Cocoa Mint Lip Balm

If you’d like to see more of our DIY beauty potions, click here. You’ll find everything from deodorant to face oils and body scrubs to customized perfumes. Here you’ll find our recipe for a DIY floral lip balm.

Today I’m sharing the most scrumptious yet simple lip balm recipe.  The addition of comfrey and calendula-infused olive oils adds creates a super nourishing base. The blend of unrefined cocoa butter + peppermint essential oils produces an amazing scent.

cocoa_mint_lipbalm4

I’ve talked in greater details about essential oils in this post. This post reiterates many of the lip-balm making tips that are also discussed in our floral balm post.

Continue reading

Good Stuff : Aromatherapy (for sleep)

In January we were sharing some of the good habits that we’ve picked up over the years, and in February we continued that trend with a special focus on self-care. This post definitely fits both themes.

Have you tried aromatherapy? Aromatherapy is the process of using plant parts or aromatic plant oils (think essential oils) to improve psychological or physical well-being.

linen_spray3bThere’s a growing body of evidence that some uses of aromatherapy have measurable success rates. In this post, we are particularly interested in using aromatherapy to improve sleep, and we’ll share a super simple potion with you below.

Continue reading

Good Stuff : Clean Beauty

Today’s post aims to continue our good habits series that we started in January. And if you like mixing up potions, check out our favorite green cleaning resource.

In this month’s welcome post, Sarah mentioned that we’re focusing on taking care of ourselves this month. For us, one of the best ways that we can keep our spirits high is to make sure we’re checking all of the boxes > eating nutritious foods, exercising, stimulating our brains, strengthening our friendships, and pampering ourselves with a bit of DIY skin-care.

Continue reading

Good Stuff : Green Cleaning

In addition to sharing our resolutions this month, we’re also going to share some of the good habits that we’ve picked up over the years. We try many things, but these are the ones that stuck.

A few years ago, I made a concerted effort to cut back on chemical-based cleaning supplies. One of the main resources I’ve turned to is this book. While spring cleaning gets all the glory, for me, the post-holiday clean-up and start of the new year is when I’m really inspired to give our house a good cleaning.

Continue reading

Activated Charcoal Deodorant

When feasible, we like to experiment with our own beauty potions. You can find a bunch here, from lip balms to face masks to foot scrubs!

We like our deodorants simple and effective. With their long ingredient lists, it can be hard to find simple deodorants in the beauty section. And when we do find something that’s simple and often “natural” it’s often not as effective as we want it to be. Admittedly, that goes for our own DIY blends too.

charcoal_deoderant_title

But we aren’t throwing in the towel yet, and today we have a new blend that we’re excited to share!

Continue reading

Solid Perfume Necklace

We love crafting with essential oils. You can see some previous projects here.

One of the homemade gifts that I gave this year were these necklaces. Each contained an adorable acorn locket filled with solid perfume.

solid_perfume_necklace

Read on for the simple DIY and an amazing woodsy essential oil blend.

Continue reading

Holiday Room Spray

Ginger’s our ingredient of the season, and we love using essential oils for home and body.

We’re popping in with a quick DIY : a holiday room spray! It’s simple, yet it totally adds to the ambiance when hosting visitors (this and a big glass of wine).

room_spray

Honestly, I don’t regularly use room sprays, BUT whenever I have visitors stopping in, I like to know that the house is smelling nice. You can easily accomplish this with a simple essential oils room spray.

Continue reading

Winter Face Oil

The cold and dry air of winter has a way of wreaking havoc on our skin and nails. Our remedies include drinking plenty of water and creating barriers to moisture loss.

For our hands, we’re a huge fan of balms. Most of ours are made at home with a combination of beeswax, moisturizing carrier oils, and nourishing extracts and essential oils (think calendula, lavender, comfrey).

winter_face_oil

We won’t shy away from using a balm on our cheeks if we’re heading out for a day in the elements, but for everyday use, we want some thing a touch lighter than. And that’s when we grab a DIY face oil.

Continue reading

DIY Yoga Mat Cleaner with Essential Oils

live seasoned diy yoga mat cleaner-2

Hey y’all! It’s been a minute since we shared a DIY, but clear off that kitchen counter because this one is easy and essential {har har}! A while back, Katie walked us through different uses for essential oils.  We’ve used them in sunscreen, body scrubs, cleaners and perfumes and today we’ll mix up a potion of DIY yoga mat cleaner that not only cleanses, but also offers the benefits of aromatherapy. I practice on my deck and this DIY yoga mat cleaner cuts through not only my sweat, but also the grime, dust and dirt that builds up on the underside of my mat.

While most studios will have cleansers for you to use after class, I prefer to clean my mat at home. After cleaning, I like to hang my mat on a rack or over a chair for at least twenty minutes so it can dry properly before rolling it up for storage. If I clean my mat in the studio, I never remember to roll it out at home to make sure it dries fully; that’s my brain on yoga drugs. Besides a nice proper cleansing, this DIY yoga mat cleaner is easily customizable. You get to create your own aroma and mood with each batch. Let me walk you through it :

Continue reading