DIY Christmas Bath and Body Gifts

 Bath Melt Recipe

I was inspired by Ksenija (Xenia) over at SenMi Natural Soap Works to try this beautifully simple Bath Melt recipe with only 3 ingredients and an essential oil of choice.    It turned out lovely.  It will make a nice Christmas gift on its own, but read on and you'll see how I paired it with a luxurious and easy Milk Bath, to make an exceptional homemade Bath Gift Set for Christmas.  Easy and affordable. Recipe made 5 melts, you can double of course.
NOTE: this recipe smells yummy but it is NOT for EATING, it is to be used in your bath water.

Recipe:    

• 100 grams baking soda (3.5 oz or almost 1 cup)
• 50 grams cocoa butter (1.8 oz or almost 1/2 cup melted)
• 1 Tablespoon milk powder, full fat is best not skim
• 10 drops of Essential oil of your choice and strength

Her recipe was in Serbian so I did my best to Americanize it!  Basically,  you have a 2 to 1 ratio of baking soda to cocoa butter. 

Melt cocoa butter in microwave.  Add baking soda after getting all lumps out.  Stir well.   Add milk powder after getting all lumps out, putting it thru a small strainer helps.  Stir well.  Add Essential oil and stir well.  Work quickly as it goes smoother into the mold if it has not cooled too much.  I used a mini muffin pan for my mold.  These bath melts should not be made large as it is too much oil for the soak.  Small is good.   Spoon into molds and top with dried rose petals, lavender or tea leaves.  Allow

to set up then put in frig for 15 minuets to harden.

Usage: One bath melt per bath. Hold your bath melt under the hot running water of your tub and it will melt slowly and disperse beautifully. Smells heavenly. Will be slippery.

Now for some fun...... I made a simple 3 ingredient milk bath and put it in a small muslin bag that I purchased at a local health food store for .19 cents and paired it with the Bath truffle for a nice gift......

Milk Bath Recipe

• 1 cup corn starch
• 1 cup baking soda
• 4 cups dried milk
• 10 drops essential oil, your choice

This recipe makes 6 cups or 12 baths.
Mix dry ingredients in bowl, add E.O. of
your choice and strength, mix well.


Put 1/2 cup milk bath into
muslin bag, or glass jar for gift giving.

 For the final product, I put the milk bath in a
cellophane bag and tied with raffia.






Usage:  1/2 cup milk bath and 1 bath melt
              used together in 1 bath, or use separately.

Perfect for dry winter months, to pamper and keep
skin soft and moisturized. Product is not to be consumed, it is a natural ingredient bath product.

Enjoy,   Anna

Oatmeal Facial Soothing Toner recipe

Updated: 1/7/21

 

       To soothe and hydrate your skin during dry winter months, grab the oatmeal!

 

The comfort food of many a cold morning just became your face’s best comfort!

Oatmeal has hydrating, moisturizing properties as well as salicylic acid which is known to naturally calm irritated skin. A great soothing agent.

Take a 1/2 cup of the oats and soak them in tepid water. Soak for 4-5 minutes. Stir to release the milky infusion. Pour off the milky water into another bowl. Splash the oat water on your face. Do not rinse. Your face will feel lovely.

                       

You can use oat milk in homemade soap recipes, and other natural skin care as well.                            

Above: Oatmeal, Milk and Honey soap with Carrot Puree and oat milk.

Quick Beauty Tips : Rice Flour Mask DIY recipe

photo source unknown

           Used by Asia women for centuries in their skin care rituals.  Rice Flour helps to even out pigmentation, anti-aging wrinkle care as well as helping soothe troubled skin and inflamed acne. An emollient rich skin treatment that helps maintain soft, smooth and supple skin. Giving you  brighter, clearer  toned skin and radiant glow.
Rice flour is simply rice ground to a powder. Make your own rice flour in a blender or coffee grinder. It will not be smooth as flour, it will be a little gritty, which is good for making an exfollient face mask.
After grinding your rice, simply mix equal parts of rice flour and warmed honey in a small bowl and stir until a smooth consistency. If its too thick add a small amount of green tea (great antioxidant) or milk, or plain water to get your desired consistency.
Apply to face with fingers or use a soft cosmetic brush. Leave on 15 minutes or so, then massage your face about 30 seconds and rinse with warm water, followed by a cool splash of water.  Absolutely lovely.

photo from internet, source unknown

   

Homemade Coffee Scrub Recipe

            This skin softening, invigorating, natural treatment is used in spas around the world...
                                               and in our own  Home Spa's for pennies!

photo source flikr

Coffee, America's great morning picker-upper is a great exfoliator too!   And the perfect

addition to your home-spa pantry. Use your favorite coffee in a fragrant, pampering body scrub.

Want to be resourceful?  *Save your morning grounds and mix them into a scrub to be used the 

same day.

Why coffee?   Coffee grounds are a natural exfoliator. Exfoliation is the removal of dead, dry skin cells that collect on the outer surface of the skin. The coffee buffs these unwanted cells off and speeds up our own skins natural renewal process, producing healthy glowing skin.   Also, coffee's natural caffein content is used as a topical treatment for cellulite, as it dilates blood vessels which increases speed and volume of blood flow.  Which, in theory, helps remove excess water from our tissue, thus improving the skins appearance and tone, according to the University of Sao Paulo 2008 study.   (ok girls, we all know we cannot fully get rid of our cellulite, but we can reduce the appearance of it , weight loss is also key).   

Note: We are talking about a body scrub here, not a facial scrub.  Facial scrubs are composed more gentle than body scrubs.

Ever wonder why you have alligator skin legs even after using quality lotion?  Its time to exfoliate.

When you exfoliate your legs, for example, you unclog the pores, allowing your skin to absorb the necessary moisture it needs. The healthy benefits in your quality lotion can now actually get to their destination in your dry legs. ( feet, heels etc ). Dull skin comes alive, leaving you with a natural glow

and beautiful soft skin. 

How: Apply this in the shower, it will be slippery, or sitting on tub side.  Take a  palm full of scrub and apply in a circular motion, paying attention to cellulite areas, small varicose vein areas, and dry skin areas. 

RECIPE for one use:   Basic Coffee Scrub 

• 3 TBL coffee grounds;   Use new grounds for the greatest application of caffein.  
• 1 TBL natural oil of your choice:  like olive oil, grapeseed, coconut (melted), almond etc.. Don't use any petroleum based oil as this will clog pores!  Olive has a heavier feel, is naturally hypoallergenic and is full of vitamin A and E , helps repair skin....grapeseed oil is lighter in feel, silky, not oily, and penetrates the skin quickly. It is cheaper than olive oil and is easily found in the grocery store with the other oils. This is a great choice for scrubs as it has almost no scent and is good for sensitive skin. Great for cooking too.
• 1 TBL sugar:  white or brown or a mixture of both.
• Mix all dry ingredients, then add oil (s).  Oil amount is your preference based on how much coffee grounds you are using.  Make this in single use amounts, or make a larger batch and store in frig if you used wet grounds. Final scrub consistency is your perogative, some like more oil than others, some like it dryer. Experiment. There's no wrong or right.

RECIPE:   Mocha Spice

• 1 TBL Cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• Add to the basic coffee scrub recipe above,s dry ingredients, then add oil (s)
• optional :  vanilla

   NOTE:  Don't exfoliate skin with rashes or abrasions

*NOTE: I recommend using fresh coffee grounds as the caffeine content is not depleted. However, if               you use, used grounds for your scrub, dry them out first, you don't want

            to introduce water into your scrub, it breeds bacteria. You can use your wet

            grounds if you make a one time use scrub and use it that same day. 

photo source flikr

                Check out my coffee soap recipe you can make yourself, full tutorial ! 

thanks for stopping by,  Anna

      

Goats Milk and Carrot Soap

                               Beautifully natural carrots, honey, oatmeal and goats milk soap.

    This homemade soap was created with my teens in mind. I wanted a pure, clean soap for them to use on their skin and face that wouldn't dry them out and overstimulate their oil glands, which is what causes more break outs.   A natural soap like this is suitable for all skin types, it is very gentle, cleans beautifully and leaves the skin feeling really nice, not taunt like you feel after using a detergent soap.

    CAROTTS have extraordinary skin protection (from UVR) and conditioning benefits naturally.  It's vitamin A is great for cell growth, as well as antioxidant benefits for that troubled acne prone skin while it's vitamin C  promotes skin elasticity.
    Carrots contain valuable nutrients like glucose, iron, copper, Vitamins C, D, E, K and most importantly carotene.   The vitamin C stimulates collagen production, naturally.

    Goats milk went in next, along with honey ( I LOVE to use honey in my soaps ) topped off with
oatmeal, ground fine.  Sweet Almond oil along with coconut oil, shea butter and beeswax add that luxurious touch.    The scent is very natural, light, almost a slight licorice scent. Very nice.

Made the hot process method, ready to use in 1 day.  Makes a great lather.
   For more details, or how-to's of my recipe,  just leave a comment below, and I'd be happy to help you make this bar.

Here is a link to the Bathmistress Youtube tutorial on how to incorporate carrot baby food into soap. Baby food is an easy  puree to use, lots of  new ideas here ladies!!   I tried it with baby applesauce, and I absolute love the soap. So fresh.

Find recipe in comments below..

 Enjoy,    Anna

Carrot Apple and Goats Milk Soap Recipe

                                   Made with raw goats milk, carrot puree, apple puree and honey

    I had a blast creating this soap recipe!  It's a great combination of oils, milk, honey, fruit and vegetable purees, and not as hard to make as it sounds.

    The carrot puree forms the bottom layer, the apple puree forms the top layer and is separated by
a light line of clove spice.  It smells divine. So fresh. The total batch weight was 50 oz, and to that
I only added .5 oz of Almond Biscotti fragrance oil from Brambleberry for scent, bottom layer
only.  I wanted the natural scent to come through.  Topped with a  dusting of cinnamon.

    This was done the cold process method.  For the carrot layer I used 7 oz of carrot puree and 6 oz of fresh, raw goats milk that I had frozen in ice cube trays, for a total of 13 oz liquid.

    For the oils I used Olive oil, Coconut oil, Cocoa butter, Palm/Soybean oil, Shea butter and 2oz of beeswax.  Total oils: 37 oz    This combination made a great lathering bar, light fresh scent, unique
color, with simply outstanding skin loving properties, here are a few.......

    Olive oil, moisturizing oil that allows the skin to breath, softens skin, won't clog pores.
    Coconut oil,  lovely, lovely coconut oil.  Ah....moisturizing, soothing, protecting.
    Shea butter, made from the nut of the Karite tree that only grows in Africa.  The beautifying shea butter battles skin thinning, helps in collogen developement, decreases wrinkles caused by sun, diminishes appearance of scars, stretch marks, cracked heals. It's a soother after shaving, high in Vitamins A and E.   A great addition to any luxury bar of soap.
    Cocoa butter, excellent moisturizer, has the ability to penetrate the upper layer of skin
reaching the lower layer to repair and moisturize, leaving your skin feeling SO good.  A strong presence of antioxidants that fights free radicals plus an abundance of vitamin E make cocoa butter irreplaceable.   In soap, it helps to make a harder bar.
    Honey, antioxidant, antibacterial, naturally moisturizing, beautiful honey!

    Just a quick overview!  If you have questions or would like step by step how to incorporate
purees into your soap, just comment below and I will be happy to oblige!
Enjoy,  Anna