I just love having all-natural, homemade beauty products because they are much less expensive than store-bought items with the same ingredients, much healthier and I don’t have to worry about the chemicals or how it was made. Click on any of the links to see the full posts I’ve written on each item!
In the Shower
Body Wash – Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap
Similar to my other post on homemade hand washing soap, I use the same recipe for my body wash, but remove the tea tree oil (since it doesn’t need to be antibacterial). If you’ve never heard of this amazing soap, see here how it can not only be used for the body, but also for cleaning pretty much anything in the house! Dr. Bronner’s is now sold in Target and I’ve even seen in it in Publix and other grocery store chains! I buy it by the gallon, since I use so much of it, and get a great price on Amazon.
Body Scrub – Baking Soda
When I get bored of the body wash, I will make this super cheap, super easy, effective and gentle body scrub. It exfoliates and cleans without leaving my skin dry. Plus, baking soda is something you can never have too much of if you make your own cleaning products, too!
Homemade Bath Salts
These bath salts, made from Epsom and Dead Sea salts, detoxify the muscles and are the perfect way to end the day. I created a heavenly, sensual garden aroma with essential oils that adds the perfect finishing touch to these salts!
Shampoo & Conditioner – Baking Soda and Apple Cider Vinegar
I make my own shampoo and conditioner for literally just pennies per batch. The most amazing part is that baking soda and ACV have worked better for me than any other hair product – my hair is now the healthiest it’s ever been in my life. And I have curly, thick, hair with it’s own personality and zip code!
Shaving Cream – Coconut Oil and Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap
I have used both Dr. Bronner’s and coconut oil (Tropical Traditions is my fav) as shaving cream. Both work very well, but Dr. Bronner’s left my legs a little dry. Coconut oil works wonderfully and softens the hair to make shaving easy and razor bump free, and an added bonus is my skin is super soft afterwards.
Out of the Shower
Homemade Deodorant
Face & Body Moisturizer – Coconut Oil
Tonic for Skin Irritation
I dilute one tablespoon apple cider vinegar in a cup of water and dip a cotton ball or a washcloth in it to and wipe on the skin. It stops any itching from bug bites, eczema or other skin irritation. It works very well, and my son even asks me to put it on his bug bites when they itch and not Cortizone. It also leaves my skin feeling soft, like I have on lotion! Read all about the amazing properties and uses for apple cider vinegar here!
Homemade Lip Balm with Clove and Orange
This is a yummy and very effective homemade lip balm – even my dad says its his favorite product! The coconut oil, shea butter and beeswax make a soothing, healing balm and essential oils add the flavor and finishing touch.
I have what could be considered a really silly question but I’m going to ask anyway. My skin is super sensitive and all (seriously, all) of the shampoos on the market today make my scalp break out in itchy irritating hives. Walking around scratching your head is sooooo attractive, let me tell you. To make it worse, there is apparently no hypoallergenic shampoo offered in the universe. Everything else that you conceivably imagine is hypoallergenic except shampoo and conditioner.
I’m willing to give this an honest go – but do you think it will work for my sensitive skin?
Absolutely, Amy! This is PERFECT for sensitive skin because it is very gentle and totally hypoallergenic. Make sure to read my whole post on making and using it, though, because your scalp will likely have to adjust to having a gentler shampoo. Another idea is to apply coconut oil to your scalp before one or more hours before washing your hair. I’d love to hear back from you and if it works out! http://www.mymerrymessylife.com/2012/03/diy-baking-soda-shampoo-apple-cider.html
Welp, I tried it and I can’t use it. The vinegar really aggravates my asthma and since my hair is long, the aroma is constantly around my face. I can’t do other fragrances because of my sensitive skin so I guess I’ll just revert back to using Johnson&Johnson’s Baby Shampoo. Thanks for the try though.
Please be careful with J&J. It contains many chemicals which are BANNED in CHINA for being carcinagenic.
@Amy, you might be able to use another acid besides vinegar. I’ve read of people using lemon juice or citric acid.
Oh man! If it’s not one thing, it’s another. Well, good for you for trying – you are still courageous! If having natural shampoo and conditioner is important to you, you can always try Burt’s Bees or Kiss My Face or other brand that doesn’t contain sodium laureth sulfate.
I’ve been enjoying lurking on your blog for the past week or so and finally got my shea butter in the mail today (yay!). I’m all set to make the original body lotion recipe – for my curly hair – but I didn’t see that listed on this latest post. Are you still using that recipe in that way or have you stopped? I don’t want to invest the time and $ in making the old recipe if you’ve found something better
Welcome home to GA, by the way! I’m in Duluth …
Hi Elizabeth! I love how you say you’ve been “lurking!” Very funny. I am not using that lotion on my hair anymore because it started to make it very tangly. Some people love using oils like what’s in the lotion on curly hair, but mine is SO thick that it just wasn’t working anymore. However, I added beeswax to the recipe and LOVE it as a body butter and lotion. It even stops itching from bug bites and eczema. That new recipe is here: http://www.mymerrymessylife.com/2012/07/homemade-organic-lotion-recipe-free.html
Got to check out http://www.theoilcleansingmethod.com it’s amazing!!
Love your curly hair and shampoo/conditioner substitutes.
The great thing is – they work much better than anything I’ve ever bought in the store!
Thanks so much for sharing this with us at Tiny Tip Tuesday, Sara! This post is being featured at this week’s party, so come check it out tomorrow!
Wow! I just found your blog today by googling coconut oil. I absolutely love everything about it! You have so many great ideas, I am going to try every single one of them. Thank you so much for taking the time to own such an inspiring site.
So I took the plunge! Last night I made my own baking soda shampoo, the ACV conditioner, the oil for my face, the body scrub and the deodorant, along with an eye cream and hair de-frizz serum I found on other blogs. After only day 1 I’m loving it, but I have some questions. How does application work for the shampoo, conditioner and body scrub/wash. The shampoo and conditioner are so viscous that pouring it into my hands like I used to with my old brands doesn’t work, most of it ends up in the drain. The shampoo I tried pouring directly on my head and that seemed to work, but I felt like I needed to pour a lot to get my hair clean. And the conditioner, since I only want it on the ends of my hair, is also very difficult to pour onto the ends without wasting quite a bit.
Also the body wash – do you use a net pouf or a washcloth or a loufa or just your hands to wash with? I tried a net pouf and it didn’t spread the wash very well to clean my whole body. I had to keep adding more and more to the pouf. I’m totally sold on using these methods from here on out, just gotta get the application right