Herbal powders are a convenient way to add nourishing components and label appeal to your handmade soaps! Instead of infusing herbs (and flowers) in oil or water for soap, you can stir small amounts of the finely powdered herbs into the: lye solution, warmed oils, or the soap batter at light trace. Some ground floral…
Avocado is a wonderful addition to cold process soap, featuring: skin-loving nutrients, essential fatty acids, and lots of label appeal. Here’s how to add avocado to your soap recipes! 7 quick tips when making avocado soap: Try replacing up to 1/3 of the water amount in your recipe with mashed avocado. If your recipe calls…
This forest-scented charcoal and pine tar soap lathers well and washes off cleanly. It’s a favorite with the guys in my family! Pine tar is a fantastic ingredient in soap, renowned for clearing tough-to-treat skin problems, but it can have a strong smell that’s off-putting to some. When a relative requested a pine tar soap…
Learn how to make your own orange peel powder and how to use it in cold process soap recipes. Do you or your family enjoy snacking on fresh oranges? If so, save some of those peels for your soapmaking projects! Orange peel powder adds: soft natural color label appeal loads of flavonoids (antioxidants) Depending on…
Explore these essential oil body care and clean home recipes to help support your health and immune system this winter. These recipes all feature blends from the Wellness Sampler Set, created by Plant Therapy. You can buy it at Amazon, or Plant Therapy’s website. What’s in the Wellness Sampler Set? The set contains 3 bottles…
These lotion bars were designed for climbers and other actives who want to retain the calluses on their hands, while still keeping their skin healed and protected. It’s my take after studying and trying out a few popular climbing bars (hard salves) on the market. Unlike traditional lotion bars, you won’t find butter (shea, mango)…
This nourishing vegan lip balm is easy to make and perfect for gift giving – made even easier by using the pretty printable labels below! Today’s recipe article was contributed and written by a recently-retired blogging friend who kindly offered to share her old site’s most popular recipes with my website readers. 😊 I’m so…
Pineapple sage is more than just another pretty pollinator plant for your garden – it’s rich in antioxidants & also used as a traditional herbal remedy! Health Benefits of Pineapple Sage Pineapple Sage (Salvia elegans) is “widely used in traditional medicine, particularly in the form of infusions or decoctions, to… lower blood pressure and combat…
Add a delicious immunity boost to your day with mulled apple cider infused with turkey tail mushrooms and astragalus root. This yummy creation came about when I decided to combine a fall favorite – fresh apple cider from my local orchard, with turkey tail mushrooms gathered from the woods around my house. Turkey tail (Trametes…
Learn how to naturally color handmade soap with beautiful mineral-rich Brazilian clay. One of my favorite soap additives is clay. Not only does it add natural color (derived from minerals naturally found in the soil), it also contributes to the skin benefits of our soap. Clay draws oils and impurities from your skin, making it…
Learn how to use charcoal in soap, how much charcoal you need to make gray and black soaps, plus a helpful usage rate table for reference! Activated charcoal is a popular natural ingredient to include in soap and other skin care products, because of its power to draw impurities from your skin. (This same action…
Learn how to infuse pine resin to use in homemade soap recipes that are great for your skin! Pine resin is traditionally used in first aid salves and balms for achy muscles, troublesome skin conditions, or damaged and chapped skin. Pine resin can also be used to create soaps that might be helpful for someone…
Calendula lotion bars are an exceptional treatment for dry, cracked skin and make wonderful gifts for those you love. The basic recipe requires only three ingredients, and is a super simple DIY to whip together! If you can melt chocolate, you can make lotion bars! For this recipe, the oil portion is infused with calendula…
Learn how to harvest, dry, and use sunflower petals in DIY projects. Make your own sunflower salve, oil, soap, lip balm, lotion bars, and more! Sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) are the quintessential flower for late summer and fall. Not only do they provide seeds and nectar for birds and insects to enjoy, plus beautiful flowers to…
Learn how to make natural herbal liquid soap from scratch. Homemade liquid soap can be used as a hand soap or body wash! The idea of making liquid soap from scratch used to intimidate me, but once I gave it a try, I realized it’s a lot easier than it looks! If you’ve successfully made…
Learn how to turn sunflower petals into a beautiful and delicious lemon-flavored jelly! I first got the idea for making sunflower jelly whilst I was pondering the happy row of flowers in my garden and wondering what other uses I could extract from them besides the seed. I remembered reading that the petals were edible…
Learn how to make blackberry vinegar, plus three ways to use it in a tasty fruit dip, main dish meal, and homemade salad dressing. I’ve been on a vinegar making roll this year! Infused vinegars turn out so pretty that I can’t help but want to share them! Here are some other infused vinegars to…
This herbal balm recipe offers relief from general aches and pains, arthritis, bursitis, and sore muscles. I originally designed this Aches & Pains Balm specifically for my dad, who has bursitis and arthritis. He’s worked hard his whole life – often so much that his hands would crack and bleed, so I wanted to make…
Apply this easy-to-make herbal heel balm to rough dry heels, or other areas that need softening and smoothing – such as hands, knees, and elbows. There’s an abundance of yarrow and plantain growing around my house right now, so it’s the perfect time to make a batch of this balm! Why Yarrow & Plantain? I…
This extra gentle herbal soap features skin soothing chickweed and shea butter. It’s coconut-oil free which makes it perfect for those who are allergic or extra-sensitive to coconut. Chickweed (Stellaria media) is a nourishing spring time weed that’s used in skin care products especially for itchy skin conditions and eczema. Since I have an abundance…