Make It Yourself Monday- Recipes for (more) Relief

Hope you had a fantastic father's day, and nice weekend. This is Make it Yourself Monday, and here are some more recipes to provide relief!




With summer often comes hot, sweaty, sore, muscles, and sometimes even stinky feet. To provide some relief try one of these recipes.


Cooling and Deodorizing Mist


Get a 8 ounce spray bottle and fill it three fourths full of water. Then add 4 drops of peppermint, grapefruit, and lemon, and 3 drops of wintergreen essential oils. Then add a cap full of vodka. Twist lid on and shake well. You can use this now, or you can wait until it gets cold in the refrigerator for even more cooling, soothing and relief. This spray is great for achy leg muscles after an athletic event, a work out, or just a long day. It is also wonderful for those little piggies who just don't feel up to going to the market anymore! Leave this in the fridge so it will be ready for when you need it, and it will last you for several weeks. You can also give a squirt into those stinky sneakers too for a quick freshen up!




Cucumber Hand Wash


For a nice hand wash that will soothe irritated skin. Try peeling one small cucumber and put it in blender and blend it until it is liquefied. Add one tablespoon of witch hazel to the juice and wash your hands with the mixture. Pat dry and moisturize as normal. This formula helps heal abrasions and relieves puffiness, as well as soothing irritated skin.


Herbal Foot Soak


Herbal soaks are great for tired, achy feet, and they are easy to prepare. Plus, you can alter a herb or two and customize the blend or just give yourself variety! All you need to do is to steep 2 cups of fresh herbs, or 1 cup of dried herbs, in 2 gallons of water for 20 minutes. With the herbs in the pot, bring the water to boil, then reduce heat and simmer with the lid on, for 20 minutes.  Once the time is up, strain the liquid and throw away the plant material. Pour the liquid into foot basin. Once it has cooled enough to not harm you (use it as hot as you can handle it, your feet will love you!), soak your feet for 20 minutes, then pat dry and moisturize as normal. 
As for herbs, you can use many, but I suggest you try these; comfrey, elderberry, chamomile, lavender, pine, rosemary, sage, and/or horsetail

Teaching Tuesdays - Additives, Alkanet & Black Walnut Hulls

Happy Tuesday! Today we are going to continue on with the mini-series, Additives. Friday we looked at Aloe Vera and today we are continuing on with a few more botanicals. Botanicals are plants or plant parts that are valued for their medicinal or therapeutic properties, flavor and/or scent. Herbs are a subset of botanicals, and come in many forms. They can be fresh or dried, liquid or solid extracts, and can come in powders or tea bags as well. 

Spices are strongly flavored and/or strongly aromatic parts of plants, which are used in small quantities in food for color, flavoring, stimulating odor or as a preservative in cooking. They are also used in cosmetics for  color, fragrance and their therapeutic properties. 


Alkanet is a perennial that has a bright blue flower. Botanically know as Alkanna tinctoria,  it is its' thick, red-maroon taproot that is sought for use as an additive, and is usually used as a powder. This root releases a rich, dark red dye when it is infused in alcohol or oil, and a less intense shade of red when it is in boiling water. Alkanet root is used as an astringent, and for its antimicrobial and wound healing properties. 
In soapmaking alkanet root is often used as a colorant because it offers colors ranging from gray-lavender to deep purple, and from a pastel blue to a dark blue, all depending upon the alkalinity of the soap. 


Black Walnut hulls are crushed and powdered, and frequently used as an additive for soap. Their powder contains vitamin C, zinc and a naturally occurring chemical that has antibacterial, antiviral, antiparasitic, and antifungal properties. Herbalists will frequently use black walnut hulls to treat a variety of skin issues. In soap, they will provide a lovely nut-brown color, but are also good for treating eczema and acne. For coloring your cp soap, just add the powder directly into your soap pot at trace and mix it well. For melt & pour soap, blend it in a small amount of [heated] glycerin in order to release the coloring, then strain it and add it back into the melted base drop by drop, until you get the color you want.


Remember that with most herbs you can either add them directly into your soap pot at trace, or you can infuse them into your oils, strain, then add the colored oil into your soap pot as part of the base.

Make It Yourself Monday- Soap Free Baby Cleansing

Here we are, it's Monday again and time for a recipe for you to make at home. Today we will be making a Soap Free Baby Cleansing Bag. Washbags are pretty cool bags, not just for babies, but for anyone who wishes a gentle cleanser. The neat thing is that by using a washbag, you can include the ingredients that you choose, and ingredients that will result in soap-free cleansing. I will provide you with some basics, but you can study and change ingredients as you wish and so that you can include your favorites! 

You will need;


-Muslin bags (If you dont care to make your own, you can easily find these on line, as they are carried by many suppliers). 
-Lavender bud powder
-Chamomile powder 
-Colloidal oatmeal, fine  
-Cornstarch 
-A few drops of jojoba or an oil of your choice 

You can make your own lavender bud, chamomile, and colloidal oatmeal. All you need is the flower and a mill, a blender, or a food processor to grind with. Make sure that you begin with a pesticide free flower bud and use only the flower bud for the lavender, and the flower head and petals for the chamomile. To make colloidal oatmeal, finely grind oatmeal. You can check to see if it is "colloidal" by putting some into water. If it floats, it is colloidal and you have saved yourself a ton of money! Just make sure that it is finely ground for your washbag.

Once you have all of the ingredients together, and made into the right consistency, combine them all together, and toss into a blender. Pulse it until it is well, and thoroughly mix. Then pour a small amount of it into the muslin bag. When using on a baby, you will want to soften the bag in the bath water first, then gently squeeze it over the baby. Then use the bag to lightly rub the baby. In fact, that is probably the best way to use it, even when it is on you and not on a baby.

When making one for yourself, you can add your favorite herbs. Just make sure that you study the indications and contraindications for those herbs. You can also add soap shavings if you wish to boost the cleansing and bubble power. Of course, soap doesn't have to bubble to clean, but if you want it too, then have at it!   

Tripod Thursdays- Soaps 1-35