Natural DIY Self Care Product Recipes

natural

There is an incredible amount of toxic chemicals lurking in your cosmetics that significantly affect your health. Although you can find many organic, toxin-free options at your local health food store, why not try making your own natural, inexpensive versions at home.

Here are some of my favourite ‘recipes’ I like to use and share with my friends and family.

Natural Body Butter

In a double boiler on your stove, add:

  • 1/4 cup natural beeswax (let this melt completely before adding the rest of the ingredients)
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin, organic, raw coconut oil
  • 1/2 cup sweet almond oil (Use avocado oil if you are allergic to nuts)
  • 20 drops of your favourite essential oils (mine are grapefruit and vanilla!)
  1. In a double boiler, allow the natural beeswax to become liquified.
  2. Add the coconut oil and almond oil, until it is all liquified. Then remove from heat.
  3. Next add your essential oils.
  4. Once it has cooled slightly pour into small containers and place in the fridge to harden and use liberally!

It can be stored for several months in the fridge.

Caution – if you are allergic to bees, or sensitive to bee pollen, etc, do not use the beeswax in your recipe. The cream might become liquified on hot days, but it will re-solidify when the temperature returns to normal. The beeswax helps to keep the cream solid in the heat and hold the moisture on your skin. Also, if you are allergic to nuts – swap out the almond oil for avocado oil (everything can be found at the health food store).
natural deodorant

Natural Deodorant

This recipe for natural deodorant is to replace the aluminum and preservative nastiness that is found in conventional deodorants. It doesn’t work quite as well as regular deodorant for many people, so test this out at home before arriving to work! Paired with a clean diet and drinking lots of water, your body will begin to naturally detoxify and not have underarms that produce as much smell.

  • 6 tbsp Coconut oil
  • 1/4 cup Baking soda
  • 1/4 cup Arrowroot powder
  • Essential oils of your choice
  1. Mix baking soda and arrowroot together in a medium sized bowl.
  2. Mash in coconut oil with a fork until well mixed.
  3. Add your favourite essential oils.
  4. Store in small glass jar or old deodorant container for easy use.
natural toothpaste

Natural Toothpaste

Toothpaste can be filled with all sort of toxins, from sodium lauryl sulfate to fluoride, and
artificial sweeteners to triclosan. It is very easy to make your own toothpaste, and you
may even find that it helps to whiten your teeth and leave your mouth feeling fresher
than ever before!

Click here to read, “Are you still using Crest toothpaste?”

  • 1/2 cup coconut oil
  • 3 tbsp Baking soda
  • 15 Drops peppermint essential oil
  1. Mix all of the ingredients together. If the coconut is really hard, you may have to warm it slightly to let it soften.
  2. Keep mixture in a small jar in your bathroom. To keep germs out of it, use a spoon to put the paste onto your toothbrush.

For more information about common chemicals you should try and avoid, click here to read, “What Chemicals Are You Putting On Your Face?”

How To Read Labels Like a Pro and Cut Grocery Shopping Time In Half

How To Read Labels Like a Pro and Cut Grocery Shopping Time In Half

Are you confident in your ability to read food labels?

Maybe you haven’t really taken the time to ever read a label properly before, or you are so overwhelmed by the information presented on the label that you just don’t bother.

It is time to get on the label reading train so you can be properly educated on what you are feeding your family and you can get in and out of the grocery store in half the time. No more staring at a label for 5 minutes trying to decipher if you should put it in your cart or not.

First off, it is critical to note that you won’t find a label on anything in the produce section of the grocery store – and this is where the majority of your food should be found!

The reason for that is that those foods haven’t been processed. The focus of your grocery shopping trip should be concentrated to the produce department, filling your cart full of wonderfully nutrient rich fruits and vegetables. It is important to be mindful on what produce should be purchased organically if funds and availability allow for it.

Leafy greens, strawberries, grapes, celery, and apples are some of the most highly sprayed crops and therefore should be purchased organically if possible.

As you move into the packaged food section of the grocery store, you will want to focus on the following tips to ensure you are reading labels properly.

1. Check the serving size first, and consider what a realistic serving size is for your family. In the case of most packaged products, the serving size is an unrealistic estimate of what a typical person would eat and therefore causes the caloric values, fat and sugar content to appear more acceptable.

2. Most people only focus on the top half of the label where you will find the caloric content and nutritional breakdown. While this information is important to know, the list of ingredients will be more helpful in determining just what additives might be present. Remember that the ingredients are listed in descending order based on their volume, so if a harmful item is listed as one of the first five ingredients then you may want to reconsider what you are buying.

3. Choose products with the fewest number of ingredients. But, also make sure that you know and feel comfortable eating what all the ingredients are.

4. Purchase frozen vegetables and fruit instead of canned to eliminate exposure to preservatives that are used in the canning process.

5. Beware of endorsements on products and clever marketing campaigns that make any special product claims. Just because a label claims it is sugar-free, diet, all natural or trans fat free doesn’t mean that it is healthy. 

6. Finally, avoid ingredients like monosodium glutamate (MSG), artificial sweeteners (Splenda or aspartame), sodium nitrate, food dyes, high-fructose corn syrup, trans fats, refined grains, and any other items on the label that are almost impossible to pronounce.

By following these tips, a trip to the grocery store should be a lot less confusing and time consuming. Remember that life isn’t perfect, and neither will your grocery shopping experience be. 

Select products that are as close to natural as you can and always keep your eyes open for higher quality alternatives.

Healthy Salad Dressing Recipes

salad dressings

How is it possible that when you order a salad at many restaurants, you end up eating more fat, calories and preservatives than if you’d just ordered the hamburger?  Think salad dressing from the grocery store are any better?  No way! Most salad dressing are filled with nastiness – so let’s make our own!

But first, let’s talk about how to make a real salad as your whole meal. It’s not just a few sad pieces of romaine lettuce with some croutons anymore!

Rainbow Salad

Salads are all about colour. Throw as many colours in there as possible. Start with a huge bowl because you know it’s going to grow outta control!  To learn more about why ‘eating colour’ is so important, click here to read “Are You Eating Enough Colour?”

1/2 head of Red Leaf Lettuce
2 handfuls spinach
1/2 of red, orange and yellow peppers
15 chopped purple grapes
1/3 chopped cucumber
10 chopped cherry tomatoes
and any other colourful ingredients you like! Raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, celery, broccoli, cauliflower and sprouts!

Chunky Mango-Avocado Dream

Into a bowl, chop…

2 roma tomatoes
1 soft, ripe mango
1 soft, ripe avocado
1/2 red onion

Add a few pinches of salt and the juice of 1/2 a lemon. Stir it up and pour over your salad. Mmm!! This recipe can also be used as a dip for your vegetables or eaten with a spoon. So delicious!

Caesar Dressing

Soak 1/3 cup raw cashews for 30 minutes
Then add to blender with…
1/4 cup water
juice from 1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 pinches salt
4 shakes pepper
1 tsp dijon mustard.

Blend and enjoy!

Raspberry Basil Drizzle

To a high speed blender, add…

1/2 cup raspberries (or strawberries)
2 pitted dates
6 leaves fresh basil
splash of water for blending

Vegan Cheesey Sauce

Soak 10 raw cashews for 10 minutes
Then add to blender with…
1 pitted date
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 large red bell pepper
3 tbsp nutritional yeast (Bragg’s is a good brand – find it at Health Food Store)
6 shakes cayenne pepper (more or less if you like it spicy or not!)
pinch salt

Blend this up and pour over your salad. It’s also a delicious dip for your veggies or if you make kale chips.

Easy Fruit Dressing

To a blender, add…
1/2 cup raspberries
1/2 cup strawberries
2 pitted dates
juice of 1/2 lemon
pinch salt

Blend and pour over your rainbow salad.

Sesame Salad Dressing

To a blender, add…
1 tsp extra virgin coconut oil
1 tbsp of organic peanut or almond butter
2 tbsp hulled sesame seeds
splash water

Blend together and then add 1 tbsp of hulled sesame seeds before drizzling over your salad.