Mouthwash

My next post would be about lip balm or lip gloss, but I am still working on perfecting my own recipe for it.  Again, my friend Emily has her own line of lip balms at A Precious Welcome-Herbal Skincare.  She makes them in 5 great scents.

I will move on to Mouthwash!  There are tons of information about mouthwash and how they have alcohol and toxic ingredients.  For instance, Listerine is an antiseptic mouthwash, but look at the list of ingredients for it:

INGREDIENTS: Alcohol, Sorbitol, Aroma, Poloxamer 407, Benzoic acid, Sodium Benzoate, Sodium saccharin, Eucalyptol, Methyl salicylate, Thymol, Menthol, Sodium fluoride, CI 42053, CI 47005

So I started looking into a Do It Yourself version of mouthwash.  Most of what I found directed me to a a video by Sophie Uliano, and her version of how to make a non-toxic mouthwash.  I made it and it worked wonderfully.  It is made for bad breath and are also anti bacterial.  Here are the ingredients to make your own.

1/2 cup Distilled Water
1 cup Aloe Vera Juice
2 Tbsp Baking Soda
1 Tbsp Witch Hazel Extract
20 drops Peppermint Essential Oil

Witch Hazel does contain 14% alcohol, but you are only adding a tablespoon into this mix.  You can find it at drug stores, and I was lucky enough to find it at the dollar store, for $1!  


I was stuck on the Aloe Vera Juice, and yes, you can purchase it at Trader Joes,  or even Walmart for about 8 bucks, but I thought, hey, why can't I make my own?  So I started searching for ways to make it.  I ended up spending about 70 cents on an aloe vera leaf at my local international grocery store.  I cut up the leaf(pulling just the gel out), and put it in distilled water in my refrigerator over night.  I did read up that you can boil it and make it quicker this way, but that kills the "good stuff" in the plant, so I went for this option.  


Once you put these ingredients together(in a used empty bottle of mouthwash- or a container you can seal), store in your refrigerator and it will last since it has the witch hazel and essential oil in it.

It lasted me a month, and my fiance LOVED the fact that I didn't taste like chemically mouthwash at night.

I have posted the video on how to make this on my NEW Facebook page at
Becoming Organic- My Inner Hippie Facebook Page

If you "Like" this, go ahead and like my page.  I will update more info about information I find.

Thank you again for reading, and I look forward to any and all comments.

Organic Face Scrub

A few months ago I was invited to a organic beauty party.  At this point I had not been inspired to change my ways with products, but I enjoyed hanging out with my girl friends and not being pressured to purchase anything(which is why I normally do not enjoy those types of parties), but I did buy some bug spray, cause I had used it the year before, and liked the fact that it didn't smell like, well, bug spray!  Our friend Emily started this process of making organic products after the birth of her daughter.

My friend Lori ended up lending me some of her Lavender Almond Oat Face Scrub that Emily made, and after a day or two, I was HOOKED!  I used to have acne when I was a teenager, and used all sorts of products to help me with that.  In my 20's I stopped using soap on my face, and it helped a lot, and it was great, however, I still would break out during that "period" of the month.  Once I started using the Face Scrub, I actually made it through that time with no acne.  It was AWESOME!

Here are the ingredients in the Lavender Almond Oat Face Scrub:

Grapeseed oil, colloidal oatmeal, almonds, vitamin E oil, essential oil of lavender, raw sugar

It's food!  So if you get a little in your mouth, you don't taste chemicals.  It's wonderful!  And because of the oil in the product, your face feels better after you wash.  Make sure to rinse with warm water after you scrub, and to pat your face dry with a towel.  

An 8oz. jar costs $11.50 off of her website.  The product is NOT 100% organic, but it is all natural, and free of chemical preservatives, stabilizers and fragrance.

Update: Here is her website!  A Precious Welcome  Go to the herbal skin care section. All her products are organic.

I learned a long time ago that chemical washes on my face made my skin worse, the reason why I washed with just water for so long.  Using this product has helped my skin more, and I love it.

Thank you so much for reading again.  Any and all comments are welcome.