Natural colored lip balm

Colored lip balms are a great way to care for your lips and still add a touch of color to your lips.
The colors won't be as bright as in a lipstick, but just a hint of colour. Something some of use can definitely use during these winter months.

You'll need
*a clean container
*1 teaspoon coconut oil
*1 teaspoon of sweet almond oil or calendula oil
*1/2 teaspoon of wax (beeswax, soy wax etc)





A great natural way to add color to your lip balms is with with beet juice or beet root powder. Health food stores might also sell natural food coloring. You can also add that to your balm.

Put the oils and wax into a clean bowl or pyrex jug and heat it in double boiler. Then slowly add the coloring to your oils. You really only need to put in very small quantities at a time. It's better to play it safe and add a little more than to end up with a color that's too bright for you. 

To see if you've got the right color just dip the tip of a knife (a butter knife that's not as sharp!)  in the mixture and let  a bit of the mixture settle. Then you can put some balm on your skin and see if you like the color. Be careful! If the color is fine you can pour the mixture into a container.
Enjoy experimenting with different colors and combinations!

Delicious all natural chocolate lip balm

With winter coming it's time to get ready for dry skin related issues. Calendula creams, extra caring hand cream and of course lip balms! This recipe is both caring and delicious!

Shopping list:
*a clean container
*2 teaspoons of cocoa butter. I used food grade cocoa butter, it smells heavenly.
*1/2 teaspoon of coconut oil.
*1/4 teaspoon of chocolate or you can use some cocoa powder.
Dark chocolate works best to get a strong chocolate flavor/scent. This isn't exact science, just observe as you stir the chocolate into the mixture. You might want to add more or a little less. The great thing about making your own cosmetics is that you can make it just the way YOU like it.

Melt the cocoa butter and coconut oil in a double boiler. This shouldn't take long. Then you can add the chocolate or cocoa powder. Simply let it all mix and pour it into a container and let it cool.

This is an all natural alternative to store bought flavored lip balms. All these ingredients are safe to eat so you don't have to worry about unwanted chemicals you might get into your mouth. You can safely lick your lips with this delicious balm!

5 Super easy natural scrubs

A freshly scrubbed soft skin feels great. But did you know many commercial scrubs contain micro plastics? You are actually scrubbing your skin with tiny plastic bubbles that end up in the water supply, rivers and oceans. Luckily there are a number of easy, green and cheap alternatives. Most of them can actually be found in the grocery store around the corner. It almost sounds too good to be true.

1. Sugar
Sugar makes a great scrub. Mixed with some oil it leaves your skin fresh and the oil moistures your skin leaving it super soft. You can use brown sugar or any sugar with larger grains for your body, hands or feet. Use granulated sugar mixed with some oatmeal and oil for a soft scrub for your face. Or make a quick lip scrub!
Lip scrub
sugar and baking soda scrub
sugar and oatmeal facial scrub

2. Sea salt
I found some sea salt in my supermarket and the grains were just the perfect size for a natural scrub. Many health stores will have all kinds salt, from dead sea salt to Himalayan salt if you're looking for something special. Mix it with oil and you have a perfect scrub.
sea salt scrub

3.Baking soda
Baking soda has very small particles and is great for a softer kind of scrub. Perfect for your face if you have acne or just want a gentle scrub.
sugar and baking soda scrub

4. Apricot kernel and other ground up kernels and nuts
Kernels and seeds of apricots, cherries, avocados or ground up almonds make great scrub powder. Plus you'll get your daily dose of fruit and vitamins. Just let them dry, smash them, grind them and do whatever you like to create small particles perfect for a scrub bar or regular scrub.
 almond scrub bar
natural scrub powder DIY

5. Cornmeal
I found some cornmeal at the foreign food section at my supermarket next to the Indian food. You can probably also find it at most Chinese food stores. It has a fine texture but still has some nice scrubbing power. You could use it in a face mask or scrub bar. I usually use it mixed with coconut oil for an oil cleanse with scrub power.

DIY Bowl made of old vinyl record

This DIY project is so much fun to make and it's quite easy. This bowl is great to store fruit in, it can be used to create gift baskets and more.

What do we need?
*old vinyl records
*an oven
*1 or 2 heat resistant bowls

Heat the oven to about 100 degrees Celsius. It's not exact science but somewhere around this temperature should be fine. Place one of the heat resistant bowl in the oven. I guess there are two ways to do this. One way is to put the bowl in upside down and place the record on top and let it melt around the bowl. The other way is to place the bowl in the oven and the record on top and let it melt into the bowl.
Once you see the bowl starting to melt (this happens very quickly) you can take it out of the oven and while the material is still warm you can adjust the shape. Don't expect a perfect round bowl, the shape will be more free formed and looks a bit like it came out of a Dali painting.  If you're not happy with the shape you can just pop it back in the oven to reheat it.

The one on the left would be nice to put some fruit in, the other one might be more appropriate for potato chips or nuts on a birthday party. So run over to the thrift shop, buy a record and make a bowl!
I bought these records for 1 euro (it had 2 in it) so at 50 cents each you have a great gift!

DIY: Calendula Cream for dry skin

I really love Calendula. The flowers are beautiful and it has many great benefits for your skin! Soon the days will get colder and your skin might need a little extra attention. This cream is also great for dry areas of your skin such as your knees and elbows or any other part of your body that needs some extra love. Packed with caring ingredients this cream will give your skin some much needed love and care.

What do we need? 

* A clean container

* 42 gr calendula oil.

* 28 gr shea butter
* 28 gr cocoa butter
* 7 gr sweet almond oil

* 7 gr of wax, bees, soy, or any other wax. I used hemp wax.

 You can add a few drops of essential oil if you like, but I didn't. Some chamomile or lavender would be great with this.

Making your own calendula oil is very easy. Just fill a big jar with dried calendula flowers and cover it with oil: olive oil, sunflower oil or any oil you like. Place it in a warm and sunny spot and leave it there for a few weeks. You may notice your oil has changed color. The sunflower oil I used turned orange. Filter the oil and it's ready to use!

Place all the ingredients in a heat proof jar or bowl. Heat the ingredients au bain marie. 

 

Wait until all the ingredients have fully melted. Now pour the mixture into a container and let it cool. Once the mixture has cooled a little you can add some essential oils if you like. Once your mixture has cooled it's ready to use!  Yep, creating a natural caring skin product is that easy.

DIY natural toothpaste

One of the things that was missing from my personal care products was some home made toothpaste. I've tried some natural store bought toothpastes, but they weren't really what I wanted. They were either too expensive for my taste, or they were just plain old minty toothpastes. So I decided to make some of my own toothpaste. After searching the web for some recipe ideas I came up with my own little mix. This isn't a toothpaste that foams, but it will clean your teeth just the same!

What do we need?

*a tube or container to store your toothpaste in.
*3 tablespoons of Bentonite clay, but that was hard for me to find so I used white clay. But I've heard good things about it.
*2 tablespoons of coconut oil
*1 teaspoon of baking soda
*1 teaspoon of salt (I used Himalayan salt) 
*1 teaspoon of Calcium carbonate

Now for flavoring. This mixture is really salty and you can add all sort of herbs and sweeteners to give it a better taste and improve your oral hygiene. Taste is such a personal thing, it's best to just buy some ingredients you like and mix it as you go. You can use dried herbs and stevia to create your own blend. I used some sweetener, peppermint oil and clove powder. I used some sweetener to get rid of most of the salty taste and peppermint and clove for a fresh breath.

                                 All you need to do is put these ingredients in a clean bowl and mix it!

You can add some water if you like to thin the mixture if you like. If you decide to do so use water, us some that you've boiled first to get rid of a lot of bacteria and other nasty things that could spoil your toothpaste.

Now it's ready to be put in a tube or container. If you use a container I would suggest using a dry toothbrush to minimize the possible growth of bacteria and molds.

Ethics and ingredients: Making decisions

If you've been following this blog you're very likely to have your own opinions, thoughts, ideas about this world. Green, homemade cosmetics isn't just about looking good and being green. When choosing the ingredients you want to use, you can make those decisions based on a lot of different things. I'll walk you through some of the topics you can think about before buying anything.

Quality v.s. quantity
Sometimes products are cheaper for a reason. They the quality is just not as good as the more expensive version. Sometimes cheaper products contain cheaper chemical substances instead of purely natural substances you might find in more expensive products. Be sure to check labels and ingredients when you buy something and don't just look at the price. Spending a little more on better quality is better deal in the end.

Vegetarian and Vegan
A lot times green ingredients have an animal origin. Milk powder in baths and masks, beeswax in creams. If you're a vegetarian or vegan you can think about what ingredients you want or don't want in your products. There are plenty of alternatives that are plant based. More on that topic here

Local v.s. global
Now that we have airplanes, trucks and boats you can get fresh ingredients all year round. Fresh and exotic products are available in your local supermarket. But have you ever consider the effects on the globe? Transport of these products causes pollution and ingredients are often produced in a greenhouse. Think about what products you could locally before having exotic products shipped over.

Fair trade
In my recipes I sometimes use different teas and sugar. A thing to consider when buying ingredients is the circumstances they were made in. Were people exploited during the production? These are all things you can think about.

There's on personal rule I have when making natural cosmetics. To me it always feels weird to use fresh foods in cosmetics. I just can't stand the thought of putting fresh fruit on my face for beauty while others in other countries are starving because they don't have enough to eat. I'd rather stick to oils, butters and flowers for beauty and leave the fresh fruit there to be eaten.

There's much more things you could think about before you buy products, but I feel like these topics are the most obvious. I hope it has given you something to think about. Feel free to share other topics you could consider at the comments section.

A small update!

Hey everyone,

I feel like I've been a little inactive the last couple of weeks. Maybe because it's summer and the weather has been exceptionally good this year. I've done a lot of fun things and had a lot on my mind. Now I feel like things are slowly going back to their normal routine. I'll go back to my one post a week goal. I ordered some new ingredients and I can't wait to make new things and share them with you.

Etsy store giveaway!

I always wanted to do a giveaway, and now that my shop feels like it's finished the time has come.
So what do you need to do to enter?

It's really simple!
All you have to do is like my etsy store here. If you reblog my tumblr post  you have extra chances of winning. Winners will be drawn at August 15th at 8:00 PM CET.

Good luck everyone!

DIY Natural cleaning and housekeeping

When we think about doing green and natural things, cleaning our house isn't the first thing that comes to mind. It's a big part of your life you can change towards being greener, more natural and it doesn't have to be expensive! It would be stupid to use natural and green products for your own skincare and health, but not for your home. Here are some easy hints and tips for you to turn it around.

*working with the right tools
If you're trying to remove some hard core lime scale with a very old sponge, you can bet it's not going to be  efficient. Using the right tools for the right job means you have to use less cleaning agent, and saves you time. This doesn't mean you should run to the store and buy the most expensive multi functional tools out there. A good sponge, some good microfiber rags and a hard brush will deal with most problems. You can use those old soft sponges for your grandmother's china, and cut up old t-shirts to use as dusting rags. Recycle your old sponges and rags if you can and you can use new ones without feeling guilty.
*clean your home and maintain
Keeping your home clean and cleaning on a regular basis means you will have to work less hard to keep it clean, and you will have to use less cleaning agent. Getting into a habit can save you time and stress.

*Ask grandma for advice
 If your grandmother is still alive, ask her for natural cleaning tips. If she's no longer alive, there are plenty of websites out there with old tips and tricks for all sorts of household problems. Did you know you can put onions in some water and use it to clean your windows? It's definitely a lot greener and cheaper than store bought chemical solutions.

Natural cleaning agents 
There are quite a few things out that you can most likely buy in your local supermarket that are a great natural alternative. I'll talk you through some of them

*Vinegar
There are 2 types of vinegar, the original vinegar and some vinegar used especially for cleaning. Vinegar is great for removing limescale. Soak a rag in vinegar and leave it around your faucet for a few hours to remove the dark circles. Personally I really don't like the smell, but it works so well I just keep my nose away and use it anyway.
*Castille soap
And other 100% natural vegetable soaps can be used instead of normal soaps to clean your floors and do dishes with.
*Baking soda
This must be my favorite ingredient of all time. It can be used as an abrasive and it can also be used to remove smells from trash cans and carpets.
*Lemon juice
Have you ever noticed how commercial cleaning products use (or claim to use) lemon juice in their products to remove grease? It can also be used as a natural bleaching agent for your laundry and tons of other things. A definitive must have.
*Tea tree oil
Tea tree oil has great anti-bacterial properties and you can use those while cleaning. It can be mixed with water to disinfect and clean, to fight mold and to create a fresh smell in your home.

These 5 easy to get ingredients will help you to create a greener and cleaner home. I would definitely recommend asking your grandmother for advice or to look online for those old housekeeping secrets. They can be surprisingly effective!

DIY cosmetics ingredients: coconut oil

Some ingredients used in home made cosmetics deserve some extra attention because they're easy to find and can be used to a variety of recipes. Today we'll talk about coconut oil.

Coconut oil is made out of the meat of the coconut. It's used in a lot of products such as soaps, toothpaste, shampoos and all sorts of body lotions. Some people use it to cook, that's why you can find it in most supermarkets and Asian supermarkets. It's an easy to find product and not expensive.
The unrefined coconut oil melts at about 24-26 degrees Celcius. This can be a bit tricky when you're making a recipe where you want to coconut oil to stay solid, for instance in a cream deodorant .Keeping your products in a cool place during the summer is a must if you want things to stay solid.

How can we use coconut oil in natural cosmetics? 

Sometimes the simplest thing is the best. You can put some coconut oil in your hair before washing it, wrap a towel around your hair and leave it in for at least 30 min. This will make your hair super soft.
Massage your skull with some coconut oil to increase blood flow and reduce itches. Sometimes I just melt some coconut butter in my hands and spread in on my hands or body.

If you're going for recipes with coconut oil,  it can be used in cream deodorants (see the link above) due to it's antibacterial properties.
It's also great to add to your body butters, because it's a bit more solid when cold, but easily melts when it comes in contact with your skin. Coconut oil is also used for making home made soap.
Like I said coconut oil is sometimes used in toothpastes and for "oil pulling", where people swish with coconut oil before brushing to remove bacteria from their mouth. I'm testing it, more about it later.

Visit your local supermarket or Asian market and try some coconut oil! 

Animal ingredients in cosmetics: what are they and how to avoid them

A lot of animal ingredients are used in cosmetics. You can find them in store bought cosmetics or when shopping for ingredients. Today I'll share some hints and tips on how to avoid such ingredients.

There are tons of ingredients based on animal products. Some you may know such as lanolin, bees wax, carmine. Some ingredients are made by killing animals such as carmine, while others are just a products produced by animals such as milk and bees wax. It all depends on your personal decision whether or not you choose animal ingredients. It's not up to me to force you into choosing anything, I just want to help people make a decision based on facts.
The internet has a lot of info on this matter, but today I'll share some lists from PETA's website. Often companies will claim their products to be "vegetarian" or "vegan" when in fact they're not. So it's best to check the PETA website or to search the ingredients of the product itself.
 Also, not all products that might in fact be vegetarian or even vegan have a label. Companies have to pay to get a certification on their products so in some cases producers may choose not to get one when in fact their products are vegetarian. By checking the ingredients you might be in for a surprise.

so here are some resources that can help you.

A list of a lot of animal ingredients and their alternatives here.
A list of cruelty free and vegan brands here
A website with a search tool on ingredients that also has info on animal ingredients here

I hope these tips were helpful. Always keep a watchful eye when you see a label on your products. It's OK to double check ingredients or to look up labels. Thinking for yourself and doing some research will prevent you from buying stuff you really don't want. 

Super easy DIY scrub with sugar and baking soda

I like simple recipes, and this one really is. Because all you need is two ingredients! A 100% natural scrub.
This recipe is really soft on your skin and it also leaves your skin really soft. It's a scrub that has helped reduce my acne.

What do we need? 

*baking soda
*sugar
*a container

I chose granulated sugar to get a mild scrubbing action. If you want to use brown sugar or get a more intense scrub I would suggest using this recipe.

All we need for this recipe is equal amounts of baking soda and sugar mixed together. One good tablespoon of the mixture should be enough for one scrub.Mix it with a tiny bit of water to get a thick paste. You really only need a tiny bit of water for this! You don't want the mixture to get too wet.

The thing I like about this recipe is you can make large quantities of the mixture and store it. Because of the dry powder it has a long shelf life. Just store it in a big jar and you can take a tablespoon every time you need it. I use this scrub once a week.

Enjoy your soft skin!

Ditching your shampoo - going no poo

About a year ago I decided to stop using shampoo, or as some call it: going no poo. There are plenty of alternatives for shampoo that still keep your hair silky and shiny!

Most commercial shampoos contain some ugly ingredients (SLS, parabens and more) Of course you can still buy greener alternatives, there are some good ones out there but always beware of green-washing.
I chose to ditch shampoo altogether. After doing some reading on the internet about alternatives to shampoo I decided baking soda would best for me.

So how do you wash your hair with baking soda?
You need an empty shampoo bottle or some other bottle. The best option is a bottle with a small opening.
You mix one part baking soda. this can vary from 1 tablespoon of baking soda to 5 parts of water to  1 part to 9, 10 or however many parts of water you choose.
 In the beginning you might need more baking soda in your mixture, but as time passes your hair will become less greasy and you can add more water. There might come a point where you have so much baking soda water that it's easier to just start using a smaller measure for your baking soda and water.

You  mix it together, and spread the mixture it on your scalp. gently massage it over your entire head. This is where most of the grease and dirt will be. The grease in the rest of your hair will was away as you rinse your hair. You can finish with a conditioning rinse of apple cider vinegar, lime or lemon juice mixed with water. I personally never do this, but it's recommenced in a lot of posts I've read on the subject. For me it doesn't really work, it just leaves my scalp feeling itchy and uncomfortable. You can use a conditioner for your hair afterwards if you want to.

what's different about washing your hair with baking soda?
 There are several things I've noticed about washing your hair with baking soda. First of all washing my hair has become a more mindful experience. You can't just put some shampoo on your hair and wait for tons of bubbles to appear and have clean hair. You have to be in the moment, really pay attention to every part of your scalp. When it comes to my hair I've noticed it has more volume and looks very shiny. I was really surprised about how much volume my hair has. According to my hairdresser my hair still looks really healthy.
I've also noticed my hair has become 90% less greasy. When I started this I had to wash my hair every other day. Now I wash my hair once a week.

There are other options though: herbal rinses, clay masks, or just stopping washing your hair. There are several ways to stop washing your hair. The first is to just go die hard and stop washing it. Your hair might look greasy for a few weeks, but your body will adjust and stop producing so much oil. After that you can just rinse your hair with water. You can also go for a more gentle approach and start mixing shampoo with water until you end up with mostly water. It's similar to the first method except for the fact that your hair will look less greasy during the transformation and it will also take longer.

Do you know more alternatives for shampoos? Don't keep them to yourself, please share in the comment section below.

DIY ingredients: Baking soda

There are some ingredients you can use in home made cosmetics that deserve some extra attention. They can be used in many products and are easy to obtain. Today we'll put baking soda in the spotlight.

Baking soda has been around for a long time and is used for a lot of things. Around the house it can be used for baking, deodorizing, as a relief for heartburn and it's also used in toothpaste. It's also a great green cleaning alternative.
When it comes natural cosmetics baking soda is a must have. It's cheap, available in supermarkets and Asian food stores and has a long shelf life. Here are some examples of the usage of baking soda:

Head and face
masks, cleaners, scrubs, toothpastes and powders.
Hair
It can be used to wash your hair (more about that in a later post)
Body
A soft scrub, bath salts, deodorants (both body powder and cream deodorants)

a recipe for cream deodorant with baking soda can be found here

Store your baking soda in a dry and dark area.

Suggestions + update

I've been quite inactive lately, on my blog, my dA page and Etsy. School, work and the nice weather that has finally arrived have kept me busy. I have some ideas for new posts and DIYs in mind, and I hope to be a little more active in the near future. In the meantime I would like to hear some of your ideas. What type of posts do you like to read? Are there recipes or ingredients you want to read about? Do you want to read more about creative ideas? Let me know! Let's fill up the comments section.

DIY headbands and elastics from old pantyhose

This is an easy way to re-use old pantyhose! After the inial anger we get after wearing a pantyhose just once and discovering it already has holes it, we can now make something useful out of it!

What do we need?
An old panythose
scissors
optional: needle and thread

The first step we need to take is to think about what we want for our elastics and or headbands. the waist part will be larger and maybe more suitable for a headband. The leg part has different sizes of circles, so depending on how large or small you want your elastic to be, you either take the lower leg part or the thigh part. It's already a uniform round shape, so all you need to do is get your scissors and start cutting. if you want a smaller elastic you can go for a smaller band, if you want a wider elastic you just cut a wider band.
That's all there is to it! The thing I love about these elastics is that there's no metal strip holding the elastic together, plus there's a lot more variation in elasticity.You can get a lot of elastics just from one pantyhose!

For a headband there are 2 options. You can either cut a strip from the waist or thigh section, or you can go for a bit more creativity. You can cut strips of the pantyhose and braid them together. You can then secure both ends with needle and thread. Let your creativity flow and see what other options you might come up with! 

Creating your perfect skin routine

Finding your perfect skin routine can be very tricky. Today I'll share some tips and tricks to help you get a better skin routine.

First of all we need to step away from everything commercials say. They only want to sell their product and they utilize our fears and insecurities to do so. We all want a clear and soft skin, and want fast results. So if a commercial says you'll have less wrinkles within a week we all run to the store to get it. There is no such thing as a quick fix solution in skin products. It's also hard to define a skin as "oily" or "dry". These are just marketing strategies. Some parts of your face of body might be dry, and other parts might be oily.
We really need to step away from all the commercials and look at what is best for us and be realistic.

The first thing you can do is to take a good look at your own skin. Is your skin dry, a bit oily in some places? how does it react to certain types of weather, and does it feel more oily during the day?
After identifying your skin it's time to find (or even better, make your own) products that fit your needs.
Looking into a bit of biology as to what causes skin to be dry or oily, or how your skin actually works can be very helpful. There's some basic info on wikipedia here. One of things I learned is that most products for oily skin can be very drying, causing the skin to produce more oils. This causes a vicious cycle. It's better to use softer products which calm down your skin.
Depending on your skin you might have certain needs, but our skin always likes is to be well hydrated.
For some of you that might require some extra work, while others might have skin like a cactus that only needs very little watering.

Like I said before there's no quick fix in skin care. Your skin is a living organism and it take at least a month for the skin to renew. As long as you're not having allergic reactions, it's best to be patient. Find a routine and really stick to it, that way you'll have the best chance at having a happy skin. If that means using 2 different cream for your face, using baby products or other "unconventional" products, so be it. 
I'm no dermatologist, so please consult a doctor if you have skin issues. I hope this article will give you a push in the right direction.

Natural scrub powder DIY

It's been a while since I've written a blog post. I've been trying to keep the computer and the internet to a minimum to focus on things that are a bit more important. Now I'm inspired and refreshed.
I wanted to share with you some ways you can make your own scrub powders for masks and various forms of scrubs (bars, creams, oils) It's easy and cheap!

Ground seeds and nuts a great and natural alternative for micro plastic, they come free with the fruit you buy at your local market. Avocado, cherry, mango and apricot kernels are great to use in scrubs.
Once you've removed the kernels, clean them and let them dry. You can dry them in the oven for an hour or 2 at very low temperatures or just put them in a dry place in the sun for a week or two.
When they've dried you can start grinding. I would suggest you try to chop the larger kernels into smaller chunks first before placing them in a blender or hand blender. If after you've placed the kernels in the blender you still feel like they're too large you can use a coffee grinder or a mortar and pestle.
Once you feel like the powder is fine enough you're ready to use it in a scrub. You can use larger pieces for a body scrub and fine powder for a facial scrub.

I had a picture of my own mixture, but it won't let me upload it. Hopefully I can add it later!

If you use these natural powders in a scrub remember to keep water out of it (if you're using it in creamy or oily scrub) or to let it dry really well after you've used it if you're using it in a scrub bar. This way you'll prevent fungus from growing.

Have fun eating your fruits, getting your vitamins and making your own scrub powder.

My skin routine

Today I'll talk a bit about my own skin routine. It has taken me quite a long time to find the perfect routine for my skin, but I feel like I'm getting there. It takes a while before you see the results on your skin when using a new product or routine, so be patient if you don't see results within a week or two. Your skin is unique and product lines created to appeal to a large crowd might not fit your needs.

Face
I wash my face twice a day using very mild, calendula soap and some luke warm water . When I have make up on (which is a rare thing these days) I use a 2 step face wash. First I use vegetable oil remove make up and wash my face with soap afterwards. I pat my face dry and apply a toner. I try to vary between toners, right now have one with rose. Sometimes I use just plain rose water  or green tea.
In the morning I use a soft and light cream, in the evening I usually go for a caring oil.

I scrub once a week with a mixture of sugar and baking soda, and mix it together into a paste. Although I really love the smell of my beloved sugar and oatmeal scrub, I've noticed this mixture is much better for my skin. I follow with a green clay skin mask.

Body
When I shower I usually just wash myself with water, and sometimes I use soap just because I like the smell. I try to use as little soap as possible, I've found my skin is less dry and water will make you just as clean.
Once a week I scrub using either a sisal scrub glove or sea salt. If I want a very mild scrub I use my scrub bar with almond. I follow with some plain cherry pit oil or one of my body butter bars.

Hands & feet
I really should pay more attention to my hands and feet. I try to scrub my feet once a week with a pumice stone, followed by some good vitalizing cream. I should try to give myself a relaxing foot bath more often.
I work a lot with my hands, but all I ever do is put some cream on there. I've made some great powders for a hand bath but I never really use them. My hands could definitely use a bit more attention.

No buy update

In december I started 2 no buy challenges. One of them was a no buy for everything except school stuff for one month, the other one was a 3 month no buy for clothing.

My one month no buy went really great, I only bought a book. Sale at the book store is really just too hard to resist for me. It wasn't as hard as I expected it to be, and I think in the future I will try no buys more often, it's a great way to think about what you really need and keep your bank account healthy.
It made me clear out a lot of stuff I no longer need, giving it to other people, second hand stores and selling stuff on line. This place now feels a lot cleaner and neater.

My no buy didn't really go so well, I bought some  things for this spring and summer at the second hand store and at flea markets. It's so hard for me not to buy things I like when I see them, because I know you only have one shot at buying them. The no buy made me think about my wardrobe, I donated the clothing that no longer fits or stuff I hardly ever wear to charity. I try to combine things in a different way and I reorganized my wardrobe so it's easier to see what I have.

I think I could have done better at the clothing no buy challenge, but it did help me to reorganize and look at my wardrobe in a different way.

Where to get what part III: Online

This will be the last post in this series for now. Today we'll talk about the world of on line shopping for home made cosmetics.

Sometimes there are ingredients you can't find at stores in your town. If you're lucky the internet will provide you with web shops from your country, specialized in natural and home made cosmetics.
These web shops are a dangerous place for the wallets of people like me, filled with amazing oils, butters, powders and dried flowers.

There are a couple of things you should try to remember when ordering. . Most of these things sound simple and logical, but sometimes the quantity and greed can get you distracted.

*check out multiple stores if you can. Some may have a larger variety of products, others might be a little cheaper, some maybe have free shipping. It really pays off to look around and see what's the best place to shop at.
*try buying in bulk. It's often cheaper, plus it's nice to have a stock. Not all products can be bought in bulk, especially products with a shorter shelf life. It also means you will only have to pay for shipping once.
*Check the ingredients. This might sound strange at first, but you buy let's say an extract, it's nice to know what they used to make it. Sometimes oils and butters have added ingredients to make it a butter or oil.
*Look up some recipes before you order. This will get you inspired, and will also give you a guideline from which to start. Sometimes you see so many things you want, but if you have a goal it's easier to stay focused and not spend too much money.
*Educate yourself. What does stuff like cold pressed really mean? Refined, cold pressed, biological are just some terms shops might use for their products.

There are just a few simple hints to get you going. If you're completely new in the field of making your own cosmetics, I would suggest you start with some stuff that can be made with stuff from the supermarket or health store first before you buy anything on line. Give it a shot, and if you like it there's plenty of stuff out there for you to buy.

Sage Deodorant

Sage, or salvia as some call it, is great little plant. It is known for it's antibiotic and anti sweating properties.
I also really like the smell, and together with some fresh essential oils you can make a great deodorant.

What do we need?

*a glass spray bottle.
*45 ml of distilled water, I personally use rose water, but any water without too much lime/calcium
*45 ml of about 40 % alcohol, you can use clear vodka or 70% alcohol and just use about 25 ml and add more water.
*10 ml of vegetable glycerine, it helps to restore the moisture in your skin, alcohol can make you skin feel dry.
*sage extract, more on making your own extracts
*20 drops of lemon essential oil and 20 drops of tea tree essential oil. Both essential oils have anti bacterial qualities and smell fresh.
*10 drops of sage essential oil, 5 drops of pine essential oil. You can add about 10-15 extra drops of your own essential oils to this mixture of sage and pine to create your own scent.
I added some lavender and rosewood.

I usually work with recipes at the moment and might change a drop or 2 depending on how the smell. It's not something you can do out of nothing for the first time. Give your nose time to get to know the scent and if it doesn't feel right for you add different oils.

If you want to go full sage on this one, you can boil some water and make a little sage herbal infusion to use instead of plain water or rose water.If you use plain water, boil it first to give your deodorant a longer shelf life.

Mix the water, alcohol and glycerin together in a bottle. Add about 5 drops of sage extract to your mixture.
Add the lemon, tea tree, sage and pine oil first. Smell the mixture and add about 10-15 more drops of essential oil. Softly shake it to mix it up a little, and let it rest for a few days before using it.

I actually really like this deodorant. I wore it to the gym and still smelled nice 3 hours afterwards.
Yep, I didn't shower until hours later on purpose just to test this recipe. 
I really love the smell of sage, it's a recipe I'm sure I'm going to make more often in the future.
Feel free to try it, and experiment by adding your own touch to it.

Making your own extract

Extracts are a great addition to your recipes, not just for your natural cosmetics but also in the kitchen.
There are a couple of ways to make extract, but today I'll share the easy method. 

If you look up recipes for extract on line, you will find very different recipes. It's not an exact science, but I will stick to the recipe I found in a book on natural cosmetic ingredients.

What do we need?
*clear, plain wodka, usually around 40% alcohol, if you can find a stronger one that's good too.
*herbs, this can be anything from vanilla to mint, rosemary or any other herb. Dried or fresh, just make sure the herbs are clean, free of dirt and bugs.
*a clean jar or bottle.

The recipe I found was 1 part herbs and 10 parts liquid. I think this is a pretty good recipe, but if you want to you can add more herbs. Just make sure all of the herbs are covered with liquid and you're still able to shake and or stir the mixture.  Like I said before, it's not an exact science. Feel free to experiment.

Put the herbs in the jar, fill it with the liquid and leave it in there for at least 4 weeks. Regularly shake or stir the mixture to get a good extract.
When it's done, separate the herbs from the liquid. You can use a clean dish towel to clear out the large parts and run it through a coffee filter to get the smaller parts out.
Store it in a clean jar, preferably with colored glass.

How do we use it?
Extracts can be used in many recipes. They're a great addition to face masks, creams, deodorants. Or if you're making vanilla or mint extract you can use it in all sorts of delicious recipes.
Only use a couple of drops in each recipe, remember you're adding  extra liquid to your recipe, this may influence the texture of your creams.
I often use extracts in face masks and most recently in a great sage deodorant, but I'll tell you more about that in my next post.

My shop update

My etsy store is one of my passions in life, next to of course natural cosmetics.

To celebrate the opening of my store there's a 10% discount for costumers.
Use the code TUMBLR10 at the end of your checkout.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/SunsetSparkles

I hope to sell some stuff, make my costumers happy and buy some new supplies.
And just grow and learn from this experience.

Super easy natural mouthwash

Most mouthwashes contain a lot of chemicals, sometimes even alcohol or another substance that some green product loving people fear: fluoride.  But don't worry, there are lots of green alternatives, like this very easy mouthwash with clove.
Clove has antiseptic properties and clove oil was often used in the history of dentistry.


Depending on the amount of mouthwash you want to make you'll need 1 tablespoon of whole clove buds per cup of water. Of course you'll also need a clean container.

Boil the water, and get a nice jug or pan to put the cloves in. Poor the boiling water on the cloves and let it cool. Separate the cloves from the water and poor the water into the container.
The water might turn slightly brown, and you might think not much has happened. But don't worry, the taste will be quite strong. If you don't like the taste of cloves you can try adding a little cinnamon to the mixture. And just use it as a normal mouthwash. Personally I really like this recipe, it's something very different from most mint based mouthwashes and it makes your mouth feel fresh.

Where to get what part II: Containers, jars etc

This is the second post about where to get supplies to start a green home made beauty routine. Containers, jars and such will be one of the first things you need to get started. You can't make anything if you have nothing to put it in.  The solution can be simple and green.

Most containers for creams, balms and oils can be recycled cosmetics bottles and jars. Use old bottles and jars, wash them, disinfect them and they're ready for a second life. You can ask friends and family to collect bottles for you (and make them something in an old jar as a present in return!) this way you'll have enough material in no time. You can use both plastic and glass, although I prefer glass. It's easier to clean and disinfect. Plastic also tends to hold the smell of the previous product.

Thrift stores will often have a large collection of large glass jars, which can be used to make oils, and pans in case you don't want to prepare your food in the same pan (I can imagine you don't want to use your expensive pans for cosmetic purposes.)

Stores with household items will often sell new glass jars too, pyrex jugs and silicon molds with funs shapes for body butters and measuring equipment (scales, those cute little 1/4,1/2 tablespoon spoons.) You can also find tons of stuff on line, where you'll find stores specialized in supplies for making your own cosmetics.
I'll still advise you to look at thrift stores and collect your own stuff first, simply because it will save you money, it's greener and you don't have to spend a lot of money to get started. If you want to make more things you can always get on line and order stuff there.

Tropical Lip balm

With winter coming up, lip balms are very welcome. This tropical lip balm will soothe your lips and make will take you on a trip to a tropical island.

What do we need?
*1 teaspoon of wax (beeswax,soy,hemp, anything will do)
*1 teaspoon of cocoa butter
*2 teaspoons of coconut oil
*1 teaspoon of avocado oil
*2 clean containers, this can either be old containers or maybe a cute little tin like I've used here

 It's fairly easy. Just put the ingredients into a heat resistant bowl or Pyrex jug. Heat it  bain marie (or in a microwave, but beware of getting burned since the bowl or jug will get very hot!) wait for all the ingredients to be molten into a nice consistent mixture.

Now here's the tricky part, getting it into the container itself. If you have a tin to put it into it will be a lot easier than when you're using a tube shaped container. It helps if your bowl or jug is still a little warm or hot (again, be careful not the get burned! ) so the balm doesn't solidify too much before you poor it into the container. After you get it into the container let it cool until it becomes solid. If you spill some wax you can easily rub it off with some paper towels. I was really surprised at how good that worked!
Enjoy the soft  and soothing texture of this lipbalm. It's best not too put it in your pocket since there's not a lot wax in there it will get too soft.

Where to get what part 1: Asian food store

Like I told in my last post, I'm going to try to write a new blog post every week. I will try to post a lot of new recipes, both easy and maybe a little harder. But if you want to make something you need supplies first. I will write a couple of posts about where you can find different items. If something is available around the corner or at your local mall it won't be such a big step to start making your own things.