DIY Coconut Oil Pulling

 

What is oil pulling? Oil pulling is the concept of using oil to clean and detox your mouth. It is really beneficial to your gums and removes bacteria, toxins and plaque buildup from your mouth! Oil pulling started in India thousands of years ago and many explain that the benefits not only included toxins leaving their mouth but they experienced health benefits as well, such as reductions in headaches, infections, arthritis, skin conditions, etc. Some even notice their teeth are whiter! 

How do you oil pull? It’s simple, really. You swish approx. 1-2 Tbl of oil in your mouth when you first wake up in the morning for up to 20 minutes. Spit the oil out into the trash…not down the sink! Then you can rinse with warm water and brush your teeth.

I was introduced to oil pulling when I was pregnant and the texture was killer! I couldn’t do it! Now that I am no longer extremely sensitive to textures I can oil pull…. It just takes a while to get used to! Lukewarm mushy coconut oil was not the best feeling in my mouth and call me lazy, but it was hard to go to the kitchen, get out the tablespoon, scoop out the oil, and clean the spoon, right when I woke up. This makes it simple, quick and easy!

I decided to make hard little morsels that I could just pop in my mouth. It helps with the texture as it feels like a chocolate that is melting in your mouth!

I use Organic Coconut Oil. I melt it in warm water (not the microwave). Then I mixed in a few drops of Peppermint Essential Oil. You could also use a drop or two of Theives oil. I poured it into silicone molds and let them harden in the fridge. I store them in the fridge and pop one in my mouth in the mornings! I try and stay busy while I am swishing so I wash my face, do my hair, or shower. It keeps me occupied so I’m not focused on the oil! My pulls are about 1 Tbl. You can always start smaller if you need to work your way up!

Have you done oil pulling?

DIY Magnesium Whipped Body Butter

 Magnesium is known as a miracle mineral! According to Daniel Heller, ND, Magnesium “is essential for over 300 different chemical reactions in the body, including maintaining your energy level, helping you relax, and sustaining the health of your heart and blood vessels.” Magnesium is important for bone health, helps keep blood pressure normal, promotes sleep, helps with Vitamin D assimilation and so much more!

 

This is an easy recipe for making your own body butter that has magnesium in it! The thing I love about this recipe is that you don’t quite get that tingly feeling you typically do when using the magnesium oil spray. I love to use at night on my legs! I chose to add  Young Living Marjoram Essential Oil for it’s ability to soothe sore muscles and Young Living Lavender Essential Oil since it’s great for the skin.

  Ingredients:

1/2 cup shea butter (or another butter)

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/4 cup magnesium oil

Essential oils of your choosing (I used Marjoram and Lavender)

 

Directions:

Melt shea butter and coconut butter in a double boiler.

Once melted remove from heat and bring to room temperature. Whip for a few seconds to ensure oils are combined  and then place in fridge for 20-30 minutes. You want the oils to become an opaque color as they begin to cool. Remove from fridge and whip with mixer. Slowly add magnesium oil and continue to whip until white and creamy, approx 10-20 min. Add essential oils and combine. Store in a glass jar. I place my extra body butter in the fridge.

Enjoy!

DIY Chapstick

Mmmmm I LOVE homemade chapstick! It’s silky smooth and so good for your lips! It will save you so much money (EOS chapstick is expensive!) and you can change up the scents as you like! They make great gifts as well!

Chapstick (makes approx. 6-8 tubes)

1 Tbl beeswax

1 Tbl shea butter

1 Tbl coconut oil

5 drops peppermint

Melt beeswax in a double boiler. Add coconut oil and shea butter at the end. Once everything is melted, remove from heat. Let cool slightly, then add EO’s. Experiment with different ones! Lavender, tea tree, grapefruit, orange(just be careful as citrus oils can be sensitive when used in sunlight) If you like your chapstck thicker you can use more beeswax, thinner, decrease the beeswax or add more coconut oil! You can always re melt down a batch if you don’t like the consistency!

DIY Nasal Spray

This nasal spray recipe is so simple to make and is great when i’m feeling congested or have that terrible sinus drainage!

Nasal Spray

6 drops lavender

3-6 drops frankincense

pinch of himalayan pink sea salt

 

Put a tiny pinch of salt at the bottom of empty glass. Add oils and wait a few seconds for salt to absorb oils.

Add distilled water and use spray throughout day.

It may take a while to get used to this spray…the first few times it might burn a little. If you are concerned about this, you can use less oils to start with and increase them as you feel comfortable!

DIY Hand Sanitizer

When I’m out and about it’s nice to have something that will clean my hands or even other surfaces like shopping carts, tables, door handles, bathroom seats, etc. Especially having a little one who gets into everything and loves to suck on everything, it’s important to know that things are clean! I HATE hand sanitizer. I refuse to use it. Not just because of the chemicals and how bad it is for you, but because of the smell, and the feeling it leaves on your hands.

This is a great alternative! It’s so easy to make, smells great, and I just toss it into my purse and go! I love that it’s safe for me and baby! Some people like a gel form instead of a spray. You can use aloe vera gel and add your Thieves Essential oil to it…it’s that simple!

Hand Sanitizer

6 drops Thieves Essential Oil

½ tsp aloe vera

2 drops vit. E oil

Top with distilled water

Optional: Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree Oil)

Shake before each use!

Have you ever made hand sanitizer? Do you prefer a spray or gel?

DIY Bug Spray

It’s that time of year again when the bugs come out with a vengeance! I am lucky to live in a state where we have few bugs, but this year we have had a lot of rain, and mosquitos have been out in swarms!

Bug spray is something I try to stay far away from. Most sprays contain DEET, and although it is approved by the EPA it is a known eye irritant and can cause soreness, rashes or blistering when applied to the skin. It has been linked to neurological problems as well. Researchers at Duke University Medical Center found that Deet causes diffuse brain cell death and behavioral changes in rats. It’s toxic to birds and aquatic life as well (Green Your Body). I don’t like all the chemicals in commercial bug sprays so I set off to find something natural that I felt safe putting on my daughter.

So can you make an all natural bug spray that is effective? Yes! Again, remember that it depends on your body and they type of bugs that you are wanting to repel so it may take a few different combinations. The recipe below uses water so you can spray it on. I have found that it evaporates rather quickly. A friend suggested using it in an oil base so that it lasts longer on the skin. My next batch will be a lotion with these oils in it!

We have used it when we go out on walks, hiking, and my husband works outside a lot and has found it successful for him as well. You have to make sure you spray everything though. I forgot to spray my ankles and feet one day and they got me. I think if you use it in a lotion or oil it will be more effective! It also was great at keeping those pesky flies away!

 

Bug Spray

4+ drops of Thieves, Purification, Lemongrass and Peppermint

Optional: Lavender, Spearmint, Rosemary, Sage, Cedarwood, Hyssop, Pine, Thyme, Sandalwood, Eucalyptus

Top with distilled water. Shake before each use.

Have you ever made your own bug spray? How did it turn out?

DIY Eye Lash Lengthening and Thickening Serum

I have tiny eyelashes! It’s terrible, it really is! So when I heard of a natural lash thickening and lengthening serum I had to try it! Many people add lavender to mascara, not only to increase the shelf life, but to lengthen your lashes as well! Castor Oil is known for it’s hair growing abilities as well! So here it is! I have been using for about a month (not everyday though) and I have noticed that my lashes are thicker and a touch longer! One thing to mention about vitamin E oil is that you want to look for Tocopherol and not Tocopheryl. One is naturally occurring and the other is synthetic.

Eye Lash Lengthening Serum

Fill ¾ castor oil

1 drop lavender

1/8 sweet almond oil

few drops vitamin e oil

Apply on lashes at night or during the day and watch them grow!! As always, use caution around your eye as you don’t want the oils to get in your eyes. I apply at night before bedtime.

Whipped Body Butter

You guys! I LOVE this recipe! I have been making this in replace of my lotion for a few years and it is so nourishing to the skin! Yes, it is a bit oily and so that is something you have to get used to, but it doesn’t have the chemicals or toxins that most lotions do and it smells wonderful!

Ingredients:

½ cup Shea Butter

½ cup Cocoa Butter or Mango Butter

½ cup Coconut Oil

½ cup light oil like almond or jojoba

Essential oils of your choosing!

For a stretch mark blend: I like lavender and frankincense or Gentle baby

 

In a double boiler or glass bowl, combine all ingredients (except essential oils), adding shea butter last.

Bring to medium heat and stir constantly until all ingredients are melted.

Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

Place in fridge and let cool for another hour or so. You want it to begin to harden but still be soft (no longer a liquid).

Add your essential oils. Start with a few drops… Remember they are strong!

Use a mixer to whip for 10-20 minutes until fluffy.

Return to fridge for 10-15 minutes to set.

Store in a glass jar with a lid. A little bit goes a LONG way! You won’t need to apply as much as normal lotion. Start with a tiny dab on your finger and work it into the skin.

The body butter will melt at warm temperatures (typically more than 75 degrees so you can store it in the fridge if your house is warmer than that.)

I normally make a batch and it lasts me 6 months or longer!

Enjoy!

DIY Sun Lotion

It’s that time of year again when the temperatures are high and the sun is beating down! I like to make my own products because I like knowing what’s in them, and the quality of the materials used! Having a baby I wanted to make sure that I could protect her skin from the sun without added dangerous chemicals! This is a natural approach to sunscreen that you can make at home! It’s great and nourishing for the skin and provides coverage without all the toxic ingredients! Did you know that most commercial sunscreens contain endocrine disrupting chemicals that can sometimes promote skin cancer growth, accelerate skin aging, and free radical production in the body? Here is a good article highlighting the above!

This is what you will need:

1/4 cup beeswax

1/2 cup coconut oil

1/4 cup almond oil

2 Tbl shea butter

1 tsp red raspberry seed oil

20 drops Young Living Carrot Seed Oil

2 Tbl non-nano uncoated zinc oxide (Be sure to use non nano zinc oxide 100nm or larger as anything smaller can be absorbed through the skin. Larger particles sit on the top of your skin and reflect the sun rays.)

Optional: Essential Oil for fragrance.

I made my sunscreen around SPF 15 but you can add more zinc for more protection. The other oils used do have some natural protective properties as well!

Melt beeswax in a double boiler. Add shea butter, coconut oil and mix until melted. Then add the almond oil, and red raspberry seed oil. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Add the Young Living Carrot Seed Essential Oil and I added Lavender (to help mask the scent of Carrot Seed Oil…it’s a strong one!) and because it is great for the skin! Finally mix in the zinc oxide. Stir continually as it begins to set. You want to ensure the zinc is mixed throughout. Allow to cool.

Apply as needed, every few hours. Be sure to store out of the heat as this will melt into a liquid at high temperatures! I have a small container that I take out with me so if it melts it’s not a big deal.

I store the rest in the fridge.

Have you made your own sunscreen before? I would love to hear your experience!

DIY Powdered Foundation

Makeup is something that we put on our skin EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. We sweat, we inhale, we absorb. What is in our makeup? Do we really know what all those complex substances are?  For most of us, we have no idea. Yet we put it on our skin every day. What if we could make our own makeup that was good for our skin for pennies? That was the challenge! With summer coming up I hate to wear heavy makeup. You want something light, almost like a mineral veil, that you can throw on and go. You will have to adjust this recipe to your skin tone but here are the basics.

Combine the powders together and apply to the inside of your wrist to test for color. One thing to note on this homemade powder is that you will need oil for it to stick. I apply my moisturizer (a face serum I made and will share in another post), let it absorb for a few minutes, and then apply the makeup. I added Young Living Frankincense, Lavender and Carrot Seed oils as well. About a drop of each, as these oils are great for the skin! Plus it smells amazing! I started with 2 tsp of arrowroot power, 1 tsp of cocoa powder and then a pinch or two of ginger and turmeric. Be aware that cinnamon in high doses can irritate the skin. Other optional ingredients are clay, and zinc oxide…just be sure it is non-nano and uncoated.

Have you ever made your own makeup? How did it turn out?