Earth Friendly Spotlight: Bath and Body

This week to celebrate the upcoming Earth Day on April 22nd we are sharing daily round ups of eco-friendly, Connecticut made products. Today we have organic and natural finds for happy and healthy skin.

Think Globally, Shop Locally!

Eco-friendly Bath and Body finds:

"Solid lotion bar...all the good stuff of a moisturizing lotion minus the water and preservatives...plus you can ditch the plastic lotion bottles." Jess owner of Treefort Naturals

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"This soap was handmade using the cold process method. Contains NO animal products and no preservatives. The soap will arrived wrapped in 100% recycled banana fiber paper and fully labeled." available at Nutmeg Naturals

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"Pure, organic olive oil soap, nothing extra added. Extra gentle." - Erin owner of Pure Naked Soap

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"Handmade lip balms, scrubs, salves, and solid perfumes produced with only simple minimal ingredients." - Scott owner of Little Bee

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"All natural goat milk soaps , hand & body butters" - Nancy owner of Lyric Hill Farm

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"Handmade soaps, lotions, sugar scrubs & lip balms made with fair-trade butters, organic oils and essential oil. Family & friends are the only animals we test on." - Laura owner of Olive My Skin

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Stop by tomorrow for the next eco-friendly round up!

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Written by Alonda Baird-Juhasz, owner of Designer Dwellings, who believes in adding color to life. An avid DIYer, sparkle-loving, all things fabulous addict, her shop features bright and fun home decor accessories and gifts. When not in the shop you can find her interior decorating or visual styling events and photo shoots.

DIY: Homemade Body Butter

Body butter is an oil-based thick lotion containing no water-based liquid.  It is thick and can be slightly oily, so a very small amount is all that is needed - it will melt right into your skin. For this recipe, you will need the following supplies:

• glass bowl microwave or double boiler 
• refrigerator 
• spoon and spatula 
• electric handheld mixer - works better than a stand mixer 
• jar to store your finished butter

 and the following ingredients:

• 8 oz or 1 cup organic unrefined cocoa butter - it will smell like chocolate!!!!  (I actually measure with an ice cream scoop - so I do 2 scoops for 8 oz and 1 scoop for 4 oz) 
• 4 oz or 1/2 cup organic coconut oil - I prefer unrefined but you can do either 
• 4 oz or 1/2 cup light oil - I use fractionated coconut oil, but you can use sweet almond or apricot oil, or for really dry skin, avocado oil is wonderful 
• essential oil - 1 drop per oz of oils

1. Melt down the cocoa butter and coconut oil using the double boiler method (preferred) or, if not possible, in 45 second bursts in the microwave. Add in the liquid oil and stir.

2. Place the bowl in the refrigerator uncovered. Check in 30 minutes, If the oil has started to solidify against sides of bowl, scrape down with a spatula and beat with the mixer until stiff peaks form. I usually rotate in and out of fridge, whipping 2 - 3 times.

3. Once soft white peaks have formed, place the body butter in a storage container. I use 4-ounce mason jars or metal tins. If you find that this is too oily, you can play around with the recipe.

 Click here to learn more about the benefits of organic, unrefined cocoa butter. 

Enjoy!

Erin Egan of Pure Naked Soap is a mom to three girls and social worker by day, but at night she is a creator of body nourishing foods and skincare products. Diagnosed with multiple allergies, Erin makes most of her foods and all of her soaps and skincare products from scratch. Using whole ingredients that meet the needs of her body, she found that many other people were interested in the simpler and truly natural soaps. Check out her selection of body friendly products!

Tutorial: Dry Lip Scrub & Balm

In the cold winter months, there are some days when lip balm is not enough to combat extremely dry lips. On these days, a lip scrub is the ideal way to remove dryness and heal lips. This is a simple do-it-yourself lip scrub. All ingredients used in this are organic. You will need:

• a small microwave safe bowl or double boiler 
• a fork 
• a spoon 
• organic unrefined Shea butter 
• organic extra virgin olive oil 
• organic coffee 
• organic sugar




1. Measure one spoonful of organic unrefined Shea butter into a small bowl.




2. Add one spoonful of organic extra virgin olive oil.





3. Melt in the microwave for about 30 seconds, whip with a fork.  It should appear as above. 




4. Add in one spoon of sugar and one spoon of coffee and whip some more.




5. Let the mixture set in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.  It will set and become more solid.  For the first use, I added slightly more sugar to mine.  I also kept some without the coffee, so I rotate with the scrub & just as a plain moisturizer.  Apply by rubbing in circles on lips.  Remove by wiping with a napkin.  I do not recommend licking.







The before picture of very dry lips, 
resulting from jogging in below freezing temperatures.





After one day of use, my lips feel incredible! This recipe works fabulously for dry lips, plus it can also be used on extremely dry feet or hands.






Erin Egan of Pure Naked Soap is a mom to three girls and social worker by day, but at night she is a creator of body nourishing foods and skincare products. Diagnosed with multiple allergies, Erin makes most of her foods and all of her soaps and skincare products from scratch. Using whole ingredients that meet the needs of her body, she found that many other people were interested in the simpler and truly natural soaps. Check out her selection of body friendly products!