You’ll need: 1/4 cup all-vegetable shortening, at room temperature, 10 drops essential oil of orange, 2 drops essential oil of ylang-ylang and 1 drop essential oil of vanilla (optional). Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and whip together, using a small spatula or whisk. Apply a dab of balm to your temples after cleansing your face and just prior to bedtime. May be used daily, if desired. Store in a glass jar in a cool, dry place for up to three or four months.

Here is a wonderful fruit-and-vegetable based formula for a skin toner, one that was decoded from an old Mayan text of beauty formulas by a Mexican archaeologist. A good time to make this toner is when the harvest is bountiful. What you need is: 1/4 cup cucumber juice, 1/8 cup carrot juice (rich in Vitamin A), 1/2 cup spearmint infusion, 1/4 cup chamomile infusion and 1/2 cup lemon juice (an alpha hydroxy acid). Make the cucumber juice and carrot juice. Make strong spearmint and chamomile teas, and let cool. Combine all the ingredients in a glass jar and blend. If you freeze the mixture in ice cube trays, just pop out a cube and rub it over your face, then put the cube in the refrigerator and use the toner over the next few days.

Take 1/4 cup palm yogurt and 1/4 cup walnuts (very finely grounded). Mix ingredients together. Wet your face then gently work the scrub into your skin. Rinse off with warm water. Try this once a week and watch your face glow.