Use simple, easily available ingredients to make your own cosmetics, personal care products and cleaning products. If you want to try today, you will find easy-to-make recipes for natural eco-friendly cometics stored in glass jars. DIY cosmetics are a great zero waste gift idea.
Deodorant
Basic:
2
parts baking soda (or one part baking soda and one part potato
starch)
3 parts coconut oil
A few drops of essential oils
Place a jar with coconut oil in a pot of water. Heat the water until the oil melts completely. Add the other ingredients. If you want a scent, add a few drops of your favourite essential oil or the mixture of oils. Store in a jar.
Advanced:
1/4
cup baking soda
1/4 cup arrowroot powder
4 spoons coconut
oil
10 drops grapefruit essential oil (or another essential oil)
Mix dry ingredients, add liquid coconut oil (heat beforehand) and essential oils. This amount should last about 4-5 months. Store in a closed jar.
Bath bombs
Basic:
200
g baking soda
100 g citric acid
ca. 30 g olive oil
a
teaspoon of vanilla sugar, cinnamon, or another spice/scent.
Mix baking soda with citric acid. Add olive oil, then sugar or scent. The paste should have a consistency of wet sand! Add more olive oil if needed. Place the paste in moulds, press firmly and leave for a couple of hours to dry.
Advanced:
100
g baking soda
50 g citric acid
25 g clay/salt/herbs/flakes
25
g potato starch
3-5 drops of essential oil
30 g coconut oil
Mix baking soda, citric acid, herbs and starch in a container, melt coconut oil in a hot water bath and pour it into the mixture. Next, add your favourite essential oil, mix en pour into moulds or form bath bombs.
Flaxseed hair mask for all hair types
1
spoon of flaxseed
glass of water
Place the ingredients in a pot and boil for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Filter the liquid, let it cool down. Then apply to damp hair and wrap your hair in a towel. Let it sit for 30 minutes, rinse thouroughly. This hair mask provides intensive nourishement. Your hair will be smooth and shiny right after first use. Flaxseed is cheap and easy to find. You can buy it by weight using your own container.
Magnesium oil
Basic:
33
g magnesium chloride hexahydrate
66 g (ml) distilled
water
essential oil
Heat the water but don’t let it boil. Place magnesium chloride in a glass container, pour heated water, mix with a plastic of wooden spoon until chloride melts (don’t use a metal spoon). Add your favourite essential oils and pour the mixture into sterilised spray bottles.
Advanced:
You
can use Epsom salts instead of magnesium chloride hexahydrate. You
can substitute pure distilled water with a herbal infusion or a brew
prepared with distilled water.
If you feel that magnesium oil is not effective enough as a deodorant, you can use more salt, at a 1:1 ratio (i.e. 50 g distilled water + 50 g magnesium chloride). If the oil is too powerful, you can use less chloride/salt and optionally increase the amount after your skin gets used to magnesium oil. Don’t use on irritated skin.
Toothpaste
6
spoons coconut oil (preferably unrefined)
3 spoons baking soda
2
spoons xylitol
Heat the oil so you can easily stir it, but don’t let it melt completely. This would cause baking soda to sink and would make it difficult to mix all the ingredients evenly. Add baking soda and xylitol. If necessary, you can ground xylitol crystals in a mortar. Mix all the ingredients and wait for the toothpaste to solidify. Stir occasionally to prevent baking soda from sinking. You can store this mixture in room temperature.
Coffee body scrub
1/2
cup coffee grounds
1/4 cup of your favourite oil
(optional)
your favourite essential oils
Gradually add oil to coffee grounds until you have a thick paste. Apply body scrub on wet skin. Store your body scrub in a jar.
Lipstick
1 spoon beeswax
1-2 spoons coconut oil
1 spoon vaseline, cooking oil or old lipsticks
Place the ingredients in a glass container and place it in a pot of water so that the ingredients heat up but don’t mix with water. Stirr well, then pour into an old lipstick container or another small container (a tiny jar, contact lenses case etc.). Allow the lipstick to cool down. Now it’s ready to use!
Dry shampoo
100
g potato starch
cinnamon or cocoa powder
Pour potato starch in a glass jar, add cinnamon (if you’re blond) or cocoa powder (if you have dark hair). Mix, adding the colour ingredient gradually until shampoo has the same colour as your hair. Apply shampoo to your hair roots, wait 30 seconds and brush it out. Potato starch will absorb excess sebum and leave your hair clean.