DIY : Natural "Vicks VapoRub"

As a kid, using Vicks before bed was always my favorite part of having a cold.
Well, Vicks and orange flavored cough medicine.
For whatever reason, as a child, these felt like serious perks to me.

A couple months ago, I caught a cold. And while these days, I still love the benefits of Vicks, I wanted to achieve those same results without having to put some of those more questionable ingredients on my body. In an effort to find a chemical-free alternative to my beloved childhood vapor rub, I did some blog-browsing and wound up making my own version of the famous congestion remedy, with all natural ingredients. It was super easy and it worked amazingly well!

It only took about 10 minutes to whip up enough of this stuff to fill 4 tins.
If you want to give it a try...

adapted from Wellness Mama and Garden Therapy

You Will Need : 

1 and 1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup olive oil
3/4 cup beeswax pellets
essential oils : eucalyptus, peppermint, lavender
tins or jars to store the finished product
(I recycled a tin that previously housed Burt's Bees Hand Salve and also used some jelly jars. You can buy new tins here.)

- Melt 3/4 cup of beeswax pellets with 1 and 1/4 cup coconut oil and 1/4 cup olive oil over a double boiler. 
Or if you're like me and don't own a double boiler, I used a metal bowl that rested on top of a pot of boiling water, which worked out just as well.

- Stir in 50 drops of eucalyptus oil, 45 drops of peppermint, and 35 drops of lavender oil. 
You can add more or less depending on how strong you want the scent to be. I actually ended up adding even more drops of eucalyptus to the mixture while it was starting to cool, after pouring it in the tins. I like it to be really strong!

- Pour it into your container of choice and let it cool. 

- Rub on chest and/or neck and feel better soon!

Pretty easy, right? Since this recipe makes several tins, you can either save them up to use over time, or give them to friends in little care packages when they're feeling under the weather. Also, if you're in a bind or don't want to include the beeswax, adding the essential oils to plain coconut oil works well too! I did that for the first couple days while waiting for the beeswax to arrive and it was a decent substitute to hold me over. You only need to use about 3-5 drops of each oil and a tiny bit of coconut oil (about 1/2 of a teaspoon!) if you're planning on doing it this way. I combined mine in a little cup each night before applying it.

If you'd like to use the labels I made for my vapor rub, they are available for free download here!

Enjoy and stay healthy, friends!

Natural Cosmetics Update.

A little over a year ago, I shared the start of my journey towards natural beauty products and being more mindful of the substances I'm applying to my body every day. It's taken a year, but my beauty routine is almost entirely natural these days! So I thought it may be worth an update. In an effort to keep things as affordable as possible, I switch out my cosmetics one at a time. I continue to use the old product until I run out - then instead of buying the same thing, I replace the item with a natural alternative.

There are so many brands to choose from and natural beauty products can be extremely hit or miss, so I pore over numerous blogs and reviews before buying anything. There is a ton of information out there that can help you decide on the best products for your preferences.

Here is what I've been using lately..

DIY : Face/Body Sugar Scrub

I know here in California, we tend to over exaggerate about our "winter" and how difficult it can be to get through the day when it's 50 something degrees and you have to put on a jacket. But honestly, regardless of how tame our winter is compared to the rest of the nation, my skin always starts drying out a bit during these colder months. This year, however, I've got a handy little face and body scrub that I've been using since the summertime and it's done a marvelous job of keeping my skin soft, hydrated, and glowing in these "if it were a little colder, it might have snowed" temperatures.

As you know, I stick to as many natural, chemical-free, organic beauty products as possible. This homemade scrub is cheaper, healthier, and I think it works just as well (if not better) than any store-bought scrub I've tried.

So in case your skin could use a little pick me up, here's how to make your own, all-natural, lavender sugar scrub.

As far as ingredients, you'll need:

extra virgin olive oil - moisturizes skin. anti-inflammatory.

honey - aids the skin in retaining moisture, staying soft and hydrated. soothes acne.

sugar - exfoliates. natural source of glycolic acid - breaks away dead skin cells.

lavender essential oil - prevents acne breakouts. reduces redness. makes your face smell pretty.

You can store your scrub in any container that suits you - I use these little glass jelly jars. You can get them online, or they also sell them in packs at my local Food 4 Less! I usually stick to glass over plastic when I can, but a small, plastic, tupperware container would totally work for this too.

Add 3 Tbsp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil to your container.

Next, add 1 Tbsp of honey. Adding the olive oil first will help the honey come off the spoon easier! 

Mix the honey and the olive oil together. 

As far as sugar, I usually add somewhere between 1/2 cup and 3/4 cup to my mixture. But you could use more or less, depending on how thick you'd like your scrub to be! The less sugar, the easier it stays together and sticks on your face. The more sugar you add, the more crumbly it will be.

Add 5-10 drops of lavender essential oil, mix it all together well and you've got your scrub!

If you don't have lavender essential oil, you can make the scrub without it! I did for several months - just be ready to smell a little bit like olive oil for a couple hours after using it. ;)

You can use this treatment on your lips, feet, arms, elbows, face - wherever you feel your skin needs a little extra TLC. Just rub a small amount in a circular motion on your skin and then let it sit for 1-3 minutes before rinsing it off with warm water. I use mine on my face every other night. Since it does leave your skin feeling a little oily for about an hour, it's best to use it before bedtime. :)

I gave this scrub out to a lot of the women I love as a Christmas gift this past year and may make a few more to give out for Valentines Day! It's a really simple, useful, homemade gift, and I think those are the best kind!

Let me know if you give it a try!

Alima Pure Makeup.

A few months ago, I saw something on instagram about the junk that is in many of our beauty products and it kind of startled me. I spent the following weeks researching more about makeup, learning how not-so-wonderful some of the ingredients are, and I decided to be a little more careful about the products that I'm putting on my face every morning.

I only really wear foundation, bronzer, and mascara on a regular basis, so I knew an overhaul on my tiny makeup drawer wasn't going to be much work. But after lots of reading, I decided to make the switch from (apparently, not-so-bare) Bare Minerals to Alima Pure.

Since I love lists, here are the reasons why I decided to switch...