Homemade Face Wash

As per request, I am posting a face wash recipe that is easy to make and free of toxic chemicals.

Homemade Face Wash
1 cup coconut oil
1 tbsp baking soda
5 drops lavender essential oil
5 drops frankincense essential oil
5 drops lemon essential oil

*for people suffering from acne, replace the frankincense and lemon with 10 drops of melaleuca (tea tree) essential oil 

Melt the coconut oil in a pan over low heat. Once melted, remove from heat and add remaining ingredients.

Store the face wash in an air tight glass jar. Please use glass, not plastic as the concentrated strength will strip the plastic putting toxins into your once non-toxic face wash.

The essential oils and coconut oil work together to kill any bacteria while keeping your skin hydrated and feeling health and clean.

Please note: I only recommend using Young Living essential oils as they are pure, therapeutic grade essential oils and therefore are safe to use topically. I can not vouch for the safety of any other brands of oils and therefore can not recommend their topical application.

Let me know if you give the recipe a try and what you think! 

Feel free to contact me anytime with questions on this or any other recipe, or how to buy Young Living essential oils. 

post inspired by http://draxe.com/

Holiday Yummies for your body!

Can you believe it is mid November!?!? If you are as shocked as I am, chances are you also didn't realize that Christmas is six weeks away! Did you just panic? Are you breaking into a cold sweat thinking of  those people you never quite know how to shop for? Well, lucky for you, I have a solution!

Whipped Body Butter!!

It's so easy to make, easy to give as a gift, and smells so yummy! Here are a few great recipes you can try!

Mint Chocolate Body Butter
 - 1/2 cup cocoa butter
 - 1/2 cup coconut oil
 - 20 drops peppermint essential oil

Step 1

In a double boiler combine all ingredients except essential oils. Bring to medium heat and stir constantly until melted. Remove from heat and let cool slightly before adding the essential oils. 

Step 2

Refrigerate for about an hour or until the mixture just starts to harden but is still somewhat soft.

Step 3 

Use electric mixer to whip for 10 minutes until light and fluffy

Step 4

Spoon the whipped butter into a glass jar or container and store in fridge for about 10 - 15 minutes to set

Step 5 

Use it for your self or give it away! But most importantly... enjoy!!! (Let me know if you try this or any other recipes and what your thoughts are!)

Follow the steps above for any of these other recipes!

Chocolate Orange Body Butter
(yes mom, this one is for you)
 - 1/2 cup cocoa butter
 - 1/2 cup coconut oil
 - 20 drops orange essential oil

Key Lime Body Butter

 - 1 cup coconut oil

 - 2 tablespoons aloe vera gel

 - 20 drops lime essential oil

Orange Cream Body Butter

 - 1 cup coconut oil

 - 2 tablespoons almond oil

 - 20 drops orange essential oil

Wintergreen Body Butter (can also act as a pain relief, add 20-40 drops of wintergreen)

 - 1/2 cup coconut oil

 - 1/2 cup shea butter

 - 10 drops wintergreen essential oil

Calming Body Butter

 - 1/2 cup coconut oil

 - 1/2 cup shea butter

 - 20 drops lavender essential oil

Energizing Body Butter

 - 1 cup coconut oil

 - 2 table spoons aloe vera gel

 - 20 drops grapefruit essential oil

Or feel free to experiment with your own recipe of your favorite essential oils! Happy whipping!

Allergy Relief

It's that time of year again, when allergies are in full swing and we forget how it feels to breathe clearly. If you are anything like me, your stuffy nose will soon travel to your chest and you're just a disaster of sneezing, coughing and sniffles. Would you believe I have found a natural remedy for allergies?

That's right! Essential oils can bring relief and even get rid of the allergy entirely!

Lavender clears congestion, builds immunity, relieves headaches, eases muscle pain, and is a natural antihistamine

Lemon helps protect immunity, alkalizes the body, and relieves excess mucous

Peppermint helps to ease breathing, fights infection, helps congestion, relieves headache and opens airways instantly

How do you use these Young Living essential oils?

Topically - apply 1 drop to forhead, soles of feet and sinuses as needed
(don't get essential oils in your eyes. If you do, do not use water to rinse. Water strengthens the oils and will only intensify your discomfort. Instead, massage a vegetable oil, like olive oil or coconut oil, around the eyes to draw out the oil and soothe the irritation.)

Inhalation - apply 1-2 drops of oil to the palm of your hand, rub your hands together and cup them over your nose and inhale deeply. Diffuse your essential oils during the day or while you sleep

Ingestion -  put 5 drops of your oil of choice in a capsule with vegetable oil such as coconut oil, or if you are having a particularly bad allergy attack, you can use the Allergy Bomb recipe:

Take it from someone who has suffered from seasonal allergies her entire life, this really works! 

Please don't try my remedy suggestions with any brand of essential oil other than Young Living. I only use myself and suggest others to use the Young Living Essential Oils because they are the best oils on the market today. This is the only company that controls the entire seed to seal process right from their own farms. I can not vouch for any other brand of oil nor recommend their use safely.

Feel free to contact me with any questions or to inquire about how to order your own essential oils. 

Have a wonderful day!

DIY Bug Spray (chemical free!)

Here is my all natural buy spray recipe:
8 oz spray bottle
4 oz Distilled water
4 oz Unscented witch hazel
10 drops Purification® essential oil blend

Works like a charm to keep those pesky bugs away!

Contact me for more information about Young Living essential oils and how to order.

Sunburn relief!!!

When a day of this...

...turns into this...

You need this:

Here is my very own sunburn relief concoction! 

2 tbs Organic Virgin Coconut Oil (or any other carrier oil you may prefer)

2 tbs Aloe Vera Gel

10 drops Lavender Essential Oil

5 drops Peppermint Essential Oil

Sunburned skin need to stay moisturized!! Coconut Oil and Aloe Vera Gel will keep your skin hydrated and hold in the moisture for hours on end! (especially if you lather it on like I do!)

Lavender essential oil is highly regarded for healing and soothing skin irritations, cuts, bruises, minor burns, etc.

Peppermint essential oil eases pain and discomfort when applied to the skin while offering a cooling effect (works great for fevers and hot flashes as well)

When using essential oils directly on your skin you need to make sure your oils are pure, therapeutic grade, essential oils, such as Young Living. If you have any questions about Young Living oils or would like information on how to order them, please feel free to contact me!

Cucumber Eye Cream

Didn't get enough sleep last night? Eyes all puffy with dark bags underneath? Tired of using store bought creams that promise fresh looking eyes, yet never deliver results? (I'm not even going to get into the fact that the last one is probably due to chemicals instead of using the beautiful earth God gave us!! Okay, I will step down from my soap box now)

Have I got the recipe for you!!! It works and it feels great, especially first thing in the morning when your eyes are all crusty and hot from sleep!

Cucumber Eye Cream
1 Tablespoon Aloe Vera Gel
1 teaspoon Cucumber juice (best when fresh, if you have a juicer)
1/4 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 Tablespoon witch hazel

Directions: 

1. In a double boiler (I do not have a double boiler so I just used a pan on very super low heat... no "very super low" is not a heat setting on my stove, but you get the idea) combine the aloe gel, cucumber juice, and cornstarch and warm carefully. Do not overheat or bring to a boil. 

2. When ingredients are mixed together (it should be a light pastel greenish color) remove from stove, transfer to a bowl and mix in the witch hazel (the recipe in the book called for 1 tablespoon but I found that to be to watery so I cut it back to 1/2 tablespoon). 

3. Allow to cool completely before transferring the mixture to a sterile container, and store in the fridge. This gel will last about a week. 

To Use:

Apply under the eye in an upward, dotting motion, be careful not to pull on the skin.

The Home Apothecary 1

I think this is my favorite recipe so far. It smells great, was fairly simple to make, and the coolness of the refrigerated gel feels great under the eyes!

Don't be intimidated by the use of a stove, this really is easy. Please give it a try and let me know what you think!

Aloe Face Toner

Aloe Face Toner Recipe
1/2 cup distilled water
1/4 cup witch hazel
1 teaspoon aloe vera gel*
10 drops tea tree essential oil
10 drops frankincense essential oil

 or 

* I have an Aloe Vera plant so sometimes I will choose to use fresh leaves (click here for a how to), however I don't want to kill my plant by taking too much from it at once, so I bought 99% pure Aloe Vera Gel from the a whole food store.

Directions are simple:

1. Mix all the ingredients together. 

2. Pour the mixture into a sterile container.

To Use: 

After cleansing your face, moisten a cotton facial pad with toner. Wipe face gently, avoiding eyes. Follow with moisturizer.

I got this recipe from The Home Apothecary 1 but added my own variations. 

First: The recipe called for 3/4 teaspoon aloe vera gel. I used 1 teaspoon simply because I have a problem with acne and wanted more healing agents in my toner.

Second: the recipe called for 5 drops black willow essential oil and 5 drops thyme essential oil, I used 10 drops Frankincense essential oil because I have had great experience using frankincense as a healing agent, specifically for acne.

Give Away!!!

If you are new to my blog, welcome and thanks for stopping by! I wanted to create this blog, not only to share my experiments with making my own natural products and dabbling with homeopathic remedies, but also to meet other people with the same interests.

I would love to hear your story! How long have you been living this lifestyle and what was it that turned you on to it? Or maybe you are just starting to develop an interest, what made you want to give it a try? I would love to hear alternative ideas and suggestions, recipes you love or hate, and topics you would like to see me post about in the future! (Any comments on this post answering those questions will also get you an entry in the contest mentioned below!!!)

Some post topics to look forward to: 
essential oils
reusing items around the house that you would normally throw away
food recipes
herbal remedies
juicing recipes
and of course home made, all natural beauty and hygienic products

If you aren't already aware, Wall-to-Wall Books (aka my mom) is doing a give away on her blog to win this book:

To Enter to Win:

- Comment on two different posts from my blog

- Sign up to be a follower

- Sign up for email alerts

Doing one of the above will get you one entry!

Doing two will get you two entries

Doing all three will get you three entries!

When you have made your entry, make sure you go to 

Wall-to-Wall Books 

and fill out the form in order to make your entry valid! 

Thanks for coming and I'm looking forward to meeting/getting to know you all!