Hair Conditioning Serum

Hey! How's the summer treating your hair? How about that beauty routine in general? A little rough around the edges? I'm going to share a slightly embarrassing moment I had several months ago...

Around Christmas, I started making the switch to a natural hair car routine, including a DIY shampoo followed by and apple cider vinegar rinse. I'll get to those another day. Apparently, it was not doing the ends of my color-treated hair any favors. I hadn't been in for a trim in a few months and when I finally went to get it cut, the girl asks me if I flat iron it often... I don't :( My poor ends were not handling the transition well! So, solution time!

I came home and started looking into essential oils that are good for your hair and I found a laundry list! Many tout benefits for your scalp, but having oily-prone skin and hair, I didn't want to go for a full-on oil application, either as a deep conditioner or regular conditioning treatment, so I was more selective. Here is where I landed:

Olive Oil--it's moisturizing and contains Vitamins A and E, leaving you with strong, shiny, manageable hair. Many carrier oils would be good in this application. Start with one your skin likes.

Lavender Essential Oil--it is my go-to for all things health and beauty! It's soothing properties apply to everything else I've tried, so why not my hair? I found it to be deep conditioner for hair. Plus it smells great!

Ylang-ylang Essential Oil--again, the smell! I learned that it has traditionally been used to support thick, shiny hair.

• 1/4 Olive Oil
• 10 drops lavender essential oil
• 10 drops ylang-ylang essential oil  (get started with the best oils here!)

Add EO's to 2 oz dropper bottle and top with olive oil. Use a couple of drops on the ends of wet or dry hair.

Now, when I say "a couple of drops," seriously, 2 drops is enough for my hair! It is fine and straight and if I use more, it doesn't absorb all the way and looks oily. My daughter, on the other hand, has curls and 4 drops or so suits her better. I use this every time I wash my hair, on the ends only, because I believe in an ounce of prevention! I use 1-2 drops on damp hair, before blow drying, to help protect the ends from the heat, then 1-2 drops after for smoothing. 

When I use 1-2 drops after drying, I get the bonus points of lovely, calming, uplifting aromatherapy running through my hair, right there near my nose! Delightful!

After several more months, my hair is looking smooth and strong! I only hate that the weather is too hot to wear it down more often!

DIY Mouthwash

Mouthwash you say? Yep! This recipe is free of alcohol, sweeteners, dyes, and artificial flavors. It's so easy and cost-effective you'll never want to put that other stuff in your mouth again!

You only need 3 ingredients: baking soda, water, and top quality essential oils like these!  The essential oils do the heavy lifting here and you absolutely want to be sure you are using oils that are safe to use in your mouth! If the you have an essential oil that says "for external use only," BELIEVE THEM!

Popular oils include peppermint and the Thieves blend (which you can learn a little about here). Me? I love wintergreen! I've always preferred it to peppermint, whether it's candy or gum or whatever. But here is a great opportunity to customize it to your taste and your needs!

Add around 8 drops of each oil of choice to 1/4-1/2 tsp baking soda at the bottle of a glass bottle (mine is 8oz). Fill with water, and shake to combine!

Want a bonus secret ingredient???  Hydrogen peroxide! Based on the labeled instructions, you can use up to 50% of the 3% hydrogen peroxide with 50% water. It is well known as an antiseptic and oral debriding agent, which basically means it cleans stuff out really well. Added bonus? Whitening power! If you can tolerate the taste, it's an effective addition!

Check out my video to see how quick and easy it is to whip up a batch with my favorite oil combo!

Car Interior Cleaning Spray

Hey ladies, trying to get the man in your life on board with all this DIY stuff? Guys, no offense, but most proactive DIYers are female! Here is a recipe everyone can enjoy and everyone can make! It also happens to be one that helped me rope my husband in to DIY products too ;)

This is a solution to make the interior of your shine! We've spent years living in hot climates and the sun is brutal on cars. We use this spray on all of the hard plastic and vinyl surfaces on the interior of the car. It works great, makes your car look great, and smells fresh too!

2/3 cup water
2/3 cup olive oil
1 tsp vinegar
2-4 drops concentrated soap (we use castile, but any biodegradable concentrated soap is good here)
4-6 drops essential oil (think tea tree, Thieves, Purification...any of the good cleaners)

Combine in an 8oz spray bottle and shake as needed. The oil and water will separate, but remember not to make the soap go crazy!
Spray on surfaces in the car and wipe with a soft, clean cloth. *Watch out for windows! That olive oil will be a little bit of a pain to get off!

Now, ya'll know I loooove the Thieves Household Cleaner for just about everything, but the olive oil in this recipe will condition your vinyl surfaces and give them that great shine. I mean, look at those results!

It can also help a little bit with all the sun beating down on your dash. We don't have leather in our cars, so spot check on leather first, giving is a few days of sun exposure, especially if you are using citrus oils. You don't want any discoloration from the sun!

NingXia Red FroYo Fruit Pops

It's July and it's hot! Basically everywhere, right? Who couldn't use another way to cool down? Maybe a way that's even a healthy snack? I've got a great recipe for you!

My homemade ice pops feature Young Living's NingXia Red. NingXia Red is a supplement drink featuring the super fruit wolfberries, giving it its signature red color, and includes blueberries, cherries, plums, and pomegranate juices and extracts. It's loaded with antioxidants and citrus essential oils to support overall health and energy. It's so powerful, a recommended serving is only 1-2 ounces! Each ounce, btw, only has 20 calories and 2 grams of sugar. It is a great way to introduce ingestion of essential oils to kids, and so is this recipe:

• 1 singles-serving size cup of vanilla yogurt (they make them a weird size now... like 5.something oz, so I re-use that empty cup to get equal parts, and save on a dish!)
• 1 of the same "cups" of NingXia Red
• 1 of the same "cups" frozen strawberries
• 2-4 drops of Lime Vitality Oil (optional)

Combine all ingredients in a blender and let 'er rip until well blended. 
Pour in to molds (try to avoid plastic if you can! Plastic and citrus oils don't get along!) 
Freeze and eat! 

The yogurt keeps it a creamier texture, more like a sorbet and it's so refreshing! It's a bit more hearty than your typical water-based pop. Serve it to your kids for breakfast! They will love you for it!

You can, of course, substitute out the strawberries for a different frozen fruit you like, and same for the Vitality oil.  You can also adjust the size of your batch to accommodate the number of molds you have. The important thing is equal parts.

You can actually get an ice pop set with NingXia and silicone molds from Young Living (safe for citrus oils!) here! Want to get it wholesale? Check out this page!

Don't wanna go for pops? Put in single-serving dishes, or a big bowl, and freeze that way. Mine got a bit more hard going that route, but still just as yummy! A grapefruit spoon was perfect for my larger bowl.

UPDATE! We made this with frozen peaches and lemon Vitality oil and it's SO good! Light and refreshing!

Tub Scrub

I really don't like cleaning. I mean, does anyone really like it? What's your least favorite part? Hard to pick just one, right?  Well, one thing I don't hate anymore is the chemical stink that used to fill my home on cleaning days. It's really easy to make your own great, clean, chemical-free, fresh-smelling cleaning products! Did ya know that? Baking soda and vinegar will take you a long way! Throw in a little castile soap, lemon and tea tree essential oil, and you've got yourself a cleaning par-tay!  Here is the recipe I use for my tub, my sink, and anywhere else that could use a good scrubbing!

• 1 cup baking soda
• 1 tbsp castile soap
• 8 drops each lemon and tea tree essential oils (Thieves, Citrus Fresh, Purification, or Melrose would also be great in this recipe!)

Mix everything together in a bowl with a spoon (remember, glass or stainless is best when dealing with essential oils!) and sprinkle a light dusting on whatever you want to clean. Scrub a bit and rinse off. See, easy! Letting it sit for a little while won't hurt anything either. Today, I mixed and dusted before nap time, then did my tuck-in duties and scrubbed after. Store any extra in a jar with a shaker top for easy use next time.

Baking soda is a great cleaning product. It's cheap, easily accessible, and natural! It's also good for deodorizing and stains, and while mildly abrasive, it won't scratch your surfaces. Check out the box panels for some ideas on where you can use it!

The soap makes for a good texture and offers some more cleaning power. You want to wash off dirt, right?  Castile soap is a blend of saponified oils, including coconut, jojoba, hemp oils, and others. It is plant based. It is also a concentrate, so don't be scared of the price! It works out to a good value. Think of it as buying in bulk. You can get it pre-scented, but I prefer the plain, mild version.

Finally, the oils. Many essential oils, like tea tree, Thieves, Purification, and Melrose, have great cleansing properties. Lemon, Citrus Fresh, and Purification are all good for odors. Many citrus oils are helpful for stains, too! I like this combo for the scent, and it does such a great job! Everything is left sparkly fresh!
(Need to get your hands on some oils, including these great blends? Check out this page!)

Here are the great results I get with this scrub (you can click to enlarge)! Please don't judge my nasty sink and tub! My husband is away and I've been doing the single mom thing! I may have fallen a little behind on my chores...