Easy Homemade Beauty Products!

Here on Ear to the Earth, we mostly talk about what goes into your body and the importance of a whole foods plant based diet, but today I want to discuss a few things that, although we don't eat them, end up inside our bodies all the same. As I'm sure we all know by now, our skin isn't an impenetrable barrier between us and the outside world; it is, in fact, permeable, and much of what our skin comes in contact with is absorbed straight into the bloodstream! I've been slowly transitioning the few beauty and personal care products I use from the creepy chemical-laden store bought brands to clean, safe, and simple homemade ones for some time now, but then one day I thought, "I kiss Viv's chunky little cheeks about 50 million times a day. I do NOT want to be plastering her with all these creepy toxins!" And so the great clean out has begun. I started with products I use on my face, since that's what comes in contact with her the most, and will move on to hair next. Until then, let me share with you these simple (but important!) changes I've made.

One of the only bits of makeup I wear is blush, and the only thing you need to make your own is a beet! I got the instructions from my favorite blog, YumUniverse, and I encourage you to toss whatever blush you're currently using and make your own beet blush today. It has such a nice subtle and natural color that I just love and can feel so good about applying to my skin.

I don't really use eyeliner, but sometimes for special occasions (like my wedding) I do use eyeshadow. Here is a super simple way to make your own eyeshadow/eyeliner from activated charcoal capsules, which you can find for less than $10 at your local health food store, and it works so well! Much better than any other eyeshadow or eyeliner I've ever used.

And finally, the lip balm. This is the one product I use all the time. Right after Vivian was born, the only things I wanted were water and my lip balm - ha ha! This recipe is marvelous, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to make enough to have one tin in every room of the house. It really is that good! Here's how to make it:

1t beeswax
1T coconut oil
1T grapeseed oil
6 drops orange essential oil (You can substitute other essential oils here; just be sure they're safe to apply to the skin!)

• Heat beeswax and oils together in oven (on lowest temperature setting possible) till melted.
• Remove from oven and add essential oil.
• Pour into 2 lip balm tins, cap, and allow to cool.

These three things are so easy and inexpensive to make on your own, and the finished products are well worth the small bit of effort required. If you try any of them, I'd love to hear how they turn out!