Tag: make your own toiletries

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Sage and Thyme Steaming Treatment

We’ve given ourselves a productive new year’s resolution this year – we’re finally going to get the hang of this blogging business! No more getting distracted, you’re going to be hearing a lot more from us… So to start on the right note (halfway through January, but close enough!) here’s our first ‘make your own’ of the year.

It’s the time of year for dry skin and blocked noses, but we’ve got a super easy, very relaxing way to combat both at the same time. A sage and thyme steaming treatment will open and unclog your pores, whilst clearing your sinuses for easier breathing.

Ingredients:

Handful fresh sage

Handful fresh thyme

Bowl of boiled water

Towel

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It really is as easy as it sounds like it’s going to be! Just pop the herbs into a bowl of freshly boiled water, then lean your face over (not so close that you scald yourself…), lay the towel over your head and breathe deeply. You can stay here for 5 to 10 minutes, before wiping your face off with a cold, damp cloth to close up those pores again. For best results, follow up with a refreshing, toning spritzer and moisturiser.

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Make your own – Bath Bombs (again!)

We know you’ve probably seen this before, but in honour of Christmas we thought we’d share our most popular gift making idea ever. These bath bombs are so easy to make, and are a fantastic, home made gift. They’re also great for relaxing after a hard day’s Christmas shopping!

Ingredients:

Witch Hazel Water

Bicarbonate of Soda

Citric Acid

Essential Oil (we like lavender for an extra soothing bath, but anything you like will work!)

Dried herbs, petals, flowers or food colouring  (again, lavender flowers are it for us)

 

Moulds:

We’ve got the kind of house that always has kids running around, and of course that means kids toys everywhere – so we used a plastic ball pit ball, cut in half (ingenious, we know) as our mould. But you can use anything that has the shape you like – ice cube trays, cupcake tins, whatever you’ve got lying around.

Bath.Bomb.how.to.image

Directions:

  1. Combine equal amounts of citric acid and bicarbonate of soda.
  2. Add a few drops of the essential oil of your choice, plus any flowers or colouring you’re using & mix thoroughly.
  3. Sparingly add Witch Hazel Water (a few drops at a time) until the mixture is just damp enough to hold its shape when compressed. Go easy on adding the liquid- if you add too much the mixture will do all its fizzing in your bowl instead of your bath!
  4. Pack the mixture firmly into both halves of your mould, then push together to join. (If using an ice cube tray or similar, just make sure to compress the mixture into the mould so it doesn’t all fall apart when you take it out).
  5. Allow to set for at least 2 hours before removing from the mould.
  6. If your bomb falls apart when you remove it from your mould, it’s probably too dry- put the mixture back in a bowl and add a few more drops of Witch Hazel water.
  7. Package in some cellophane with ribbon as a gorgeous home made gift – or spoil yourself and get that bath running!
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Exciting Times…

We can only apologise (once again) for the lack of blog posts recently – the days just don’t seem to be long enough! We did think you’d like to be kept updated though, so here’s a look at all the exciting events that we’ve got planned for the next few months…

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lunchisserved

book.talk

italian.night

 

Dates for your diary:

Thursday 6th October – Stitch and Bitch

Wednesday 19th October – Irish Night

Friday 28th October – Halloween Trick or Treat

Thursday 3rd November – Toiletry Gift Making Workshop

Wednesday 23rd November – British Winter Staples Night

Details to follow…

If you see an event that takes your fancy, give us a call on 01840213442 to book. If you’ve got an event, group or meeting and are in need of a venue, give us a call and we’ll be happy to help. We’d love to see you all, so don’t be shy and come along!

 

 

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Make your own – Hair Shine Treatment

I don’t know about you but the miserable winter we’ve been having has left my hair in a complete mess. Luckily, this super easy to make hair shine treatment is great for split ends, brittle hair or even just a bit of a pick me up on a girly night in.

Ingredients:

10g rosemary leaves

10g dried chamomile flowers

100ml fractionated coconut oil

This makes enough for one treatment for very long hair or several if you’re rocking a pixie cut! You’ll have to make it up a bit in advance – just pop all of the ingredients into a jar or bottle and leave to infuse (I only left it overnight but if you can manage a week then even better). When you’re ready to use it, strain through a sieve to get rid of the herbs and work the oil into your scalp and hair. Wrap your hair in clingfilm (or a hot towel if you’re feeling fancy) and leave for a minimum of 30 minutes. If your hair is particularly dry then it can be left in overnight, but be warned – this is not a good idea if your hair leans toward being greasy! Wash the oil out with shampoo; you might need to do this a couple of times to get all of the oil out. Voila! Enjoy your soft, shiny, revived hair. If you’d like to know more about why this works, check out this article about the benefits of coconut oil for your hair.

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Make your own – Bath Bombs

A great gift idea for all occasions (and our most popular blog post ever!), our bath bombs dissolve in a hot bath for silky smooth, fragrant bath water. Bonus – they’re exceedingly easy to make!

Ingredients:

Witch Hazel Water

Bicarbonate of Soda

Citric Acid

Essential Oil (we like lavender for an extra soothing bath, but anything you like will work!)

Dried herbs, petals, flowers or food colouring  (again, lavender flowers are it for us)

 

Moulds:

We’ve got the kind of house that always has kids running around, and of course that means kids toys everywhere – so we used a plastic ball pit ball, cut in half (ingenious, we know) as our mould. But you can use anything that has the shape you like – ice cube trays, cupcake tins, whatever you’ve got lying around.

Bath.Bomb.how.to.image

Directions:

  1. Combine equal amounts of citric acid and bicarbonate of soda.
  2. Add a few drops of the essential oil of your choice, plus any flowers or colouring you’re using & mix thoroughly.
  3. Sparingly add Witch Hazel Water (a few drops at a time) until the mixture is just damp enough to hold its shape when compressed. Go easy on adding the liquid- if you add too much the mixture will do all its fizzing in your bowl instead of your bath!
  4. Pack the mixture firmly into both halves of your mould, then push together to join. (If using an ice cube tray or similar, just make sure to compress the mixture into the mould so it doesn’t all fall apart when you take it out).
  5. Allow to set for at least 2 hours before removing from the mould.
  6. If your bomb falls apart when you remove it from your mould, it’s probably too dry- put the mixture back in a bowl and add a few more drops of Witch Hazel water.
  7. Package in some cellophane with ribbon as a gorgeous home made gift – or spoil yourself and get that bath running!
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Make Your Own Christmas Compilation

I don’t know where the time keeps going, but it’s definitely happening a bit too fast for my liking! Christmas is just around the corner now and the money spent is already adding up – so here is our compilation of all things ‘make your own’ to keep Christmas cheap and still beautiful!

We’ll start with the all important gifts – some of these are our very own recipes and some come from some very clever people with more time on their hands than I have! Have a gander and give some a go yourself:

It’s a scarf, but with pockets!

This one takes a bit more time, but it’s so beautiful – a leather messenger bag.

Ministry of silly walks, in clock form.

Bath milk bags.

Soothing hand balm.

Bath salts – so easy and they can come in any smell you fancy!

Bath vinegars – a nice jar or bottle can really make a difference to this one.

Lightbulb terrarium, does it get much more creative?

Beautiful wood burned boxes. If you’ve got the tools and the time, these make the most gorgeous, unique gift.

This elegant, delicate votive candle holder is just so beautiful, I want a room full of them!

 

It’s all well and good having gifts sorted, but it never really feels like Christmas until the decorations are up! Here are our favourite DIY decorations:

Double lattice ornaments

Christmas tatting patterns

We used this video to make the decorations for our shop this year – they’re rather stunning!

Super intricate, ever so delicate, paper snowflakes

If you’re looking for more ideas, here’s 17 easy peasy decorations you could give a go

 

And of course, it wouldn’t be Christmas without a drink or two! Have a go at some of these Chrimbo cocktails:

Still our favourite, the Chocolate Alexander

A classic with a twist, Appleberry Mulled Wine

We love a bit of cardamom, but we’d never have thought to put it in a martini! This bitter orange and cardamom martini is just to die for.

Cranberry mojito, tastes as good as it looks!

It’s Christmas, of course that means there has to be eggnog…

And in case you need something a bit more warming, hot chocolate and baileys – enough said.

 

There you go – everything you could possibly need to get you through another Christmas (or at least get you tipsy enough to not care!)

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Make your own – Bath Milk Bag

So it seems summer is over (what little we had of it!) and autumn is swiftly taking over. My cure all for those end of summer blues has always been a good long soak in the bath! This fantastic recipe for easy peasy bath milk has been a godsend for me – perfect to help you unwind.

Ingredients:

100g milk powder

5 – 10g dried flowers (I used calendula, the colour seemed fitting for autumn!)

2-4 drops essential oil (orange for me, but you can use anything that will help you relax)

muslin bags or squares of muslin and a length of thin ribbon

bath-milk-step-1

Method:

 

In a bowl, add the essential oil to the milk powder and stir thoroughly. It’s important to make sure that the essential oil is completely mixed in, with no clumpy bits.

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Then add your flowers and once again mix thoroughly.

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That’s really all there is to it! Pop your bath milk into a muslin bag, or if using muslin squares then place a tablespoon of mixture in the middle, bring the four corners together to form a pouch and then seal with the thin ribbon. Leave a loop of ribbon to tie the bag below the tap while you run your bath, so that the water runs through the mixture.

bath-milk-bag

Enjoy your soak in milky, aromatic goodness!

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Make your own – No Sweat Foot Spritzer

We’ve been having some beautiful weather recently (for Britain anyway!) and it’s great to enjoy it, but I have to say I’m not enjoying the sweaty feet it’s led too! This fantastic no sweat foot spray has been a godsend for me, and it smells great too.

Ingredients:

2 sprigs fresh rosemary

125ml witch hazel water

35 drops (about 1.5ml) cypress essential oil

5 drops (about 0.25ml) patchouli essential oil

Pop the rosemary sprigs into a bottle, cover with the witch hazel water and essential oils and shake well. The cypress essential oil helps to close your pores to prevent sweating, whilst the patchouli acts as a deodoriser so you don’t have to worry about smelly feet. You’ll want to make sure to use a spray bottle so you can spritz your feet throughout the day- it feels so refreshing I could just bathe in it! (I wouldn’t recommend actually bathing in it, probably best to keep it for your feet…)

 

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Make Your Own – Hand Balm

Love our fathers as we may, I think we can all admit that buying them gifts can be a pain! So if you’re fed up of the standard beer and socks this father’s day, why not make your own gift? This fabulous hand balm recipe works wonders even on the roughest of hands – and the men in our lives need some pampering occasionally!

balm.blog.jars

Recipe:

200g cocoa butter

200g shea butter

400mls sweet almond oil

few drops essential oil (whatever fragrance you like – we love lavender for its fab healing properties!)

 

Method:

– Melt the butters in a bowl over a pan of boiling water, until completely liquid.

– Remove from the heat and immediately stir in the sweet almond oil and essential oil.

– Pour into sterile containers (you can just sterilise some old glass jars for this), cover with greaseproof paper and leave to cool.

– Once completely cooled, place carefully in the freezer until set.

– Cap the jars, ribbon for an extra special touch and then you’re all set!

The great thing about this is it can last for up to 18 months if kept in a cool dry place– so you can make one big batch and have home made presents ready all year!

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Make Your Own – Dry Shampoo

In last week’s herb of the month we wrote about Orris and it’s uses, so we thought this week that we’d give you a recipe to go along with it – an easy peasy dry shampoo that will leave your hair feeling silky and smelling sweet, with minimal effort from you!

mixing-dry-shampoo

Ingredients:

10g Orris root powder

20g Arrowroot powder

20g Cornflour

Just sieve the powders into a bowl and mix thoroughly. To use, simply rub a pinch of the powder into your hair, paying special attention to the roots. For longer hair you may need to use slightly more powder, though this mix should still last for more than one dry wash. The Orris root powder will give a subtle scent, whilst the combination of powders will leave your hair feeling grease free and soft to the touch.

If you’re one of the unlucky few that are sensitive to Orris root powder, not to worry, this recipe is easily adaptable. Just substitute the Orris root with a few drops of essential oil to give the dry shampoo a sweeter scent; the arrowroot and cornflour will still leave your hair feeling fab!