Pure and Simple - Making your own beauty and cleaning products

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THE 'GREEN TAX' 

I decided to start making my own beauty and cleaning products because I simply could not afford to buy the type of products that I wanted in shops. As an animal lover I only want to use plant-based products that are not tested on animals and preferably organic. I noticed that those type of products are always more expensive and therefore out of my reach. 

DROWNING IN PLASTIC

In addition I was increasingly bothered by the amount of packaging I was left to dispose of every time I used shop-bought products. I liked the idea of recycling these plastic bottles and glass jars as containers for my own products. 

BAD HAIR AND SKIN DAY: ITCHY AND SCRATCHY...


I hoped that making my own products would also help me calm my sensitive skin and scalp, made worse by the high levels of stress and anxiety I was experiencing. I even had to see my GP when I woke up covered with red, inflamed, incredibly itchy spots all over my belly, chest and parts of my back. After examining me she declared that the rash was ‘strange’. She concluded it was either a dry skin condition or yet another symptoms of my body being affected by stress. I told her that I often caught myself randomly scratching my arms, scalp and face and digging my nails in when I was particularly ‘agitated’ or frustrated, so I was ready to accept that my mental health issues were affecting my body as well as my mind. 


YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBOURHOOD GREEN WITCH'S BREWS


I started researching what ingredients I would need to make my own, simple products. I looked for advice and recipes from library books, bloggers, YouTube videos and green living online forums and chose some simple, easy to make recipes and gathered what I needed to execute them. 








My basic supplies are:

  • Castile soap: Most of the soaps we can buy in shops are made with animal-based fats or oils and use scents, fragrances and other preservatives. Castile soap is different: it was originally made in the Mediterranean using olive oil and other vegetable-based oils. Pure castile soap is natural, non-toxic, biodegradable and made without any synthetic ingredients. Organic liquid Castile Soap as become the basic for most of my products. I get mine from the Soapery online shop. 
  • Essential Oils: Essential oils are basically plant extracts. My favourite oils are: lavender (for beauty products and room fragrance), rosemary (for hair and scalp products), tea tree (for cleaning products) and Frankincense (for skin products). Rose oil can also be used for skin products but it can be quite expensive. 
  • Carrier oils: Carrier oils are used to dilute the essential oils and help “carry” them into the skin. I use mainly jojoba oil and coconut oil. I also use olive oil for hair and skin products and Castor oil for hair masks.
  • White vinegar and apple vinegar: I use those to make cleaning products.
  • Baking soda: I also use this to make cleaning products.
  • Shea butter: I love the smell of it and I use raw, organic, unrefined shea butter as an ingredient to make a rich body moisturiser.
  • Aloe Vera gel: Another great ingredient for body and face cream recipes.
  • Honey: As a vegetarian, I still use honey and eggs in my cooking. Pure, organic honey is part of my body wash recipe and I also use it for face and hair masks. 


Those are my regular go to ingredients and I am sharing specific beauty and cleaning products recipes with dedicated posts in this blog. 

Location: England, UK

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