Natural Eyelash Conditioner

    Thick, long, healthy eyelashes are a beautiful thing. So ingrained in our idea of beauty, in fact, that false eyelashes have seen a boom in popularity. Not only the temporary ones that you can apply in your daily makeup routine, but also extensions that require a professional and that last for a long time. However, most eyelash glues contain super harsh chemicals, and removing these “falsies” can rip out natural lashes. All in all, I'd much rather prefer to stick to my natural eyelashes. However, a friend of mine recently had her extensions removed and was asking for advice on helping her natural lashes get back to their healthy, former glory. So I shared with her a few recipes to help hydrate her lashes, and stimulate their growth. I also figured that you guys might be interested in this as well. These recipes are great, even if you don't wear false lashes, or even wear makeup at all. You can also use them on your eyebrows to help encourage their growth.

How to Use These Serums:

     After your long day, make sure to remove all of your makeup before applying (here's my recipe for a DIY makeup remover). Simply dip a cotton swab into the serum and massage it into the root of your lashes, both the top and bottom ones (you can also rub the serum onto your eyebrows). Don't put too much on or it may drip into your eyes. Leave it on over night and remove it in the morning. You can also use a clean mascara wand to apply the serum to cover your lashes for extra conditioning on your existing lashes.

   
A Word On Ingredients:

Coconut Oil- This oil is super full of healthy, fatty acids and vitamins. These bind to the protein in the lashes to protect both the roots and strands. Coconut Oil is also antifungal and antibacterial which helps protect your eyelashes from falling prey to infections that limit hair growth.

Olive Oil- This oil contains a great amount of Vitamins E and K, both of which are necessary for healthy skin and hair. It moisturizes the hair, hair follicle, and the skin around the follicle, helping to promote healthy growth.

Castor Oil- This oil is full of healthy proteins, Vitamin E, and fatty acids. Known to be readily absorbed by hair follicles, castor oil will help hydrate and nourish your lashes. It's also helpful in relieving dry, itchy eyes due to allergies.

Almond Oil- This oil is the perfect oil to mix with some of the more strongly smelling oils (such as Neem). It’s also full of health promoting fatty acids, Vitamin E, and even calcium. It’ll moisturize and deeply hydrate your lash hair follicles and prevent against them breaking off and falling out!

Argan Oil- This oil is full of antioxidants like Vitamin E as well as fatty acids which nourish, hydrate and promote healthy lash growth. Argan oil is especially great for reversing damage done through harsh chemicals, such as lash glue and mascara.

Jojoba Oil- This is not a true oil. It's a liquid wax and it has made its way to prominence in the cosmetic industry since the 1970's. Jojoba oil helps to unclog blocked follicles and stimulate healthy hair growth. It can also clear up quite a few skin irritations that lead to hair loss.

Neem Oil- This oil may smell awful, but it's worth putting up with the smell for the results. Neem oil is one of the best oils for eyelash growth, period. It’s rich in the fatty acids that deep condition and moisturize dry, brittle lashes. Plus it has regenerative properties that support healthy hair cells and stimulate hair follicle growth and function.

Vitamin E- Many vitamins are important to the health of both skin and hair. However, one of the most effective ones is Vitamin E. This vitamin is a great antioxidant that helps promote circulation to your hair follicles. This ensures that they receive proper nutrition and allows your lashes to grow to their full potential.

Lemon Peel- Lemon peels contain quite a few vitamins, including B, C, and folic acid. It's also full of other nutrients essential for promoting natural growth of eyelashes. Lemon peels also have the ability to stimulate the cleansing properties in castor oil, helping to repair damage done to the lashes by harsh chemicals.

Lavender- This herb helps eliminate free radicals and has been proven to boost hair growth, which makes it ideal for eyelash growth too. Lavender oil also has anti-parasitic and antibacterial properties, which help to keep your lashes clean and healthy. When lavender is applied around the roots of the eyelashes it stimulates blood flow, making sure that the eyelash hair follicles receive more nutrients while improving regeneration of the skin.

Rosemary- Rosemary is one of those herbs that always comes up when natural hair care is discussed. The herb is widely known for its ability to boost healthy circulation, cellular regeneration, and hair growth. Rosemary is not only good for hair growth, but also helps reverse signs of graying. All of these properties help keep the eyelashes looking more plump and healthy.

Why I don't recommend essential oils:

     Essential oils are wonderful for so many reasons. However they are strong, so strong that I advise caution while using them. Certain essential oils can be so strong that just the scent of them can trigger seizures in certain individuals. They are also quite irritating to mucus membranes. When you are dealing with any recipe that may be used around your eyes, I would recommend you leave out the essential oil and, instead, use the herb itself. It may require more patience to get the desired result, but it is much more gentile and has less of a chance to trigger an extreme reaction. While there are quite a few recipes, floating out there on the web, that include essential oils for use in eyelash serums, I am personally not comfortable using them. One of my rules as an herbalist is that if I am uncomfortable using something for myself, I won't recommend it for someone else.

On To The Recipes!:

Simply Conditioning

1 teaspoon Coconut Oil

2 teaspoons Olive Oil

1 Vitamin E Capsule

     Warm the coconut oil over a double boiler and add in olive oil. Break open the Vitamin E capsule and add the contents to the other oils. Mix well and remove from heat. Pour into an air-tight container. This recipe will keep for 6 months or more as long as you do not expose it to water or humidity.

Deeply Conditioning

1 teaspoon Coconut Oil

1 teaspoon Castor Oil

1 teaspoon Almond Oil

1 organic Lemon Peel, abut ¼ inch long

2 Vitamin E Capsules

     Warm the coconut oil over a double boiler. Once the coconut oil is melted, remove from heat and combine with castor oil, almond oil, and lemon peel in an air-tight container. Close and place in a cool, dark area for 3-4 days. Break open the Vitamin E capsules and add their contents to the mixture. You do not have to remove the peel before use. This recipe will keep for 6 months or more as long as you do not expose it to water or humidity.

A Little More Oomph

1 teaspoon Coconut Oil

1 teaspoon Jojoba Oil

1 teaspoon Argan Oil

¼ teaspoon Rosemary Leaves (fresh is preferred, but dried will work)

¼ teaspoon Lavender Flowers (fresh is preferred, but dried will work)

2 Vitamin E Capsules

    Warm the coconut oil over a double boiler. Once the coconut oil is melted, remove from heat and combine with jojoba oil, argan oil, rosemary, and lavender in an air-tight container. Close and place in a cool, dark area for 3-4 days. Break open the Vitamin E capsules and add their contents to the mixture. You do not have to remove the herbs before use. This recipe will keep for 6 months or more as long as you do not expose it to water or humidity.

Bring On The Growth

1 teaspoon Coconut Oil

½ teaspoon to 1 teaspoon Neem Oil (depending on your tolerance of the smell

2 teaspoons Almond Oil

¼ teaspoon Rosemary Leaves (fresh is preferred, but dried will work)

¼ teaspoon Lavender Flowers (fresh is preferred, but dried will work)

2 Vitamin E Capsules

     Warm the coconut oil over a double boiler. Once the coconut oil is melted, remove from heat and combine with neem oil, almond oil, rosemary, and lavender in an air-tight container. Close and place in a cool, dark area for 3-4 days. Break open the Vitamin E capsules and add their contents to the mixture. You do not have to remove the herbs before use. This recipe will keep for 6 months or more as long as you do not expose it to water or humidity.




I hope you enjoy these eyelash conditioners. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below!

Happy Pits!

     One of the worst things about living is Florida is that it's hot. Not just in the summer, but all year round, it's hot. Since moving to Central Florida 11 years ago, I have used my winter coat maybe 10 times. Last year I didn't even have to put it on once. This consistently high temperature is great for growing plants, but not so good for for the whole BO (body odor) situation. While having a good diet and being in moderately good health can go a long way to eliminating the stink of BO, sometimes you need a little extra boost. Enter, deodorant.

     Deodorant is part of my morning (and sometimes afternoon) routine. I wake up, brush my teeth, do a little dry brushing, take a shower, and apply my deodorant before I really get my day started. But I cannot justify using typical deodorants. There are so many ingredients, even in some of the “natural” deodorants, that are linked to health problems. Aluminum has been linked to Alzheimer's and breast cancer. Parabens have also been linked to cancer, as well as several hormone conditions. And there are many more of these nasty ingredients in most store-bought deodorants. This is why I decided to make my own.

     Making the switch to a homemade deodorant seems like an easy thing to do, but I just want to warn you that there is a detox period. Your body detoxes itself by sweating. Conventional deodorant and antiperspirant clog your pores. When you sweat, your body pushes out those toxins, but if you are using a typical deodorant, you're just putting those toxins right back. This is why pit stains occur. After you make the switch to natural deodorant, your body will push out all those toxins that have been clogging your pores, and after a few days your pits will be detoxed and much happier.

     Now, there are hundreds of recipes for homemade deodorant online now a days. They range from a liquid spray, to a cream, to powder, and all in between. This recipe is for my favorite application, deodorant bars. I tend to work in hot environments, moving around quite a bit. I wanted a deodorant that I could take with me and use when I felt I needed a touch up. So I worked on a few recipes, combining ideas and finally developed my deodorant bar. This recipe mashed together the concept of deodorant and lotion bars. You can use an old deodorant container if you want, but I like to use silicone molds for mine. It stays solid enough that I can leave a small bar in my bag during most of the Florida year (as long as I remember to not leave it in the car).

A Word on Ingredients:

Coconut Oil is super antibiotic, and when you're dealing with your pits, you want as much antibiotic action as possible. You can choose a different oil, but coconut oil is semi-solid at room temperature so if you decide to substitute, make sure you increase your beeswax to match it.

Almond Oil is full of amino acids and vitamins that your skin needs to stay healthy. It also helps the more solid oils, such as coconut oil, to penetrate deeply. You can choose a different oil here if you'd like. One of my other favorites is olive oil.

Cocoa Butter will help your deodorant to stay more creamy and less oily. It's also super packed full of nutrients that help to keep your skin happy. You can substitute Shea butter if you'd like, but cocoa butter is more dense and will help your deodorant bar stay more solid in those hot months.

Arrowroot Powder is a must for deodorants. Not only does it act as a thickener to help your deodorant bar stay solid. It also helps to draw toxins out of your body.

Beeswax helps to solidify these deodorant bars, but it also helps to provide a protective layer on your skin, without clogging your pores.

Vitamin E can be found in most oils you might use, but it's essential for healthy skin. This is why I like to add extra vitamin E to all of my skin products.

Tea Tree Oil may not be 100% necessary for a deodorant recipe, but I like to add it in to all of mine. The #1 reason? Because it is one of the most powerfully antibiotic essential oils I know of. Your pits are breeding grounds for bacteria, and bacteria is the leading cause of body odor. It just makes since to pack extra antibiotic power into your deodorant. Plus, it doesn't irritate most people's skin! If you don't like the scent, don't worry. This recipe only calls for 5 drops, you can overpower it easily by adding more of your favorite essential oils. However, I think it blends very well with lavender essential oil, which is one of my favorites.

Essential Oils are all antibiotic to a certain extent. However, the main reason for these is to make you happy. Add whatever essential oils you want, in order to make your deodorant smell pleasant. I personally like to do 5 drops Lavender, 5 drops Cedarwood, and 5 drops Lemongrass. A word of caution however, make sure to test your essential oils on the inside of your wrist first. That way you don't put irritating oils on such a sensitive area.

Happy Pits Deodorant Bars

¼ cup Coconut Oil

½ cup Almond Oil

½ cup Beeswax (grated or pellets)

¼ cup Cocoa Butter

8 tsp Arrowroot Powder

Vitamin E (2 capsules or ½ tsp)

5 drops Tea Tree Essential Oil

15-20 drops Essential Oils of your choice

Combine first four ingredients in a glass jar and place in a pot half filled with water. Bring water to a boil and stir ingredients until melted. Remove jar from pan and slowly add arrowroot powder, stirring constantly to prevent the formation of clumps. Allow to rest until you are able to safely handle the jar (don't wait too long or the mixture will be mostly solid and hard to work with). Add remaining ingredients and stir. Pour liquid into molds (or deodorant containers), cover, and allow to cool overnight. You can put them in the refrigerator to speed up the cooling process if you want. Once completely cooled, remove from molds and wrap with wax paper. Store in a cool, dry place.

I hope you enjoy these deodorant bars. For more essential oil blend ideas, check out my previous entry, Herbal Home Fresheners for Spring. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below!

Resources:

Homemade DIY Deodorant Recipe: Pronounce Skincare: https://pronounceskincare.com/effective-easy-homemade-deodorant/

How to Make Natural Deodorant: Wellness Mama: https://wellnessmama.com/1523/natural-deodorant/

Luxurious Lotion Bars: Fabulous Farmgirl : https://fabulousfarmgirl.com/diy/lotion-bars/