Natural Conditioners

This is my favorite conditioner for my own hair. I use this twice a week and it works miracles.

1 cup mashed banana
2Tbsp Grape Seed Oil (find in a health food store or online)

Mix banana and oil till its a smooth paste and rub into hair. Make sure you get your scalp good and smooth out to the tips. Wrap your head in a towel and leave in for 30 to 40 minutes. Rinse and shampoo as normal.

Great Leave-In Conditioner

I use this everyday on my hair. I will never go back to store bought conditioners again. With this recipe I use either Redken or Paul Mitchell as my base if I don't already have my own conditioner made up. I will list a homemade conditioner tomorrow.

3Tbsp Conditioner
1/4 cup Distilled Water
1 Tbsp Coconut Oil
4Drops Lavender Essential Oil
4Drops Ylang Ylang Essential Oil

Mix together and pour into a container with a tight fitting lid. You don't need much of this on your hair, about 1/2tsp depending on your hair. Rub this through your hair after washing while its damp. Wait till you feel how soft this makes your hair feel!

How about some shampoo?

I have salon highlights, but I use this shampoo to keep my color fresh looking.

Shampoo for Highlights.....

1/4 cup liquid Castile Soap
2Tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice
1/4 cup Distilled Water
1tsp. Lemon Zest

Heat all ingredients in the microwave on high for 1 or 2 minutes, get hot but not boiling. Let cool, and strain into a bottle or container with a tight fitting lid. Make sure to strain out the zest. Shampoo as normal and rinse.

Don't have highlights? No problem, here is another shampoo recipe.

Chamomile Shampoo.....

7 Chamomile Tea Bags
5Tbsp Soap Flakes
2Tbsp Glycerin
1 1/2 cups Distilled Water

Boil water and steep tea bags for about 30 minutes. Take out tea bags and throw them away, add flakes and glycerin, stirring until flakes are melted and everything is blended together. Pour into a bottle with a tight fitting lid. Shampoo as normal. As a side note, you can add a couple drops of Fragrance oil to this if you want a more smelly shampoo, just add them while you are blending the melted flakes.

Coming tomorrow, a pooch bar. Soap that will make you love to cuddle your favorite pooches.

Supplies Websites

As promised, here are a few sites to get you started on soap making supplies. Do not go overboard buying here. Soap making is great, but not everyone likes it. I suggest making enough for one batch, pick one scent and see what you think.

http://www.newdirectionsaromatics.com/

http://soapersupplies.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=SS

http://shop.candlesandsupplies.com/candles/welcome.asp

These are the three sites I use for pretty much everything. The last one here, Brambleberry, is where I get all my scents from, simply because they smell so much better. I also get all my Goats Milk base from them. Superior to all others I've tried.

http://www.brambleberry.com/

More recipes coming soon.

Lemons

So, I've been asked lately by most of my friends, "What have you been using on your face??". I tell them, lemons, and they look at me kinda funny.

Seriously, I use fresh squeezed lemon juice every night before going to bed. I used to get break outs around my chin and occasionally on my forehead. Nothing serious, just more of those nagging zits that like to linger and look awful you know. With in three days of using lemons, my face was almost clear, in a week I had NO zits left. After about a month, I started to notice my dark spots left over from previous zits disappearing and so were my scars. I have been faithfully using this method for almost 7 months now, and not a zit since. I buy the larger lemons and cut in half. If you take the palm of your hand and press down hard while rolling on a flat surface, it will make it easier to juice. Keep juice in a container with a tight fitting lid for up to 10 days in the fridge. Now, this might burn a bit depending on your skin, mine wasn't that bad and after a couple days, I didn't notice it anymore. I have oily skin on my face, so I didn't dry out, but if you do, get some aloe lotion. Key to remember, do not wash it off.

Natural Feel Good Recipes...

Ok ladies (gents too, I'm not partial), looking for some natural, homemade recipes you can easily do at home? Ones that relax you, make you feel refreshed and smell good too? You are at the right spot. I have been making soaps and personal care items for a few years now. I started to get skin allergies to store bought brands and had to look for alternatives. If any of you have gone through this, you know how annoying it can be. Believe it or not, its easy! Soap making especially is very rewarding. I have tried numerous recipes along the way, some good, some not. This blog is to list some of my favorites. Be patient with me, this is my first attempt at a blog, so it may take me a bit to get used to. Lets start with some eye opening articles that may give you some shocking details about some of the everyday products we buy at the stores.

http://www.chooseorganics.com/organicarticles/bodycaredanger.htm

Nerve damage?? Did you ever think washing your hands could be so dangerous?
(By the way, I in no way endorse this company)

Heres another one, look for some of these ingredients in some of your products you have......

http://www.redgumsoaps.com.au/Toxic-Chemicals.20.0.html

Scary isn't it?

Do a search on the web, read and learn. Most companies don't really want you to know what these chemicals can do.

Did You Know? Your skin can absorb up to 60 percent of what you put on it! 60%!
Why bathe in chemicals? Why use synthetic fragrances that will be absorbed and stored by our body tissue, when they’re unnecessary?

I am a full time working mother and wife. I don't spend all day making soaps, this is my part time passion. I DO NOT use lye, nothing against it, I just prefer not to work with it. All my soaps are melt and pour. I even sell my soaps and make a pretty good supplement income with it. There are so many different ways to package and thousands of scents to experiment with! Please feel free to post your own recipes and feedback. Any questions you may have, email me, I'm available to answer them.

Any suggestions you may have are greatly appreciated, now lets get to the recipes!

Lavender/Chamomile Soap Recipe

A wonderful relaxing evening soap

Ingredients:

1 lb. Melt and Pour soap (I use goat's milk)
1/8 c. distilled water (Get this by the gallon in Walmart or grocery stores)
2 T. Fine Ground Chamomile (Available online or health food stores)

2 T. Ground Lavender buds (Online or health food stores)
1/8 c. Emu oil (optional, available online)
5 drops lavender essential oil
2 drops roman chamomile essential oil

Instructions:

In double boiler, slowly melt soap with water. When it reaches a jelly-like consistency gently stir in herbs, emu oil and essential oils. Carefully pour into prepared molds. Wait 24 hours and remove from molds. Let cure for about 4 weeks. This is so gentle and relaxing. Even my daughter likes this one.

Thats one for today, I will list another tomorrow with some links to the places I shop online for supplies.