Make Your Own Beauty Products

Conventional personal-care products contains an assortment of chemicals, including some that have been linked to health problems ranging from weight gain to cancer risk. While many natural and organic options exist, these can be pricey. Stay healthy—and save money—with homemade body, hair care and beauty products free of chemical preservatives.

Homemade Body-Care and Soap Recipes

Milk and Honey Soap
Soothing and gently exfoliating, this creamy bar has the comforting scent of vanilla.
Simply Lavender Soap
This easy lavender soap recipe is perfect for the first-time soap maker.
Super-Healing Hand Balm
Soothe dry, chapped hands with this all-natural hand balm made with healing comfrey—perfect for those who work with their hands.
Homemade Body and Facial Scrubs
Reveal fresh, healthy skin with homemade scrubs crafted from simple ingredients in your kitchen cupboard.
• Featured body-care recipes: Bee Gorgeous Face and Body Scrub; Playing Footsie Foot Scrub
Healing Herbal Salve
Treat itchy, dry skin with a homemade herbal salve.
How to Make Your Own Lotion, Lip Balm and Salve
Making your own lotion, lip balm and salve is fun and rewarding—and easier than you might think.
• Featured body-care recipes: Basic Lotion Recipe; Salve Recipe

Homemade Hair Care

Shimmer and Shine: Homemade Shampoo and Conditioner
Give your hair the love it deserves with natural shampoos, conditioners and rinses.
No-Dandruff Rinse
Deep cleanser your scalp and rid it of dead skin cells with this herbal and vinegar rinse.
Hair Softening Rinse
Get your super clean—and leave it soft and shiny—with this hair rinse.

Homemade Skin Care and Lip Balm Recipes

Herbal Skin Care Recipes
Freshen up with herb-based recipes for your face.
• Featured skin care recipes: Lavender Facial Wash; Red Clover Whipped Lotion; Rose Petal Facial Toner; Dandelion-Elder Flower Blemish Lightener; Lemon Lip Balm
Homemade Body and Facial Scrubs
Reveal fresh, healthy skin with homemade scrubs crafted from simple ingredients in your kitchen cupboard.
• Featured skin care recipes: Bee Gorgeous Face and Body Scrub; Spot the Difference Face Scrub
Fresh Grapefruit Cleanser
Perfect for oily skin types, this cleanser is mildly acidic and astringent.
Oatmeal Cleanser
A mild exfoliant, this oatmeal facial cleanser can soothe dry or irritated skin.
Gentle Cleanser
A good alternative to harsh soap, this gentle cleanser’s soothing properties make it especially good for sensitive or mature skin.
Homemade Lip Balm
Leave your lips feeling luscious and quenched with this simple recipe for homemade lip balm.
How to Make Your Own Lotion, Lip Balm and Salve
Making your own lotion, lip balm and salve is fun and rewarding—and easier than you might think.

~Country Mama~

Top Ingredients to Avoid in Personal Care Products

Not sure which ingredients to avoid on lotion, shampoo and deodorant labels? Use this handy guide to buy with confidence.

By Kelly Lerner and Alli Kingfisher
September/October 2011 

Lotion and sunscreen. Shampoo and body scrub. Powder and deodorant. The collection of personal-care products in our bathroom cabinets—women use an average of 12 a day, men six—contains an assortment of chemicals, including some that have been shown to disrupt hormones or increase cancer risk. Because each of these products contains about 12 chemicals, we are literally bathing, lathering, brushing, spraying, powdering and rubbing ourselves and our children with dozens of chemicals every day. Nearly all of these chemicals can penetrate the skin, and some we ingest directly from our lips or hands.

Choose sensuous natural fabrics and comforting vintage finds for your sleep space.  ...

While many of the chemicals used in common personal-care products are benign, some are known carcinogens, neurotoxins or reproductive toxins. Others are endocrine disrupters that upset the body’s hormonal balance (leading to weight gain and other hormone-related health problems), including chemicals that mimic estrogen in the body and can cause problems in sexual development and adult sexual function, as well as increase the risk of breast and prostate cancer.
Unfortunately, these toxic ingredients may be more prevalent than you think: More than one-third of all personal-care products contain at least one ingredient linked to cancer. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, as less than 20 percent of the chemicals in personal-care products have been tested for safety. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) doesn’t regulate or limit the use of chemicals in personal-care products or require that all of the ingredients be listed on the label.
As a result, trying to choose safer personal-care products can be confounding. You can read labels, but because the FDA doesn’t regulate the health claims or labeling for personal-care items, the words “organic,” “herbal,” “natural,” “hypoallergenic” and “nontoxic” used on these products have no legal meaning. One particularly maddening example of this is the “pink-washing” of brands that have campaigns to fight breast cancer while continuing to use chemicals that have been linked to cancer.
No one should have to worry about inadvertently choosing toxic products while shopping in the personal-care aisle. That’s why a group of organizations, including the Breast Cancer Fund, have come together to form The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a coalition working to eliminate dangerous chemicals from cosmetics and personal-care products through legislative, regulatory and corporate reforms.

But you don’t have to wait for major reforms to find safer  products. Here’s what you can do today to protect and promote your health and safeguard your family:

*Ingredients to Avoid 

*Prefixes Ethyl, Methyl, Butyl or Propyl
What It Is: Parabens
Health Risks: Endocrine disrupters that mimic estrogen; linked to weight gain and breast cancer
Found In: Lotions and shampoos

*Fragrance, DEHP, DHP, DBP 5, Dibutyl Phthalate
What It Is: Phthalates
Health Risks: Sperm damage, infertility
Found In: Nail polish, shampoo, deodorant, lotion

*Dyes: Blue 1, Green 3, Yellow 5 & 6, Red 33
What It Is: Coal tar
Health Risks: Carcinogenic
Found In: Hair color, medicated shampoos

*Triclosan, Chloro, Phenol, Irgasan
What It Is: Triclosan
Health Risks: Endocrine and thyroid disrupter; promotes antibiotic-resistant bacteria; bioaccumulates in the body
Found In: Antibacterial soap, shampoo, facial cleanser, toothpaste, deodorant

*3-(4-methylbenzylidene)-camphor (4-MBC), octyl-methoxycinnamate (OMC), octyl-dimethyl-PABA (OD-PABA), bexophenome-3 (Bp-3), homosalate (HMS)
What It Is: Sunscreen chemicals
Health Risks: Estrogenic activity; enhances the potential for pesticides to penetrate the skin.

*Polyethylene glycol (PEG, PPG, Cocoate), propylene glycol, polyoxyethylene, polyethoxyethylene, polyethoxyethylene mineral oil
What It Is: Petroleum byproducts
Health Risks: Carcinogen; liver and kidney effects
Found In: Lotions

*Petrolatum 

What It Is: Derivative of petroleum
Health Risks: Endocrine disrupter; carcinogen
Found In: Lotions

*Lead acetate, thimerosal, mercurius solubilis, mercurius sublimates, mercurius corrosives, mercuric chloride
What It Is: Lead and mercury
Health Risks: Found in higher levels in women with breast cancer; neurotoxin
Found In: Hair color, wound treatments, artificial tears

*Isobutene
What It Is: Propellant made from petroleum processing
Health Risks: Carcinogen
Found In: Moisturizer, shaving cream, foot spray, breath freshener

*Placenta
What It Is: Placenta, placental enzymes, placental extract
Health Risks: Filled with hormones that upset your own balance and increase estrogen
Found In: Skin and hair conditioner

*Hydroquinone
What It Is: Hydroquinone
Health Risks: Can cause a skin disease called ochronosis
Found In: Skin whitener

*Nano zinc oxide What It Is: Nanoparticles
Health Risks: The safety of nanoparticles has not been tested, but they can cross the blood/brain barrier and move along nerves.
Found In: Sunscreens, lotions

A year studying sustainability in Sweden prompted Kelly Lerner and Alli Kingfisher to revamp their personal-care products. The more they find out about the effects of toxic ingredients, the more they read labels and change what they buy. 

Let's think about what goes "ON" our bodies as much as what goes "IN" our bodies.

~Country Mama~

Me Go Back To School????

       
      I am thinking of taking some online classes for Fitness and Nutrition. I will know more for sure in the next few days, I am going to try to get enrolled for Fall classes. If I apply myself I can have a degree in about 6 months. I'm really excited and eager to get a degree and then to try to open or work in a fitness club. {An all women's of course!}

 But I am also leaning towards becoming a health coach, which would take about a year or so to get a degree, but then again it does pay quite a bit more money! Of course, it also costs more money to get the degree.

I gota pray about it and see what God wants me to do.

   

~Country Mama~
 

Homemade Deodorant

     I made {again} my own homemade deodorant, I got it from here this time  The Sensible Mom but I put mine in the fridge to make sure it would harden. But then I decided to liquify it again and add essential oils to make it SMELL great! Then I put it back in the fridge to harden back up.

     It smells GREAT!!! Even my husband said so! And to top it all off I have enough deo. now for about...oh I don't know maybe 3 months or longer. I love making my "own homemade" things...to know "I" made it and usually it is even better than store bought, not to mention cheaper! I love that feeling. 

     I just happened to have 2 of my husbands empty deo. containers and filled them up then I also filled two small containers of it, so needless to say I have quite enough for awhile. I do so love it! 

     Thanks for the recipe Sandra  I will be back to look for more homemade recipes you may have.

 ~Country Mama~

A Handbag Contest....

Head on over to Bagluxe.com and enter for your chance to win a lovely handbag! 

 

Good Luck and have a great day today!  

~Country Mama~

It's such a shame...

That the world has turned out the way it has. When you have to worry about if your children are really talking to other children or a pervert!!! My 12 year old gets on 'horseland" and she has a hard time understanding why she can not tell "to much" about herself because the people she is chatting with may not be a 12 or 13 year old girl like they say. 

My children are pure and innocent they do not watch TV, just the CD or DVD movies we approve of. We also home school and they do not sleep over at other peoples houses either for fear of other children corrupting my girls. And when I here someone say..."Well they have to grow up sometime" or "You can't shelter them forever" your right I can't, but I sure can keep them pure and innocent for as long as I can!!!!!!!!!!

It's a sure sign that the Lord is coming back soon, this world is so bad and people are so corrupt, cruel and sinful!

Well I've vented enough for now, LOL. So I pray we all get ready to stand in front of God and give an account for EVERYTHING we have done...Good or Bad. 

~Country Mama~

Alot of things have happened lately...

My husband got hurt and has been out of a job since April 16th. So things have changed quite a bit around here. First we had to move to a less expensive place which has more land and alot less money, but it was not fenced in and we did not have the money to do it. So we had to sell our horses, but not until one of our dogs killed 6 or 7 of our chickens. So we got rid of that dog! We now have only 1 dog and 4 chickens and 1 rooster left.

The house is an old farm house, 5 bedrooms but only 1 bathroom. We put ALOT of work into it, but it really looks good now,  at least on the inside. The outside still has alot of work to be done to it.

Roy goes back to the doctor on Thursday and hopefully he can start back to work again. I am trying to find work online or even take a course online and get me a degree of some kind!?!

~Country Mama~