DIY Natural Beauty Recipes for Hair, Skin and Body

DIY Recipes for your Hair, Skin, Body and Home - Paula Owens, MS The majority of personal care products and household cleaners on the market today are loaded with additives and chemicals that are harmful to your health, your children’s health, our pets, Mother Nature, and the environment. With just a few simple ingredients, you can make your own natural beauty recipes for hair, skin and body.

Everyday chemicals carry a high toxic burden

Everyday chemicals including organophosphates, flame retardants, parabens and phthalates can be found in food, plastics, furniture, food wrap, cookware, cans, carpets, shower curtains, electronics and the products we use on our skin, hair and body. They’re pretty much everywhere around us. Many of the chemicals found in everyday products are carcinogenic and wreak havoc with our hormones. Chronic exposure increases risk of immune dysfunction, asthma, autoimmunity, liver and brain toxicity, heart disease, and even cancer. Toxic chemicals have a severe impact on the developing brain resulting in neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism, lower IQ and attention-deficit disorders.

In a typical day, we’re exposed to more than 700 brain-altering, hormone-disrupting chemicals found in the food we eat, the water we drink and bathe in, the air we breathe, and the personal care products, household, garden and cleaning products that we use including . . .

Shampoos conditioners, straighteners, dyes and other hair products
Deodorants and antiperspirants
Moisturizers, lotions, shaving gels, sunscreens, insect repellents
Talc and powders
Cosmetics, makeup, nail polish
Detergents, soaps, anti-microbials and sanitizers
Garden, pest and household cleaning products
Perfume, fragrances and cologne
Toothpaste and mouthwash

The average woman applies 515 synthetic chemicals to her body in a single day! Although men use fewer products compared to women, they also apply a toxic soup of chemicals onto their bodies’ everyday too!

96% of the U.S. population has oxybenzone in their bodies, a known endocrine disruptor linked to reduced sperm count in men and endometriosis in women. The main source is SUNSCREENS.

DIY Natural Beauty Recipes for Hair, Skin and Body - Paula Owens, MS, CCN

The majority of personal care products are loaded with harmful chemicals such as parabens. Studies have shown that parabens have an estrogen-mimicking effect on your body that caused diminished muscle mass, extra fat storage, gynecomastia (moobs aka male breast growth), and increased risk of estrogen-dominant cancers.

Many cosmetics, beauty and skincare products contain estrogen-mimicking chemicals, toxic heavy metals and harmful ingredients that deplete your bodies’ natural protective oils, cause microbial imbalances, damage your skin, alter brain function, and disrupt hormone balance. Heavy metals accumulate in the body and have been shown to act as metalloestrogens increasing the estrogenic burden of breast tissue that can increase the risk of breast cancer.

If you don’t want it IN your body, don’t put it ON your body. It’s important to recognize that whatever you apply onto your skin is absorbed into your body and can potentially cause serious damage over time.

Nowadays more than ever, it’s important to be aware of the products you’re using, become an avid label reader, and limit the amount of toxic additives and harmful brain-altering, hormone-disrupting chemicals that you put on your skin and use in and around your home, and gradually switch over to items that are more natural and less harmful.

Get started! Stock up with the basics

With just a few simple ingredients, you can make your own chemical-free household cleaners, non-toxic personal care and natural beauty products.

Aloe vera gel. If you don’t have an aloe plant, visit your local home and garden center and purchase a couple of small aloe plants.
Baking soda and washing soda
Hydrogen peroxide
Borax
Castile soap
Coconut oil
Castor oil
Raw honey
Lemons and limes
Apple cider vinegar and white vinegar are safe, effective and inexpensive household cleaners, deodorizers and disinfectants.
Essential oils: lavender, tea tree, peppermint, frankincense, lemon

DIY Natural Beauty Recipes for Hair, Skin and Body

Some of my favorite DIY natural, non-toxic recipes for hair, skin and body products

Deodorant. Baking soda, coconut oil and lime. Place a small amount of baking soda and coconut oil in your hand, and apply to your armpits. Cut a fresh lime in half and finish up by applying the lime to your armpit area.

Toothpaste. Mix together 2 teaspoons of each: coconut oil, baking soda, Celtic sea salt, and 3-4 drops of clove oil and peppermint oil

Doggy toothpaste. Mix the following together: two tablespoons of coconut oil, one teaspoon of baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt

Teeth whitener. In a small container, add one tablespoon of each: bentonite clay, coconut oil, Celtic sea salt and baking soda. Add a few drops of either essential clove oil or peppermint oil. Stir together.

Whitening mouthwash rinse. Hydrogen peroxide (32 ounce bottle). Add 5-10 drops of each essential oil: peppermint, tea tree, clove, eucalyptus, and wintergreen. Or, make it easy on yourself and add 10-12 drops of “Uncle Harry’s Aromatherapy Tooth & Gum Elixir” to a 32 ounce bottle of hydrogen peroxide.

Deep hair conditioner, volumizer and hair growth formula. One tablespoon of each: hexane-free castor oil, jojoba oil, avocado oil, and coconut oil mixed with 1-2 teaspoon of Epsom salts, 2-3 drops of lavender oil and rosemary oil. Apply to damp hair and massage into scalp once or twice per week. Leave in for 2 hours or overnight if possible. Shampoo afterwards.

Castor oil is a very effective natural hair treatment that helps to increase hair growth, prevent split ends, and nourish and moisturize the scalp. It also has natural anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties that are beneficial for dandruff.

Your hair will really benefit from the healing effects of a good oil treatment, especially if it’s chemically treated.

Shampoo. Wash hair with Castile soap and water. Apply a handful of baking soda while lathering up and massage into scalp. If desired, add your favorite essential oil such as rosemary or lavender. You’ll notice you won’t have to wash your hair as often, and your hair will be a lot fuller and easier to manage.

Hair rinse. Brunettes: one part apple cider vinegar to 4 parts water. Blondes: use either white vinegar or lemon juice (1 part to 4 parts water). This will leave your hair super clean, manageable and shiny!

Relaxing, anti-inflammatory detox bath. 4-6 cups Epsom salts, 1/2 cup baking soda, 4 tablespoons ginger powder, 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar, 1/2 cup bentonite clay, and your favorite essential oils such as 5-10 drops lavender, 5-10 drops frankincense, 5 drops tea tree oil, clary sage, ylang ylang, or patchouli. Chillax, soak and breathe for 15-20 minutes.

Sunscreen. Mix the following together and apply onto your skin: coconut oil and a few drops of either carrot seed oil or raspberry seed oil (organic, of course!). Carrot seed oil has an SPF of 38-40, and raspberry seed oil has an SPF of 28-50.

Fascial mask. Mix the following ingredients together and apply to your face and neck once or twice per week: one teaspoon of bentonite clay, 1-2 tsp. of raw honey and 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, or mix raw honey and avocado together or an egg. Leave on for 12-15 minutes and gently wipe off with a wash cloth.

Nourishing full body exfoliator. Mix the following ingredients together and apply to your body right before showering: 1/4 cup of coconut oil, 4 tablespoons of jojoba oil, 1/4 cup baking soda, 1/4 cup raw honey and 1/2 cup of either sugar, Epsom salts or sea salt. Add a few drops of your favorite essential oils for a natural fragrance if you like.

Facial care. Wash your face with small amount of apple cider vinegar and castile soap. Follow with rose petal alcohol-free witch hazel on a cotton ball and applied to your face. Moisturize with a blend of any of the following: shea butter, jojoba cream, argan oil, aloe vera gel, tamanu oil, coconut oil, pure hyaluronic acid, and a drop or two of frankincense oil.

Facial scrub. One tablespoon raw honey and 1/2 tsp. of Epsom salts or sea salt. Apply gently to face and neck.

Full body skin moisturizer. Aloe vera gel, shea butter, tamanu oil, vitamin E and coconut oil: mix these ingredients together in equal parts. The gel from the aloe plant is moisturizing and healing for burns, hives and inflammation.

DIY Natural Household Product Recipes

Non-toxic Products to Use in the House and Around the Yard

Laundry soap. One half cup of laundry-boosting super washing soda, one cup white vinegar, 1/2 borax and 1/2 cup castile soap or chemical-free laundry soap such as the Zum brand. The only ingredients in the Zum laundry soap are potassium cocoate (saponifed 100% coconut oil), potassium bicarbonate (baking soda), essential oils, and glycerin (vegetable).

Chemical-free pest control. Get rid of nasty critters with this natural chemical-free pest control: bay leaves, borax powder and peppermint oil. Crush up some bay leaves and sprinkle them outside the perimeter of your house along with food-grade diatomaceous earth or borax powder. You can also top off with sprinkling a few drops of peppermint oil. Place bay leaves inside your home too… in the kitchen, behind the fridge, under the sinks, on the counter tops or wherever there are problematic pests.

Mosquito and bug repellent. Fill a 16-20 ounce spray bottle with the following: 7 ounces filtered water, 7 ounces witch hazel, 10 drops citronella, 10 drops eucalyptus, 10 drops lemon essential oil, the juice from both a fresh lime and a fresh lemon, 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract, one tablespoon raw apple cider vinegar.

Wowza weed killer. White vinegar does the job!

Ants, insects and bugs-be-gone. Sprinkle food-grade diatomaceous earth or borax around the outside border of your home to keep pests away. Follow with a few drops of either peppermint oil, cedarwood or tea tree oil.

Mop the floor. Fill a bucket with water, add two cups of white vinegar and a few drops of your favorite essential oil.

Natural disinfectants. Hydrogen peroxide, white vinegar, baking soda, tea tree, lemon, lavender, clove, eucalyptus and thyme oil. Use to clean the sinks, toilet, tub and shower.