Toiletry Recipes

One of my Gentle Readers, Patti, asked for my recipes for the toiletries I showed you in the last blog post.  Here they are. :)

Here is how I make the bath soap:

http://simplyhomemaking60.blogspot.com/2011/11/making-soap-is-much-easier-than-making.html

Here is how I make the healing salve:

http://simplyhomemaking60.blogspot.com/2012/06/healing-salve-revisited.html

Lotion recipe - It is very soft and creamy, but not runny.  I can only tell you how I make it.  I used my Kitchenaid stand mixer with the wire whisk attachment.  Into the bowl of the mixer, place 1/3 cup of virgin coconut oil.  Turn on the mixer and let it whip the oil until it is very smooth, creamy and fluffy.  That takes a while.  In the meantime, into a small microwave safe bowl, place 1 Tablespoon of Shea butter.  I bought mine here. Add to that 1.5 teaspoons of avocado oil and 1.5 teaspoons of extra-virgin olive oil.  Carefully melt it together in the  microwave.  Then, pour it into the whipped coconut oil.  Next, add a few drops of lavender essential oil.  Whip it all together very thoroughly, then put it into a small jar and add a lid.

Homemade toothpaste recipe - I used to make tooth soap and have a post about that.  I prefer not to have fluoride in my toothpaste, and so started making my own.  However, this newer recipe is much easier to deal with and make.  So... place 3 Tablespoons of virgin coconut oil into a microwave safe bowl. Melt it carefully in the microwave oven.  Then, stir in 1 Tablespoon of salt, 1 Tablespoon of baking soda, 3 drops of peppermint essential oil (optional) and 3 drops of liquid stevia (optional) Stir it all together thoroughly and put it in a small container.  I just get my toothbrush wet and scoop up a little of the mixture.  It took a few days to get used to it, but I love it now and it saves lots of money.

Homemade underarm deodorant - Many people are sensitive to baking soda in underarm deodorant.  I have no trouble with this formula, but if your skin starts to become irritated from this, please stop using it.  I had gotten to where no matter what kind of commercial deodorant I tried, if it worked it gave me a rash.  If it didn't give me a rash it didn't work, so when my daughter came up with this recipe, I tried it and it works and does not give me a rash. 

2 heaping Tablespoon beeswax pellets or grated beeswax
1 Tablespoon Shea butter
5 Tablespoons coconut oil
1/4 cup corn starch or arrowroot powder for very sensitive skin
1/4 cup baking soda - rub it through a sieve to remove any lumps
10 - 15 drops tea tree essential oil
10 - 15 drops lavender essential oil

1. Melt the beeswax in a double boiler. (I just put a glass bowl over a pot of simmering water for this.)
2. Add Shea butter and coconut oil and heat until just melted.  Stir occasionally.  I like to use a wooden stick to stir because the beeswax will stick to a spoon and make it hard to clean.
3. Remove from heat and add cornstarch and baking soda or arrowroot powder.  Stir until lumps are gone and the texture is smooth.
4. Add essential oils and stir until well mixed.
5. Pour into small jars, cool and put on a lid.

This batch will last a long time.  You only need a little bit.  I just get a very small amount on my finger and apply it.

My Facial Soap - Please refer to the method linked above with the bath soap, but here are the ingredients for the facial soap:

Avocado Oil - 8 ounces
Coconut Oil - 10 ounces
Olive oil - 11 ounces
Safflower oil - 5 ounces
Shea Butter - 2 ounces
Lye (NaOH) - 4.96 ounces which gives you 7% excess fat
Distilled water - 11 ounces

So, there you go, Patti!

Homemade Toiletries...

I have come to the point where I think I am making all of my own toiletries.  Of course, I still have to buy most of the ingredients, but I think all of this is very safe.  They certainly are nice things and work extremely well.

In the back, left to right, there is skin lotion, toothpaste, deodorant and healing salve.  In the front are bath soap and facial soap.

If anyone is interested in my recipes, please ask. 

Cut flowers... - another Tiny Tip

A dear friend gave me a dozen yellow roses a week ago.  Every other day, I have diligently trimmed the stems and changed the water.  Today they were looking rather "gone by", but I was able to get a little more life out of them.  I took off all the leaves and some of the outer petals, trimmed the stems short and put them in a small vase.  I think it looks very pretty, and I didn't have to throw them away, yet.  :)

Early spring garden 2019

A couple of years ago, my daughter came and helped me establish a "Hugelkultur" bed.  It got up to 70 degrees here today, and I just had to go out into the garden! I worked up the soil there, just a little, and added 12-12-12 fertilizer, pelleted lime and some compost from my compost bin where I throw all the food scraps. Then, I planted garlic seeds, beets, rutabagas, Sugar Ann peas, radishes, Michili cabbage, kale, spinach and lettuce.  I have no idea if any of this will amount to much, but it surely was fun. I had some floating row cover and used all of that to cover most of the bed, because we will be getting rain and I hope that will protect things from just being washed away. In the upper part of the picture, you can see some geodes.  They are surrounding what I hope will be my one surviving rhubarb plant. 

See that?  It's a clear glass bowl that I have used as a cloche over some parsley.  In spite of a very bitterly cold winter, the parsley survived!  I've picked it a few times through the winter season.

Here it is.  Not much, but it makes my gardener's heart happy. :)

And here is the garlic that I planted from cloves last October.  I think every one of them came up!

It is not officially spring, yet, but things are coming up and I'm ready... more than ready!

Isn't this beautiful? I found it online and want to make something similar.