Making great skincare from scratch, is just like making great food from scratch —it’s all about the ingredients.
When you start with fresh, seasonal, beautiful ingredients —everything you make is elevated. It’s more vibrant, more aromatic, more potent and higher quality.
I love making skincare from simple, fresh ingredients like herbs from my own garden, seasonal fruits from the markets… and dehydrating them at home to preserve them at their peak.
The expense in making skincare from scratch this way —is time. But, the quality that I get to enjoy, makes it more than worth it!
If you want to explore making skincare from scratch —I’ll share my tips/methods to dehydrate fresh ingredients so that you can make the very best skincare products!
Why do we need to dry fresh ingredients?
Dehydrating is a preservation method.
By removing the water content in our fresh ingredients, we can make long-lasting, shelf-stable skin care.
This style of skin care making is called anhydrous, aka: waterless, and I wrote more about it here.
Do we need to use a dehydrator?
You definitely do not need a dehydrator. People have been drying and preserving foods long before this technology existed.
I prefer using a dehydrator, because it simplifies the process, making it easier for me to create my own recipes at home. And with controlled heat settings, it delivers more consistent results.
That said, not everyone has access to a dehydrator.
So I’m going show you two methods for drying fresh ingredients, with or without a dehydrator:
- Curing —using no heat
- Dehydrating —using controlled heat
Curing
Curing means slowly drying herbs without heat.
You can simply air-dry your herbs, laying them flat on a plate, or hanging them in bundles.
Choose a dry space that has low humidity, and good airflow.
Or, if you have it, use a dehumidifier to help pull the moisture out.
Curing is especially ideal when drying aromatic herbs and flowers to preserve their aroma, color and potency —and to protect their delicate essential oils and antioxidants.
Here is a great, short video explaining this concept clearly:
Dehydrating
Dehydrating means drying herbs, by applying gentle heat and airflow.
To dehydrate fresh ingredients, you need a dehydrator or an oven that can go to very low temperatures, between 95-120°F / 35-49°C.
This is so that you can remove all the water content, but still preserve the more fragile compounds and nutrients.
I recommend purchasing a box-style dehydrator because, you can use it when you remove the trays, you can fit jars inside, and use it to make warm oil-infusions.
This is the dehydrator that I use at home.
Also, look for second-hand dehydrators, on something like Facebook Marketplace. You might get a great price —these machines don’t have a lot of moving parts, so they tend to be hard wearing.
Dehydrating Process/tips:
- You can dehydrate anything from leaves and flowers, to roots and rinds…
- Temperature setting depends on what you’re dehydrating, in general this is what I do:
- 95° for more delicate and especially aromatic botanicals, like thin leaves and flower petals or citrus rinds
- 110° for more robust or water-rich botanicals, like ginger root or whole fruits/vegetables
- Dehydration time depends on what you’re dehydrating, how much water content it has, and how you prepare it. Generally, go low and slow.
- Keep all of your pieces as consistent and size as you can. Remove leaves from the stalks. And cut roots or pieces as thinly as you can so that it can dry more quickly and evenly.
Storage tips:
- Store dried ingredients in an airtight container.
- Whole dried herbs, and botanicals keep fresh for up to 1 year
- Powdered herbs, and botanicals keep fresh for up to 6 months
- If you have room, you can also store dried goods in the freezer (it doesn’t necessarily freeze because there is no water content, but it keeps it very dry. For long term storage, use a vacuum-sealed bag to prevent freezer burn.
Inspiration:
Drying your own fresh ingredients —allows you to stock your kitchen with the very best ingredients for making food, and skincare and all the good things that you enjoy.
- When you come across seasonal ingredients at their peak, or organic produce on sale —buy them in bulk, with the intention to dehydrate and preserve for use throughout the year.
- If you have the ability to grow your own ingredients, in the garden or in pots —choose something that you know you’ll enjoy, that can grow well in your area, and plant those seeds!
Last year I set up a spot in my garden and planted 10 tulsi seedlings (zone 8) This is the exact variety I planted…
The more I harvested, the bigger and faster they grew!
I harvested and dried so much Tulsi throughout the growing year (from spring to fall!)I was able to share it with others, enjoy lots of herbal teas, and I made the most incredible tulsi-infused body oil. It was such a joy.
This year, I’m growing lots of calendula for the same intention, and I can’t wait!!
Leave a Reply