Update

With all the business of life I hadn't realized that I didn't ever do an update on a few items. So here's the update after months of trial and error.

OCM- I use 3 TBL of olive oil and 1TBL of castor oil. I really like it. My skin is the clearest it's been in a long time. I haven't had an acne outbreak (a bad one anyway) for several months. It gets my make up off and it's relaxing and inexpensive. My skin is feeling a bit dry this winter so I will need to investigate some natural moisturizers. I tried using just a small bit of oil rubbed into my skin and it caused a breakout so, I won't be doing that again! But the OCM and I are very good friends now!

Poo free- I am using 1/2 TBL of baking soda dissolved in 1/2 Cup of hot water. I rinse with 3 TBL of apple cider vinegar mixed into 1 Cup of hot water with a few drops of teatree essential oil mixed in. I love it. I feel like my head has finally detoxed all the chemicals and is starting to make it's own oils again. My hair is clean and it doesn't smell like vinegar or teatree oil after I rinse will. I only wash my hair every other day due to the dry weather here in Colorado and my hair's natural dryness. I admit, I do still use over the counter mousse for styling so an assignment for the new year will be to find a way to make or buy a more natural version without breaking the bank!

Household cleaner- I threw that out! It just didn't work up to my standards however, a friend recently told me about a new recipe to try so that is on the list for the coming year as well.

Laundry Soap- Love it! I use Fels Naptha, Borax and water (see recipe in the links section). Truthfully, it may not work as well as good ol' "Tide" but it works well. I have not added essential oils since our family has sensitive skin. This has become a regular household item in our house.

Lip Balm- Love it! I think it's time to make another batch. I think I will invest in purchasing a bulk amount of lip balm containers since I gave all mine away last time I made the lip balm. :) This time I think I will also experiment with some essential oils. I put this lip balm on right before bed and it really does keep my lips from chapping in this very dry climate!

Bread- Still going strong on the bread making front! We'll never go back to store bought. It's too easy and too inexpensive to make our own and the taste is unsurpassed by anything we could buy off the shelf!

This year- My goals for this year are to try a new recipe for household cleaner, find a more natural hair styling product and also try making bathtime salt scrubs. I will also hopefully be trying a few more natural remedies for common sicknesses in our family. I will try to keep you updated on any experiments and how they turn out.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Homemade Lip Balm

I made homemade lip balm today! It was fun and easy and fairly inexpensive. I figured out that it will probably cost me a little over fifty cents per chap stick tube. That's not bad for all natural, safe lip balm. This is the recipe I used. The ingredients are as follows:

45 grams Sweet Almond Oil
15 grams of Regular Cocoa Butter
10 grams Coconut Oil
10 grams Lanolin (I used liquid lanolin)
20 grams of Beeswax (grated)
1.5 grams Honey, liquid
Vitamin E oil
Any Essential oil frangrance that you prefer

Weigh all ingredients. Melt in double boiler or microwave until all items are melted. (I used a bowl over a pan of boiling water) The beeswax will take longer to melt that the other ingredients. Add honey after all other ingredients are liquefied. I also added three dropper fulls of Vitamin E oil before melting ingredients. I added 10 drops of lemon essential oil (you can pick whatever oil you want, or none) after removing from heat. Pour into containers. This recipe will fill a lot of tubes- probably about 14. I only had 6 so I used various household containers to hold the rest.

I would say that it took me about an hour to do this batch, as I get more used to it I'm sure it wouldn't take quite as long. I have already put some on my lips and I like it. It is smooth and tasteless. It smells nice but not really strong. There are many recipes out there to experiment with and I may just do that someday. Note: These lip balms do NOT have sunscreen in them. However, they also don't have harsh chemicals, parabens, petro oils etc. All ingredients are safe for consumption! I do believe this is something I will be continuing to make and use for a long time!