I first fell in love with the colour coral when I fell in love with the dinner dress from Titanic. The beautiful silk/taffeta under dress is a fantastic coral colour, and from there on out… love. It’s a fantastically flattering colour clothing and cosmetics. I love it in blushes and lip colour, and it’s great in eyeshadow if you have pinkish undertones (I don’t, so I end up looking like I have an eye infection if I put anything red near my eyes). Anyhow, this beautiful coral lipstick is fantastic. Great coverage, wonderfully smooth, and with a great pop of peppermint for freshness.

coral lipstick

4g beeswax

7g shea butter

4g cocoa butter

9g avocado oil

1g magnesium stearate

2 tsp red oxide

¼ tsp yellow

1/8 tsp oil-soluble titanium dioxide

6–8 drops peppermint essential oil

Source: http://www.humblebeeandme.com/coral-lipstick/

The base is beeswax, shea butter, cocoa butter, camellia seed oil, and just a hint of magnesium stearate. I’ve formulated the base for summer temperatures, so it doesn’t get too soft in weather over 25°C. If you live somewhere colder, or like a softer lipstick, I’d drop the amount of beeswax by a gram.

red velvet lipstick

4g beeswax

7g shea butter

4g cocoa butter

9g camellia seed oil

1g magnesium stearate

1 tsp Austalian red reef

1 tsp light clay (zeolite ultrafine, white kaolin, Australian ivory)

5 drops peppermint essential oil (or another you like)

Source: http://www.humblebeeandme.com/red-velvet-lipstick/

Homemade scrubs are one of my favorite things. Your skin feels so amazing and the coconut-y scent is an extra bonus. Combine 1/2 cup coconut milk with 1/2 cup turbinado sugar. Then add a heaping tablespoon of coconut oil (warm in the microwave if it’s still solid) and go hide out in the bathroom a while.

Source: http://www.henryhappened.com/3-diy-coconut-milk-beauty-recipes.html

We’ve all heard of taking a milk bath, right? Well, it’s time to change it up to coconut milk. Grind 1/2 cup of old fashioned oatmeal and combine with 1-2 cups of coconut milk and a tablespoon of honey. Add to your bath and welcome the long weekend.

Source: http://www.henryhappened.com/3-diy-coconut-milk-beauty-recipes.html

The coconut oil love continues here at HH, and now I have a another favorite: coconut milk! It’s great for dry skin – such a drag in the cold season – because the fat content locks in moisture. So using it as a cleanser and moisturizer will keep you soft and smooth.

Mix together a 1/4 cup full fat coconut milk with 1/3 cup liquid castile soap. I love Dr. Bronner’s. You can use lavender scented soap or add essential oils for a relaxing scent. Combine in a squeeze bottle and lather up. The mixture tends to separate a bit after sitting so you might need to shake it up a bit before using. Oh, and this can also be used as shampoo!

Source: http://www.henryhappened.com/3-diy-coconut-milk-beauty-recipes.html

The colour comes from a liquid carmine dye from Saffire Blue, but you could also use red oxide if you don’t have the carmine liquid dye. Carmine itself isn’t oil soluble, but this liquid carmine dye is, so unfortunately you can’t use plain old carmine, but red iron oxide works really nicely. Then there’s a bit of gold or copper mica for some Christmassy shimmer. Nice.

cranberry lip balm

10g beeswax

12g virgin coconut oil

7g raw cocoa butter

19g sweet almond oil

1g Vitamin E oil

20 drops liquid carmine dye (or red oxide)

1 “smidgen” gold, copper, or bronze mica

4 drops bergaptene free bergamot essential oil

2 drops clove bud essential oil

2 drops cardamom essential oil

15 drops peppermint essential oil

Gently melt the oils together in a double boiler. Remove from the heat and stir in the carmine and mica. Let the mixture cool enough that the mica will stay in suspension (but it is still liquid). Pour into lip balm tubes (this will fill 10) and let set. Enjoy!

Source: http://www.humblebeeandme.com/cranberry-lip-balm/

I'm on my feet a lot, both at work and at home. Sometimes I need a little foot soak to help relax those overworked feet (I can't always talk my way into a foot rub from the hus). That is where this easy foot soak comes in handy. The tea tree oil leaves my feet all tingly even after I'm done soaking!

To make some Rejuvenating foot soak at home you will need:

1.5 cups Epsom Salts

1 Tablespoon baking soda (natural moisturizer)

1/2 teaspoon Tea Tree Essential Oil. 

Mix these ingredients together and add to about 1-1.5 gallons hot water. I generally use the hottest tap water I can stand, and I will sometimes start with a gallon and then add fresh hot water as my water cools to keep it hot for a longer time. I soak for 10-20 minutes then rinse my feet and dry them. This is great when you just feel like giving yourself a little treat and it is pretty inexpensive to make (you could even do a large batch to give as gifts).

Source: http://craftinomicon.blogspot.ro/2013/08/rejuvenating-foot-soak.html

Avocado has a well-deserved reputation for one of nature’s perfect foods. Its oils and proteins will smooth and moisturize your locks without weighing down fine hair. Mash up half an avocado and add a couple of drops of peppermint essential oil. Shampoo hair, squeeze out water and apply mask.

Let it sit for 15 minutes and then rinse. My hair came out super soft – not flat or greasy. And the added scent made sitting around with green goop on your head much more pleasant. If you’re not worried about weighing down your hair you can amp up the moisture by adding 1-2 tablespoons of oil, egg yolk or yogurt.

Source: http://www.henryhappened.com/homemade-hair-treatments.html 

Chapped lips are the worst! I think I reapply lip balm 50 times a day! So here’s a recipe to keep your lips soft and kissable all season long. Because who doesn’t love the taste of pumpkin pie? It’s my favorite dessert, hands down. (Then again I admit to being a nut for all things pumpkin spice.) Last year I made pumpkin spice lip gloss, and it became one of my favorite parts of the season. To get ready for chapped lip season, this year we switched up the recipe and added my new favorite ingredient (hint, it’s honey!). Oh, and we also tried out an edible lip scrub. Feel free to skip the pie and just eat the lip scrub!

Ingredients needed:

2 tablespoons coconut oil

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Source: http://www.henryhappened.com/pumpkin-pie-lip-balm-lip-scrub.html

I will happily confess that I have a bit of a thing for gingerbread. It’s delicious, and it smells fantastic. It is also a beautiful, deep colour that seems to be to hearken to days gone by, where rye bread, dark liquor, and unrefined foods abounded. A bit overly romantic, I’m sure, but it’s a nice wintery image all the same.

gingerbread lip balm

3g beeswax

3g virgin coconut oil

4g raw cocoa butter

5g sweet almond oil

5 drops vitamin E oil

1g vegetable glycerin

3g blackstrap molasses

3 drops liquid carmine dye (optional—you can also use a pinch of red iron oxide, but it will be more of a ruddy brown than red)

3 drops cinnamon essential oil

2 drops ginger essential oil

3 drops vanilla essential oil

Combine all the oils and waxes together in a small saucepan and melt over low heat.

Source: http://www.humblebeeandme.com/gingerbread-lip-balm/

In the winter my lips get unbearably dry. Arrrgh. It’s infuriating. Calgary is practically a desert for most of the year, but in the winter I swear we tip into negative humidity. Things don’t mold here because it’s like living in a dehydrator. Good for line drying your clothes inside, not so good for my face. One of the few things that helps with my dry lips is a sugar scrub—a bit of quick exfoliation to polish off any dry skin and help get moisture where it needs to be.

peppermint sugar lip scrub stick

5g beeswax

6g coconut oil

3g cocoa butter

10g avocado oil

1g vitamin E oil

6 drops peppermint essential oil

2 tbsp granulated white sugar

Source: http://www.humblebeeandme.com/peppermint-sugar-lip-scrub-stick/

We know that milk is good for our bones, but did you know it has many BEAUTY benefits as well? Mixing milk with bathwater has been done for centuries as a quick and easy way to moisturize and soften your skin while you relax in the tub.

Ingredients

2 cups whole powdered milk
1/2 cup cornstarch (soothes and relieves dry, itchy skin)
1/2 cup baking soda (skin softener)
Essential oil of your choice (I put in about 10 drops of lavender)

Source: http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2013/08/treat-yourself-to-a-luxurious-homemade-milk-bath.html

Personally, I like this version a LOT better than the first. Unfortunately, the castile “soap” in the first recipe reacts with the minerals in the water we wash our hair with and can form a film or residue. That is why some of us experienced a “coated” feeling on our hair….and why most shampoo is made with “detergents”, because detergent reacts less to minerals in water and doesn’t leave this residue. Of course detergents contain OTHER ingredients that are less than desirable. But that’s another post for another time. :-)

SEMI-HOMEMADE COCONUT MILK SHAMPOO

1/4 cup coconut milk (you can either make your own [see below], or use store-bought)

1/3 cup organic baby shampoo or wash (the closest I could get to organic was Aveeno)

1 tsp vitamin E, olive or almond oil (I used olive oil)

10 to 20 drops of your choice of essential oils (I used my go-to EO…Lavender)

Source: http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2013/08/make-your-own-coconut-milk-and-coconut-milk-shampoo.html

I was rather sad when my rosehip lip stain totally failed to do much of anything. It had so much promise! The name sounded so nice! The powder was so, so very pink! And I now had a bag of rosehip powder that I now had no other use for… at least the last problem could be solved.

rosehip lip gloss

3g beeswax

6g coconut oil

16g castor oil

7g jojoba oil

3g kukuinut oil

1g vitamin E oil

2g vegetable glycerin

2g raw honey

½ tsp rosehip extract

Melt the oils together in a saucepan over low heat.

Source: http://www.humblebeeandme.com/rosehip-lip-gloss/

This column of bath & body recipes is supposed to be called “Taking Care” because moms (cough, me) gotta start taking better care of themselves. But I just can’t do it yet – not with a straight face anyway! For stressed out mamas a relaxing vanilla bubble bath recipe is just the place to start. Preferably with a glass a wine.

HONEY VANILLA BUBBLE BATH

1/2 cup light almond oil

1/4 cup honey

1/2 cup mild liquid hand or body soap (Dr. Bronner’s is my fave)

1 egg white

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Combine ingredients and pour 1/4 to 1/2 cup under running water. Keep excess in the refrigerator.

Source: http://www.henryhappened.com/bubble-bath-recipe.html

Since making Easter egg bath bombs earlier this year the kids have been requesting more “fizzies.” Halloween brings out the kid in me too so it seemed like the perfect time to make a new batch. Lush always has the coolest seasonal products so I found Halloween bath bombs from a few years ago and based my recipes on their ingredients. Somehow the black spider webs turned bright green (even though it’s black in the water?!) but they were still fun.

The basic bath bomb base recipe is the same. Mix up a batch of this then divide in half to make both the pumpkin and spider web versions.

1 cup baking soda

1 cup citric acid powder (try Whole Foods in the bulk section)

1/2 cup cornstarch

1/2 cup of light oil, like canola

Source: http://www.henryhappened.com/halloween-bath-bombs.html

This is a project my friend Sarah found. She’s on a quest to make some all-natural tinted moisturizer/light foundation, and this was the starting point. So, we ordered up all of the ingredients, and this weekend we made some fleshy-coloured face powder.

mineral make-up

8 tsp titanium dioxide (micronized is best, but we just used normal stuff—it was a bit lumpy)

1 tbsp sericite mica

4 tsp zinc oxide

1 tsp magnesium stearate

1½–2 tsp yellow oxide

¼ tsp brown oxide

Pinch of red oxide

¼ tsp jojoba oil

5 drops vitamin E oil

Rubbing alcohol, optional

Source: http://www.humblebeeandme.com/diy-mineral-make-up/

After coming up with a successful batch of mineral make-up, I decided to branch out into blush. It was really easy and works beautifully. I managed to get a great coral colour, and it stays on beautifully. It’s probably pretty obvious, but I am rather pleased with myself.

homemade all natural blush

6 tsp zinc oxide

1 ½ tsp sericite mica

1 tsp silk powder

½ tsp magnesium stearate

2 tsp red clay

1/4 tsp jojoba oil

5 drops vitamin E oil

¾ tsp red oxide (work up to it!)

Source: http://www.humblebeeandme.com/homemade-all-natural-blush/

This bronzer has a lot in common with my homemade blush. It’s easy, effective, and uses most of the same ingredients. Swap the red oxide for a mix of red, yellow, and brown oxides, and some bronze mica, and voila, bronzer.

homemade bronzer

6 tsp zinc oxide

1½ tsp sericite mica

1 tsp silk powder

½ tsp magnesium stearate

2 tsp red clay

¼ tsp jojoba oil

5 drops vitamin E oil

5/8 tsp bronze mica

5/8 tsp brown oxide

½ tsp red oxide

1 tsp yellow oxide

Source: http://www.humblebeeandme.com/homemade-bronzer/

This powder is semi-sheer and slightly pink. It might look like blush in the sifter, but it goes on sheer with just enough pinky glow to keep you from looking like Queen Amidala.

homemade sheer highlighting powder

1 tbsp arrowroot starch

2 tsp sericite mica

2 tsp titanium dioxide

3/4 tsp silver mica

2 tsp silk powder

1 tsp magnesium stearate

1/16 tsp red oxide

1/32 tsp yellow

8 drops jojoba oil

Source: http://www.humblebeeandme.com/homemade-sheer-highlighting-powder/