Making soaps during the storm

Yesterday while the storms rolled in Lovebug and I made liquid soaps and lotions to refill the bottles we have throughout the house. Hand soaps for the bathrooms, dishwashing liquid for the kitchen, bum cleaner and an oil for the babe, shampoo/body wash for all of us, and two lotions for me...it's been on our list for quite awhile but finally got around to it.

The hand soaps, dishwashing liquid, and shampoo/body wash are all basically castile soap and whatever essential oils I want to throw in...usually lemon, lavender, and tea tree...but sometimes we'll throw something else in to fit that particular season. Since we CD (cloth diaper) we cloth wipe too, so the bum cleaner is put into a spray bottle and used during diaper changing time...then whenever needed or ever so often, the bum oil is used on her sweet behind :). I got the bum cleaner recipe from here...We use the castile solution one but the others sound good too.

The bum oil is just about 4 ounces jojoba oil, some lavender (just started this - wait until 6 months to use essential oils on babies) and a couple drops of wheatgerm oil as a natural preservative. We also use it as a massage oil for baby which she loves!


One of the "lotions" we made is from this awesome book my friend Emily turned me on to awhile back but it really ends up more as an oil, but it works great on extra dry spots. For a true lotion, I LOVE this recipe from ehow.com...it smells yummy with the coconut oil! Our little immersion blender works perfectly for this...

Coconut Oil/Cocoa Butter Lotion:

Put (3/4) cup Coconut Oil, (1/4) cup Cocoa Butter, and (1) T of a liquid Lecithin (used rice bran oil) into an immersion or regular blender...Add 15 (or more if want) drops of essential oil (lavender is my fave) into mixture. Then squeeze a 2,400 IU Vitamin E capsule into mixture and blend (used drops of wheatgerm oil instead b/c that's what had...Either will extend shelf life of your lotion). Pour mixture into a bottle with tight-fitting lid. Shake before using and best if stored in a cool dark place...or in refrigerator if so desired.


All the bottles we use were either antiqued, thrifted, or bought from Specialty Bottle and all the ingredients are from Mountain Rose Herbs (which is THE greatest thing out there for organic bulk ingredients - LOVE them!). It really is best to use organic ingredients and 100% pure essential oils when making your homemade products!

There are SO many nasty ingredients in all of the products out there and by making your own natural ones you're greatly lessening the amount of chemicals and toxins that your body absorbs...PLUS when you buy in bulk, you're saving money as well as lessening the amount of packaging you consume, and you can find some beautiful bottles/containers to store your homemade products in (or re-use some that you already have)...make some labels for them and they're you go! They also make great presents. There are so many great recipes out there, organic bulk ingredients readily available, and it's super easy. As an added bonus, I find it to be a very relaxing and fun process - the whole mixing and making...especially when it's raining outside as it was yesterday :)!