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December 28, 2009

Heart Soap

Dugshop makes this vegan pomegranate heart-shaped soap: anatomazing! [via Street Anatomy]

December 8, 2009

Homemade Body Oils

(Photo: Flickr User Brown Butter Beauty / Etsy Shop)

By Julia Comey

I have always been a beauty junkie and love a good body moisturizing oil. I started making my homemade body oils a few years ago and now I can't stop. I still purchase oils because I enjoy supporting beauty brands, but I love making my own oils even more.

The key to homemade oils is the type of oils for scenting. There are fragrance oils and essential oils which you must pay attention to. Essential oils cannot be applied directly to the skin, but fragrance oils can be applied directly to the skin. Also, essential oils have been known to have healing properties, while fragrance oils are for your pure beauty enjoyment. I go back and forth between both. In the study of Ayurveda, oils can aid in many ailments. When I want a perfect oil to accent my standard lotion I use sweet almond oil with 5-10 drops of honeysuckle and jasmine essential oils. This can be worn alone or with a scent. It's fun to experiment and play with all the combinations!

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November 18, 2009

Apple Face Mask

Header Supercraftykidz

Apple Face Mask, excerpt from The Natural Beauty Book
By Anne Akers Johnson

Mask are intensive treatments and should be limited to your once-a-week routine. Choose one that is well suited to your skin.

Facial Mask Basics

1. Before applying a mask, find a place where you can lie back without being disturbed. Spread a towel out where you will rest your head in case your mask drips.

2. Choose and prepare a recipe.

3. Pull your hair back off your face. Pull long hair back into a ponytail.

4. Wash your face so it's nice and clean.

5. Run a washcloth under warm water, squeeze it out and hold it over your face for a few seconds to dampen your face. If you've just had a steam, skip this step.

6. Apply the mask all over your face and neck (if you like), avoiding your eye area. Lie back and let the mask work for 10-15 minutes. If it starts to feel itchy or uncomfortable, less time is OK.

7. If your mask is particularly chunky (like oatmeal) use your washcloth to gently wipe it off your face, shaking the bits of mask into the trash (this is the trick to avoiding clogged drains). Once it's mostly off, rinse your face in warm water.

Beauty Book Facemasks

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November 3, 2009

How-To: Brown Sugar Scrub Gifts

CRAFT: Super Crafty Kidz

I am not a parent, but I was a full-time nanny for 5 years. One of my favorite things was helping kids make creative and crafty gifts. All the children that I cared for loved making this Sugar Scrub. It's the easiest thing in the world to put together, and in the end, it's a gift for mom (or anyone!). Kids know that no one will let them eat a bowl of pure sugar, but they sure love measuring and mixing it. Imagine leaving your little ones with the sitter, some sugar, and this tutorial, and then coming home to a pile of completed holiday gifts! All I ask is that you make sure the nanny gets to take one home too!

Look for Natalie Zee Drieu's posts later this month on more kid-friendly projects from the Klutz Natural Beauty Book.

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August 27, 2009

How-To: Make Your Own Perfume

Head on over to Indie Fixx where Meredith of Sweet Anthem teaches you the art of making your own perfume.

July 18, 2009

How-To: Vegan Lip Balm

Sarah James at Instructables is at it again with another DIY beauty product: vegan lip balm. Learn all the basics for this bee-free kisser balm.

More:

May 17, 2009

Egg White Face Mask

Howto Eggmask
Melanie at The Beauty Stop shows you how to make an egg white face mask to help minimize pores.

Melanie writes:

Need a quick, simple and cheap way to shrink your pores? Look no further than your refrigerator! The answer lies in egg whites! Egg whites contain Lysozyme, an enzyme whose main function is to digest bacterial cell walls. In some studies Lysozyme has been shown to stop spoilage (such as in wine making) and is added as a natural preservative to some foods. Some even use this mask to clear blackheads.

May 6, 2009

Mother's Day: Homemade Hand Scrub

CRAFT: Make It for Mom
Homemade Hand Scrub
By Katie Goodman

Handscrub Finishedproduct

As an avid cook and a mother of two young children, I find myself constantly washing my hands. As a result, I suffer from very dry skin. Living in a dry climate doesn't exactly help with that either. I've tried all kinds of lotions, but when it comes down to it, I realized that the lotions don't have a lot of time to do much good when I'll be washing my hands again in five minutes. What I needed was something that moisturized as I washed my skin, rather than removing the much-needed natural oils.

Olive oil moisturizes the skin, lemon freshens and is especially good for removing onion and garlic odors from the skin, and the sugar/salt combo exfoliates dry skin and renews the appearance of your hands. Salt can be drying, so you wouldn't want to make the scrub entirely of salt, but I added a bit for some coarser pieces. If you'd rather, simply replace the amount designated for the salt with additional sugar.

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May 1, 2009

MiSpa Special Handmade Bath & Beauty Gift Set

Mispa Giftbox
MiSpa features bath and beauty products by Mimie Wong that are made with natural and rice-based ingredients. ("Mi" is rice in Chinese.) I've been a fan of Mimie's handmade goodies for years now, especially her lotion that's paraben-free. You just know that it's good stuff for your skin, plus they all smell so good! My new favorite item is her rice soaps because it doesn't leave your skin dry like other soaps.

But wait! On sale today is MiSpa's special gift box, flora-licious, featuring a bevy of her handmade beauty products and additional samples from sponsors. And just for *today only* you can get this entire gift box that's beautifully wrapped for only $22.50 (regular $45). It's a great gift for Mom for Mother's Day or heck, treat yourself to this box of goodies. It's such a great deal. Hurry though, because quantities are limited.
Thanks to Mimie, she's giving CRAFT Readers free shipping! Just enter FREECRAFT for orders over $20, until May 15th.

MiSpa has a special gift deal each month so sign up for her newsletter to get notified for the next one!

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April 30, 2009

How To: Reusable Makeup Remover Pads

Makeupremoverpads

Part of my nightly cleansing routine is to wash my face and use toner applied with disposable cotton pads. I always thought it was a waste that I had to apply it on and throw it away. That's why this tutorial on how to make reusable makeup pads from a charm square and some scrap Minky fabric caught my eye. Apparently, they feel even softer when applied to your face! [ via CraftStylish ]

April 9, 2009

Cream 101: Make Your Own Face Cream

Cream101 1
Sarah Powell from Lilith's Apothecary takes a visit to Handmade in PA, showing you the basics of how to make a simple facial cream with infused herbs in her Cream 101 tutorial.

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