraction of the cost, which is a win/win in my book.