More people each day are becoming interested in creating homemade beauty recipes, especially after news reports about harmful chemicals in commercial products as reported in a 2008 study by the Environmental Working Group, summarized on safecosmetics.org. The researchers found 232 chemicals and pollutants in the umbilical cords of babies. The best way to ensure you're using the safest, most effective products is to make your own using healthy ingredients.
Considerations
Homemade products have no preservatives and thus a very short shelf life. Count on making small batches at a time and storing them in a cool, dry location out of direct sunlight. In "The Green Beauty Guide," Julie Gabriel says you can include your own natural preservatives, like plain grapefruit seed oil, which can allow storage of products in the bathroom for up to a month. According to Gabriel, you should always work with pure ingredients and clean equipment. Avoid dipping your fingers in the product and instead use an item like a cotton swab to avoid introducing bacteria. Keep an eye out for signs the product has gone bad, such as a "off" smell, discolorations or textural changes, and discard immediately.
Benefits
Creating your own products will ensure they contain no chemicals or harsh ingredients. You'll also achieve big savings and a better value since you avoid the cost of packaging, labeling and advertising (often up to 95 percent of the cost of the product, according to Gabriel). You can also whip up unique combinations that are hard to find on the shelves and adjust the concentration of any ingredient based on the condition of your skin.
Types
Janice Cox, author of "Natural Beauty at Home," says you can create homemade versions of just about every product you are currently using, from deodorant to soap to lotion. Other easy-to-make toiletries include body butter, masks, shampoos and conditioners, hair spray and lip balm. Many homemade recipes contain two to four ingredients, but others are simple one-ingredient products such as a baking soda scrub or a yogurt toner.
Supplies and Ingredients
Most ingredients in homemade beauty products are elements like clays, vitamins in pill and liquid form, herbal teas and extracts, organic sugar and sea salt and essential oils. All these all available from health food stores. Other products like witch hazel and aloe vera juice, borax, citric acid, essential oils and food supplies can be found at grocery and drug stores and even farmers' markets. Some of the most popular food ingredients in homemade recipes are olive oil, honey, avocado, lemon, almonds, chamomile tea, beeswax and glycerin. Kristen Binder, founder of Saffron Rouge organic beauty company, recommends asking a seller of plant ingredients about their origin. Those grown in their natural locations will contain the optimum amounts of vitamins, minerals and other components.
Tools
You'll need a variety of standard kitchen equipment such as mixing bowls, saucepans, measuring cups, graters, coffee filters or cheesecloth and a blender. Other tools you might need less commonly are a marble pestle and mortar for crushing ingredients, a small coffee press and a medicine dropper for adding small amounts of vitamins and herbal extracts.
Tips
"The Green Beauty Guide" recommends combining no more than three or four active ingredients or the product may not blend well, separate after just a few days or cause irritation. "Natural Beauty at Home" adds that if a product separates, you can try salvaging it by stirring thoroughly or reblending with a hand mixer or blender.
Natural ingredients aren't necessarily problem free, since you can be just as allergic to "natural" ingredients as to those found in commercial products. When using any new product, test on a small area like the inside of your arm, and wait 24 hours. If there's no reaction, the product is probably safe to use.
References
- "The Green Beauty Guide;" J. Gabriel; 2008
- "Natural Beauty at Home;" J. Cox; 2002
- Safe Cosmetics: Fragrance Chemicals Found in Infant Cord Blood
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