Easy DIY Natural Make-Up Remover Pads

Hello friends!
So I'm all about convenience, even when it comes to the little things like taking your make-up off at the end of the day....scratch that, ESPECIALLY when it comes to taking off your make-up at the end of the day. After a long day, the last thing I want to do is scrub by eyes to try to remove every bit of mascara in an effort to do what's "healthy" for my skin. Can anyone else relate?  To prevent this, I used to buy the make-up remover pads from the store. They just stayed in their little container and I could just pull one out, swoop, and bam! Make-up gone. 
However, when I got involved with Young Living, I quickly learned that these conventional make-up removers are NOT so good to be putting on your skin....take a look at the ingredient list. Go ahead and check in your bathroom right now, I'll wait for you.

As you can see, it's FULL of chemicals and words I can't even pronounce. Eeek! Am I really putting that on my eyes?! Thus started the search for a natural make-up remover. Instead of paying $6-8 for a small pack in the store, I learned I can make my own at a fraction of the cost, AND it's actually GOOD for your skin! Win-win!

You can watch the video of me making it here if you're more of an audio/visual person. :) 

Easy DIY Make-Up Remover Pads

Ingredients:

- 1/4 to 1/2 c distilled water

- 1 tsp. unscented castille soap (I like to use Dr. Bronner's brand)

- 1 tsp. witch hazel

- 1 tsp. fractionated coconut oil

- 5-6 drops each Young Living Frankincense and Young Living Lavender Essential Oil (click here to learn why the quality of your oil matters)

- Premium quality cotton rounds

Directions:

Add all ingredients except the cotton rounds to a 4oz mason jar. Put the lid on and gently shake the jar. Then, add a stack of cotton rounds. There is no set "number" of cotton rounds that you need- add them until all of the fluid is absorbed. If you find that there are still rounds that are dry, you can add additional coconut oil and water and shake things up a bit. It does take a bit of playing around with to get the right balance!

Get some of the oils that I use (the BEST oils on the planet) here (you'll want to do the member option- quickly explained here- so you can get in on the discounts and freebies)!

DIY Easy Peasy [Chocolate Orange Peppermint] Dry Shampoo!

When I first discovered dry shampoo, it changed my life. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but it was definitely a big deal. I had no idea that you could just spray some stuff on your hair and VOILA, the grease was gone! After playing around with it a bit, I found out that most dry shampoos leave a nice white film on your hair, which gave me a nice salt-and-pepper/grey streaky look, which I really wasn't going for...I have since then found out that they have dry shampoo for dark hair (YAY), but since I've been into Young Living, I don't really like the idea of spraying toxic chemicals all over my scalp. SO when Young Living posted this recipe on their blog, I was ALL about it. It's SO easy, can be made for dark OR light hair, and literally took me 5 minutes to make (also it smells amazing!).


As with many of my DIY recipes, you have some leeway to modify it based on what oils you like and what you're going for. The recipe from the YL blog called for 2 drops each of Cedarwood and Rosemary, and 1 drop of Tea Tree Essential Oil. However, because I have dark hair and thus added the Cocoa, I went for oils that not only would be good for your hair/scalp, but also would complement the cocoa smell, hence Peppermint and Orange! Other oils you could try would be Cinnamon, Royal Hawaiian Sandalwood, or Lavender.

I have to say though, the Peppermint-Orange-Cocoa combination smells SO GOOD I could eat it!

Sometimes things get a little messy ;) 

And there you have it! Using a make-up brush to apply it to your roots works really well.

DIY Dry Shampoo (modified from the Young Living blog)

Ingredients:

-1/4 c. Cornstarch
-1 tbsp. Baking Soda
- Young Living Essential Oils of Choice (see paragraph #2 above, listed below is what I used)
     - 2 drops each of Peppermint, Cedarwood, & Orange
-2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder, for dark hair only

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and store in your container of choice. I find using a make-up brush the best way to apply the shampoo, as it gives the most control and lets you reach the roots really well, though you can also store your shampoo in an empty salt and pepper shaker or baby powder bottle and use it that way. Be sure to let it sit in your hair for a minute so it can absorb the grease, then brush through with a comb or brush.

Happy Dry-Shampooing!

DIY Antiperspirant Deodorant (Aluminum Free!)

So I'm the kind of person that sweats, a lot. Or, excuse me, should I say, that I "glisten" (girls don't sweat, right?). ;) Anyway, sweat or glisten, I need a good antiperspirant deodorant (Sorry if this is TMI for some of you, just being real here). Over the past few years, my mom has thoroughly educated me on the dangers of aluminum and how I shouldn't use an antiperspirant with aluminum. My response? I'm sorry but I NEED antiperspirant or I, nor the people around me, will be happy campers. Thus began the journey of checking every brand of deodorant in the store for the ones with the lowest aluminum percentage, and the endless search of a natural antiperspirant deodorant without aluminum. They are SO hard to find! SO when my mom found THIS recipe, which includes a natural ANTIPERSPIRANT, you can bet I was pretty intrigued.

This recipe is from Melissa Poepping's book- The Chemical Free Home- I LOVE IT!!! If you don't have one, you need to go get yourself one! You can get this book and the other volumes she has here. We made a few slight modifications on the oils we used and we used arrowroot instead of cornstarch, but other than that it's the same. :)

Yes, that is Thieves Dentarome Plus toothpaste...and it IS in the recipe. Sounds weird, right?

Gathering ingredients!

We used 20 drops each of Tea Tree and Dream Catcher, but you can substitute other oils such as Lavender, Joy, Petitgrain, Geranium, or Shutran (for the men in your life). I'd recommend always using some Tea Tree though because it is very good in deodorants! Also, be sure to use enough essential oil! Don't skimp on it...20 drops each of 2 oils is good, and it will make 4 deodorants. 

This recipe was much easier than I thought it was going to be. It probably took me 10 minutes tops.

Ta-da! And now to the fridge to chill. :)

Deodorant + Antiperspirant

Makes 4 Deodorants

Ingredients:

3/4 c baking soda

1/2 c organic arrowroot (available here on Amazon)

1 Tbsp Thieves Dentarome PLUS Toothpaste (you can get this and the other YL products for this recipe through my website, here)

1 Tbsp Young Living V-6 

1/2 c Coconut Oil (Solid)

3 tsp Vitamin E Oil

20 drops Young Living Tea Tree Essential Oil 

20 drops Young Living Dream Catcher Essential Oil (also available here)

Directions:

Put the baking soda, cornstarch, and coconut oil in a pot and melt over low heat until dissolved completely. Add the Thieves Dentarome PLUS toothpaste and stir until dissolved. Remove from heat, allow to cool slightly (remember high heat breaks down the EO's), and add V-6, Vitamin E oil, and essential oils. Allow to cool (but not harden) to 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Pour into an empty deodorant container using a funnel (if you need it). Be careful at this step, because the mixture may still be very hot!!! Allow to harden in the fridge.

There you have it! Super easy, one pot, deodorant. Not only is it natural, but it smells AMAZING. I know I am super excited to try it!! Finally, a deodorant that I can feel good about using.

Hope your weekend is awesome!

Beautifying Foaming Facial Cleanser

A few people have asked me what I use to make my own facial cleanser, so, here it is! I absolutely LOVE to lather my face with this recipe....it's so luxurious and refreshing- better yet, it's extremely economical AND completely natural. Can't get much better than that!

I made a video about how I do this on Youtube. This is EASY EASY EASY but some people prefer to actually watch it happen. You can check out the video by clicking here. 

The biggest thing that I emphasize when I do this recipe is that you can MAKE IT YOUR OWN!! Play around with the ratio of the oils you use, or try different oils! It's really really hard to mess this up, I promise. Sometimes I substitute different oils based on what I have on hand, and that's okay! Make this how YOU like it. Or in the words of Burger King, "Have it Your Way." 

I always like to gather all my ingredients first. 

With this recipe, all you do is mix all the ingredients in one foaming *glass container and you're all set! It's really that simple.

Ta da! Foaming facial cleanser, it about 3 minutes. 

*A note on the container. I am reusing a Young Living facial cleaner container. I know they use a special grade of plastic that is safe to use with the oils at this level of dilution- do not just go out any buy any old plastic container! Amazon has some good glass ones, and you can also get some at www.lifesciencepublishers.com that are okay to use with diluted EO's.

Natural Beautifying Foaming Facial Cleanser

Makes about 1 cup

Ingredients:

1). Young Living Essential Oils! Use this as a guide, but you can also substitute other oils. For example, my mom uses Frankincense, Geranium, Myrrh, and Sandalwood instead of the oils I'm using.

-8 drops Tea Tree Essential Oil

-4 drops Lemon Essential Oil

-7 drops Frankincense Essential Oil

-6 drops Purification Essential Oil

-7 drops Lavender Essential Oil

-5 drops Elemi Essential Oil

2). About 1/4 c. Organic unscented Castille Soap- this is available at Target or on Amazon.

3). Distilled water

Directions:

1). Pour the castille soup into your empty container. 

2). Add the oils as you desire.

3). Fill the container the remainder of the way with distilled water! 

Shake it up and you're good to go!

*Note: This supports ALL skin types, but, if you do have more mature skin, you can make it extra special by adding a little jojoba oil, vitamin e oil, and rosewater. 

If you're curious about how to get some Young Living oils, I can hook you up. Just click here to read my post about it!