Skincare Without Chemical Store-Bought Cosmetics:

Natural skin care, personal experience with homemade, chemical-free cosmetics

When I started going shampoo-free, I also wanted to get rid of other beauty-care products in my home. I've never been a keen user of beauty-care products, but like almost any woman, I sometimes enjoyed shopping for something "special" for myself and applying it on my skin. And, of course, I thought that this is the way to care for myself. As I got interested more and more into everything homemade, I also learnt the ugly truth of "beauty-care" industry. "Skin-care" and "beauty-care" isn't always health-care as well. In fact, the word "care" shouldn't even be there... To me it was the eye-opener: I was one of those women who put on herself creams and lotions doing more harm, than good. That simply wasn't beauty care or skincare as I thought. I was blindly following what advertising industry told me and what other women, influenced by the same enormous power of professional advertising, advised. 

It wasn't a change I made in one day. I didn't throw out those few bottles of creams, skin tonics and lotions I had. I slowly started moving to a change - away from store bought cosmetics. Since childhood I knew some natural skincare/beauty-care ways, now I had to learn more. What a wonderful world I discovered!

These are my main discoveries so far: 

Water

Yes, I guess you already knew it... I knew it as well, yet I never acknowledged that my skin felt happy with plain water. Forget about chemical skin tonics and cleansers, water does it all. Yes, I also heard many times that sink water isn't good, that water might be too hard and whatever else, so it's better to use something crafted by beauty industry. How exactly chemical packed skin cleansers are supposed to clean your skin? If you think the water that is  available to you isn't good enough, there are two very simple methods to make it better: boil or freeze. These both old methods of processing water helps improving the quality of water. Of course, depending on the season and your skin itself, it might sometimes feel too dry if you go with water only. It doesn't mean, the best way to solve the issue is running to the shop for some kind of cream! 

Skin icing

The best skin tonic ever - ice cubes. I love them on mornings. Massaging my face with an ice cube wakes me up much better than a cup of coffee, and it truly feels great. And, by the way, you can freeze coffee in ice trays as well - another great skin tonic for mornings. Coffee itself is a tonic, and icing your skin with frozen coffee cubes is like having energy drink - just a much better version of what you can buy in a shop. You can also experiment freezing different herbal infusion with skin healing properties, for example, chamomile tea. 

Essential oils

Plenty of them, each of them with many skin and health benefits, you just have to find what fits you and what you need. A huge plus - you always smell nicely using essential oils! I even mix my own essential oils to make perfume that's uniquely mine. 

Essential oils might seem costly when you just start using them, but it's a long term investment. One bottle of essential oil might last from several months to a year, of course, depending on how you use them, because you don't pour essential oils on yourself, but use just a few drops each time. 

Beeswax

Beeswax seems to be "the best kept secret" in beauty-care. A natural ingredient for making your own creams, especially beneficial for dry skin and for protecting your skin from wind, cold and even sun. Oils can be messy, but beeswax creams - never! You just have to make them: combine beeswax and any oil of your choice (almond, olive oil or any other natural oil with skin healing properties), and that's it! The softness and density of your cream depends on how much of oil you add. My usual ratio is 1:2 (beeswax:oil). Melt beeswax, add oil, stir well, pour into a container, let it cool and it's ready to use! It smells nicely without any aromatic additives, but you can also add essential oils to make your skin remedies. For example, lavender cream is a treat for skin, especially for minor sunburns and skin irritations. Taking in account that lavender essential oil is advised for headache, relaxation and stress removal, it's a great  facial cream!

With beeswax, oil and essential oils you can make creams, healing balms and solid perfume. You can also use it as a sunscreen (take in account, some people say it's too heavy for a sunscreen) and it makes the best protective lip balm (ratio 1:1, without essential oils). By the way, my bearded boyfriend who has never voluntarily used any beauty-care and skincare products, loves the nurturing beard wax with essential oils I made for him. That shiny, soft, gentle beard smells gorgeous! 

If you don't want to use beeswax, you can also use cocoa butter or coconut oil for making your own creams and balms. 

Body Scrubs

I already wrote about them here: 

Guide to Home-made Body Scrubs: create your own body scrubs (and masks) that meet your needs and abilities!

Facial masks

From oats to Aloe Vera leaves, from massaging your face with a slice of cucumber to applying fresh, mashed strawberries. Less ingredients, makes it easier to understand what's for you and what you should avoid. 

Herbal Infusions

Stinging nettle - for allergy irritated skin, chamomile - to soothe and calm your skin, peppermint - for refreshment and so on. Brew some tea, let it cool and wash your face with it or spray it on your skin and let it stay there, or soak a cloth in the liquid and enjoy facial mask. 

If you want to use natural cosmetics and start making your own, remember, less is more! Don't put everything you know together. I try to mix together not more than 3 ingredients, with an exception for making body scrubs where I love adding abrasive substances that make the body scrubs look nicely (for example, oatmeal, oil, honey, sugar, poppy seeds and a few drops of essential oil - all together). Sometimes the leaf of Aloe Vera is all you need. Homemade skincare and beauty care products don't need long lists of ingredients. Keep it simple! 

Another thing to remember: your skin needs cleanliness every day, but it doesn't need creams and "deep-cleansing" every day. To get the best results, you actually have to pay attention to how your skin feels, because it tells what it needs. And, yes, your skin knows what it needs much better than any beauty magazine. You don't have to put a cream on your face several times per day just because a friend says that's what you should do. What works for one person, doesn't work for another one. The food you eat affects your whole body, including your skin. The weather, your activities and your lifestyle affects your skin. When you start observing and really feeling your skin, you will learn what it needs. After a few months without chemical cosmetics I discovered that my skin has been pretty numb - I just didn't feel many things I'm able to feel now. For example, as your skin gets alive and smarter, you can easily tell the difference between natural cream and the one with chemical additives   - apply just a little bit of it and your skin gives a clear signal. Honestly, I didn't know it's possible. Just like clearly distinguishing between chemical and natural aromatic agents in cosmetics - you feel it. 

Warning!!!

Oh, and at the end, I want to warn you - it's not just roses (although rosewater is a really great skincare product you can make!). Well, the stinky part is dealing with people who think that natural skin and beauty care is the wrong way to go, unfortunately, those usually are other women. In fact, I never really speak about my skincare and beauty-care, if someone doesn't bring up the topic. I'm not the one who would preach that my way of doing things is the only right way. The problem is that sometimes women love chatting about their new-cool-products and they want you to check-out and try-on their products and products samples, and I refuse doing it. That's where I have to explain that I prefer simple, natural cosmetics. 

Firstly, they ask: "How do you know what's good for you? Aren't you afraid to experiment on your own body?" 

Excuse me, but how do you know that some specific cream is good for your skin and health just walking into a store and choosing without understanding what's written on the labels or relying on sales assistant's opinion? Aren't you experimenting with your body desperately trying to ignore the fact that these creams are often packed with harmful chemicals? 

I do experiment with what I know won't harm me. Can you eat your store bought lotion? Why do you think it is good to put on your skin something that might cause health issues if you ate it? Why is that more acceptable to you than using natural beauty care products you can make on your own? Why knowing all ingredients seems scarier than not knowing at all what you put on your skin? If I can put it in my mouth without worries, I  can put it on my face as well. 

Secondly, I get to hear this: "You have to take care of your skin. You have to nurture your skin. A woman has to take care of herself!" 

Well, what can I say... I just don't see packing myself with harmful chemicals a way of caring for myself. Caring for myself for me is listening to my body, learning from it and for it. Being aware of myself and the natural world I live in. I guess, it's a lifelong learning process and I want to keep walking this path. 

I hope this somehow helps you! Le me know in the comments your experiences and advises related to natural, home-made  skincare products! 

P.s. For me the next step is discovering natural decorative cosmetics and, of course, making them at home! I'm already on that way, but not ready to speak yet. From times to times, I love applying red lipstick, but my efforts making it at home so far have been unsuccessful. Well, I guess I just have to find the right substance to combine with beeswax and oils. I'm on a lookout! :) 

Guide to Home-made Body Scrubs: create your own body scrubs (and masks) that meet your needs and abilities!

I've never been a keen user of body scrubs before I started to make my own scrubs. And since I started to make them on my own and give them as gifts for birthdays, I get calls and messages from people asking for more! 

I guess the first body scrub for giving away was made just because I hadn't thought about getting a gift in advance, so I had to make something fast.... When your friends already have got from you homemade soaps, candles and handpicked herb sachets you need to think a bit more... And bingo! Friends of friends of my friends are already asking for them and the circle of happy ladies is growing! So, I hope this post will help more people to get skincare products that really will make them happy. You don't need to choose a recipe if you can make your own!

Body scrubs made me to discover the next level of kitchen magic: you can always make a body scrub. Yes, absolutely always! And you also don't need to follow twisted recipes, because you can invent your own recipes putting together ingredients that are available to you and especially beneficial to you. It means, you can make whitening scrubs, scrubs that make your skin smoother, protect from sun or treat acne, scrubs that will tone up your skin or help to get rid of stretch marks, calming, cooling, warming or energizing. And all of them will rejuvenate, moisturize and feed your skin while removing dead skin cells. 

Just 2 Main Ingredients: Exfoliant and Oil

Exfoliant: a sandy, grainy substance that will remove dead cells when scrubbing. 

Sugar, salt, oatmeal, coffee grains, poppy seeds, bees pollen and many others. Basically, go to your kitchen and check what you have there. 

Salt and sugar are popular exfoliants because after using them your bathtub won't be messy - you can simply wash them away with water and they will also melt in water. Simple table salt or sugar is fine, but you can also use sea salt, Epsom salts, Himalayan pink salt and others that are less processed and have more minerals and vitamins in them adding more nutritional benefits. You can also chose brown sugar, reed sugar or any other. 

Salt is a nice muscle relaxant, but coarse salt can be too sharp, so, before mixing it into your body scrub, use a mortar to grind it. Also, remember that salt doesn't feel nice on cuts and wounds. When it comes to making facial scrubs I would choose sugar instead of salt because it feels gentler on skin. And when we talk about facial masks that you leave on face for a few minutes before washing off, I would use everything else mentioned here, except salt, sugar and hot spices. 

Oatmeal is one of my favorites. It feels gentle and moisturizes skin, it gently heals dry skin, helps to maintain skin's natural protective layer, cleanses and relieves itchiness. Many sources advice oatmeal for skin lightening. I personally haven't observed these effects on my skin, probably because my skin naturally already is quite white. 

Oats can be used in facial masks or gentle scrubs. You can even use them just adding a bit of water to oats and no oil at all. I usually use rolled oats and grind them a bit in mortar before adding to scrubs. 

Coffee grounds. Brew a cup of coffee, drink it and use leftovers for a scrub - how cool is that! Coffee grounds come as a skin tonic, often advised also for cellulite treatments (although I would add some exercising to cellulite affected areas before relying on coffee grounds alone) and dark circles under eyes. It can also reduce skin inflammations and redness. Coffee grounds are great for the entire body. Sometimes I also don't mix used coffee grounds with anything else, just apply them directly on skin, lightly massage into skin, let them sit there for a few minutes and then wash them off. 

Salt, sugar, oatmeal and coffee grounds are the most popular exfoliants used in body scrubs, although you are free to experiment and discover more. For example,

Bees pollen: gentle and truly nurturing exfoliant with specifically sweet scent. Some researches show that bees pollen has anti-aging properties, it moisturizes dry skin, helps to stay away from aging signs appearing on your body. I guess I'm not that old yet to say if bees pollen has helped me to escape aging signs, but it smells really nice and feels gentle on skin (and I got to discover it as a great body scrub ingredient just because it was siting in my kitchen unused).

Dried herbs and small seeds can be great exfoliants as well and also can bring additional benefits. For example, lavender flowers or chamomile flowers will have relaxing effects, they both have gorgeous aromas and skin soothing, healing benefits. You can also add meadowsweet or common yarrow flowers, powdered green tea, poppy seeds or dried, grind peppermint leaves that come with cooling and refreshing effects making you to wake up. If you add dried herbs and seeds to your body scrubs, let your freshly made body scrub sit for a while - it will make those dried bits soak oil into them and also extract some of their active ingredients into oil. 

One important thing to remember here: you will lightly rub body scrub on your skin and the rubbing process will exfoliate it. Don't choose too rough, coarse and sharp exfoliants - your skin needs gentle treatment not additional stress. It's for your health, but applying it has to be pleasure not a torture.

Oil: a substance that keeps your mixture together also moisturizing skin. 

There is a great variety of different oils with great benefits for skin you can choose from. The main thing here - get oil that is as natural as it can be and choose one that better suits your needs. My personal favorite is grapeseed oil firstly because it's own aroma is very light and it doesn't oppress essential oil aromas, secondly because I can get it relatively cheap, thirdly because of its skin benefits. I previously already wrote about it here: Grapeseed Oil for Health and Beauty Care (opens in a new window). 

If you do some basic online research you will find oil that suits you the best, because many of them really come with great health benefits. For example, olive oil can help to get rid of stretch marks, almond oil can lighten skin, jojoba oil can help to treat oily skin removing excess sebum, but coconut and rose hip oils can help protecting your skin from environmental stressors like harsh winds - and that's just the beginning. Many oils offer also skin soothing and anti-aging benefits. 

Take in account that coconut oil has a solid consistency and you will have to melt it in a water bath to mix it with other ingredients.

Basically, oil and exfoliant is all you need to make a moisturizing body scrub, but it doesn't mean you have to stop here. There are many other things you can add for more benefits.

You can also use infused oils that already have benefits of plants the oil has been infused with, for example, calendula infused oil, pine needle infused oil, vanilla been, lilac or plantain infused oil. Infused oil means that a plant material is covered in oil and has soaked into oil for 1-3 months. When the plant material is removed it's active ingredients, healing properties and aromas remain extracted into oil. 

Honey is one more great substance to keep your body scrub together. I truly am in love with honey skin treatments, it kind of makes me to feel royal! It's a moisturizer that cleanses, softens skin and lightens hair. It has anti-aging and antibacterial properties so it treats and helps to prevent acne and wrinkles. And at the end of honey skin treatment your skin is soft, glowing and smells nicely. 

Additional body scrub ingredients

Essential Oils

Your body scrubs can be made without essential oils as well, but they do add some more benefits and healing properties aromatherapy brings. Essential oils can also add a character to your scrubs and set your mood, not talking about gorgeous aromas! 

Here again I want to encourage you to make some basic online research to discover the benefits of specific essential oils. I'll mention just a few of them here.

Orange essential oil - anti-cellulite properties, good for dry skin, relieves muscle pain, it's antidepressant with warming and mood uplifting properties. Sunlight sensitive, so it's not advised to use it less than 12 hours before displaying skin on direct sunlight.

Lavender essential oil has antiseptic, antidepressant and calming properties, muscle relaxant, suitable for dry and oily skin, good for soothing skin after sunbathing, treats mosquito bites, fights insomnia, tumors, burns, skin irritations, excessive sweating and menstrual pain.

Peppermint essential oil - refreshing, cooling and energizing. Helps to alleviate headache and control appetite, treats varicose veins, alleviates muscle pain and cramps, mood uplifting antidepressant that helps to get rid of tiredness.

Patchouli essential oil has antiseptic, anti-fungal and anti-cellulite properties, especially advised for dry skin, alleviates sleepiness, mood swings, helps to treat acne and protects skin for UV rays. Can also work as aphrodisiac.

Cinnamon essential oil - warming, blood circulation improving antidepressant with anti-fungal properties. Alleviates tiredness and menstrual pain. Aphrodisiac. Never use in big amounts as it can irritate skin!

Tea Tree essential oil - heals acne and is advised for oily skin, alleviates muscle pain, treats different skin issues including fungi, sunburns, tumors, Athlete's feet and psoriasis. 

Lemongrass essential oil has antiseptic and disinfectant properties, helps to control appetite, alleviates headache, helps to treat varicose veins, alleviates emotional overload, has mood uplifting properties.

Ylang-Ylang essential oil - alleviates headache, has calming and aphrodisiac properties, fights acne, excessive sweating, psoriasis and wrinkles, helps to keep hormonal balance. Can set you into romantic mood!

Do not overdose with essential oils, especially if you are not sure of your skins reaction! 

Fresh Fruits, Berries and Vegetables

Mash a banana and add to your scrub. Mash strawberries and exfoliate your skin with tiny strawberry seeds. Cleanse and moisturize your skin with mashed cucumber or melon. Add a bit of lemon juice to your body scrub to brighten skin or get rid of blackheads. The world is wide and full of opportunities. My advice here, if in your kitchen is a ripe banana nobody wants to eat, google its' benefits for skin and if it suits you, make out of it a facial mask or add it to your body scrub! 

One thing to remember: if you make a mask or a scrub with fresh fruits, berries or veggies, you have to use it all and can't store it for longer time. Probably just a few days in refrigerator, so don't make big amounts!

Other ingredients for body scrubs:

Aloe Vera gel or just a slimy part of Aloe Vera leave from a plant growing on your windowsill, spirulina algae powder, dried orange peels, cinnamon, pumpkin spice, grated chocolate and so on... Your fantasy, creativity and knowledge gained in researching specific ingredients can lead to amazing and absolutely unrivaled body scrubs!

Here is one easy hand-scrub recipe I published some time ago: All-Natural Homemade Handscrub - it features just sugar, bees pollen and grapeseed oil. 

Making Your Body Scrubs: Tips and Warnings

• Put together all ingredients, add oil to cover all dry ingredients, mix them well and that's it! 
• If you are using coconut oil or solid honey, melt them in water bath before adding to other ingredients - it will be easier to mix them.
• If you are not sure of your skins reaction to any of ingredients or their combinations, don't mix big amounts of body scrub and firstly apply it gently massaging on a small area, wash it off and wait a few hours to make sure your skin is pleased not stressed with the treatment.
• On one tablespoon of body scrub it's totally enough with just a drop of essential oil. If you are not experienced using essential oils, less is better than more! 
• Remember that your body scrubs and masks will be as natural, clean and organic as the ingredients you are putting in. If you choose chemically processed ingredients, those chemicals will be in your homemade skincare products as well.

Using and Storing Homemade Skincare Products

• If you are using natural ingredients, your homemade skincare products aren't made to last for years! They breathe and they also can go moldy. If it's spoiled, doesn't smell and look good, it's not usable on your skin! No, you can't just remove mold from the upper part of your body scrub in a jar and use the rest - if mold is there, it's everywhere and the product is unusable. 
• Skincare products that are made with fresh fruits and vegetables have to be used the same day you make them. The most you can store them is just a day or two storing in refrigerator. 
• A body scrub made with oil that fully covers other dry ingredients can be stored and used for several weeks and for months if you keep them in refrigerator. 
• A body scrub with oil, honey, essential oils, salt and sugar (any combination of these ingredients without other natural additives) can be stored for the longest time as none of these go bad for long time. They can last for up to one year.
• The best option is storing you body scrubs in glass containers, always covered with a tight fitting lid. 
• Body scrubs aren't skincare products for everyday use! The can be gentle, smell gorgeously and feel good, but still they are scrubs. They help your body to get rid of dead body cells, but it's not necessary everyday. Your skin has it's own protective system and excessive scrubbing can be too stressful for skin. Let your skin do it's own work and help it using body scrubs not more than 2-3 times per week.
• Apply body scrub gently massaging it into your skin with circular motion. Don't rub it and press it into your skin! Be nice to yourself! Love yourself. :)

I hope this article gives you the whole picture of making body scrubs. Comments, experiences and questions are welcome!

Traditional Way to Make Candles

(Click on the pictures to enlarge them)

This is how our ancestors did it without fancy containers for homemade candles: 

1. Hollow out holes into turnip, apple or any other root, hard fruit or vegetable.

2. Press a wick into each hole and straighten it with a wooden splinter on top. Fill with melted wax. (Traditionally it was tallow).

3. Wait until hardens.

4. Cut the "container" to remove candles.

No-waste option: clean, wash and eat, prepare in delicious dishes or feed to animals the remains of your candle containers. :) 

Keep the good, wise traditions alive! 

DIY: Rainstick - Traditional Music Instrument

To make it clear, originally rainsticks are made from dried cactus, filling them with small pebbles. Who has a dried cactus available? Unfortunately, not me. Another traditional option - filling reeds (like bamboo) with hard seeds or pebbles. But there is alternative!

When you look into history it's not really clear where the rainstick comes from, but majority of resources say the music instrument was designed by Aztecs. Here is a good, short read on NativeVillage.org of what is rainstick,where it comes from and how it spread: Rainsticks

That stick sounds magical, so it's not a wonder people believed in it as a tool for calling rain. Rain wasn't in my interests, but the sound was. 

So, Youtube helped. This lady on behalf of Expert Village explains the process in details in a few videos on Youtube:

Warning from my side: making a rainstick takes less time than watching those videos.

I used cardboard tubes and toothpicks to craft the stick. You can find online also easier version - putting pressed, shaped aluminum foil inside the tube. Well, I tried that one as well, but didn't enjoy the sound. Pressing toothpicks or little nails into the tube creates a lot more enjoyable sound as the filling material hits against them creating a sound.

The longer the tube is, the nicer and longer the sound of rain will be. That's how the tube looks after you've put the toothpicks through it: 

After preparing the tube, I sealed one end of each stick. It happened that I had at home a few little 30ml jars perfectly fitting as a lid for the ends of the small rainstick tube. Well, this won't change the sound. I just thought it looks cute and it also adds a different shape to the stick. You can close the ends with fabric and rope, paper or whatever else - there is open place for creativity. 

Cut the outside parts of toothpicks - you don't need a hedgehog. And the fill the stick! 

I filled the small one with pearl barley and the big one with dried orange peels. Sealed the ends and decorated my rainsticks. 

The small one is about 40cm long, but the big one about 1m. Of course, the bigger the rainstick, the longer the sound of rain. :) 

The result: I've got sticks that sing! And the shorter ones can be used as musical shakers as well. Mine are already in use when jamming and playing music with friends :)

If you are making these for kids to play with, small jars at the ends of rianstick is not an option. Make soft, upholstered tube ends, so it won't be a trouble if the stick falls on someone's head etc., like this one: 

Just in case this one caught your attention in pictures...

... that's a handmade jingle bell stick. You can find tutorials here on Pinterest, although making it is so simple and easy that you probably don't need any tutorial. In short: prepare a stick, string jingle bells on a thread or wire and wrap around the stick. Another simple, easy, but pretty great sounding rhythm instrument. 

Natural Candle and Soap Colorants and Shapes for Home-made Goodies: Tested Tips and Tricks

The time of the year for giving gifts to the left and right is around the corner. For some people it's Christmas, for others - Winter Solstice, for someone else - the time of the year to spend with family and friends. I pretty much can't stand being surrounded by people who panic buying gifts, so before this beautiful holiday you can find me at home crafting. Some people watch TV or run around shopping malls while I turn my small apartment into atelier. This year it started in the kitchen, making soaps and candles. And,of course, I can't just do something without experiments. I've learnt not to believe everything what's online, so I had to check different methods and see how they actually works. 

To scent candles and add healing properties to homemade soaps I'm using essential oils, but there was always a question about the color - I mean, I want my crafted goodies look interesting as well. Last year for coloring candles I used crushed crayons - colors are bright for those candles, but they kind of don't look very natural. So, I found online that adding powdered spices is a great option to add color to soaps and candles. While it's not a bad idea for soaps, it's not a good one for candles - candles that are colored by adding powdered spices to melted wax don't burn well. 

For coloring soaps you can use almost anything natural as soap picks up the color from any natural abrasive material you add to them. A few ideas here: 

-  dried peppermint leaves will turn the soap light green, 

- grated orange peel will add orange color, 

- bees pollen will turn your soaps - golden brown,

-  spirulina algae powder will turn the soap dark green,

- cinnamon will make it dark brown, but as I find soaps with cinnamon powder too scratchy, I've replaced cinnamon  in soaps to cocoa powder. 

Although the process of making soaps and candles is pretty similar (that melting, color and aroma blending part), not everything what works with soaps works well with candles as well. Powdered spices will add color, but I usually have a wish to make candles that also burn well, not just look good. So I needed a new solution and came to infused oils! 

Infused oil added to candles brings two great benefits: natural color and aroma. Win-win. And, by the way, you can use infused oils for your homemade soaps as well. 

Preparing natural colorant infused oil: 

Firstly, you need oil you are going to infuse. I love using grape-seed oil for infusions because its own natural color and aroma is very light, but as I didn't have any grape-seed oil at home I used unrefined canola oil that I use for cooking. 

Secondly, but not least importantly, you need natural material that will bring color, aroma or both. I used cinnamon+cloves in one, coffee grounds into another one and orange peel into another one. 

Step 1: put oil into heat-proof dish and prepare to heat it in water bath.

Step 2: add into hot oil natural material for infusion - coffee grounds, cinnamon etc. 

Step 3: Let it sit without boiling on a low heat for about 15-20 minutes (just check from times to times, stir the mixture and smell it and you will find out the right time for heating it).

Step 4: Remove from the heat, let it cool and leave for a few more hours (or days).

Step 5: Strain the liquid to get rid of grounds or peels - whatever you are using. And it's done! 

Cinnamon+ cloves was ready very fast. With coffee grounds infused oil I fell in love  and it also was ready very fast. Orange peels didn't make the oil aromatic nor it gave a specific color - heating the oil didn't really help, so I let the oil with orange peels in it to sit for about a week - it gave aroma, but the color remained the same canola-oil-yellow which, by the way, looks very nice - soft and naturally bright yellow - in candles. 

Melt wax, add infused oil, stir well and fill into candle containers.

Basically, infused oils is on the top of my natural candle colorants. Although, you can also melt wax and mix it with powders, for example, cocoa powder for deep, dark chocolate color, and then dip in the mixture already prepared candles to coat the outside of the candle in a different color. 

Just one more thing to add here: think about oil infusions in advance as some of them might get the most intensive aroma and color after about 2-4 weeks sitting in a sunny windowsill, not if you heat the oil for 15 or more minutes. 

Here is my previous post about soap making: 4 original soap recipes (with organic soap base) You can find there peppermint, cinnamon-vanilla, bees pollen and orange peel soaps. 

And here are few pictures of my soaps and candles - latest edition: experiments and outcomes. I'm just a bit sorry for the picture quality.

The leaf shaped soap was poured into leaf shaped container, but the ornament at the top of it was made later by scraping it into soap by a toothpick. The top of the leaf is made with spirulina algae powder, the bottom - with cocoa powder. The spirulina part was lighter green at the beginning, but longer it lives, darker the color gets. 

These little cuties were made in chocolate sweet forms. Just pour melted soap into empty candy shapes and you get soap that looks like candy. For two colors, just use soap with different colors -pour in one, let it harden and then pour the next one. Green is with spirulina powder, brown - cocoa powder. 

For making these you can firstly make some soap in a darker color, let it harden and then cut it in different shapes, put them in containers and pour over melted transparent soap base. 

The heart shaped candle in front of the picture was poured into toilet paper roll that's fixed into heart shape using adhesive tape. After hardening, the candle was dipped into cocoa powder + cinnamon powder + melted wax mixture to get different outside color. As the candle is already burned you see that the outside part with powders is too thick to melt well. Dipping the candle in this mixture once or twice would be good, but for this one it's simply too much so the candle wouldn't burn well.

These were poured into drinking glasses, firstly pouring a bit of wax inside the glass, then sticking dried herbs (pressed in books) to the walls of glass and then filling the glass until the top. The one on the left side is made with orange peel infused canola oil and then the bottom of it dipped into cocoa powder - wax mixture. The one on the right has light brown color from cinnamon-cloves infused oil. 

Take in account: the color intensity depends on how much of infused oil you add! 

This is cinnamon-clove candle, decorated with cocoa powder - wax mixture pouring it on the two sides of the candle and letting them run downwards on the two other sides. The shape comes from a small juice pack with the top of it cut off.

This candle was made pouring white wax into paper muffin shape. One muffin paper wouldn't be enough to keep the shape when the hot wax is poured in, so I put together 3 papers and put it in a glass to fix the shape not allowing it to widen. After the candle hardened it was dipped into cocoa powder - wax mixture, then over another burning candle I melted the outside cocoa powder layer, so it blended well and kind of looks like cappuccino. Well, too much of work for such a small candle...

Take in account: if you make candles in difficult shapes or with many small details like this one, before removing the candle from its shape, put it in a freezer for a few minutes - it helps to remove the candle easier without damaging it. 

These two were poured into toilet paper rolls. On the left side - coffee candle (obviously with two kinds of color intensity) and with orange peel infused oil at the bottom, on the right - orange peel infused canola oil candle dipped into wax with cocoa powder. 

Take in account: if you are using toilet paper rolls as candle containers,  you need to think in advance about suitable thing to put under the toilet paper rolls - cardboard base is the best one. Put a toilet paper roll on the cardboard, pour inside just a little bit of melted wax to cover the bottom and press the roll against the base. Hold if for a while until it hardens. Don't fill the entire roll with hot wax without fixing the bottom.

Take in account: sometimes after removing candles from their shapes you discover that they are not that smooth as you wished and there are small holes. I this case dipping helps to get a smooth surface. Prepare the dip and dip the candle in for 1-2 seconds, take it out and hold for a few seconds to cool and then repeat the process again, if needed. 

I hope this info helps! Let me know your experience and experiments making soaps and candles in your kitchen!

These candles, decorated with with hand-made charms and tiny ribbons, are waiting for holidays:

Recycling DIY: Easy Way to Cut Glass Bottles at Home

It's nothing new, so I'll be short. My basil, dill, lemon balm and other green friends were seeded here (click on pictures to enlarge them):

And they needed more space to drive roots, so I had to find deeper pots for them to give them more of nurturing earth. I knew the way to cut bottles and I love how they look, so my hands were itching to try it and that's what I wanted to do for my little windowsill garden.

Here is one of many youtube tutorials to follow in cutting glass bottles. (There are many others, but the method stays the same):

These are the results I got (yes, there are couple of jars among cut beer and wine bottles):