Kokum butter uses in soap and skin care

Natural Soaper Wanda M. from He Loves Me Soaps,  made my Orange Tea Tree blemish bar soap, and like any true soaper she tweaked the ingredients to suit her needs.  In this case Wanda used a fabulous natural butter called Kokum in her soap, and created a facial bar to meet the needs of her family.

Kokum butter is a natural emollient, which means it is a moisturizer that makes the skin softer,  aiding in it's elasticity as well as increasing it's hydration by decreasing evaporation. It's ability to improve the skin's tone and texture and prevent and treat dry skin make this butter a great choice for this facial bar. Prized for it's ability as a natural astringent it's addition to this bar makes it a good choice for an acne bar.  Good for all skin types but especially for those with damaged skin, this butter is an excellent healer.

Kokum would be an excellent butter to use in lip balm recipes as it aids in healing of chapped lips. You will see it in the ingredient list of some of Bert's Bees products.

Cracked heals and hands?   Kokum butter would be an excellent addition to lotions and balms.

It's anti-aging properties lend to a great day cream additive as it reduces the degeneration of skin cells and aids in the prevention of wrinkles.   This is a hard butter with a two year shelf life.

Thanks Wanda for drawing our attention to this fabulous natural butter made from the Kokum Tree (Garcinia Indica) native to tropical regions of India.

Places to purchase Kokum butter:   I am not affiliated with any of these shops.
LuxNatures Supplies etsy shop
Essential Wholesale and Labs
Bulk Apothecary
Garden of Wisdom
Wholesales Supplies Plus

Click here for my original recipe, feel free to tweak it to suit your needs ! NOTE:  you should
always run any soap recipe through a lye calculator before making it !!!  Here are a few to try:
Bramble Berry Lye Calc
MMS the Sage lye Calc
9 of the best Lye Calcs


Enjoy,   Anna

How to use Tea in soap

      All natural handcrafted soap made with fresh brewed tea,  sweet meyer lemon and honey !

Tea is prized for it's healthy benefits, why not try it in a beauty bar?

If  you make your own soap, you simply use fresh brewed tea for the liquid in your recipe.

HOW:  Make a strong brew of tea, and freeze it in ice cube trays.

When measuring out your liquid for your soap, use your frozen tea instead measuring just as you would for liquid.  Pour your lye crystals right into your tea cubes and stir until melted and all lye is dissipated into the tea.

I also add 1 -2 TBL of warmed honey at light trace while stick blending. Honey adds it's natural humectant benefits to your beauty bar. Honey and tea are both antibacterial making this a lovely cleansing soap for troubled skin. 

Tea and honey in homemade soap make a great facial bar as well as body bar.

Add sweet meyer lemon, or lemongrass for scent and you have an awesome fresh smelling beauty bar.

Enjoy,   Anna

Lavender benefits and uses.

Lavender is used in many natural bath and body products, in different forms. It is highly prized in the natural beauty market. Here are just a few ways to use lavender in your natural beauty world.....

DRIED IN SACHETS:
As a relaxing herb, dried and placed in small pillows or sachets pinned to ones pillow, or sewn in a sleep mask it is said to promote sleep naturally, and aid in mild insomnia.

BATH BOMBS, BATH SALTS
Grind up the dried bud in a coffee bean grinder and add it to bath bombs and bath salts. It transforms the bath treat into a simply lovely, extraordinary luxury bath.  You can add lavender essential oil to the mixture as well to enhance the aroma. This is said to not only relax and promote good sleep, but aids in headache relief naturally.

1 to 2 cups of epsom salts for a standard sized tub,  and up to 10 drops of lavender essential oil in warm water bath is known to help with muscle aches, restlessness, and promote circulation as the magnesium (naturally occurring mineral in epsom salt) and lavender soak in.   Just so you know, epsom salt baths are not for everyone. Generally they are not recommended for people with heart problems, high blood pressure or diabetes, so always check with your Dr. if you have any health issues.

ANTI BACTERIAL properties of lavender make it a great addition to homemade soap recipes intended to aid in acne relief as it inhibits the bacteria on the surface of the skin.  You can also rub a drop of lavender essential oil on minor bug bites to disinfect, aid in itch relief and promote healing.
ANTI FUNGAL: For a foot soak to help in fungal relief such as athletes foot, add a few drops in warm soapy water.  For a refreshing, regenerating foot soak, add 1/2 cup epsom salt to warm water and lavender.

HEALING: The anti bacterial and anti fungal properties in lavender ward off infection and help reduce scarring and promote healing, so go ahead and use it on cuts, scrapes and insect bites.

FACIAL STEAM:  Do a natural beauty facial steam with lavender essential oil. Pour hot water in a bowl, add a few drops of lavender e.o. to water, drape a towel over your head to trap steamy-lavender mist on your face. Cleanses, promotes circulation, anti-bacterial help for acne.  I like to add green tea to a lavender facial.   More info on facial steaming and a green tea recipe.

SOLID LOTION BARS:
If you make solid lotion bars, try lavender essential oil in them. I keep one on my nightstand and use it before bed to help promote sleep.  The natural oils and butters in the solid lotion pair splendidly with the natural lavender oil to make a skin nourishing, health promoting lotion bar.

I bought my last lavender from a farm in Oregon where it is organically grown. It is by far the most fragrant variety I have used, and very affordably priced. I pinned it in a sachet to my pillow and just barely roll the buds around and the fragrance is intense!

If you'd like to purchase this same lavender click  HERE.

This is an informational blog post, it is not meant to diagnose, or replace the advice of your doctor.


Some sources and more good info:
Medical News Today
WebMd
Everything Lavender

Merry Christmas !

Merry Christmas 

from my family to yours !

We thank God for His unspeakable Gift,

His Son, Jesus Christ.

In whom we find forgiveness of  sin, healing of heart and body, and HOPE !

Natural facial care: Cleansing Grains

All natural Cleansing Grains are a way to naturally cleanse your face without harsh chemicals, and skin drying detergents. All natural goodness, simply applied, leaving you with glowing youthful skin.

Serving two purposes in one natural product, these hugely popular grains are becoming well known in the natural beauty world.   Not only can they be used as a lovely cleanser, but also as a
beautifying, de-tox face mask that does not strip natural oils.

The various grains, botanicals and oils used in each recipe allows for individual skin needs.

At Natures Home Spa we have found them to be an AMAZING product.   From problem skin to normal/combination skin to maturing skin, Cleansing Grains are a unique and extraordinary natural skin care product.  One step cleansing.  How easy is that.

First, the desired natural ingredients are gathered.  This can include botanicals such as rose petals, rose hips, lavender etc.  Clays can be added.  Grains like oats and gram flour are added along with skin nourishing oils like Tamanu, rose hip, carrot, sunflower, jojoba etc.  Ground almonds, etc.

This combination cleanses, exfoliates, and nourishes skin. 

Why exfoliate?  Exfoliating helps the natural process of skin renewal as it removes the dead, dry skin cells, dirt, and oils that clog our pores, stimulating cell regeneration,  and increasing circulation. Skin is softer and smoother looking and feeling, as well as healthier, enabling it to perform it's duties in detoxing and protecting our face. Facial skin is now prepared to absorb and be nourished by the natural ingredients of the grains.

What exactly are Cleansing Grains then?  They are a unique recipe of collected natural ingredients ground together to create a lovely powdery-grainy product, that you hydrate with water and apply to your wet face.

You massage it in and rinse off as a cleanser,  or you leave it on for a few minutes  to dry, then

simply rinse off. 

Skin is left cleansed, de-toxed, hydrated and most importantly not stripped of it's natural oils. 

HOW TO HYDRATE and ACTIVATE GRAINS:

Simply use water or...

You can get creative and can hydrate your grains with milk, or fresh fruit like mashed banana, peaches, strawberries for your own individualized facial mask.  Cultured milks like yogurt, sour cream and buttermilk also make a nice hydrator.     

HOW TO USE:

CLEANSER: You put a scant 1/4 tsp in the palm of your hand, add a few drops of warm water and mix in your palm. Apply to damp face. Massage in, rinse in warm water, ending with a splash of cool water.

MASK:  Use  1/4 - 1/2 tsp grains in palm or small ramekin sized bowl, mix with desired hydrator, (water, milk etc)  massage into skin, allow to dry, rinse off. 

Natural grains, herbs, botanicals, and oils are a lovely way to cleanse, restore, heal, and keep your skin healthy An ounce  will cleanse your face 22 times to my count !   You will be astonished after one use,  your skin will feel soft, hydrated and healthy.

Enjoy,  Anna