Homemade Lotion

Winter brings dry weather and dry weather brings dry skin. I try to make a conscious effort to drink more water and keep a nice big bottle at my desk, but water is just so blah. I know I never get as much as I should.

When I was younger I had horribly dry, itchy skin in wintertime. I would scratch so much that I would get rashes and scabs up and down my legs. Hey, I was little – if it itched, I scratched! I’m smart enough now to know I just need to use some lotion to feel all better!

One morning, as I was putting lotion on my very dry hands (when you handle paper, it sucks the moisture right out of your fingers!!), I began reading the list of ingredients. Titanium Dioxide? Aluminum Silicate? Dimethiconol? What is this junk that my skin is soaking up?!?

I decided to search the all powerful internet for an easy to do, homemade lotion! I did first go to Walgreens to see what Burt’s Bee’s selection there was, but it was small and quite expensive. I found a few recipes for lotions online and since they all had similar ingredients, my boyfriend and I took a trip to the store and got started!

We used the recipe found here and it uses only 3 easy ingredients: oil, wax, and water (the other stuff I left out). The recipe wasn’t very specific and we were feeling very experimental so our first batch didn’t turn out the best. Here are my edited instructions:


1 cup oil (almond, coconut, olive, jojoba… just about any oil should work
1 tablespoon beeswax
1/4 -1/2 cup cool water
Vitamin E oil (optional)
Essential oils (optional)

Please realize this will yield 1 1/2 cups of lotion. For a first batch, this may be a lot. I would recommend halving the recipe for the first few times until you perfect your technique!



1. Add oil to small pot over medium heat
2. Add in wax and stir until dissolved
3. Remove from heat
4. Add in any oils (recommend 10-30 drops Vitamin E, no more than 20 drops essential oils)
5. Slowly stir in water as the lotion cools
6. Keep stirring as this will help everything stay mixed together once cooled
7. Transfer to container of choice

Notes from the first attempt:
1. Hot oil and wax has a watery consistency, DUH! Keep in mind that it takes a while to cool and it’s hard to judge the consistency of the lotion until its mostly cooled off!
2. Water and oil sometimes don’t like to mix and may separate. Use a container that is easy to stir or shake up - We used a ketchup bottle we found at a Meijer for $.99!
3. Too much beeswax will leave little chunks in your lotion after it cools. We accidentally used too much. This is really just an annoyance; your lotion will still be usable!
4. The lotion is mostly oil and therefore it will feel oily when you first start to use it. This is why making a small batch is good! You will learn what you like and what you’d want to alter for next time!

I know next time I will try a different oil (avocado or coconut) and make it in a much smaller batch!

Let me know your results if you try this out!

Gross Sulfates and New Shampoo

This year I have been thinking a lot about being healthy and natural and using/eating better things! I decided to start with my shampoo and conditioner!

A lot of bathroom stuff and cleaners contain chemicals and scary things you can’t even pronounce. Sulfates are a type of cleaner that is actually very harsh and irritating to the skin. With shampoo, it’s a crazy cycle: you wash your hair with a shampoo containing sulfates and chemicals. These shampoos can irritate your scalp and dry out your hair so you use a conditioner. The conditioner smoothes out your hair, but your scalp begins to over-produce oils that have been stripped away by the sulfates. So you shampoo your hair again a day later because it feels greasy. Then condition, then shampoo…

Ideally, most people wouldn’t need to wash their hair every day. It really doesn’t get that “dirty” on the average day when you are sitting at home or in an office at a comfortable room temperature, compared to a hot summer day that you are working and digging in a garden, or running around at a sandy beach.

Natural oils from your scalp are supposed to keep your hair shiny and brushing it out would get rid of most “dirt” you may get on you. So why do we use harsh chemicals to get that clean “feeling”?

I decided to get something new and try it out. I read a lot online about using baking soda as a shampoo and apple cider vinegar as a conditioner. I just couldn’t bring myself to try it out knowing that there’s a “transition” period where your hair overproduces oils.

Instead, I found shampoo and conditioner by Organix. I went for Organix Ever Straight Brazilian Keratin formula since I have been very frustrated by the amount of frizz I have.

After week one I could tell that my hair didn’t get so tangled at the ends anymore. I try to use as little as I can because it was rather expensive (about $8 per 13oz bottle) and it has lasted about a month and a half so far.

I am skeptical on how organic it really is… there are still ingredients listed on the bottle that I can’t pronounce and am unsure about. I’ll give it some time but I do plan on making my own shampoo at some point soon. Baby steps!!

What I Gave for Christmas

I’m a pretty crafty person – In that I enjoy making things, not that I’m sneaky or devious. I decided once again to make some Christmas gifts this year, and they all seemed to turn out pretty well.

I made 3 scarves using my all-time favorite and easiest scarf pattern ever!

1) Blue and orange (Chicago Bears colors)

2) Red and white (Liverpool colors)

3) Pink

Cast on any amount of stitches in a multiple of 3 (I usually use 21, 24, or 27 depending on yarn/needles used). K2, P1 to end. K2, P1 to end. Repeat. It’s that easy! Reversible and nice and squishy! Please note: This is a real pattern I got from Ravelry and not my own!

I also made about 4 pairs of fingerless gloves which turned out perfect and warm! I made them in blue, orange/brown, pink, and blue/orange.

The pattern for these is my own!

CO 25

Stockinette stitch for 35-40 rows.

Sew up sides leaving hole to comfortably fit thumb.

Repeat for second hand.

Ta da!

The hardest part was making the thumb holes the right size (not too big and not too tight) and making sure they were in matching spots on each hand. I don’t know exact gauge, and I used 10.5 or 11 needles with a bulky yarn. It’s pretty easy to figure out if your gauge will work since it’s basically just a rectangle that you wrap around your wrist! 

Big Decision

I recently (well last May/June) decided “I need to do something with my life!” I was working odd hours at an animal hospital and my mind was way too stressed out. I took over a lot of responsibilities at work that no one asked me to – Don’t get me wrong, I did my job and I did it very well but it was way above and beyond what “my job” really was. All I talked about was work, all I thought about was work, and it was getting to be too much. I had been there for almost 2 years and felt that if I didn’t complete a task on my own, it wouldn’t get done or it wouldn’t get done right. The only time I enjoyed my work was the days that everyone was getting along and goofing off. So, you could say that I enjoyed being at work when no work was being done. I was a very hard decision for me to leave. I’m not sure if my co-workers realized it or not, but I left my friends, and a job that I knew I was doing well for a place where I wouldn’t know anyone and I would have to learn everything over.

The good news is that I never have to work any weekends. I only work 9-5 and will never have to work another 12+ hour shift by myself. I got to spend the holidays with friends and family, too. Something that I didn't always get to do at my old job. I am way less stressed and I don’t often talk about work outside of work. Sure there might be a busy or stressful hour or two during the day, but I know that as soon as the clock hits 5pm I am done until tomorrow.

In November I applied to go to school for my master’s degree and at the beginning of January I started my first class (plus I’m already registered for my next two classes). It’s going to put me into debt and will take up a lot of my free time, but I’m hoping that after just a few years of studying and hard work it will pay off!

Trying something new...

A few weeks ago, at work, I was sitting at my desk putting some lotion on my hands. So I was just chilling there, rubbing the lotion on my hands, letting the moisture soak in, and decided to read the ingredients on the bottle. I couldn’t pronounce most of them, and I definitely did know what 95% of the ingredients were. I started thinking about what was actually in the lotions (and other products) I’m using. I already decided as a New Year’s resolution that I want to put less processed foods into my body, why wouldn’t I also stop putting weird processed things onto my body?

I went last weekend to get my hair cut, and spoke with the stylist about how unhappy I am at the frizz and dryness. I have wavy hair (which gets wavier the longer it gets) and lately I like it’s just one big frizzy, pouf-y mess on my head. She explained that the natural oils in my hair weren’t able to travel from the scalp to the ends and I should spend a little more money on a better quality shampoo/conditioner which would target and help with frizz. It made some sense.

For the last few days I have been reading a LOT about shampoos, the harmful chemicals they contain, and homemade alternatives that supposedly work just as well. The most popular thing I have found is baking soda as shampoo and apple cider vinegar as conditioner. It’s super cheap and apparently very effective.

There is a lot of information out there and a lot of people have tried, failed, succeeded, and given their option of going shampoo free. It’s definitely something that interests me, but I’m going to take my time transitioning into anything new.

Today I did buy sulfate-free shampoo and conditioner, but it was $17 for two small 11oz bottles. We’ll see how it works and I’ll keep you posted!

Clutter

For someone of my age I feel like I have a lot of junk. I also feel like this is a problem.

For about 6 months, I stored all of my belongings in a POD storage container that was not easily accessible. I hated that my stuff wasn’t being used and that I would end up buying things I already had just because I couldn’t get to it (I bought a comforter, but had about 4 in storage…). Even when I finally had a place of my own I still filled up every inch of my assigned storage closet in the basement of my building.

I recently found 10 rolls of tape in with my desk supplies. Do I really need that much tape? No! I need to reorganize and de-clutter my life. I don’t want to have anything in storage just because maybe, one day, later on, possibly I might want to use it.

I am actually finding it to be very hard and very slow work since I also try not to be wasteful. I wouldn’t just throw my unwanted items in the trash - everything will be donated. However, I still find myself trying to rationalize keeping my old things and trying to get some use out of them.

It doesn’t help that my bedroom, bathroom, and walk-in closet are a total 450 square feet of space. I have had plenty of time to spread out and jumble every thing up into one giant mess since I moved in 7 months ago.

I did start with my bathroom, which took me three hours to clean and organize. I was able to get rid of extra toiletries that I’ve collected but won’t actually use. My next step is the closet, which is a great place for me to shove everything that I don’t feel like taking care of. I haven’t been able to see the carpet in there for a few weeks now.

My hope is to catch up on straightening my space by the beginning of next year. I have other things I need to worry about and I want time to enjoy my space before I move again.

Weather Change, Fun Adventures

Summer is my favorite season. I love the sun and heat and getting outside to enjoy it!

Fall is my second favorite. It's prefect hoodie weather and it's still warm enough to enjoy being outside.

The first few weeks of October were beautiful and sunny. I took a trip with my boyfriend and his sisters to an apple orchard in Champaign. It was pretty crowded so we didn't stay for too long. We did get to pick out our own bag of apples to take home and they were delicious!

Last weekend, on a lazy Saturday afternoon, we drove out to a forest preserve to kill a few hours. It just happened to be a radioactive waste disposal site! After a short walk through the falling leaves, we came upon the clearing where the site marker is. We walked around a bit and took a few pictures, but it was getting dark and we had to head home.

Every day the weather has been getting colder and the days get shorter. It's been fairly rainy too, which makes it hard to be outside. At least I was able to have a few fun trips while the nice fall weather lasted!