Has anyone tired of reading recipes for homemade, natural products yet? I hope not, because I have a few more to share! You’ve probably realized by now that most of my favorite recipes use similar ingredients, so if you decide to begin making one item, it’s not too taxing to make some others as well. If you have coconut oil, you can make almost any of the personal care recipes! Next week, I plan to delve into some safe and green homemade household cleaners, and today, to top off the week of personal care recipes, I’d like to share some ideas for facial and body moisturizers.
There are so many all-natural alternatives to commercial moisturizers that work wonderfully and are healthy for your skin. As an added bonus, they are quite simple to make and use, and are much less expensive than those sold in stores. Here are three that I’ve used and loved:
- Olive Oil: This was my first experience with a natural moisturizer. I started using it back when Writer was a baby, and I was faithful to this solution for about ten years, until I started branching out into other ideas (listed below) out of pure curiosity. I keep about an ounce of olive oil in a thoroughly-cleaned glass jar that once contained my Neutrogena makeup. To apply, I pour a tiny amount of oil into my hand, dab my fingertips into it, and gently massage the oil into my face. Try it, and see how you like it. If it feels a little greasy, try wetting your fingertips with water first, as this will help you to use less, then dab a tissue over any excess. This works wonderfully under makeup.
- Coconut Oil: After learning of the many benefits and uses of coconut oil, I decided to keep a jar on my bathroom sink. To apply, I just dab a tiny amount on my fingertips and smooth it over my face. As with olive oil, any excess can be gently dabbed off with a tissue. This gradually took the place of olive oil as my default moisturizer.
- The Latest Recipe: I’ve used this one for less than two weeks, but it’s quickly becoming my new favorite. It smells yummy, feels creamy, and absorbs smoothly. I keep a second jar on my dresser to use as a hand and body cream.
So what is this latest recipe, you ask? Well, here you go!
Ingredients:
- 1/8 cup coconut oil
- 1/4 cup raw shea butter
- (Optional – to thicken) 3-4 Tablespoons cornstarch or arrowroot power
Blend coconut oil and shea butter with a hand mixer until smooth. If you would like it thicker, add cornstarch/arrowroot powder a little at a time until it is your desired consistency. Arrowroot powder is recommended because it does not contain talc, which can irritate, but corn starch works fine too.
Can’t get much better than that! Each of these solutions are easy, inexpensive, natural, and give wonderful results!
For more Natural Living ideas, click here!
Michelle, I love all these natural recipes! I have almost the exact same story as you with the olive and coconut oils. I have been using olive oil for years and love it. Almond oil too. But have recently fallen in love with the coconut oil! I have kept some of the coconut oil in a little pot in my purse and have used on my lips all this winter. But yesterday I got it out while sitting in the car, and forgot that when it warms up it turns to liquid… yea… spilled it all over myself! But at least I smelled good!
Have you read the book Beauty Secrets From the Bible by Ginger Garrett? It sounds like you have already, but if not, you might like it.
Again, thanks for sharing!
Oh Hi-d, did you get the coconut oil on your clothes or your purse? I hope it all came out okay!
I have never heard of that book, but will look for it! It sounds great!
Michelle, I love all your natural recipes. I am looking foward to seeing a recipe for a mild, natural facial cleanser. I am a great fan of your blog.
Bridget, thank you for the info on olive oil! I will check out your link.
I don’t have a recipe for facial cleanser, but I’ve been using a bar soap made by Kiss My Face for about five years. It’s very mild and gentle, organic, and has a nice mild scent. I buy them in the largest size bars, and they last a long time! :-)
An amazing natural cleanser is honey. It refines your skin, reduces redness. I think it’s amazing.
–Tie back hair
–Clean face with washcloth & warm water
–Apply honey – a little massage is nice
–Leave on for a few minutes (once a week use as facemask leaving it on between 20 and 60 min)
–Wash of with facecloth and warm water
I think it’s nice to use organic honey.
Great idea! Thanks!
Indulge in Olive Oil
“A lot of young women have dry, flaky skin because they don’t eat enough fat,” says Joy Bauer, a nutritionist in New York City and author of The 90/10 Weight-Loss Plan. If you’re getting fewer than 20 grams of fat a day (roughly 2 tablespoons of oil), your skin may not be able to lubricate itself and your body may not absorb enough vitamin A, which your skin needs to prevent premature aging. Simple food switch: Sprinkle your salad with olive oil and toss in some avocados and nuts. We swear, this won’t have an adverse effect on your jeans size.
Sorry, source of previous comment:
http://shine.yahoo.com/event/vitality/eat-this-for-gorgeous-skin-2454120/
I use coconut oil on my baby boy. (Although he’s 2 so I should stop calling him a baby) I may try this new recipe, as cocnut oil gets completely firm in my house and can be hard to get out of it’s original container. I look forward to the natural cleaners. I use baking soda and vinegar for everything except for the toilet. We are a pretty healthy bunch, so it must be effective.
Alea, I still forget sometimes and call my three year old my “little boy” and he doesn’t like that one bit! ;-) He’ll get a very serious face and firmly tell me, “I’m not wittle! I’m bigger now!”
Baking soda and vinegar are great!
I’ve been reading your blog for over a year now but have never commented. I absolutely love the idea of these homemade products, but it will probably be a long time before I have a chance to make any. :( I moved to Australia a few months ago, and after having sourced out the costs of coconut oil, shea butter, etc available down here, it’s actually cheaper to buy from the site you use and ship it here! ($71.50 is the shipping rate quoted for 8lbs). Yikes! Maybe I’ll stumble upon a cheaper place to buy down here.
I take back my last comment – I just found a local site that has very comparable prices. So I’ll be trying some of these recipes soon.
I just tried to make this lotion and I found mine to be very oily. I am looking for a good solution for my legs as I have very dry, itchy, red, bumpy skin that is worse during my pregnancies : ( I thought this might be a good solution but it is too oily that everything I rub against gets oily. Am I using the wrong type of coconut oil and shea butter? I used from amazon “African Shea Butter” 100% Natural and “Spectrum Organic Coconut Oil” Unrefined. It seems like there were tons of different brands and types of shea butter and coconut oil, what kind did you use to have such success with your moisturizer? Myself and my legs would appreciate any feedback… thanks!
Hi Andrea, I’ve used both refined and unrefined coconut oil, and raw shea butter from Mountain Rose Herbs, but honestly, mine is oily too. The oiliness doesn’t bother me because my legs tend to be dry and soak it up. One suggestion would be to wet your hands with water before applying as it would help you to put spread less of the moisturizer on, and thus less oil. I do this on my face in the summer, and then dab gently with a tissue. You could also try coconut oil alone, again wetting your hands first.
Michelle,
I found this blog about cleansing your face with olive oil, thought you would be interested:
http://simplemom.net/oil-cleansing-method/
I’m very interested in making this recipe for my daughter! The only question I had was whether this needs to be refrigerated or not. Also what is the shelf life? Thanks! Love your blog! :)
Hi! I do not refrigerate my moisturizer. I don’t really know what the shelf life would be, but it would have to be pretty long. Shea butter and coconut oil both seem to last forever. :-)