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.

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.