AFFFILIATE DISCLOSURE: In order for me to support my blogging and social media activities, I may receive monetary compensation for links to products from this post. However, I only recommend products that I personally love and use myself!.
Do you want to learn how to utilize herbs, clays, and other natural ingredients to craft your own luxurious natural skincare products at a fraction of the cost? Natural DIY beauty is one of my favorite topics to write about on this blog and I have shared many of my own favorite personal skincare recipes right here on the blog. So, when my favorite herbal school, The Herbal Academy of New England, released their newest herbal course, The Botanical Skin Care Course, I jumped at the chance to check it out and wanted to share my experiences with you!
THIS POST IS SPONSORED BY THE GOOD FOLKS AT THE HERBAL ACADEMY OF NEW ENGLAND. I WAS GENEROUSLY GIVEN THE BOTANICAL SKINCARE COURSE TO REVIEW, BUT MY OPINIONS ARE MY OWN! I WILL ONLY SHARE WITH YOU PRODUCTS THAT I MYSELF LOVE AND USE PERSONALLY!
Skincare products can cost a fortune
Let's be honest here. As someone who has run her own natural skincare shop, I know what it costs to make a luxurious healing skincare product versus what is charged for the products on the market. The markup on high-quality, organic, and/or natural skincare products is atrocious! Learning to make your own beauty products can save you a ton of money in the long run, and that's no exaggeration! When I was researching market price for products I was creating, I was astounded at just how much beauty companies mark-up their products just because they have natural ingredients versus lab-created ingredients. These products are often marked up by 300% or more than the cost it takes to make them!
This Botanical Skin Care Course will teach you to DIY
If you are a longtime HH reader, you know how much I love the Herbal Academy of New England. I love them so much that I even used to write freelance articles for their blog (some of which incidentally ended up in their herbal recipes for this course, including the one below!). While I'm a longtime student of The Herbal Academy of New England, I still get extremely excited for every new herbal course that they create. It was no exception with their NEW Botanical Skin Care Course! This course is chock full of herbalism information directly related to skincare and the issues that your skin might be facing. It even goes in-depth to teach you more about the anatomy of the skin and the best ways to care for your individual skin type.
This course will empower you to create your own skin care recipes using botanicals and other safe, nourishing, and non-toxic ingredients. With over 200 herbal recipes in the course, you’ll be well on your way to stocking your herbal cupboard with an array of customized herbal preparations that will make you look and feel healthier and more radiant.
The Herbal Academy of New England
Tried-and-tested herbal skincare recipes for every skin type
If you are a fan of hard-cover books lining your bookshelves, you can upgrade this course for $29.99 to get the beautifully illustrated Botanical Skin Care Recipe Book, which contains the 200+ herbal recipes featured in the E-course! This course features over 200 recipes that have been "tried-and-tested" over the years, a couple of which I personally wrote for HANE's blog (including the recipe at the bottom of this post!). I love that all of the recipes in the course (and book) have been tested; one of my biggest pet peeves when trying to find great DIY beauty recipes online is making a recipe that wasn't tested and the final concoction turns out to be one of those infamous "Pinterest fails." The Botanical Skin Care Course includes recipes for:
- Bath bombs, bath melts, and bath salts
- Baths and steams
- Blemish preparations
- Cleansers
- Compresses, poultices, and washes
- Deodorants
- Gelts
- Haircare products
- Masks
- Oils
- Salves and balms
- Scrubs
- Serums
- Soaps
- Sprays
- Toners
Lice treatments can contain dangerous insecticides
The most common over-the-counter lice treatment shampoos contain ingredients such as lindane. These ingredients are considered to be toxic insecticides and are banned in many countries around the world as agricultural pesticides. There is hope, though! People have been treating lice for thousands of years and have found great success with many different natural options, some of which can be found in your own pantry.
Herbal Lice Killer Shampoo Spray
Herbal Lice Killer Shampoo
Adapted from Christina Anthis on the Herbal Academy blog (2014) Avoid the insecticides used in common over-the-counter lice treatments with this lice-killing shampoo that is chock full of helpful herbs!
Materials
- 2 cups distilled or filtered water
- 10 whole soapnuts, seeds removed (or 20 soapnut halves)
- 2 Tbsp. dried orange peel or lemon peel (or 1/4 cup fresh peel)
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 Tbsp. dried bug-killing herbs (or 2 Tbsp. fresh, can be thyme leaf, peppermint leaf, rosemary leaf, lavender buds, and/or basil leaf)
- 2 Tbsp. aloe vera gel
- 2 Tbsp. raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp. Plant Therapy's Kid-Safe Get 'em Gone essential oil blend
- 1/2 tsp. Leucidal SF Natural Preservative (optional)
Instructions
- Place water, soapnuts, citrus peel, and cinnamon in a small pot: cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Remove from heat and add dry herbs: allow to steep for about an hour, or until the liquid comes to room temperature. Strain and discard the herbs.
- Combine the herbal infusion with all of the other ingredients in a spray bottle, label, and shake well.
TO USE
Spray over hair and scalp until thoroughly saturated: cover with a shower cap or plastic wrap and leave in place for 1-4 hours.
Rinse hair well and comb thoroughly using a lice comb. Be careful not to get shampoo in the eyes.
Repeat daily: on repeat applications, the spray doesn't need to remain in place for as long--15 minutes is long enough.
For best results, apply daily for a total of 8 consecutive days: this should be long enough to remove all nits and adult lice.
Notes
Store unused shampoo in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, if not using a natural preservative.
