Natural skin care
 

I used to make my own body products 15 years ago, them moved to the middle of nowhere for a while and got out of it due to the lack of accessible and readily avaiable ingredients.

I would like to start a thread to discuss what others use for all natural products and also if you make your own, what do you use? Give some tips, ideas, anything you have. Please include premade products ( Aveda, Weleda, Burts Bees, etc. ) if you absolutely love something they make.

I currently indulge in body oils. Aveda sends me a coupon 2-3 times a year for a personal blends product and I always get the body oil with some yummy scent.
I also got some plain grapeseed oil last winter and either use it as is or mix some of my yummy aveda blend in it.

When I made my own stuff I used recipies from The Herbal Body Book by Stephanie Tourles. I lost my copy some time ago and my replacement arrived just today! I found a seller on amazon who had some as this book is no longer in print. I love using essential oils as I find the perfumes they make today, and put in just about everything, are awful.

i am allergic to many chemicals and fragrances so i mostly stick to all-natural, non-toxic, fragrance-free body care products.

i use dr. bronner's unscented soap for almost everything...around the house, in the shower, etc. i cycle between different frag-free and low-frag shampoos. sometimes i just use dr. bronner's on my hair. since i have super dry, frizzy hair, i use coconut oil as a moisturizer. also as a skin moisturizer, makeup remover, as lube, etc. coconut oil is amazing...it does everything :) haven't found a natural deodorant i like yet...right now i'm trying an unscented one from kiss my face.

my favorite body/face scrub is finely ground rice mixed with olive oil. i like to use a mixture of avocado, yogurt, lemon juice, and honey (or just whatever i have on hand) for my face. bentonite clay is also great for getting rid of blackheads and generally cleansing.

i use body art quality henna (mixed w/lemon juice) to color my hair and also do henna tattoos. it is very good for hair and i LOVE it. however if you are really into dyeing, bleaching, etc. i wouldn't recommend it - it binds to your hair rather than sitting on it like a chemical dye, so it reacts badly with bleaching/chemical dyes and never washes out. it's REALLY permanent. it also sometimes has a drying effect so i combine it w/extra coconut oil treatments. smell-wise it's super strong, very earthy and plant-y, the first few days - you can soften the smell if you don't like it by adding powdered nutmeg, cinnamon, turmeric, cloves, etc. when you mix it. you can also add indigo or amla to affect the color. http://hennaforhair.com has a lot of information and is a great supplier online - i've bought from there a lot. you can also sometimes find it cheaper in the bulk section of natural grocery stores. do NOT buy the boxed kind of henna sold in the hair dye sections - at best it has a lot of chemicals and fades really fast, at worst the crap they put in it can cause lasting damage to your hair and body.

one helpful resource i've found is http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ - skin deep cosmetics database. they rate each product and each individual ingredient in each product. i look for products with a low rating for allergies, immunotoxicity, and neurotoxicity. a lot of products that are labeled "natural" and/or "fragrance-free" still have mild fragrances and high toxicity levels, so i can't use them. i've found this database really helpful for finding good products, after buying so many so-called "natural," "non-toxic" things and being really disappointed (and sick!).

some great resources for non-toxic and/or scent free body products:
http://fiercebodies.com/ - owned by my friend billie, who is a rock star!
http://www.brownstargirl.org/1/post/...-draft-15.html - has an amazing list of products and resources
http://eastbaymeditation.org/accessi...scentfree.html - has a list of scent-free/mcs friendly products - some may still be toxic...for ex. it lists alba botanica's frag-free sunblock, which i recently bought and it is somewhat toxic - but it is a really good starting point and most of the products listed are great.

I use organic raw shea butter and black soap. That's about as far as my beauty regimen goes.

There is a cute couple up near me that sells these things. www.nesheabutter.com if you want to check it out.

in the eye of the beholder.
 

Love it!
 

Thank you for the great links, aishah! I love dr. Bronners, and I am going to give coconut oil a look-see. I would use henna to color my hair, if I were brunette, but my hair is a dark blonde, and now I am finding a few white hairs in it...

Being fragrance free is tough but worth reading the ingredients in everything. And yes, to everyone who has mentioned it, why the h*ll do they call something unscented but it has a masking fragrance in it? I will never understand. So far I have found fragrance free in laundry detergent, body soap and lotion, shave cream, deodorant, and face products, all at the local grocery. Not shampoo & conditoner though, I am researching natural methods but I'm not quite ready to give up my shampoo.

I have tried the Kiss My Face deodorant and they work pretty good.

Andy & I will be driving by your house Sunday, well not "right by it" but on highway 84, Ebon, my mom lives in Auburn Massachusetts and she's the first stop before we go to Hampton Beach. I look forward to meeting a fellow yankee at the reunion! I envy you living so close to someone who is selling pure shea butter at such good prices. Do they sell product from their home?

Thank you everyone so far, and for all the great links!

I believe they do work out of their home, they were at the Clearwater Festival which is how I found out about them.

I use a packet of sugar mixed with a small amount of water as a face scrub.
It's great because it dissolves as you're rubbing it on your face, so it isn't too harsh.

I use a cloth from Korea on my body, it's a little rough textured and gets all the dead skin off.

An excellent moisturizer is coconut oil. It sinks into the skin because it's very compatible with the skin. It's great to use before bedtime.

Deborah

Lately I've been all about the coconut oil and rosehip oil for my natural face care. I've definitely noticed a difference around my eyes and in the texture of my skin.

And HOLY HELL is it so much cheaper than the stuff I was using.

I've still got some La Prairie that I need to use up and my best girlfriend just sent me a huge box of La Mer and Chanel Sublimage that I'll be alternating in between my natural stuff.
:hangloose:

I got the idea of using a packet of sugar because I read somewhere Christie Brinkley would use that on her travels for work.
I used to use La Prairie makeup. I am trying to take care of my skin so that I wear almost no makeup... just moisturizer, a bit of lipstick and occasionally eye makeup.

Deborah

I’ve been making a body butter that’s working out well. I use the following ingredients:

– Unrefined Shea Butter
– Raw Cocoa Butter
– Olive Oil
– Coconut Oil

I use one part of each, gently heat it, refridgerate it for awhile, and whip with emulsion blender. Click here for one of many online recipes.

I get all the ingredients from Amazon and it works out to about $5.00 for every 8 oz and it lasts a long time. It’s really good for my dry skin.

I took a class on making lotion and body butters. I prefer making body butters because it’s easer and, IMHO, more healthful. Lotion includes water and a preservative is needed to prevent mold. No preservatives are needed in the body butters I’ve created.

I also took a class on making soap and you damn near have to be a chemist to get that right. You must wear protective gear because you’re working with lye—that really cramped my style in this hot weather.

I love taking these kinds of classes. Some classes have been good for me (making body butter, using chalk paint) and some weren’t so good (making soap and lotions).

Hoping I find another class to take this summer.

I like to use Braggs Organic Raw-unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) as an skin treatment for my feet.

ACV has naturally occurring antibacterial properties, which helps aid in removing dead skin from feet, and aids in nail and skin functions by eliminating bacteria found on feet and around the nail beds of your toes.

When I treat the skin of my feet and toes, once a week as part of my pedicure, I notice how it makes my feet feel cool and refreshed. What I do is soak a cotton ball with ACV, apply it to the entire skin area of each foot, before I soak my feet in an warm bath water of Epsom salts. Pretreating my feet with ACV aids in not having to scrub my feet free of dead skin or microbes not easily seen.

I love to finish my pedicure by applying warm.coconut oil to my feet.

Thanks for sharing your tips about making body butter, Orema, I'm going to try that out soon.