melts for the tub

Here are some bath melts we made last week. They are divine and very oily. I used the chocolate mold from Easter for these, so that's why they look like eggs. The recipe is here. I did find super cheap citric acid at the market attached to Ya Halla on SE Stark Street, thanks for the tip you guys.

I only made about 1/3 of the recipe because I had only a little coco butter. It made about 6 melts, which is perfect because I will want to switch scents by then. They would make amazing gifts, I am sort of shocked at how easy they are and how luxurious they turned out. I need more oils though, which will set me back a little $$.

Baking soda shampoo update:

I have tried it twice now, and since I don't wash my hair very often anyway (I have really dry skin) it's been about a week. It seems fine, but the apple cider vinegar rinse is too stinky. I am really loving my sugar scrub and the nice smelling homemade soap I have in the shower. I add a bit of rosemary essential oil to the baking soda/water paste and it's all smelling great and wonderful—and then I rinse my hair with very diluted apple cider vinegar and wow, the shower just sucks after that. All the nice smelling stuff doesn't matter any more because I feel like I am swimming in easter egg dye or salad dressing. There is absolutely no vinegar smell in my hair afterwards, it's just the application I find so stinky. So, I need to try a different rinse that won't involve vinegar. I love vinegar in food—I am surprised how much I dislike it on my head. I am going to search for a new hair rinse recipe and will report back. Tips?

Comments

[Mary Beth]

No tips on the hair rinse, but I wanted to say I am loving these natural homemade body product updates. You rock, Amy, as usual. I'll be interested to hear people's tips on the rinse.

[Michele James-Parham]

Hair Rinses with NO vinegar!

Dark Colored Hair:
Steep black tea, sage and rosemary for 30 mins in about 1 1/2 to 2 quarts water that has been brought to a boil and then removed from the heat. Strain and keep in the fridge. Use as needed.

Light Colored Hair:
Steep chamomile tea (or flowers), marigold flowers and dandelion flowers (optional, but I'm sure most people have them in their or their neighbors' yards!). Steep for 30 mins in about 1 1/2 to 2 quarts water that has been brought to a boil and then removed from the heat. Strain and keep in the fridge. Use as needed.

Sorry I don't have exact measurements for the ingredients, but I have always eyeballed it. For the tea, I usually use 4 to 6 tea bags or 6 tablespoons of loose leaves. The herbs and flowers I just kind of use 'large handfuls'!

Oh, dried ingredients work fine, but fresh is always best. If you wash your hair at least twice a week, I can not imagine this 'going bad' before you finish it up.

And the ingredients used do have some darkening/lightening properties, so that's why there are two recipes. Dark red heads should go with the dark rinse and lighter reds and strawberry blonds should go with the light rinse -- but by all means go crazy and experiment!

Hope these help some folks :)

[Mariko]

Dude, I use white vinegar. It's not as smelly as the apple cider vinegar. I also only use about a teaspoon diluted with more than a cup of water.

[Nell]

Homemade bath melts or bombs make great gifts. And people are always so impressed! Especially the scrubs. My old officemates really got into the scrubs.

Sorry, no ideas about hair rinse though.

[karen]

try lemon. that should be less offensive!

[jean]

I have no tips, but can I say how stoked I am that you are trying all of this stuff out? Firstly it's so inspiring and makes me want to make my own beauty products too. Secondly, I like that you try experiment and report back so that I don't have to (bashful giggle). Kinda like having my own test lab. I can watch all the results and not get my hands dirty.

[Samsara]

I have a bottle with a mixture of vinegar and essential oils in for the final rinse - smells much nicer.

[Cherry]

Um, citric acid dissolved in water? It's just the acidity you need to smooth the hair shafts. I'm just not sure how much you'd need.
Karen's idea of lemon is another good one, but the only problem I envisage is that lemon juice contains sugars and could potentially be a little sticky...? Not sure as I have not tried it.

[pam]

Reminds me of my childhood. Mom would wash my hair in the sink and rinse with vinegar. I think in the 50's it was a once a week affair. Gross smelling but boy did we have shiney hair.

[julia]

Hello, have you tried soapnuts? I wrote a post about them last week or so, and i use them myself. They are a great alternative to shampoo. You soak one in some water then top it up to a pint when ready to use, then rinse it through your hair. You can add essential oils for a nice smell (otherwise odorless). They are a "nut" that contains saponin. See here: http://marmaladekiss.blogspot.com/2008/04/in-nutshell.html

[AishaWood]

Some form of acid should have the same effect as ACV (as Karen and Cherry mentioned above), but if you don't have hard water you could probably get away with just a blast of cold water!

[Maxine]

When I was younger I used to rinse my hair with beer, it makes your hair super shiny too, no recipe just open a can and pour it on! Then a final water rinse.

[janet]

I used to use rosemary and thyme simmered in about a litre with water with a very small amount of whatever vinegar was at the front of the cupboard. Good for dandruff as well.

[LeeAnn]

When I read about your hair rinse issue, I was immediately reminded of a really bad 1970's book I read as a teenager. In the book the young girl rinsed her hair with beer(which I actually heard works and one of your other comments mentions this). But you wouldn't want to use cold beer. So you'd have to keep a 6 pack in the bathroom. What will the guests think? :)

[Beth]

I've been doing the baking soda and vinegar thing for about two weeks now. Love how the vinegar changes my hair, not only how shiny it is but the thickness. I don't really mind the smell, you get used to it. Plus, I do it as the very last step.

[emmy lou]

LOVE LOVE LOVE the new header!!
Those are great colors together!
When are you getting your fabric line together... and maybe stationery? Wallpaper? There are no boundaries with what you can do...!

[aditi]

I'm delurking to add my 2c and to also say that i LOVE your blog!!

Not sure what the purpose of the vinegar rinse is in the whole bathtime routine, so this isn't exactly related to that, but I wanted to say that my son has very very dry skin so I massage olive oil onto his head/hair a little while before he takes a bath. It washes out easily with a little shampoo but his hair is left incredibly soft and shiny. I have oily skin and hair, but I occasionally use the olive oil too and it makes my hair fabulously soft and my scalp feel very quenched (not that it is even remotely dry but it feels so good!).

[Adrienne]

From "Curly Girl" by Lorraine Massey...
Lavender Mist
Boil 1/2 gallon water. Simmer for an hour. Remove from heat, add 5 drops pure (not synthetic) lavender oil. Steep until cool then pour into spray bottles.

Lemon Aid
Add juice of 1 lemon to your normal amount of conditioner. Good for removing buildup.

Hope that helps! There are more recipes in the book, but most are for moisturizing dry hair.

[Annie]

Hi - thanks for the update. I also found this site to have an amazing list of bath and body recipes, so I wanted to pass on the link. I would try the tea rinse, or the rosemary/mint one if you have dandruff. http://www.craftbits.com/viewCategory.do?categoryID=BAB

[Maryellen]

I keep a spray bottle with vinegar/water in the bathroom for cleaning. After I finished in the shower, I just spritzed my hair over the tub and walked away. The timing of the vinegar application (and the amount?) doesn't seem to make any difference. Thanks for the inspiration!

[Susan B]

What if you did the paste, then the rinse, and *then* did the lovely smelly soaps and the scrubs - would those lovely scents - if you used them last in your shower - help to cancel out the earlier stinky step?

Also, do you have long hair? I can't imagine doing this myself - no matter how much it appeals to me, which it totally does - as my hair is fairly long, and conditioner is totally necessary unless I want a head full of knots. What do you do or would you do for tangles?????

[Karyn]

Thanks for sharing all the beauty product fun - you've motivated me to pull all the herbs and oils out of my cabinets to see what I can whip up!

For those who can't find cheap citric acid in their area, Mountain Rose Herbs (mountainroseherbs.com) has it in bulk. The shipping can be pricey, but if you need other ingredients in bulk it's not too bad. I've ordered lots of herbs and oils over the past couple years and I've been really thrilled with their service and quality every time.

[Sarah E C]

This is one of my favorite sites for making your own stuff:

http://www.makeyourcosmetics.com/recipes/index.asp?cat=hfh
That will give you lots of ideas. I made the simple lip balm and body scub for Christmas 3 years ago and friends went nuts.

[laura]

I'm going to have to try all of these different options. Since I've been pregnant my scalp has been really weird. I do have a vinegar tip (but not for hair). I spray myself with white vinegar to keep mosquitos from biting when I'm in my yard. I smell like a pickle or easter egg until it dries, but it does a really good (and natural)job of keeping me free of mosquito bites (and I usually get tons of them without it).

[La C.]

I don't have any tips on a hair rinse but I wanted to tell you I made the sugar scrub the other day and am absolutely in LOVE. We moved from Memphis to Milwaukee 6 months ago and I had my first cold winter. My skin absolutely revolted against me. My legs were in such bad shape from being wrapped in tights all winter. Two weeks barely with this scrub and they are gorgeous again. I can't wait to try the bath melts. I'll never run out of gift ideas again.

[Meghan]

I've felt the same way about the vinegar as you do and I found that I still needed some conditioner to get my knots out. Would olive oil help with the knots?
One thing I've been using all over is baking soda. It's a super cheap all-over exfoliator. It works especially as a paste for my face. I've actually seen a reduction in breakouts.

[Cassie]

I'm doing the baking soda & vinegar method too & I spritz a little bit of diluted essential oil on my hair after I get out of the shower. It really helps combat the easter egg smell.

[Ericka B Traven]

Please let us know what works in the end. I have been "no poo" for a month now and love the body and feel of my hair. I know the ACD has some good stuff in it that helps your hair even if it is stinky. But I wouldn't mind finding something less stinky.

[Kelly]

when I saw the photo I thought "oh, those look YUMMY", thinking they were another cookie from that new MS cookie book. ha

Camomile tea is a great hair rinse, and it smells nice, too.

[sarah]

I remember reading about this a few years ago, but never brave enough to try it myself (my hair is a mess as is, I was terrified of making it worse) ;)

but after reading this and the comments, I may give it a shot!

[cc]

Totally fun your new ideas!! Thanks for sharing - my turn now - this site is terrific for supplies and recipes. We've made lip balms for birthday goodie bags and gifts. YUM! They have the supplies and the containers to make them extra special. http://www.fromnaturewithlove.com/
Stay clean, stay green! te he.

[heather moore]

Hey, thanks for listing my blog in your "awesome" list! I like yours too ( and really love that pretty top you made).
Cheers,
Heather (skinny laminx

[Hyena In Petticoats]

wow.

I know you have a zillion helpful comments over here already, but I thought I'd chuck my two cents in anyway:

I steep a big handful of fresh rosemary and lavender in boiling water, usually until the water cools down, strain, and add a wee bit of white vinegar, and a little bit of rosewater. yum.

I also use a similar concoction for air freshener:

one part rose water to three parts water, plus a few drops of whatever essential oil takes my fancy - whacked into a spray bottle and used to freshen the house, spray on the ironing, I spritz the sheets when I'm putting them on the bed too. Smells great, and all natural. Plus, it keeps ghosts away. Serious!

Loving the homemade recipe goodness - keep it up!

Leah xxx

[Jennifer in KS]

As someone else mentioned, I have used white vinegar over apple cider. While it was smelly in the shower, the smell vanished once my hair was dry.

I use shampoo bars from the following maker, and she has a few rinse recipes on her site:

http://www.chagrinvalleysoapandcraft.com/shampving.htm

[amy]

As a devotee of Lorraine Massey's hair care advice, I'm with Adrienne on the lemon juice and conditioner idea. Except I've modified it a bit--I find that I need to clean my hair every day (Massey tells curly heads simply to rinse with water and firm scrubbing most days), since I use styling products, so I just mix cheapo bottled lemon juice with conditioner (Avalon Organics Lemon Clarifying Conditioner--about 1/3 lemon juice to 2/3 conditioner) and keep it in the bottle in the shower--that's my shampoo every day. And it smells lovely. Then I condition after that (my hair is long and curly--conditioner is a way of life). Every once in a while, when there's more build-up than usual, I do the baking soda water thing, but mostly the daily lemon juice conditioner mix works perfectly. On my head, shampoo just kind of invites frizzy, dry hair disaster. And honestly, vinegar does Very Weird Things to my hair. And yeah, it smells. (I have a similar problem with mayonnaise deep conditioning treatments--who wants to smell like egg salad all day?)

[Kirsten]

I'm blonde, so I rinse my hair with diluted lemon juice - squeezed fresh from a lemon, of course. I don't usually worry about the ratio - half a lemon to a whole lemon in a litre jar of warm water works well for me, but if you have darker hair a couple of tablespoons would be fine too (though you might still get some lightening). The same amount as apple cider vinegar, which I used to use before I heard it darkens light hair. The lemon rinse smells divine, so fresh and invigorating, and because it's diluted, there's no need to worry about the sugars, though I do rinse it out.
Sometimes I'll also make a lemon-chamomile rinse, and it smells like tea-time. Relaxing.

[Donna]

This is relying on me remembering science lessons from 25+ years ago, but I believe the importance of the vinegar rinse is to restore the PH balance of the hair. The baking soda is an alkaline, the vinegar an acid. So while some of the rinses suggested sound lovely, I think they need to be used after the acidic rinses some of the others suggested.

[L8ybug]

I too have tried a cider vinegar and chammomile rinse. I tried both rinsing it out and leaving it on to dry. Both resulted in severe TANGLES. I would love a suggestion to avoid this.

[Trina]

A great shampoo and rinse I have used in the past is Borax in water, let it settle and just use the water, then to condition mix 1/4 teaspoon citric acid in a pint of water and pour that over your head.
Works great, I found out about it when I ended up with having an allergic reaction to some other shampoo.

[Nevis]

Wow, I would love to make my own bath bombs....maybe for christmas gifts?

[Blue Castle]

The bath melts look awesome.

As far as baking soda/vinegar for shampoo goes, I have been doing it for over a month now and LOVE the way it works for me. My hair is almost to my knees and the ends can get really dry, but I haven't had an issue using the baking soda and vinegar. When I first started, I was using Bragg's vinegar and it really stunk. I replaced it with the cheap-o Wal-Mart brand apple cider vinegar and it seems to not stink as bad. I mix it half and half in a plastic mug with water and then dump it over my head as a rinse. I do this twice (because of my long hair) and then rinse with water and I'm done. I know this doesn't work for everyone, but I've been impressed because my hair is easily tangled and with this, I haven't had any issues, and I haven't needed to use conditioner.

[Five Green Acres]

Lately I've been blog-pimping this great book: Rosemary Gladstar's Family Herbal. I've made a couple of things from it already, most recently a nice herb-y shampoo. Haven't gotten to the rinse-making yet, but it looks like the alternative to the vinegar rinse is pretty similar to what others have already posted - select your herbs, simmer, and add your essential oils. I wanted to throw the book out there for you though, as there's a looooooot of great recipes in there, and more importantly, lots of great herb info to use in selecting your own ingredients and tailoring them to you. I'm studying herbs, so I'm reading lots of herbals, but find this one really easy to use - comprehensive and down to earth.

[Mary]

Sorry if this is a repeat of info but Liberty Natural www.libertynatural.com is a local company that has lots of the oils and other supplies for making your own products. They don't have have a storefront but are local to portland and do will call so you can save on shipping. They also have lots of great info on their site about how to make stuff etc.

[Leah]

I've been using the baking soda and vinegar for washing my hair for nearly a year now (started last May). I only ever use 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of a.c. vinegar in 1 litre (4 cups or so) of water. So it doesn't smell a whole lot that way. The first 6 weeks is the hardest as what your hair seems to need changes nearly every day, then after that your hair seems to regulate and is just soooo nice! I only have to wash with baking soda and vinegar once, occasionally twice a month and the rest is just washing with water.

Hope that helps! It's well worth it. And it's so good to see people giving it a go! I also now use baking soda for many things including deoderant, toothpaste, all sorts of things!

[Regina]

FYI, this months Veg Times (may 08) has a cool article called "Kitchen Table Beauty" with a few recipes. It also mentions a couple books you might want to look into:

Organic Body Care Recipes by Stephanie Tourles

Healing Home Spa by Valerie Cooksley

[louise]

Vinegar is vile on the hair...I used it to GREAT effect on my children when they were little and there was a lice plague at school (disgusting I know but lice were rampant in Sydney schools at the time).

[Amy]

What if you steeped herbs in the vinegar? A website I found recently (can't remember which) when looking for natural cleaning recipes talked about steeping rosemary or parsley in the vinegar (seal herbs in a mason jar for 4 weeks in a cool dark place)then use that mixed with alcohol and water for a cleaner. Supposed to smell much better-could work for your hair. Probably doesn't have to take 4 weeks if you heat it gently. Good luck!

[suze]

Not sure what the baking soda shampoo recipe is, but I use baking soda and vinegar combos to clean my kitchen sink drain.
I have used the conditioning shampoo of an egg whipped with olive oil and find it to be a good treatment for my dry hair.
When I was little, we used to rinse our hair after summer showers in rainwater collected in buckets or bowls. Nothing better.

[Teresa]

I'm not sure what you mean by Baking Soda. In the UK we have baking powder or bicarbonate of soda. I would presume it is the latter of the two. I'd love to give this a try as I'm trying to use more natural products and the ones you buy are so expensive.

[Teresa]

I'm not sure what you mean by Baking Soda. In the UK we have baking powder or bicarbonate of soda. I would presume it is the latter of the two. I'd love to give this a try as I'm trying to use more natural products and the ones you buy are so expensive.