Monday, October 23, 2017

Foaming Face Wash

I put this in a "foaming handsoap" refillable dispenser, and it's GREAT! An easy way to wash your face and get all that makeup off at the end of the day. Because I have all these ingredients on hand for "normal life" this costs me basically nothing to make. I do tend to use cotton make "rounds" for wiping it away and rubbing it around my eye area etc. Use this in the shower, or each morning or evening. Sometimes I use a wet-with-water cotton round to "rinse" it, sometimes, I don't. It's great for your skin, so it doesn't need to be cleaned off per se.

3/4 C cooled brewed chamomile tea OR filtered water (I prefer the tea)
1/4 C liquid castile soap (I like Dr Bronner's Peppermint)
1/2 t sweet almond oil OR jojoba oil OR grapeseed oil (I prefer jojoba - each one is good for a different skin type, so google the best choice for you)
3-4 drops Vitamin E oil
8 drops Frankincense essential oil
8 drops Geranium essential oil
(you can add other oils to this, or replace these with other ones that are great for the skin. A few ideas are Lavender, Tea Tree {aka Melaleuca Alternafolia - good for acne prone skin}, and Elemi)

Saturday, October 21, 2017

Fall, Waiting

It still feels like summer, but I'm ok with that.

We don't get beautiful autumn-orange and brilliant-yellow, and a red that seems to set a spark in your soul. But that's ok too. 

Everybody else has pictures to share of the places they live. Where winter comes long and hard, but is somehow made bearable by the amazing turning of the seasons, and it often makes me wish I could see what they see. 
But then I have to remember - this place is not a mistake. It's not less beautiful. It's not "supposed to be" better, and is somehow merely acceptable and looked-over for something that shines brighter. 

This place was created just as perfectly as a personality by a creative God who has good uses for all of His creations. It is no mistake we are each made with our own "dull spots" that seem to shine with less brilliance than our neighbours. 
Because for every negative that we compare, there's a positive that we don't see rightly. 

And it still feels like summer here. #achievablebeauty


Homemade Shampoo

I've been consistently trying to eliminate toxic chemicals from our home, but hair products can be tricky!! I've tried a few recipes, but none were just right. I really like this recipe, it works very well for me, and leaves me feeling clean without a waxy buildup or whatever. I use Trader Joes Tea Tree Tingle Shampoo and Conditioner too - I rotate through (homemade one time, baking soda & ACV the next time, Trader Joes the next time etc. I shower/wash my hair every other day, so use these recipes rotationally only about once per week.

SHAMPOO
1 cup of green tea steeped for 30 minutes (I used a Tazo regular green tea)
1 teaspoon honey mixed into tea while it is hot
1 teaspoon olive oil mixed in tea after it has cooled
1/2 cup liquid castille soap (we love Dr Bronner's peppermint) added to cooled mixture
Stir well and pour into container. Shake shampoo before each use.

BAKING SODA WASH
3 tablespoons baking soda to 2 cups of water and then shake. I put in old shampoo bottle and shake before each use. Focus the baking soda mixture on the scalp, leave on for a minute, and rinse well.
Then apply Apple Cider Vinegar mixture (I put in plastic spray bottle), spray on hair, and concentrate it on the ends, not the scalp. Let sit for 5ish mins and then rinse with cool water right at the end of your shower. Easy and done!
APPLE CIDER VINEGAR WASH
Boil 1 1/2 cup water, and remove from heat. Add 1 or 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary and let that cool. Remove the rosemary and add 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar (strain to avoid getting the "mother" in your mixture)
You can use dried rosemary, in a thing for loose tea, or just strain afterwards, or use rosemary essential oil - Which is what I did, once the water was cooled. About 10 drops.
Shake before each use on all three of these.

Friday, October 20, 2017

Sea Salt Hair Spray

Sometimes I spend tons of time looking through all kinds of recipes on the internet, for beauty replacement stuff, and cobble together the few ingredients from this one or that that I want to try. Then I make the recipe - and when/if it turns out - I can't ever remember how I made it to do it again because I can never to replicate the exact google search or whatever! So in an effort to remember the things I want to do again, I'm posting them here! ;-) (Publishing recipes I consider "successful" only)

Recently, I've been wearing my hair curly. Mostly because my hair actually is curly, now (thank you pregnancies and hormone changes), and also because Brian has decided he likes is curly, maybe even better than straight. I also decided to try and grow my hair long. On purpose. Not like in the past when I forgot to cut it for 4.5 years and it felt like straw. I want to grow it longer, for real this time. So I'm taking care of it (natural and homemade shampoos, for another post perhaps!), and getting regular trims to keep it feeling great!

So, in an effort to not use as many heat tools on my hair (previously blow dry, then flat iron), I let it air dry, which produces curly hair, but kind of flat. If I scrunch with mouse, it's perfect. But I didn't want all the product in my hair, so enter the beach wave with sea salt spray.

Sea salt can dry your hair out, but there are enough natural conditioners in this recipe that I think it's doing ok for my hair. No noticeable "problem" yet anyway, and I also still use my argan oil and stuff for in my hair too when it's wet.

When it's drying/damp, I spray some of this in my hair all around, and scrunch, and then just let it go. Every once and awhile I'll scrunch/push up my hair as is dries, and that seems to give the volume I want with the beachy wave look I want.

1 C warm water
1 T sea salt
1 t epsom salt
1 T fractionated coconut oil (stays liquid)
1 T aloe vera gel (is a liquid)
essential oils - I do Cedarwood, Rosemary & Lavender - they are good for hair and smell nice.

Mix all together in a spray bottle (I'm using a glass one because I had on hand, but plastic is fine), and shake before using. Enjoy the messy curly beachy look it gives your hair. And if you ever chew on your hair (ew, don't), but if you do - um, just believe me - it tastes pretty great...so my friends tell me anyway;-)

*I found the coconut oil and aloe vera gel on amazon, and I use them for in our After Sun Skin Relief spray (way better feeling than that goopy green aloe gel you can buy, and way better for your body!).