DIY Sheet Mask Recipe for Dry Skin
Sheet masks are one of my favorite at-home spa skin care recipes to make. For those of you who may not have heard of them before, sheet masks are a skin care treatment that uses a piece of fabric soaked in a solution that is intended to bring a host of benefits to the skin. They can be found in just about any store that sells skin care products, but they come at the price of additional preservatives for shelf stability and single-use packaging. They also range in price, with the inexpensive ones including less than natural ingredients and the expensive ones being well…expensive! This is why I opt to make my own.
They are shockingly easy to make and are customizable for all skin types and needs. Sheet masks often feature hydrosol, herbal infusions, skin care oils, vegetable glycerin, and in my home spa, raw honey from my apiary. The key to a good sheet mask is to craft it so the mixture of water-based ingredients and oil-based ingredients is balanced.
Watery ingredients like hydrosols, herbal infusions, and vegetable glycerin are light and help to evenly coat the cloth. They are also easily penetrable and absorbable in the skin. In this recipe, I called upon rose hydrosol which is gentle and refreshing. I will also sometimes use cucumber hydrosol if I’m seeking an even gentler mask experience. I also added vegetable glycerine because my dry skin likes this inclusion. Vegetable glycerine is a humectant, meaning it helps the skin retain moisture.
How to Make Vegan Wax Melts + Stress Support Essential Oil Blend
Since I started sharing recipes for my aroma melts, people have asked me for a beeswax-free version. I was initially reluctant because the vegan wax alternatives can be a bit finicky, and I have always had great luck with beeswax. I finally decided to accept the challenge and took a retreat to my creative space to formulate a vegan wax melt recipe. After a few dozen rounds of trial and error, I discovered that carnauba wax is my preferred beeswax alternative. It has no aroma and is a much harder wax, so I don’t have to use as much of it as I would in a typical wax melt.
The hard part was finding the golden ratio to get the melts to stay solid at room temperature while also having them melt in store-purchased wax melters! And by golly, I have done it! It took hours of testing different ratios and combinations, but I finally came up with a core recipe I feel good about.
If you think “watching grass grow” is hard, you should try “watching carnauba wax melt.” Luckily, I have done lots of that for you so you can just jump to the fun part!
Natural DIY Hair Spray with Rosemary and Mint
I recently spent a night at a hotel with an outdoor saltwater soaking pool. I didn’t see much of the hotel itself because I could not convince my body that there was even one good reason to leave the buoyant 102°F saltwater paradise. I braided my hair ahead of time with the—in hindsight ridiculous—idea that maybe I could keep it dry, but by the time I finally conceded I needed to go to bed, it was thoroughly wet. So I toweled it dry-ish, ran a brush through it, and fell into bed for a deep, restful sleep. I woke up in the morning to voluminous hair that had fabulous waves. As I stood in front of the mirror blinking in confusion, it dawned on me that I had inadvertently given my hair a sea salt treatment… which reminded me that I could do this at home for significantly less money with DIY sea salt hair spray!
Because sea salt hair spray mimics seawater—working its way inside hair cuticles, absorbing moisture, reducing frizz, and enhancing natural waves—a DIY salt spray is an easy way to embrace the kind of beachy volume and texture you get after a dip in the ocean or a walk on a windswept Oregon beach with salt spray blowing through your hair.
Brightening Berry and Honey Face Mask & Exfoliant
This year, I set out to create a natural skin care treatment for my dull and dry winter skin. So I took to my crafting space to work on a mask and scrub that was brightening and cleansing. After several iterations, I created one that I’m quite excited about, and I think you all are going to enjoy it, too.
When creating new skin care recipes, I generally formulate them with ingredients I can use for other things. I especially like it when the core ingredients can be used internally for health and wellness, as in this recipe. Here are the ingredients that inspired this recipe, along with reasons they are good for the skin and other ways to use them.
DIY Dry Shampoo Recipes for Dark & Light Hair
There has been a lot of buzz lately around DIY and natural hair care. In the previous weeks, we’ve shared no-poo recipes, DIY hair rinses, and fermented rice water treatments. A perfect pairing to all those homemade hair care products is having a dry shampoo to get you in between “washes.”
Dry “shampoos” are created to work without water, and there has been a long history of people using powdered herbs, grains, and natural cosmetic clays to remove excess oil and dirt build-up. These ingredients naturally absorb oils and can then be brushed out without causing damage to the hair or scalp. Dry shampoos can also be a good option for folks who want to shampoo once or twice a week, using powders between washings to keep hair fresh, full, and manageable. They also come in handy when packing for camping trips and outdoor festivals!
We’ve created two different powders, one dry shampoo for dark hair (made with cocoa or carob powder) and another for lighter hair colors, but you can adjustment ingredients to suit your needs. Both shampoo blends are built around a base of organic tapioca powder, a super lightweight starch that becomes pretty much invisible once applied.
Exploring the Senses Through Aromatherapy
Our senses tell us about the world around us. One of the most interesting sensory explorations is smell because our olfactory system sends signals directly to our brain and is one of the most immediate ways to trigger emotions. As you may have seen in the “blind tea tasting” video we shared a few weeks ago, blind tasting and smelling offers insights into how we can connect with plants before putting a label or perceived function on them. With that in mind, we’re excited to share this video of our friend, Erika Gentian of Sovereignty Herbs. Erika recently visited our headquarters in Eugene, Oregon to show us how blind hydrosol smelling can help us get to know our herbal allies. Learn more about how the power of smell can help you work with hydrosols for gentle, effective support.
DIY Detangler & Anti-Frizz Spray Recipe with Marshmallow Root
Whether your unique mane coils into bouncy ringlets, twists into wild waves, or cascades down as straight as a pin, you’ve undoubtably experienced bad hair days. On too many occasions to count in my life, I’ve stumbled out of bed in the morning and glanced into the mirror to find a sight only explainable by a bird crafting a nest out of my frazzled locks overnight. After reaching for every fancy spritz and spray buried in my cabinets, I’d more often than not be left with relatively tamed frizz, greasy roots, and a wafting heavy perfume fragrance that was less than desirable. Inevitably, I would succumb to the classic slicked-back ponytail or throwing my mop of hair under a big hat on days such as these.
Herbal Aphrodisiacs | Tea Talks Roundtable
*Disclaimer – This episode explores themes of sexual nature and may not be suitable for all audiences.*
Herbal Aphrodisiacs | Tea Talks Roundtable
In this “Tea Talks Roundtable,” Jiling discusses Herbal Aphrodisiacs with herbalists Kimberly Gallagher, Lucretia Vandyke, Marie White, and jim mcdonald.
We explore:
Defining “aphrodisiac”
“Aphrodisiac” herbal actions and examples
How we can make space for pleasure as a culture
Delicious aphrodisiac recipes
Botanical lubricants
Topical kava preparations
Some beautiful sensual poetry
Homemade Lotion Recipe: Warming Fall Spice Blend
It’s the season for everyone’s favorite autumnal spices. Crisp fall scents and flavors are in our lattes, our pastries, our diffusers, our perfumes, and more. They’re also in one of my favorite Mountain Rose Herbs lotion recipes! Although I love thicker creams and body butters for everyday moisturizing, I like to keep lotion in a pump bottle by the sink to use after hand-washing. This DIY lotion recipe is so easy to make, which means it’s simple to switch up the scent to match the seasons or my current mood. This time of year, it’s all about the satisfying aromas of autumn.
Let’s talk for a moment about shelf life. Although this is a fun and easy way to make lotion, it does not have a preservative and includes water in the form of chamomile hydrosol. This means it’s going to have a shorter shelf life than a product that includes preservatives. Water breeds life, including microbial life, so mold and other bacterial spoilage can become an issue with any formulation that includes water, hydrosols, witch hazel, aloe vera juice, flower waters, milk, etc. Without a broad-spectrum preservative, water-containing emulsions like lotions, hair rinses, room and linen sprays, and cleaning products all need to be made and stored properly to achieve their longest shelf life.
Herbal Bath Vinegar with Juniper & Rosemary
If I told you there’s a pantry staple that can soothe sore muscles and calm irritated skin, would you guess it’s vinegar? It’s true! From minor aches to dry or itchy skin, I turn to herbal vinegar baths. On its own, a cup or two of vinegar in the tub will leave skin soft and rejuvenated with a healthful glow. But herb-infused vinegars take this concept a step further, using plant constituents to boost the already impressive benefits of a vinegar bath.
This juniper-rosemary blend was formulated to increase circulation, soothe sore muscles, and calm irritated skin. If tension and muscle stress build up during your work week, whether from commuting, computer work, or overdoing it in the garden, make this restorative soak a regular weekend or mid-week ritual.
