I jumped on this with both feet. After the initial research and writing my article I had a list of worst offenders. Armed with my list I looked through my toiletries, reading through the labels of my lotions and potions. As I often suffer with sensitive and dry skin I have always been a bit cautious with products, buying ranges like Simple and Body Shop, and did not expect to find the worst offenders in the cupboard, but they were there. I divided the products into piles, definitely going, definitely staying and the unsure what to do with.

The definitely going pile consisted of things you always get at Christmas, the novelty toiletries that no one ever uses. This made up about half of the cupboard. Then there were the definitely keep items, which was only small, but consisted of a couple of bath oils from Neals Yard and ……
The unsure pile was a bit mixed. There were a few products which did not list the ingredients but came in a set, such as a Boots Bionics …..
And finally, products that have a very good reputation for being natural and safe, products from Lush, Simple and The Body Shop, but had nasties hidden away in them. I decided that with the so called good safe products, I would email the companies directly and ask them why they use such products, but they will end up in the dispose of pile.

So there you have it, my cupboard went from heaving full to practically empty. I needed to get busy and get creating.
I downloaded a selection of recipes online and went shopping for the ingredients. I had a few problems with finding some of the ingredients so I had to rethink which recipes to try first. I found a few shops that stocked essential oils and natural waxes and worked out which ones worked out cheaper. I also found that Holland and Barratt had a small selection for a much less. So between the few shops I got some basics and was on my way.

My first major problem was finding the base for a body wash. The recipe said base shampoo, but the whole idea was to homemake it. I went back to the computer. After a lot of reading through various sites I found that a base could be made from soap, and you could get natural soaps made from things such as 100% olive oil. I went back to Holland and Barratt and picked up a bar of Olivia which is one such soap.

Due to being so busy at the time I was unable to make anything for a few weeks, but started to use the Olivia soap in place of my old body washes and face wash. The first time I used it was in the bath. I added bath oil to the water as I usually do and used the Olivia to clean. With my face I used a flannel to gently wipe away the soap. When I got out of the bath my skin felt really smooth and as I had not got around to making any creams I did not apply any. By the end of the day my skin was still soft, and had not dried out at all, which it often did with shop bought products especially designed for dry skin. I continued using the Olivia soap, and found that if I just used the soap my skin dried out a little, so decided to use a little oil to seal in some moisture before I dried. This worked well.

April 2010

A week or so in, I am finding a general improvement to my skin. My hands are still dry, but that is due to what I put them through. I have also made a few adjustments. I am now using a little pure vitamin E oil on my face after cleaning with Olivia, and continuing with a basic oil mix for my body.

I received a book called ‘Body Works’ (published by Murdoch Books) from a friend today, which lists more recipes and has a general information part which is bound to come in useful. I have some time set aside for the beginning of next week to make a strong start on making my Homemade Beauty products.

May 2010

I finally got around to starting my own creations. My first choice was a Rose and Almond Lotion, the last ingredient needed was rose water, which I could make myself but takes 10-14 days. By the end of May I had my first cream, but it smelt a little funky, which I can now say was due to off Rose Water. So back to the beginning I go.

I managed, after months of scouring, to find some rose water, and made a new batch of Rose and Almond Lotion. It was a little on the grasey side, but with a little patients, to let it absorbe, it was purfect. (Recipe to follow).