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Cosmetics and beauty products are a major source of chemical exposure for most people. An average beauty product contains dozens of harmful chemicals, many of which have not even been tested for safety in humans!
Fortunately, there are natural alternatives for every beauty product, and most work better than the chemical-laden alternatives. I have made hundreds of natural beauty and personal care recipes over the years — from shampoo and conditioner to mascara and foundation!
I know it might seem like you need a cabinet of special ingredients, but you can make so many great recipes with what’s in your kitchen plus just a few key bulk purchases!
Here’s how to get started:
Natural ingredients cost more upfront but save us money in the long run because they are so versatile and can be used in multiple recipes. You also don’t need a lot to make a product that lasts quite a while.
I order these products once or twice a year at most and we have smooth, healthy skin all year!
These seven products are my natural beauty staples… (There’s a list of recipes I use them in below!) If you’re just starting out with DIY beauty products, these are great to have on hand and you can make many, many recipes with just these ingredients!
I order Gold Label Coconut Oil in five gallon buckets from Tropical Traditions. This is by far my favorite coconut oil and I can tell a difference in taste and quality. We save a lot by buying in bulk, and since we use it to cook, in recipes and as a skin lotion by itself, it never goes to waste! (It also comes in smaller quantities!)
We will only use Unrefined, organic coconut oil in cooking, but a cheaper expeller pressed oil could be used in skin recipes to save money (though by ordering in bulk, we still get the good stuff for cheaper than the expeller pressed in the long run!).
For those sensitive to coconut, grass fed organic beef tallow can also be used and it is great for the skin, though you will need to add essential oils to cover the mild scent. We get our tallow in five gallon buckets here.
Our most used natural beauty ingredient after coconut oil. Organic unrefined shea butter has a naturally nutty, earthy smell (very mild) and is incredibly nourishing for the skin! I’ve heard many cases of children seeing improvement from eczema from using shea butter or a mix of it and coconut oil.
It has natural antibacterial properties and is great for preventing stretch marks, for wound healing, and as an anti-aging treatment for skin. It naturally has an SPF of about 5 and can be used as a daily sunscreen. I use shea butter in my lotion, lotion bars, deodorant, face cream, baby lotion, diaper cream and many other recipes!
Cocoa butter is another “butter” and a great addition to natural beauty recipes. It is also an ingredient in organic homemade chocolate (recipe soon!). It imparts a delicate chocolate scent, and I love it mixed with mint or citrus in lotion bars, lotion or face cream. It can be used interchangeably with Shea Butter, though I find that my favorite recipes include Shea butter, Cocoa Butter, and Coconut Oil.
Beeswax is a great natural thickening agent, and high quality versions have a gently honey sent. (Note: I’ve heard from several readers that brands ordered from other sources had a very strong and off-putting odor and I can only vouch for this brand.) I use beeswax in lotions, lotion bars, baby care recipes, lip balm, foot cream, etc. Only a little is usually needed to thicken recipes, and a pound lasts us for at least six months.
Recipes like smoother lotions, baby oil, salves, and after-shave balms often need to be thinner than coconut oil and the butters will allow. In these cases, I use a liquid carrier oil. Most often, I use olive oil, almond oil, or apricot kernel oil (my favorite). Apricot Kernel has the most gentle scent and almond oil is also relatively unscented. Olive oil is typically the least expensive if you don’t mind the olive scent in your recipes or if you plan to cover it up with essential oils.
I keep Arrowroot on hand for thickening sauces when cooking and it also gets added to a lot of natural recipes like deodorant, baby powder, diaper cream, dry shampoo, etc. It works much like cornstarch but isn’t GMO like many corn products. I also use it in my homemade makeup recipes. I’ve only used this brand, and others have reported that brands from elsewhere are often not as finely ground and don’t work as well in skin recipes.
Not technically needed, but essential oils give great natural scents to DIY beauty recipes and can also be very mood lifting. I get mine here in 8 ounce or larger quantities and they last literally years. Our favorites are mint, lavender, lemon, orange, and sandalwood.
Some other helpful ingredients that can be added to the above recipes are:
Here are some of my favorite basic beauty recipes:
Make Your Own Natural Deodorant With This Simple Recipe
Homemade Shaving Soap Recipes
Luxurious Sugar Scrub Recipe
Homemade Lotion Bars
Deodorant Bars
DIY Sunscreen Bars
Bug-Off Lotion Bars
Herbal Hair Color Recipes
Seven Natural Baby Care Recipes
DIY Beach Waves Hair Texture Spray
DIY Dry Shampoo for Dark or Light Hair
Natural Skin Care Recipes
Homemade Make-up Recipes
Feminine Hygiene Solutions
Natural Homemade Substitutes for Conventional Beauty Products
Seven Natural Remedies you Already Have at Home
Seven Natural Beauty Tricks From Your Kitchen
How to Make Natural Shampoo
Natural Homemade Baby Wipes-Easy to Make
Do you make your Beauty products? What recipes would you like to try? Share below!
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Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Wellness Mama and Co-founder of Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.
To calculate net carbs, certainly subtract the entire grams of fiber from the whole grams of carbs for your meals.
Do you have an alternative to beeswax? I’d like to try a diy lip balm recipe but every time I find one it uses beeswax!
Also, do you have a diy hand cream recipe?! Mine are so scaley right now!
Will you make a fresh edition of your book? I need one
Very soon 😉
I absolutely love your blog!
I only use organic product for skin. Coconut oil is first in my list.
I followed your link to essetial oils as I have been researching them myself! I plan on having a girls night in and making some of these all natural beauty products:) I wanted to let you know that young living essential oils seem to be the best quality and some are able to be ingested(I was thinking about this for the lip chap)!
You should be very careful of ingesting any essential oils, no matter where they are purchased from. I wrote about some of the dangers here: https://wellnessmama.com/26519/essential-oils-risks/
Hi, I just wanted to say thank you so much for all of your beauty tips! I am trying to focus on a paleo diet and have started making my own beauty products. Your recipes have been really great help with this transition…so thank you for all that you are doing and I look forward to reading more!!
-Kate
Very nice article. I will follow this tips. Thank you so much.
Very nice beauty tips. Thank you so much.
Hi Katie, my name is Candita Mamet, publisher of healthy living magazine Massachusetts. I absolutely love your information here in your blog. I am hoping that you’ll give me permission to share it with our readers. What is the best way to reach you. Thank you for consideration. Candita
I don’t allow my content to be reposted on other publications…
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