A few years ago, my fascination for all things green and pretty began with Dr Hauschka Cleansing Cream. This brilliant but pretty basic (OK, all genius things are simple!) exfoliating cleanser is ridiculously expensive - one application costing nearly 50p! - but it smells gorgeously, and the results were really good.

After one tiny tube (the cream is sold in small tubes lasting approximately 2 weeks) my skin looked smooth and I think the post-acne marks slightly faded. The cream came with a precise instruction how to apply which was detailed to the point it explained how you were supposed to breathe in the process.

While this all looks funny to me at the moment (there's no need to perform breathing excersises while you exfoliate your face with almond meal puree), the cream still has an aura of luxury that many organic beauty products unfortunately emit. Organic doesn't need to be a luxury if we want more people to use green products!

A few days ago I received a lovely message from one of Petite Marie Organics customers. She wanted to share her recipe for a homemade version of Dr Hauschka Cleansing Cream.

I have tried it - and it came out even better than the original! Perhaps due to the lack of alcohol which is notoriously abundant in Dr Hauschka products.

A note: while the author uses Jason Vitamin E Oil 5,000 IU which is a blend of mix of almond, apricot, avocado and wheat germ oils, feel free to use any vitamin E oil you can buy in your local health food store.

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon water

3 tablespoons peach kernel or jojoba oil

1 tablespoon organic green tea (from packets - it's finely ground)

2 teaspoons Jason Vitamin E Oil 5,000 IU

3-5 drops calendula flower extract

3-5  drops German chamomile flower extract (tincture) or 2-3 drops essential oil

4-5  drops St Johns Wort extract

1 teaspoon Witch hazel extract

3-5 tablespoons almond meal (as required)

METHOD: Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Gradually add almond meal until you reach the desired consistency you like. For ease of application, it should be creamy but not runny.

"This recipe has definitely saved me a few pennies!" my reader wrote.