DIY Coconut aloe lotion (And how to harvest aloe)

I have this aloe plant that was given to me as a housewarming gift from my sister in law 5 years ago. I struggle with using it enough, so I decided to look into making a really hydrating lotion.

Aloe is known for it's healing properties when it comes to skin it does good against sun burns and small wounds. Aloe is also a anti-inflammatory and moisture rich without being oily. I knew I wanted to use coconut oil for it's antibacterial and an smooth consistency so finding other ingredients that weren't  overly oily were a must.

This is my aloe plant, I should probably move the poor thing to a bigger pot, but I like having it on my window sill. If you don't have an aloe plant you can get one here or you may be able to get away using aloe vera gel from the store.

To harvest the aloe I cut off 3 of the leaves that were about 5 inches long. I cut the thorny sides off each leaf first. Then using a knife I peeled the top and bottom off of the leave leaving as much meat as possible. It's a bit of a messy process but I ended up with with these clear gels strips that I blended down into a gel. you should get about 1/4 cup of aloe gel.

Now onto the lotion.

Ingredients

1/4 oz (2.5 teaspoons) beeswax

1/4 cup coconut oil

1 teaspoon of grapeseed oil

1/8 teaspoon vitamin E oil

1/4 cup aloe gel

10 drops of essential oils ( I used 2 drops tea tree, 3 drops jasmine, 5 drops lavender

Melt down the beeswax on the stove top. When it is melted add it to coconut and grapeseed oil and mix using a blender. Once it's blended smoothly add vitamin E and aloe gel, again blend till smooth. Wait till everything has cooled a bit before mixing in the essential oils. 

Essential oil roller bottle for menstrual cramps

I always have awful cramps during the first 24 hours of menstrual bleeding every month. This month I gave this a try and what a difference it made.

Apply this to your lower abdomen where the cramps hurt the most. Then apply to the inside and outside of your right ankle, these are vita flex points for your reproductive organs. Using a heating pad can help release these oils into your body, especially the peppermint.

In a 10ml roller bottle added the following

• 15 drops of lavender essential oil

     Lavender is known for having calming and sedative qualities Source for lavender

• 10 drops of peppermint essential oil

     Peppermint is known for its cooling properties than helps with soothing aches as well as works similarly to acetaminophen (Tylenol) for headaches  Source for peppermint

• 5 drops of rosemary essential oils

Rosemary is great at reliving muscle pain and encouraging circulation 

Source for rosemary

• 5 drops of thyme essential oil

Thyme is better at dealing with with menstruation cramps then ibuprofen  Source for thyme

Fill the rest of the bottle with carrier oil ( I used grapeseed oil)

Homemade deodorant (Updated 8-21-17)

Okay, I told you I would post this here, so here it is!! My homemade deodorant. First off I would like to point out that there is a big difference between deodorant and antiperspirants. Deodorant kills bacteria when you sweat, so you don't smell. Antiperspirants stop you from sweating with aluminum. Aluminum is only one of the many hazardous ingredients inside of store bought antiperspirants and deodorants, most of which can heavily impact or hormones.
Secondly a lot of homemade deodorants use significantly more baking soda then you need to keep dry, in return you may end up with chemical burns this is what many people will tell you is the "transitional period". There is no reason that you body needs to endure pain to go healthy. Please if you have a painful reaction to something please find the source ingredient and limit use are stop altogether. Baking soda may cause chemical burns in higher concentrations, but  in smaller amounts should be perfectly safe to use. 

Recipe:

• 2/3 cups coconut oil
• 1/2 1/4 an ounce of beeswax (I prefer a softer deodorant so I decreased the amount of beeswax)
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch 
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda(With the addition of shea butter I found I could increase the baking soda to teaspoon without irritation)
• 1 capsule of vitamin E oil (this time I used a bottle so I tried my best to eyeball it)
• 2 deodorant empty deodorant containers
• 20- 40 drops of essential oils I prefer at least 10 drops to be tee tree 

Some of the oil blends I like are

• 5 drops of thieves EOs, and 15 drops of lavender EOs
• 5 drops of sweet orange EOs, 5 drops of bergamot EOs, 5 drops lavender EOs, and 5 drops of Jasmine EOs

Mix all the ingredients except the essential oils in a small pot over low heat, until coconut oil and beeswax are melted. Take off heat and add essential oils. pour into your containers and set aside in the fridge for 2 hours or until solid.

This deodorant doesn't need to be left in the fridge. So feel free to put in your bathroom cabinet without fear of it melting. it goes on really smooth and my highly sensitive skin hasn't had a breakout since I made the switch. If you think you would prefer a more dense deodorant add more beeswax.

Crayon Lip Gloss

I made myself some crayon lip gloss.

Just a few broken crayons of your color choice, some beeswax, and coconut oil. Melt and mix and your done.

On stovetop slowly melt together in a small pot

1 Tablespoon of coconut oil

1/2 inch slice off of a 1oz bar of beeswax

add broken crayons till you receive  desired colored

I added 1 drop of Theives essentail oil and 1 drop of sweet orange essential oil after pouring into container. 

DIY Body wash

Ingredients

1 cup Castile soap ( I used Dr. Woods)
1 cup water
3 Tbsp coconut oil ( I used Better Body)
1/2 cup olive oil (I used Organic ’ s extra virgin)
5-7 Drops of essential oils ( I used peppermint and lavender from Fabulous Frannie)

Add all the ingredients into your container using a funnel, give it a good shake and your ready to go.

This body wash is thin but lathers really well so you only need a little bit. It rinses clean and leaves skin soft.

DIY face toner

Ingredients
Green tea
Lavender essential oil
Tea Tree essential oil

Brew some green tea and let it steep till cool. Add 10 drops of tea tree oil, and 10 drops of lavender oil.

To use you can either put some on a cotton pad or in the palm of your hands and pat on face. Follow up with using a moisturizer.

If you have oily skin you can add some apple cider vinegar and/or use lemon juice/essential oil. If you use lemon it is suggested you don’t use it every day. Lemon can mess with your natural ph balance and lighten your skin.

Green tea contains a number of healthy benefits for skin such as it can increase the skin’s elasticity, cleanse the skin and reduce the size of pores and give your skin a youthful glow. Lavender evens out your skin tone and has a revitalizing effect on your skin. Tea Tree oil has natural antiseptic qualities, and anti-inflammatory properties that can be beneficial for acne prone skin.

Coconut oil body scrub.

Ingredients

2 cups of coconut
2 TBS of olive oil (You can use other oils too. This is to keep the coconut oil soft)
2 TBS of Epsom salt
5-10 drops of essential oils

Whip together the coconut and olive oil. ( it was suggested to me to use a stand mixer, seeing how I don’t have one I ended up using a whisk extension on my hand mixer. ) Add epsom salt and essential oil.

Use: rub on your body and let sit for a couple minutes. Rinse off in either a shower or bath.

Essential oil ideas.
Sweet orange for a pick me up
Peppermint for muscle pain (kinda feels like icy hot)
Lavender for those nice relaxing baths

    

DIY carpet powder

DIY carpet powder

What you will need.
-Mason jar
-Essential oil
-Baking soda
-Paper

Start off by tracing and cutting out the shape of the mason jar lid. 

Make small little holes in the lid(I used a thumb tact), you will probably want larger hole then I made mine.

 Fill jar with baking soda, add 10 drops of essential oils and shake it up with the original lid. I used Lavender in mine, but you can use whatever you like in yours. Replace original lid with your paper lid. 

Headache Balm

My grandmother has chronic headaches that have gotten really bad in the last year. She has had her doctor run scans to try and diagnose, but they have no idea what is causing it. The headaches are so severe that she is unable to speak during them. Her doctor has given her a strong pain killer she is only allowed to take once a day, which only gives her small relief. So I decided to make her an essential oil headache balm, after having good personal experience with peppermint essential oils for my headaches. Today she called me to say she didn’t need take her pain killer yesterday because the balm was doing the trick!

In a small container mix:

5 tbls coconut oil (might want to work in some bee wax to help keep it solid)
4 drops lavender essential oils
4 drops rosemary essential oils
8 drops peppermint essential oils

Use: inhale for aromatherapy, or rub on forehead, temples, and/or back of the neck.