Makin' It From Scratch: Toiletries Update

I've come across some new homemade toiletries blog posts and recipes that I thought I'd share.

Natural Beauty: Clean Skin, Teeth, and Lips (see recipe below)

The Oil Cleansing Method

How to Clean Your Hair Without Using Shampoo

Homemade Soaps and Body Care

Basic Homemade Toothpaste

2 Tablespoons of coconut oil

2 to 3 Tablespoons of baking soda

1/4 teaspoon of Stevia powder

a few drops of pure peppermint extract

Mix it all together until it resembles toothpaste.

Coconut oil has a melting point of 76 degrees Fahrenheit, which means this toothpaste feels more liquidy during warmer weather. It doesn’t change its effectiveness, though.

The Stevia provides a bit of natural sweetness, making the toothpaste palatable, as does the pure peppermint extract. You could try a variety of flavors to your liking.

Right now, I’ve got this toothpaste in a small lidded jar, and I scoop out a tiny bit with a tea spoon onto my toothbrush. But you can also get empty squeeze tubes, often found among camping supplies at stores.

Really Cool Article: Reusing & Dehydrating

I came across this really cool article about reusing glass bottles and dehydrating - frozen vegetables!! The work is done for you because the veggies are already washed, peeled, chopped and blanched. I can't believe the genius of that! I haven't used my dehydrator for a while, but this might be a great way to bust it out again. I get my frozen vegetables in bulk at Costco (and they're organic - yay!). I could realistically dehydrate that whole bag, store it on my shelf and save all that storage in the freezer. (It's a big bag.) So cool!

http://pantryparatus.com/blog/recycling_dehydrating/

Cool & Useful Website

I was doing a search for the shelf life of taco shells and came across this really cool site:

Still Tasty: Your Ultimate Shelf Life Guide

Check it out!