I’ve transitioned a lot of my beauty routine to homemade products and I thought I would share my favorites! There are some things like makeup, certain hair care products, and specialty products (like sunscreen) that I don’t make myself. But making products yourself allows you to control the ingredients and is very inexpensive! Most things can be found in your kitchen. It can also be more sustainable by eliminating single-use and plastic packaging.
Almost all of these recipes also have in-depth blog posts so you can learn about the ingredients and the process a bit more if you are keen. But rest assured that they are chemical-free and completely natural. These are the recipes I use the most and find myself referencing often! I’ve rounded up all the recipes into one blog post for convenience, yours and mine 😉
This post contains affiliate links which means that if you make a purchase via one of the links, I will receive a small commission, at no additional cost to you. I only link to products that I know and love. Thank you for supporting my blog!
10 beauty products to start making instead of buying
1. Brightening Toner
After cleansing at night, I apply about 1/2 tablespoon of toner with a reusable cotton round. The acid helps further clarify the skin of bacteria and debris so face oils can do their job. In the morning, I apply pure witch hazel as a toner. Using lemon juice or apple cider vinegar balances the pH of the skin that might have been lost after washing (especially if you use bar soap like me which is very basic on the pH scale).
- 1/4 cup acid: either apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup of witch hazel or more water
- 10 drops of tea tree essential oil (optional)
2. Face Oil/Serum
I’ve been oiling my face for 2 years now! It’s the best and leaves my skin hydrated and soft. It might seem counterintuitive but actually oil dissolves oil so the vitamin-rich oil combinations will dissolve and replace the oil on your face.
I have oily/acne-prone skin so I use the last combination. Jojoba oil and sunflower oil are both non-comedogenic, meaning they won’t clog pores. I often use pure sunflower oil as a moisturizer on my face but have experimented with combining oils to get the benefits that different oils offer.
For dry skin:
- 1:1 liquid coconut oil and olive oil
For normal skin:
- 1:1 olive oil and sunflower oil
For oily/acne prone skin:
- 1:1 sunflower oil and jojoba oil or almond oil.
3. Hair Powder/Dry Shampoo
I love adding powder to my hair! I often feel like a 17th-century lady. The powder absorbs oil and can add volume. I apply it to my roots with an old makeup brush. I often keep the powder white (read: feeling like a 17th-century lady) since it will match your hair color if you are careful about only adding enough for the oil to absorb.
1:1 baking soda and cornstarch
- 2 Tbsp baking soda
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch
- Cocoa powder, cinnamon, and/or turmeric to add color
4. Deodorant
- 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp) cornstarch
- 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp) baking soda
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp) coconut oil*
- 25 drops essential oil (optional)I used about 10 drops of tea tree and 15 drops of lavender*
Soften the coconut oil and then mix in the powders and essential oil. Let cool before whipping with a fork.
5. Body Butter
- 1/3 cup coconut oil*
- 1/3 cup shea butter*
- 1/4 cup sunflower oil
- Essentials oils (optional)
Soften the coconut oil and shea butter. Add the sunflower oil and essential oil and stir. Let cool and then whip with a mixer or whisk.
6. Lip Balm
- 1 Tbsp coconut oil*
- 1 Tbsp beeswax pellets*
- 1 Tbsp almond oil or sunflower oil
- 3-4 drops essential oil or extract
Melt oil and beeswax. Add essential oil and stir. Pour into a container and let cool.
7. Sea Salt and Lavender Bath Soak
- 1 cup of fine sea salt
- 3-4 tablespoons of dried lavender
Add a couple tablespoons to a bath for a luxurious soak that helps heal the skin.
8. Reusable Cotton Rounds
- Cotton fabric (doubled) and cut into 2.5″ circles
To make, simply sew a zig-zag stitch around the edge of the circles. These are my reusable cotton rounds after three years of use!
9. Toothpaste
- 1 cup of coconut oil*
- 2/3 cup of baking soda
- 1-2 tablespoons of peppermint extract (depending on your taste preference)
- 2 pinches of sea salt
Melt the coconut oil and mix in the rest of the ingredients. Let cool before whipping with a fork to add a creamy texture.
10. Hair Gel
This is by far my most popular and my absolute favorite thing to make! It’s incredibly simple and so effective.
- 2 Tbsp flaxseeds (purchased in bulk)
- 1 cup of water
- 2-4 drops of essential oil (optional)
- I used this* lavender essential oil
- Bring water to a boil. Add flaxseeds and stir constantly.
- After 3-5 minutes, strain the gel from the flaxseeds into a bowl with a fine-mesh strainer.
- Strain again into your container with a tea infuser. (Strain quickly so it’s still liquidy and goes through the fine mesh. See some of my tips in my post.)
- Add essential oil and stir.
And that’s it! Make sure you’ll here in two weeks when I’ll share 10 cleaning products you should start making instead of buying! Making your own products is a less daunting then it seems and I hope these ten simples recipes showed you just that! What products do you love to make at home?
Happy Making-
*Affiliate Link. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. See my disclosure page for more info.
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