These homemade natural wax melts are made with coconut oil and beeswax, naturally scented with essential oils, and colored with plant based powders! Commercial wax melts are loaded with synthetic fragrance oils that can often be problematic for those of us with allergies, asthma, or chemical sensitivities. Instead, try these do-it-yourself melts made with just…
![Honey Salt Scrub [for hands + feet]](https://thenerdyfarmwife.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/honey-salt-scrub-FB-768x402.jpg)
This homemade honey salt scrub will leave your skin feeling soft and silky feeling! It’s perfect for using on dry, rough, or winter-worn hands and feet. Ingredients + Their Benefits You’ll need just a few items, most of which can be found at local stores: Fine Sea Salt – a natural exfoliant that polishes away…
This soothing reishi face cream recipe features anti-aging mushrooms and regenerative rosehip seed oil. It’s suitable for most skin types, but is especially nice for dry, weathered, and/or aged skin. Reishi mushrooms, also called “the mushrooms of immortality” have been used medicinally for centuries for their ability to modulate the immune system, help us adapt…
This natural mushroom soap recipe features an infusion of shiitake mushrooms, which are high in antioxidants and anti-irritant compounds that may help soothe reddened or sensitive skin. Mushroom extracts are popular in skincare for their many benefits, and today we’re going to use the same idea in soap! People always ask me if the benefits…
Black walnut salve is useful for things like athletes foot, fungal rashes, toenail infections, ringworm, psoriasis, and various skin woes. If you have a longstanding mystery rash on your arm or leg and no one is quite sure what it is – try some black walnut salve and you may find relief! To make this…
Learn how much essential oil to use when making lip balm, bath bombs, salves, lotions, creams, and other skin care products. Includes a dilution chart and helpful product reference table, plus answers to frequently asked questions! Today, I’m sharing a couple of charts plus general guidelines from my personal notes that I constantly reference when…
These warming arnica lotion bars are perfect to rub over sore arthritic hands, feet, and joints that tend to be cold, and that feel better with warmth applied. You can also find this recipe in our new ebook, Things to Make for Aches & Pains, a joint collaboration between my daughter (who started our family…
This helpful reference chart covers 45 soapmaking oils and their characteristics, including hardness, conditioning, bubbly, cleansing, and longevity properties. It will be helpful to use as a guide when you want to swap out oils in a natural soap recipe! Before we get into the chart, let’s cover what each column means, as it relates…
Learn how to make helpful herbal salves using fresh basil from your garden! While basil (Ocimum basilicum), also called sweet basil, or garden basil, is more commonly used for food purposes, it also contains healthful components used for digestion and respiratory issues. Basil is also loaded with anti-inflammatory properties, making it useful for topical skin…
Have fresh corn? Don’t throw away that corn silk! Corn Silk can be used to help alleviate symptoms that go along with: bedwetting, cystitis, prostatitis, urinary tract infections, kidney stones, gout and hyperglycemia. It’s also a natural source of vitamin K and potassium. Few things in life are more delightful than discovering the goodness in…
Learn how & why to add diatomaceous earth to soap. Directions for adding DE to both cold process and melt & pour are included! Diatomaceous earth, also called DE, is a natural fine silica-rich powder that’s formed from the fossilized remains of algae. Food grade diatomaceous earth is used both internally and externally for natural…
Learn how to make small test batches of soap to try out new colorants, additives, and essential oil blends. I will cover how to make test batches of soap for both cold process soap (CP) and melt and pour base (MP) in this article! ? I frequently get questions about adding various things to soap…
From sore throat gargle to wound spray, here are 14 useful things to make with calendula tea! Calendula is loaded with powerful skin-healing, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties, yet is gentle enough for most people and animals to use safely. You can make all sorts of things with calendula, including soap, salve, lotion bars and lip…
Calendula salve is an all-purpose, gentle skin remedy that’s suitable for diaper rash, scrapes, scratches, razor burn, dry skin, insect bites, and more! This week on my site, I’ve been sharing ways that you can use calendula. What I really love about this sunny flower is that it’s: Not sure what the difference is between…
These recipes for skin soothing calendula bath melts and rich calendula body butter are perfect for dry skin in need of some TLC! Their overlapping ingredient lists means you can also easily make them as a set, if you’d like. Calendula Bath Melts First up, are the bath melts and they are super easy to…
Looking for a pretty soap mold for your next melt and pour project? This list of over 15 soap molds should help! (Many of these will work for cold process soap too!) When my print book, Easy Homemade Melt & Pour Soaps, came out, I received a bunch of questions about where to find the…
Learn to make elderberry lip balm by infusing dried elderberries, along with alkanet root for a soft color. Peppermint essential oil adds all natural flavor! I’ve also included a page of printable labels that will fit standard lip balm tubes. I’m not a fan of lipstick. (It tastes weird to me, and the ingredient list…
Are you new to making melt and pour soap with natural ingredients? These quick tips for beginners will get you started in the right direction! Tip #1 Spritz the inside of an intricate mold with rubbing alcohol right before filling with soap base. The alcohol will help the soap base settle into all of the…
Learn how to make homemade elderberry syrup using fresh (or dried) elderberries and honey. (Updated for 2021, since I’ve reduced water amounts and cooking time since my original recipe in 2015.) ? Over the past few weeks, we’ve been harvesting from our elder bushes, making lots of goodies, including tincture, oxymel, and salve. Check out my article…
Turn sunny yellow flowers such as calendula, sunflowers, chamomile, and/or dandelions into skin soothing sunshine lotion bars! These sunny lotion bars are infused with a combination of sunflower, calendula, dandelion, and chamomile flowers and the tiniest pinch of turmeric. They’re perfect for rubbing over dry hands, feet, knees, elbows, or other dry spots. The recipe…
