Let’s continue our theme of apples. Not only can apple cider vinegar condition and shine your hair, it can also balance your skin. Apple cider vinegar, when paired with water, makes a great toner. If you are not familiar with toners, a toner helps tighten pores after you wash your face.

Apple cider vinegar helps improve your overall complexion by reducing red marks and blemishes. It softens and helps lock in moisture. This week’s recipe comes from Huffington Post:

1 part apple cider vinegar
2 parts water

Simply shake ingredients to mix. Dab on a little after cleansing your face. Your face will smell like the vinegar, but that will disappear after a few minutes. If you have sensitive skin, I recommend adding more water.

This recipe is simple and natural. I’m sure you tired of me talking about the nasty chemicals in your personal care products, but I’m not the only. The movement for safe, natural products is not new. In fact there are other campaigns in addition to Fresh Face Forward, working to inform consumers about their personal care products.

Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, Pennsylvania Sea Grant and the Environmental Working Group (EWG) are all examples of campaigns and organizations working to inform and empower consumers. EWG even has their own database so you can see what your product is rated on a scale of 0-10.

Don’t be fooled by the packaging or brand. I chose a cleanser because it was part of a big brand’s natural line. When I checked the cleanser in the EWG’s Skin Deep Database, it was rated a three. Not bad, but I prefer a rating of two or less. My biggest tick was that it was 95 percent natural. Why didn’t the company bother going the extra step to make it 100 percent natural?

So go through your products and find out what they are rated by going to http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/. You might be surprised to see what your favorite products are rated.