A great natural beauty alternative you probably already own

It might just appear to be a simple piece of material, but muslin cloth is the perfect thing for exfoliating your skin.

It’s commonly used in the kitchen to make cheese and strain jams or tea, and it is great for mopping up stains or shining your shoes. New mums can’t live without it as a soft cloth for bub that cleans up those little spits and spills.

Now you can add skincare to the list of muslin’s many uses.

The cotton fabric is a healthy way to remove makeup and environmental pollution and dirt, while also providing a gentle exfoliating action on the skin. Muslin cloths are re-useable and have an open weave that allows them to dry quickly, preventing the growth of bacteria, whereas regular thick cloths take longer to dry and can be a breeding ground for bacteria. 

Samantha Sargent, a natural beauty and skincare expert who sells her own products called AEOS, says muslin fabric comes in degrees of fineness so look for unbleached organic cotton when choosing one for skin care.

“Conventional cotton crops are sprayed with toxic pesticides that damage the health of your skin and internal organs, as well as the environment,” she says. “It is also helpful to look for a soft lightweight muslin cloth.”

Here’ Sargent’s top tips on looking after your skin with muslin.

How to use muslin cloth

• Apply a cleansing oil to your skin with your fingertips, massaging the oil over your face
• Soak the muslin cloth in warm (not hot) water
• Wring it out, and then press the muslin cloth over your face like a warm compress
• Rinse the muslin cloth in warm water, and repeat the compress action three times 

How often do you use it?

Muslin cloths can be used each evening when cleansing your skin. The key point to remember with mature skin is that as we age our skin can become more delicate so it’s best not to “scrub” the skin with a muslin cloth. The compress action, as detailed above, is recommended. 

Skincare for over-60s

Our skin is an organ, just like the heart and liver. It’s common sense that eating a salad of fresh lettuce, tomatoes, avocado and cucumber drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil and a squeeze of lemon, for example, is going to be better for the health, beauty and wellbeing of our organs, than it would be if we were to eat a frozen meal heated up in the microwave with a list of ingredients formulated in a lab that we can’t pronounce or understand. Skin care warrants the same common sense approach. Everything we eat, drink and apply to our skin either supports the natural physiology of the body and emotions or not. Just because we reach a certain age it doesn’t mean we start neglecting our food choices, so neither should it mean that we neglect our skin care choices. 

My personal point of view is, don’t try and fix something if it isn’t broken. If what you’re doing is working well for you, then great. If you do have certain skin concerns, then it’s time to become more aware of what you are doing on a daily basis and make modifications so that the concerns are addressed. As we age, our skin undergoes changes, so what worked well in your 40s, or 50s, might require a few changes in your 60s.

General skincare tips

• Remember to eat plenty good fats, such as avocados, nuts, seeds, extra-virgin cold-pressed olive oil
• Remember to drink at least a litre and a half of purified water each day
• Avoid makeup products that contain mica. This natural earth mineral is a cheap ingredient found in the majority of makeup. On mature skin types, this shimmery mineral gathers in fine lines and wrinkles giving a ‘crepey’ effect, making the fine lines more prominent

Sargent trained in a variety of disciplines from make-up to nutrition and wellbeing.

“I’m deeply fascinated by the holistic approach of considering the mind, body and spirit as interconnected and especially how our emotions and subconscious mind have an influence on our healthy, beauty and overall wellbeing,” she says.”In 2006 I launched my business, and have loved the experience of helping thousands of women throughout Australia make the switch to natural and organic skin care that supports their wellbeing and beauty.”

Have you tried muslin in your beauty regime?