This week’s session was obviously intriguing to a lot of people, judging by the number of questions! Coralee shared her expertise in making her own products for personal care, getting us hooked right away with her homemade deodorant. We shared tips and ideas and got a lot of good ideas.
If you’re not keen on going hardcore into making your own products, you could always make lotion or lip balm as cheap and fabulous stocking stuffers this Christmas. I just wanted to put that out there, even though the C-word might be a little intimidating after the gorgeous weather this week.
The recipes! I’ll break this into two posts for easier searching/reading/printing. This will be all the recipes and ideas for personal care, and definitely add your own tips or questions in the comments. I’ll post the cleaning products separately.
Deodorant
6-8 TBS Coconut oil (solid state)
¼ C Baking Soda
¼ C arrowroot powder (available at Bulk Barn) or Cornstarch
Directions:
- Combine equal portions of baking soda & arrowroot powder.
- Slowly add coconut oil and work it in with a spoon or hand blender until it maintains a firm but pliable texture. It should be about the same texture as commercial deodorant, solid but able to be applied easily. If it is too wet, add further arrowroot powder/cornstarch to thicken.
- You can either scoop this recipe into your old deodorant dispensers or place in a small container with lid and apply with fingers with each use. Makes about 1 cup. This recipe lasts about 3 months for two people with regular daily use.
*I usually half this recipe and it makes a nice amount for one deodorant container.
Source
Shampoo and Conditioner
Dissolve about 1 tablespoon of baking soda in just enough water to make a paste. Apply this to your roots only; work it in and let it sit for a minute.
In order to stimulate blood flow, clean your pores and get off built up grime, use your finger tips to scrub your scalp. Start by making a circle on the top of your head in the area you’d wear a crown. Focus on the back of this circle to begin with. Next, fill in the circle. This is where your part will be; grease here affects the way your hair looks. Trace while still scrubbing with your fingertips around the bottom edge of the circle. Keep making scrubbing circles underneath each one, drawing lines in circles around your head.
Lastly, scrub the back of your skull and your temples/sideburns. This will result in less grease and more growth. After doing this, your scalp will feel alive. Many women swear their hair grows faster after a visit to the salon — it does, and this massage method is why.
When scrubbing, you’re actually rubbing your fingers back and forth in short movements. Be gentle; you don’t want to break your hair. Next, pour about 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar into a cup and add water. (I keep two plastic 12-ounce cups in my shower and just mix when I get in.) After you rinse the baking soda out, pour the apple cider vinegar over the ends of your hair, let it sit for a minute and then rinse it out. That’s all there is to it!
Troubleshooting
Remember, there is a transition period from two weeks to two months depending on the person. Here are a few tips:
• If your hair becomes frizzy, try using less baking soda or leaving it on for a shorter period of time. Adding honey may also help.
• If your hair becomes greasy, try using less apple cider vinegar, switching to lemon or lime juice, leaving out the honey, and/or using a comb instead of a brush. Also, make sure you’re applying the apple cider vinegar just to the ends of your hair.
• If your scalp itches, try the following essential oils; tea tree, lavender, rosemary. If your hair becomes dry, try a tiny bit of oil (any oil, I use olive) smoothed on bottom of hair.
Source
Lip Balm
1 Tablespoon Coconut Oil
2 Tablespoons Sunflower Oil
1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Beeswax
15 drops Essential Oil
A few drops of Vitamin E Oil (optional, but recommended)
Lip balm preparation: Coarsely chop the beeswax or use beeswax pastilles. Place beeswax, butter, and oils in a small pot or glass Pyrex measuring cup and gently heat in the top of a double boiler until the beeswax and butters have melted. Once melted, remove from the stovetop and add essential oils and Vitamin E Oil. Immediately pour the mixture into lip balm containers. You can purchase lip balm tubes and jars, or you can reuse glass or plastic containers. Allow to cool completely before placing caps onto the lip balm containers. Your lip balm is finished! You can now add labels, ribbons, twine, or any other decorative elements. Makes approximately 1.5 oz of lip balm, enough to fill 10 lip balm tubes, 6 of our 1/4 oz plastic jars, or 3 1/2 oz tins or plastic jars.
Experimenting with Lip Balm
It’s fun to concoct lip balm recipes using your favorite botanical ingredients and essential oils! As a general rule, use 3 parts of carrier oil to 1 part of beeswax (omit butters from your calculations since they are solid at room temperature). If you feel as though your lip balm is too soft, re-melt it and add more beeswax and if it is too hard, re-melt and add more oil. You can also adjust your recipes with the seasons: harder lip balms are better for warm summer weather and softer lip balms during cold fall and winter months. Add essential oils at your discretion, a general amount is 2 drops per container, but this varies depending upon the essential oil used. Less is better when it comes to essential oils; you don’t want to end up with lip balm that will sting or irritate your lips.
Source
Exfoliating Face Wash
Make a past with baking soda and water and rub gently on your face then rinse off.
Use coconut oil after your face is dry as a moisturizer
Oil Cleansing Method
Using an oil of your choice (coconut oil for crazy-dry skin, olive oil, or a combination of olive oil and castor oil for oily skin – you can add a drop of tea tree oil if you are prone to breakouts), massage your face thoroughly with your clean fingertips. Put a damp washcloth that is as hot as you can stand on your face and let it steam for a moment, then gently wipe off the oil and gick.
Source and tips
Lotion
6 oz oil (peanut, canola, jojoba, olive, apricot kernel, hemp, avocado grapeseed, rosehip seed)
3 oz coconut oil, shea butter, cocoa butter
1 oz beeswax
6 oz distilled water
3 oz aloe vera gel
19 drops grapefruit seed extract
40 drops essential oil of your choice for scent
Pour your liquid oils into a 16 oz heat proof measuring cup
Add pieces of solid oils until volume reaches 9 oz mark.
Add pieces of beeswax until volume reaches 10 oz mark.
Place measuring cup in a pan of gently simmering water and heat until solid oils are just melted.
Remove measuring cup from water and let sit until oils reach body temperature. Test by placing the measuring cup on wrist. When it feels neither warm nor cold it is body temperature. Stir occasionally as it cools.
Make sure distilled water is body temperature. You can simply place the water into another heat proof measuring cup and into the pan of hot water used for heating the oils.
Pour the water and aloe into a blender and add grapefruit seed extract.
Process at high speed. If you have a powerful blender process at low speed. You can use a hand mixer but it will take longer.
Slowly add the oil mixture into the water
It will begin to thicken and sputter. In a high powered mixer this can be as quick as 30 seconds. With a hand mixer it will take 15 minutes at highest speed.
Continue until you have a thick, creamy liquid.
Add essential oils and stir in well by hand.
Scoop into clean sterilized jars. Makes 19 oz.
Lotion recipes contain water which will result in a shorter shelf life. You can store the extra jars in the fridge or give away as gifts.
When using a jar, use a popsicle stick or other tool to scoop the lotion out of the jar. This will prevent contamination and make the lotion last longer.
Source
bethelmoms.wordpress.com 