A Quick Buff and Polish: Renewed!

(Photo credit: makelifelovely.com)

Okay, ladies and gentlemen: winter is officially OVER!!!

After you give your biggest "YAY" ever this year, you still have some work to do!  Who went through this winter with their skin unaffected?  I sure know that I didn't!!

I don't know about you, but this winter my skin felt like it was itching and burning.  ALL winter.  I looked like a sweet, itchy mess all season.  I can only imagine what other people thought while I was hiking up my shirt sleeves in the midst of conversation to scratch.  Or maybe I don't want to imagine.

One thing that I found made the itching stop was to use homemade soaps daily.  The natural oils in homemade soaps actually provide a layer of protection for your skin, as opposed to mass manufactured soaps, which strip your skin of its natural oils, thus in turn causing it to create more sebum.  It's a vicious cycle of itchy and oily skin.

So to start the season off right, let's get rid of that dead winter skin by starting off with a body scrub!!

A body scrub is beneficial to your skin.  It not only provides moisture and other essential nutrients to your skin (depending on what you use), but it also exfoliates the dead skin on your body, leaving you nice and soft.  You can go several different routes in order to achieve this.  There are day spas that will do this for you, or you can buy a good quality scrub.  But my favorite way?  Making it at home!

Now, there are tons and tons of recipes out there to use, many of them with normal everyday ingredients that you have right in your kitchen.  I enjoy making my own for the simple fact that I know what goes into it, and it's nice to know that you have made something that is making you look and feel good.  And my main reason for making my own?  No undecipherable ingredients to mull over and wonder about.

Making your own exfoliating scrub is simple.  You can use sea salt, epsom salts, white sugar or brown sugar.  It all depends on your personal preference: fine grain or large grain.  Choose an oil or oils that will best suit your needs.  Add an essential oil for scent (optional) and there you have it!  Your own personal homemade body scrub!

This is actually one of my favorite recipes, which I personally use:

1 cup Olive Oil
2 cups sea salt
8 drops of lemon essential oil (ensure that it is for use on the body, and NOT the kind you use for candles!)

Mix the olive oil and sea salt well in a bowl.  Add the 8 drops of essential oil, and mix well.  At this point some prefer to add a colorant.  I don't, but if you prefer to do so, ensure that you are using a colorant designated for use on the body.  I don't recommend using food coloring due to the potential of staining the skin.

Once everything is mixed well, place in jar of your choice (a mason jar will do just fine) and go to town with it.  This will keep for about 14 days.

One thing I do like to do after exfoliating is use a homemade soap on my skin.  It keeps the skin soft and quite lovely to the touch.

Now that you are inspired, go whip up a batch and pamper yourself!!  Relax and enjoy!!

Homemade Laundry Soap: Making It In Your Kitchen

There is nothing better than putting on a clean shirt and inhaling the freshness of your favorite scent, or tucking your little one in at night in set of clean, fresh sheets.  Those are memories made that are brought up when you smell that same scent again, at a later time. But the feelings that are brought up...  priceless.

Obviously, in order to get that clean, fresh scent, it is necessary to launder your clothes.  And, that, my friend, is where this blog comes in!!

Homemade laundry soap! Not only great for those tough stains that the little ones (and BIG ones) tend to mysteriously acquire, but it is also good for your septic system and the environment. It is also an actual soap, not a detergent... BONUS!! Clean, fresh smelling clothes!

When you make your own laundry soap, you know exactly what goes into it.  No mysterious sounding ingredients, no surfectants, and you can make it specific to your needs.  Have sensitive skin?  Allergic to certain scents?  Allergic to EVERY scent?  Make it the way you need (or want!) it made and you'll never have to guess what's in it again.

For those who would like to make their own homemade laundry soap, it's a fairly easy process that can be done in your kitchen in a short amount of time. Because it is low sudsing, it is good for your septic tanks. One of the recipes I love using is from Crystal Miller's website, thefamilyhomestead.com. I substituted the soap she used for my own homemade soap, but otherwise followed the recipe. If you would like to try your hand at making your own homemade laundry soap, please click on the link to her site below:
http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/laundrysoap.htm

Happy soaping, and have fun!!!