I originally made these lotion bars for my husband. His primary job is as a rock mason and the mortar and rough stone often leaves his hands dry, cracked, and bleeding. At night, I put salve on them, and while that helped a lot, it just wasn’t enough. Lotion bars have a long history of helping the toughest cases of cracked, dry skin, while dandelion oil is particularly useful for alleviating the chapped skin and soreness … Continue reading
This lavender rose balm recipe was requested by newsletter subscriber Patti, especially for her mom who gets sore from sitting in a wheelchair. Patti’s mom loves lavender and roses so I combined the two scents together along with calendula in a balm designed to help soothe and heal chapped irritated skin. To get the creamy texture shown, be sure to stir the balm frequently as it cools. If you’d rather have a smooth salve-like texture … Continue reading
Spring has finally started to arrive around these parts! Yesterday, I took a walk with my daughter and we collected all of the pretty flowers and herbs shown in the basket above. After she asked me about how I planned to use some of the flowers, I realized that I’ve never written up a “things to make” post about one of my spring favorites – forsythia flowers! Forsythia bushes (Forsythia suspensa) not only offer a … Continue reading
These pretty spring flower foot scrub bars are simple to make and require just three ingredients. 1/4 cup sea salt 1/4 cup fresh flower petals or herbs (loosely packed) 2 Tbsp coconut oil Use them to polish and prepare your feet for sandal weather! (You can also find this recipe on page 119 inside my print book, 101 Easy Homemade Products for Your Skin, Health & Home. Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or your … Continue reading
To accompany my Calendula Shave Soap Recipe, I though it’d be helpful to write up some FAQS I’ve received about how to create your own shave soap recipe. This information is also useful to know if you want to make substitutions in an existing recipe you’ve found in a book or online and aren’t sure how to do so. If you have a question I didn’t answer here, let me know in the comments below! … Continue reading
This calendula shave soap recipe was requested by newsletter subscriber Lianne, which was perfect timing since my husband also requested some new shave soap. :) It includes both sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide, plus has a high amount of stearic acid in order to produce a dense lather that’s perfect for shaving. Most shave soap recipes rely on soy wax or stearic acid flakes to meet the criteria for stearic acid amount, but I prefer … Continue reading
In my last blog post, I mentioned that I’d received several requests for gentle homemade lotion and soap recipes that would be suitable for extra sensitive skin, especially when it’s caused by cancer treatments. I shared some soap recipes in that article, and today will cover lotions. There are two different recipes options provided below, yielding two different types of lotions. (Remember, these are just my recipe suggestions, not to replace the advice of a … Continue reading
