essential oils

DIY Beauty Recipe: A Lavender-Infused Coconut Oil Hair Treatment

April 17, 2015

“Applied topically, coconut oil actually does a few things for your hair. First, it nourishes the hair shaft to create a vibrant sheen. It also conditions the hair to restore moisture and repair damage,” explains Wendy Rose Gould beauty expert for hair tutorial and advice site Latest-Hairstyles.com. “Also, when applied at the scalp, it can help reduce dandruff and soothe sensitive or itchy skin.” Tip: For beauty uses, choose extra virgin, unrefined coconut oil.

“Let’s move onto the lavender portion of this two-ingredient DIY hair treatment. Lavender also has numerous benefits. It’s no secret that it smells amazing, and many simply use aromatic lavender for its calming effects. Topically, lavender, like coconut oil, is antibacterial and therefore helps with dandruff. It also helps to soften the hair.”

What You Need For This Recipe:

Small Bowl
2 Tablespoons of Unrefined, Virgin Coconut Oil
2 drops Lavender essential oil
Measuring Spoons

Step 1: Place Oil Into Your Bowl

Measure out 2 tablespoons of coconut oil and add it to your bowl. Depending on your hair length, you may want to add more or less oil to the bowl. For medium-to-long hair, two tablespoons should suffice. If your coconut oil has turned to liquid, just measure it out like normal.

Step 2: Add Lavender

Remove the greens and/or buds from your lavender and place it in the bowl with your coconut oil. If you want to add a little more for fragrance, that’s okay. A few pinches is plenty.

Step 3: Infuse Your Lavender

Next, we’re going to infuse the lavender into the coconut oil. To do this, create a bain-marie by placing your bowl over a sauce pan filled with water. Turn your heat to low-medium and allow the coconut oil to melt down, stirring periodically. If your coconut oil is already liquid, you still want to do this, as the warmth from the water bath will expedite the lavender oil extraction. Keep your bain-marie going for 45 minutes to one hour, then remove from the heat.

Step 4: Cool and Strain

Allow your infused coconut oil to set for 10 to 15 minutes, or until it is slightly warm (not hot). Remove the lavender pieces if desired.

Step 5: Apply to Hair

Work the oil through your hair, focusing on the ends where hair gets dry. You can also focus on the scalp if you’re dealing with itchy, dry skin or dandruff. Let the oil set for 15 to 45 minutes. The longer it sets, the better. Shampoo and style as normal.

Step 6: Revel in Softer, Prettier Hair

Want to improve your hair even more? Check out the best essential oils and natural products.

Recipe: Gentle Hand Exfoliant

May 5, 2014

Our hands take quite a beating no matter the season. Whether it’s cold and dry or blisteringly hot our hands are exposed to the elements leaving them parched. Even daily tasks such as cleaning or washing the dishes can leave the skin on our hands feeling rough and in need of some TLC. Here is a simple recipe that you can make to gently exfoliate your hands while nourishing them with natural oils and leaving them with a fresh scent!

Ingredients:

1 Tbs baking soda
1 tsp olive, Avocado oil or coconut oil, room temp
2 drops lavender essential oil

Instructions:

In a small bowl, stir together all the ingredients until you have a spreadable, thick paste without any lumps.
Apply paste to dry hands (not dampened), covering the fronts and backs of your hands and in between the fingers.
Briskly rub your hands together, interlocking fingers at times, for a good 2 to 3 minutes.
Pay particular attention to any rough spots, and spend some time massaging your cuticles.
Rinse with warm, not hot, water, and immediately apply a moisturizer.

Treat your hands to a to this gentle treatment once a week and your hands will thank you!

Review: LUSH Twilight Bath Bomb

January 17, 2011

The art of bathing has existed for centuries and has been essential to not only cleanliness but peace of mind and health. In fact ancient Greeks had bathing rituals for business, philosophical discussions and battles. In Egyptian and Roman cultures baths were known as temples of beauty where many therapies were developed – see even ancient cultures believed in the healing effects of spas! Today we embrace the healing powers of hydrotherapy by utilizing Spas, saunas, Jacuzzis, hot springs baths etc to heal us in many ways.

For me bathing is not only for cleanliness but a time for relaxation. Now enter LUSH bath bombs. I’ve been a fan of LUSH ever since I discovered their Coalface Cleanser and I’ve loved them ever since. If you’re not familiar with the LUSH brand they’re an eco-friendly brand that only uses only organic and vegetarian ingredients that are not tested on animals. And their products smell really, really good. The bath bombs are not the usual bubble bath products that you find in CVS, each bomb comes with a surprise inside which can be anything from sparkles to dried flowers. Each bath bomb contains a combination of baking soda, citric acid and essential oils. I chose the pink Twilight bath bomb which contains lavender, ylang ylang and ovaltine to soothe your mind and body.

As soon as the bath bomb hit the water it started fizzing, which lasted a surprising long time. The bath bomb is a very generous size so you may want to consider splitting it in half before use. I didn’t because I like a lot of bubbles. 🙂 The Twilight Bath Bomb turns the bath water a light shade of purple (the inner part is glittery blue) and the foam was glittery pink and blue. The scent is sweetly fragrant and not overpowering and my skin felt amazingly soft afterwards.

Overall, I loved the bath bomb even though I had a little bit of glitter on me afterward. The bath bomb was fragrant, relaxing and even has a little surprise in the middle. What’s not to love? Have you used any LUSH bath bombs?

LUSH Twilight bath bomb, $4.95 (6.3 oz)

Catch the buzz: Beecology

July 19, 2010

Beecology is an all natural brand that gets it’s good stuff from…you guessed it Bees. Honey is the foundation of Beecology products because of it’s antiseptic, healing and moisturizing properties. This paired with essential oils makes these bath and shower gels a a healthy treat for your body. I really enjoyed the Peppermint body wash, it lathered well, smelled great and left my skin tingly. The grapefruit and lemongrass has a beautiful frangrance to it but certainly not overwhelming. Out of the two, I would say that I preferred the peppermint body wash because it was absolutely refreshing.

Take a look at the yummy and healthy ingredients:

Beecology prides itself on using natural, healthy and safe ingredients which are never test on animals. There are no sulfates, chemical preservatives or artificial colors in their products. The company handcrafts all of their products, will not compromise on using natural ingredients and even donates 10% of their earnings to charity – how cool is that! I’m pretty impressed with the quality of the product as well as the integrity of the brand. You can order their body wash as well as many other natural products from www.beecology.com . Their body wash retails for $7.99 for an 8oz bottle – well worth the price for the amazing quality of the product.

Disclosure: The product(s) featured in this review were provided for editorial consideration. Receipt of a product does not guarantee review and all opinions are my own. For further information, please see my disclosure policy.

Aromatherapy: Heaven Scent!

March 18, 2010

Sleep Scentsations brings us a new way to enjoy the benefits of aromatherapy. These scented pillow liners are infused with essential oils and fragrance oils to create a relaxed mood. The scent menu includes six categories: Botanical, Wellness, Fresh, Aromatherapy and Exotic. Among my favorites were the Botanical scents which include White Tea & Lily and Wild Flowers, the Aromatherapy menu includes Bliss which is a delicate harmony of Mandarin and Vanilla. There are also Sensual Scents like My Boyfriends Shirt which is a blend of sandalwood, musk and Jasmine; there are 12 scents in all.

Each liner is individually wrapped making it easy for travel, which I love. I feel that a product like this is versatile because not only can you use it for a good nights rest but you can also add the liner to your lingerie drawer, use it to keep your closet fresh or even place it where you store your laundry for a fresh beautiful scent. Personally I prefer to use it to line my drawers because there’s nothing that I enjoy more than putting on fresh clean clothes with a beautiful scent that lingers. Just imagine breaking out your swimsuit after it’s been in your drawer lined with a Day at the Beach – a scent mixture of the ocean breeze, suntan oil and warm sand. You’ll feel like you’re at the beach before you even get there. Yum!

When I initially opened the foil packet, I noticed that the liner had a very strong scent. Once applied it to my pillow case the scent was diffused, so if you try these liners do not be alarmed if the scent seems a bit heavy at first. The liners are not meant to be directly in contact with your nose, face or skin but rather placed inside your pillow case. I was pleasantly surprised at how beautiful these scents were and I hope that this company continues to give us even more options. Each set of Sleep Scentsations liners retail at $14.99 with the exception of the Wellness liners which retail for $19.99 per set. Each scented pillow liner lasts for about 4-6 days, well worth for the investment for this little luxury!