Natural beauty products - do you make your own?

[Denise Duffield-Thomas]

I'd love to hear what other people are doing out there to replace chemically laden beauty products with natural alternatives. Particularly if you make your own.

My cleanser is wonderful. It's just a bottle of distilled water (I usually buy a bottle of 600ml Evian) - I add 5 drops of lavender oil, and 5 drops of Geranium oil. Play around with the quantities, depending on your skin type.

Shake it up and wipe on your face with a cotton pad. I've not used my commercial cleanser for over six months now, AND I use less moisturiser. My cleanser is about £10 ($20) at least 3 or 4 times a year, so it saves me money - packing and chemicals too.

Please let me know your tips, I want to replace as much as I can!

[mygreenearth]

I make my shampoo using flax and water. I soak about 1/2 flax seed in water until it is gelatinous, then I blend it with another 1/2 cup of water. It works great and you don't need a conditioner. It leaves my hair really soft and smooth. I have long, oily hair, and it still isn't a problem. On the other hand, my mom has short oily hair, so it weighed hers down. I think it is something you could experiment with.
I am looking for a good deodorant, especially for working out. I used the thai deodorant chrystal, and that doesn't work for me. If you have any suggestions I would love to know.

[Evelyn]

I use african black soap, shea butter, moroccon mud, burts bees (shampoos and lip balms). I use nature's gate's organic deodorant, but I lean more to thai crystal. I recently started using ecover dish washing liquid and I really like it.

[Tiffany]

Body scrubs are so pampering and easy to make! I make one that is ground oats (moisturizing), almonds (scrub), rose petals and lavendar flowers (nice smell, etc.) I grind it all up in a cuisinart and keep it in a pretty jar in the bath room. Just put a 1/2 cup in a dish with hot water, stir with finger and then when I'm done rinsing off in the shower, I turn the water off and scrub down with the scrub then rinse.....soft!

Here's another recipe: Sweeter Than Honey Body Glow
1 c. sea salt 5 drops fave essential oil
1/2 c. honey 1 c. grapeseed oil, unscented
1/4 cup roughly ground oatmeal

Mix it all well in a bowl until mixture is soaked. Scoop into a clean container. Refridgerate in sealed container up to 2 months.

I also find rinsing my hair with Apple Cider Vinegar to be very cleansing..I don't think it makes my head smell like vinegar, but then again I don't have to go to work closely with others. I also like vinegar baths, very rejuvenating. So is a salt bath with sea salt or epsom salts. Sometimes you can use big pieces of seaweed as a scrub, very cleansing and detoxing. I like Burt's Bees lotions, too. But find that olive oil, cocoa butter and coconut oil work very well. Coconut oil is great for a "hot oil" deep conditioning hair treatment.

Another great source for making your own body care products is Rosemary Gladstar's book Herbal Healing for Women.
She has an awesome body lotion recipe in there. My husband likes to joke that I come out of my home spa treatments smelling like salad!

[Denise Duffield-Thomas]

Here's a pic of my hair after 3 months of raw and no-poo. It has it's up and down moments

[Dianne]

Hi there .I have a business selling natural handmade sopa,lotion,body ,butter & lip balms.I like Shea butter.I put myslef under Bunny's Holiday Craft Fair.I am at www.Dimikaskinsations.com
I am also newer to Raw Eating...My smoothies have been quit good....Fun doing dinners too.

[Denise Duffield-Thomas]

I just finished a blog post about chemicals in beauty products and every day life!

Please visit and leave any comments. All your ideas have really inspired me.

Be Beautiful without chemicals, you're worth it

[honey b.]

what an awesome post Denise!
im sure you've read it already but "Beauty by Nature" from brigette mars has gotta be one of my favorite herbalist beauty books. TONS of goodie recipes to try. She's well versed & credited. Thanks for your link, AWESOME!!!

[MichelleRAWMOO]

Coconut oil........my skin loves and adores it.............it has done more for my skin than Clinique..elizabeth arden..Lo'Occitane ever did!!!! I use it on my face also....

[Cindy Bridges]

I order from a compny called The Secrets of Eden. They have a number of natural products and everything I have tried has worked really well. They have a spray called Refresh that is great for the skin and I swear it even helps get rid of saggy skin. I also use their deodorant NOBO which is a liquid form of the crystal rock deodorant which I can't use because it breaks me out. They have a moisturizer called Jamango Butter which smells wonderful and a lot of other stuff I have never used. I actually started ordering my essential oils from them and they have a great selection of those also.

[Armida Sawan]

So far I have made my own shampoo, deodorant, lip balm, and body lotion.
The easiest is the deodorant, here's what I use:
1/4 cup baking soda
1/2 cup corn starch
any amount of drops on any essential oil you like (I use lavender or tea tree and usually around 20 drops)

You can use the powder just like that, or if your prefer the feel of conventional deodorant then you can (like I do), you can add coconut oil to a desired consistency.

Enjoy!

[Angie]

I use Dr. Bronners liquid soap for washing skin & hair. I use doTERRA essential oils ( www.mydoTERRA.com/angiesmith) in almost everything: baths, in laundry (along with detergent), internally for all kinds of stuff, as deodorant, for pimples, etc. I am going to try using grapefruit essential oil for cellulite. I sometimes put sea salt or Redmond clay in my baths for exra detox, as well. I have also made my own lip balm with cacao butter, sunflower oil & essential oils.