The beauty ingredient hiding in your bin

At bh, we’re all for kitchen cupboard beauty, but did you know there’s an amazing skincare ingredient lurking in your bin?
I’m talking about the humble orange peel, a valuable, natural beauty treatment that’s been shown to help fade dark spots, brighten complexions, and even heal acne.
Readily available and way cheaper than goji berries, it turns out the citrus fruit is good for more than just snacking...
And with the summer sun wreaking all sorts of havoc on our skin, there’s never been a better time to freshen your complexion with orange peel. To begin, you just need the primary ingredient: orange peel powder. All you need is two oranges and a blender. Here’s how to make it:
STEP 1:
Wash two oranges with hot water. Make sure you use unwaxed (and if possible, organic) oranges, as they're free from fertilisers, pesticides and insecticides (which aren't so good for your skin).
STEP 2:
Peel the rind off the oranges in 20 cent-size pieces. Then, bake the peels in a glass baking tray for 25 minutes at 90 °C to dry them out. If they're still damp after 25 minutes, leave them in the oven for an extra 5 minutes or so.
STEP 3:
Use your food processor or blender to ground the rinds into a powdery consistency. If your blender doesn't break down the peels completely, you can hand-grind them with a mortar and pestle.
STEP 4:
Strain the powder through a fine-mesh sieve so you only collect the smallest granules. The powder can be stored in an airtight glass container for up to three months, if it's kept out of direct sunlight.
You can use your powder a number of ways, but here are two of my favourites…
Aromatic Bath Soak
Ingredients:
2 tbsp orange peel powder
10 drops sandalwood essential oil (we love In Essence Sandalwood Australian Pure Essential Oil)
Instructions:
Simply blend your orange peel powder and sandalwood essential oil and pour under running water. This aromatic soak will help soothe anxiety and calm your your senses, not to mention leave you with a glowing complexion.
Anti-Aging Citrus Wash
Ingredients:
1 tbsp orange peel powder
1 cup coconut water (you can get this from the supermarket)
Instructions:
Mix the ingredients together and saturate a clean face cloth with the solution. Massage your face with the cloth, then rinse skin with warm water and apply your usual moisturiser. The Vitamin C in the orange peel will help boost collagen production and improves your skin’s elasticity, while the coconut water has hydrating properties. The end result? Smoother, more youthful-looking skin.
If all this DIY sounds a bit tedious, you can still enjoy the beauty benefits of oranges in many pre-existing beauty products. For hands, we love Botanicals by ECOYA - Banksia and Bergamot Hand Cream (which is fragranced with orange rind). For the body, try A’Kin Orange Blossom Body Lotion and Natio Orange Blossom Body Lotion for a luxurious, orange-filled experience.
Have you ever used orange rind in your beauty regime? What other DIY beauty tricks do you use?
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111 Member Comments
Oh I do so love a nice warm bath
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I'd love to try this! I love the smell of oranges, so uplifting.
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Love the idea, but hate the execution. I prefer something that I don't have to soak...
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I'd love to try this. The smell of orange is so nice.
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Brilliant way to use those orange peels. Will surely give it a try. Thanks
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This is awesome! My husband loves juicing oranges for fresh orange juice, so we're always throwing out tones of orange peel. What a way to utilize the whole fruit!!
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Can't wait to try this!
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I'd guess you'd have to keep this well away from the eye area. Sounds nice and natural.
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Sounds like a lot of work, I'm a lazy gal I think I'd just buy the essence
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That is one handy recipe! I can already imagine how good it will smell!
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I might try this recipe too
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Smells very nice
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found this interesting .
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wow very refreshing idea to diy.
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This would make my face smell quite nice haha!
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I have used orange rind on my face and in my scrubs...veeery nice! Also added some in my raw brownies. Yummo!
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I forgot about this, I must remember to save my orange peels.
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Ooh I like this. I bet you could add the peel to smoothies too for a big vit c fix.
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I haven't used orange in beauty routine but I use cucumber on my eyes. This is nice and refreshing.
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This sounds so amazing to try but I'm a little lazy to go through all the steps. Must make the time to try this out. Thanks BH
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Some really good ideas but I need to be proactive in getting everything ready
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A bath soak sounds good.
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