Gift Idea: Homemade Bath Salts

 The other day I was browsing throught the bath isle. I was dreaming about a good long soak in a hot tub so I checked out the bath salts. I was astonished when I discovered the price tag was five dollars for a tiny little package. " I can totally make this!" Was my thought. Here is the one I came up with. I have a few more mixed up but won't share them til I try them out first in the tub. These are super simple to make, only take about 5 minutes and can be wrapped up really cute.You only need 3 simple ingredients. Invigorating Ginger Bath Salts.

 Ingredients:
 1 cup of epsom salts (mine were 2.99 at Fred Meyers)
2 cups of baking soda (I have the large bag from Costco)
2 Tablespoons of powdered ginger
Directions: Place all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix together.( warning very powdery). Place in storage or gift container of choice and then use! See super simple. Very inexpensive and so relaxing to use!

Make Your Own Lip Balm or Salve. Great Holiday Gifts!

I want to say before my mom sent me to this class at Herban Wellness I had no idea how easy and fun it is to make your own salves, lip balms and lotions! The following is the basic salve and lip balm recipe I was given at the class. Ingredients:

• 1 cup of the oil of your choice. Note you can mix two oils like 1/2 cup of mango butter and 1/2 cup of grapeseed oil. Pick our oils based on your skin type or what you are trying to accomplish with your skin. A great resource for beginners it the Readers Digest Complete Illustrated Book of Herbs. It gives you a quick synopsis of what different herbs and oils do for your skin and health.
•  1 oz of beeswax or about 1/4 of a cup
• Essential oils of your choice. I used peppermint for lip balm. 50 drops

Directions:

1. Heat the beeswax and oils together in a pyrex measuring cup in  hot water in a pot on the stovetop. Do not boil. Heat slowly. Boiling can produce rancid oils releasing free radicals into your lip balm or salve.
2. Remove from heat.
3. Add the essential oil of your choice (about 50 drops but adjust to your desired smell)
4. Pour the mixture into small jars or lip balm containers while it is still hot. It will harden and be a wonderful salve for your lips or muscles. In the picture the small dark container is the lip balm. The metal container is the lotion from yesterdays post.

Homemade Lotion

Today I had the privilege of attending a class at Herban Wellness in Kirkland, WA about how to make your own homemade lotions and salves. I learned so much. It inspired me to learn more about herbs, homemade teas,  poultices and share them with you. Today I want to share with you the recipe we made in the class. It was very straight forward and simple. I LOVE knowing what is in my cream. It feels and smells so good on my skin. The upfront cost of making your own at home can seem rather steep but then consider how much you pay for lotion at the store and realize in the long run you save money by making it at home.(example organic face cream by Avalon organics if 16.95 for 2 ounces worth!)  I hope to have a lotion making party at my house sometime soon. Perhaps you will join me!
The following is the recipe from Herban Wellness along with the directions. In a future post, I will go into how different oils and liquids can be used to alter the recipe for dry versus oily skin, muscle aches, acne and so forth. Ingredients:
2/3 cup of Aloe Vera
1/4 cup of organic olive oil 
1/4 cup of sesame oil,
10 grams of beeswax,
1/4 cup of either coconut or cocoa oil,
1/4 tsp of liquid lecithin or lanolin oil,
30 drops of vitamin E oil,
50-70 drops of a mix of the essential oils of your choice (for example 20 drops of lavender, 1 tsp of vanilla extract, 20 drops of  chamomile oil)
 Directions:

• First sterilize the following equipment with water and hydrogen peroxide (really cheap at Costco by the way) a saucepan, blender, pyrex measuring cup and rubber spatula. 
• Place Olive Oil (best price on organic I have found is at Costco), sesame oil, beeswax and cocoa butter in a Pyrex measuring cup. Then take a medium size saucepan and place the Pyrex measuring cup in it. Put water around the Pyrex measuring cup. With the burner on the lowest setting (do not allow mixture to boil or bubble) allow the oils to melt. 
• When the oils have melted, stir them together and refrigerate until cool. About an hour.
• Place the cooled oils in the blender. Turn blender on the lowest setting and then pour in the aloe vera very slowly. Use a spatula to mix the oils together if needed.
• When aloe vera and oils are mixed together pour in the emulsifier (lecithin or lanolin)
• Then add the essential oils of your choice and vitamin E. Blend it all together. 
• Place in sterile container. Refrigerate most of mix. Keep a small amount in your bathroom where you will use the moisturizer. Remember it has no preservatives so it will grow mold if kept too long. Will keep for up to 3 months if kept in the fridge. For this reason I recommend making small batches as needed. If you keep unrefrigerated use within one month.

Personal Care Products From Your Pantry

With a total spending budget of 250 dollars per month there is not much left after food to spend on fancy toiletries. Over the last few months I have come across some recipes and ideas in various magazines and books. Here are some I have tried and found to work and actually enjoy. I feel like I can pamper myself without going to the drug store and spending loads of money on items.

• Homemade facecloths. I cut up an old t-shirt into 6 inch squares and use it for make up removal or lotion application. It not only uses something I was tossing out but also is reusable! Just throw it in the wash and use again.
• I tend to have dry skin. Very dry skin. Using coconut oil for cooking one day I got it on my hands. I rubbed it in and had such smooth skin! Now I use it as a moisturizer for trouble spots such as my feet, elbows and hands. At night occasionally I will put it on my feet then place socks on them. When I take them off I have such soft skin! It is like a spa treatment if I set those stockinged feet on a  hot water bottle.  
• Homemade aromatherapy- place a pot of water on the cook top or put water in a mini crock pot and let come to a low simmer. Add any of the following items or combination of: a cinnamon stick, drops of vanilla extract, 5-10 drops of essential oil, or a lemon wedge. Your house will soon smell like the warm scented water.
• Mayo is a terrific skin conditioner. I use it on occasion on my face. Eggs help firm the skin, the vinegar balances the pH and oil adds moisture. Works as a great chemical free makeup remover too.
• Get rid of eye puffiness with yesterdays black tea bags. Place cold or luke warm bags over each eye for 10-15 minutes. I great addition to a relaxing bath time.
• A homemade dandruff treatment is steeping 1 heaping tablespoon of fennel seeds in boiling water and let sit until the water is at room temp. Strain seeds and pour the "tea" over your hair after you shampoo. No need to rinse!

I welcome any of your ideas for other pantry treatments for personal care products. Anyone have any to share?

Good Article About Phthalates and what they are.

If you have never heard or perhaps have heard a little about phthalates and wondered what all the hype was about here is a good article to read. Original link found on the environmental working group page.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69H1PM20101018

Mint-Vinegar Skin Toner

About a week ago I got my copy of  "The Herb Companion" in the mail. It is one of my favorite magazines. I look forward to it coming in the mail as it is always chock full of fun ideas and recipes.
This time around they had an article on Herbal Vinegars for your skin and hair. Here is my favorite one so far:

3 Tablespoons of fresh mint leaves (or 1 Tablespoon of dried). I pulled mine from the garden making this a very very cheap recipe to make.
2 Tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
1 cup of distilled water

Directions as stated in the magazine:
" Mix together all ingredients, then pour into a clean container and let sit for 3 days"
"Strain of filter out all solids and pour into a clean bottle with a tight fitting lid."
"To use: Apply to clean skin with a cotton pad."

Here it is strained. I had not found a bottle to put it in yet.

I love this recipe! Note it tingles when you apply it to your freshly cleaned face! The magazine says it is good for the blackheads in oily skin and the flakiness of very dry skin. My face feels soft after using it.
Make sure you wash the mint leaves before cutting up. The water does get a dirty brownish color but it feels AMAZING as it tingles on your skin. I want to experiment with more mint to see if it tingles more.