Have you cooked with apple cider vinegar before? Perhaps you’ve used it in a salad dressing or to tenderize your meat. Maybe you’ve even splashed it in your tea for a natural throat remedy. But did you know that apple cider vinegar can be used beyond your kitchen?
What Is Apple Cider Vinegar?
As you can likely guess, apple cider vinegar (ACV) is made from apples! The apple juice squeezed from fresh apples is combined with yeast and good bacteria. Fermentation occurs, transforming the natural apple sugars into alcohol. More fermentation takes places, morphing that alcohol into vinegar.
This beautiful, all-natural vinegar hosts some amazing benefits. ACV is:
- Anti-inflammatory
- Antibacterial
- Antiviral
- Anti-fungal
- Restores natural pH balance
10 All-Natural Beauty Benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar
Benefit #1: Apple cider vinegar foot soak. Sit back and relax as your feet soak away the worries of your day. ACV alleviates smelly odors and reduces fungus or warts. Bonus when you are fighting athlete’s foot from your visits to the gym, or battling warts since you’ve been frequenting the pool.
How to: Dilute a mix of ¼ cup of apple cider vinegar in a small bath of warm water. Soak your feet for at least 10 minutes.
Benefit #2: Apple cider vinegar bath soak (especially helpful for sunburns). If you can soak your toes, I suppose it’s a good idea to soak your whole body as well. ACV is naturally anti-inflammatory plus the acidity of it helps exfoliate dead skin. This is especially helpful if you have sunburn!
How to: Pour 1 cup of apple cider vinegar into your warm bath. Soak for 15 minutes.
Benefit #3: Apple cider vinegar prevents acne. Acne has no friends; it’s annoying, bluntly obvious, and lingers a bit too long. Prevent breakouts with the all-natural solution of ACV, which naturally balances your skins pH levels, absorbs excess oil, and has been know to kill unwanted bacteria.
How to: Here’s my recipe for my favorite DIY All-Natural Apple Cider Vinegar Face Toner.
Benefit #4: Apple cider vinegar face mask. Even if you’re not a fan of face masks, you should try this one. I love how it instantly softens my skins, leaving me looking and feeling refreshed! Bonus: it also fights acne. Another bonus: it reduces pores. A third bonus: it smells like sugar cookies.
How to: Mix together 1 tsp baking soda, ½ tsp lemon juice, 1 Tbsp sugar, and ½ tsp of apple cider vinegar. Apply to face and allow to dry for 10 minutes before gently washing off.
Benefit #5: Apple cider vinegar relieves bug bites. Itchy bug bites must be cousins to the pesky acne family. Thankfully ACV can provide instant relief. The vinegar neutralizes the need to scratch; the anti-inflammatory properties reduce swelling; the pH balance speeds up the healing process.
How to: Saturate a cotton ball in apple cider vinegar. Rub over the bug bite for instant relief.
Benefit #6: Apple cider vinegar refreshes your hair (and helps with dandruff). Have excessive buildup of products on your scalp, too many chemicals on your locks, or just have dull hair? ACV is your solution. Similar to your skin, it will restore your pH balance and break down built-up residue.
How to: In a small bowl, dilute ? cup of apple cider vinegar into 4 cups of water. Gently pour over your scalp and massage in. Leave in for 10 minutes. (On the meantime, you can wash you body, shave your legs, enjoy a foot scrub, or apply a face mask). Rinse out with cold water, then notice how your hair shines!
Benefit #7: Apple cider vinegar whitens your teeth. In case you haven’t heard, ACV can remove wine or coffee stains. It can also remove wine and coffee stains from your teeth! It won’t be an overnight whitening process like some chemicals, but it can naturally whiten your teeth one shade at a time. However, be cautious. ACV is acidic and too much acidity can wear away your teeth’s enamel or harm your throat.
How to: Combine 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar with 1 tsp of baking soda. Adjust the ingredients until a paste forms. Brush onto your teeth and allow to sit for 1 minute before rinsing. Spit out the paste, do not swallow. Repeat once per week until your teeth have reached desired whiteness.
Benefit #8: Apple cider vinegar is a natural makeup brush cleaner. Beauty products include your applicators, such as brushes and sponges. If you use all-natural products on your skin, I suppose you should use all-natural applicators as well!
How to: Mix 1 Tbsp of apple cider vinegar with 1 Tbsp of lukewarm water and 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice. Swirl your makeup brushes in for 1 minute. Rinse out and let air dry.
Benefit #9: Apple cider vinegar can remove nail polish. Acetone smells funky, but it gets the job done to remove nail polish. However, the worst thing about removing old polish is that it dries out my cuticles! ACV is the hero that will come to my rescue.
How to: Combine equal amounts of apple cider vinegar and lemon juice. Soak fingernails for 1 minute. Then use a cotton ball soaked in the same mixture to remove the nail polish.
Benefit #10: Apple cider vinegar hand soap. As you’ve read, ACV hosts so many natural benefits. When it comes to hand washing, you want to have those antibacterial and antiviral properties to rid you hands of undesirable germs!
How to: Follow my recipe for DIY All-Natural Liquid Hand Soap with apple cider vinegar. Hint: It only costs $0.03 per bottle!
Take advantage of the natural benefits of apple cider vinegar!
Which benefit are you most surprised by? I had no idea that ACV is anti-fungal…next time I get a wart, I know what to do!
Which benefit are you going to take advantage of first? I can’t wait to try the ACV hair rinse. I’m sure my scalp could be refreshed and I bet my hair has some excess build up.
I’m continually learning more about all-natural beauty. As I learn, I’ll be sure to include you in my discoveries! (With plenty of all-natural DIY recipes included). What DIY all-natural beauty tips would you like to learn more about? Share in the comments below so I can answer your questions and continually provide helpful beauty recipes!
