Lavender Chamomile Milk Bath Recipe (Excellent for Dry, Irritated Skin)

Relax with this easy lavender chamomile milk bath recipe.  It can be used by any skin type, but it's especially good for dry or itchy skin.

While most of the country is celebrating back to school because that means that their kids will finally stop fighting, I'll be mourning my free time.  My kids learn at home, so I'll be adding about 6 hours a day to my already busy schedule.  

Although our days are crazy, we do have an advantage in that we don't have homework.  When we are done in the afternoon, we are done for the day.  That's right; zero fights about homework or worrying about getting homework done before after school activities.  

Starting Monday, I'll be waking up before the kids so I can sip my coffee while I work in peace.  Then I'll help the kids with school work, drive one kid back and forth to his college classes four days a week, take another kid to autism therapy three days a week, and try to keep up with the usual home stuff.  

I'm exhausted just thinking about it.  That's why I made this lavender and chamomile milk bath recipe this week.  I just know that I'll need something to help me relax next week.  

DIY Essential Oil Bottle Storage Box

How to make a DIY essential oil bottle storage box with dividers to keep your bottles organized.

I may have a slight addiction to essential oils.  Each time I see a bottle of something that I don't have, I grab it because I need all the oils.  

Sadly, I didn't have the necessary storage for all of these bottles.  I was using a three drawer plastic organizer in my closet, but the bottles kept falling over.  One bottle leaked, and I had a stinky mess.  

After that debacle, I started looking for an essential oil storage box that would be compact with little wasted space and had dividers to keep my bottles organized.

I also wanted something cute because I like cute things.  Ever since I got my first Cricut die cutter and now my Silhouette Cameo, I have to paint and vinyl everything.  

So I went to Pat Catan's with a few bottles of my favorites oils, Crafty Bubbles, and set out to find a box that would fit them.  I ended up buying a blank wine bottle box because the bottles fit in it so well.  It ended up being perfect with my dividers!

29 Amazing Bath Bomb Recipes

Bath bombs have exploded in popularity recently.  I've been playing with some shower bomb recipes, and I'll have some bath bomb recipes posted in the next few weeks.  I just got some adorable new molds in, and they will be perfect for fall scented bath bombs.  

Like most DIY bath and body recipes, bath bombs can have a lot of variations.  You can use different molds and essential oils to make different types of bombs.  

You can even add some herbs and other additives to your bath bombs, so I've included them in their own section below.

If you've never made bath bombs before, I recommend looking at the first section, Basic Bath Bombs, first so you get an idea on how to make them.  Then you can look at the other recipes for more ideas.

DIY Argan Oil Hair Serum For Any Hair Type

This post is sponsored by Cococare.  As always, all opinions are my own.

I've used several carrier oils in my DIY beauty recipes over the years, but one oil is my favorite for both hair and skin: argan oil.  It's sometimes called liquid gold not just because of it's beautiful golden color but because of its many benefits.

Cococare argan oil can be used for both your hair and skin, so it's a versatile oil.  It's my go to oil for hair treatments because it does more than just moisturize, which I'll talk more about in a minute.

Argan oil can be used alone or in a recipe.  I use it on my hair both ways, but I really like using it with essential oils for an extra boost.

Get relief from bug bites with this natural bug bite relief stick made with essential oils.

A few weeks ago, I was sitting on my patio writing and keeping an eye on the kids in the pool when a mosquito thought that I would make a nice after dinner snack.  I sprayed myself with my insect repellent spray and went back to work.  

The bug bite really itched to the point where I was scratching it in my sleep and soon scabbed over.  Within a few days, it was angry red, inflamed, and hurt.  

It had gotten infected.

While it wasn't the worst injury I've ever had, it wasn't pleasant.  It was also unsightly on my leg while I was wearing shorts or capris.  

Thankfully, some antibiotic cream cleared it up in about a week.  But it really made me wish that it hadn't happened in the first place!

I started researching natural bug bite relief with essential oils.  I knew I wanted something that was soothing for the skin and antimicrobial, so I chose ingredients that would help stop an infection.  

Disclaimer:  I'm not a doctor, nor do I pretend to be one.  If you have a bug bite that's infected, go to a doctor.  Don't rely on this or any recipe you find on the Internet.  

This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

NATURAL BUG BITE RELIEF STICK WITH ESSENTIAL OILS

GREEN TEA INFUSED COCONUT OIL

I wanted this recipe to have green tea, but I didn't want to use the actual tea in the recipe because it would get messy.  So I infused the coconut oil with the green tea.  By infusing them, I get the benefits of green tea without actually leaving the tea leaves in the recipe.

Green tea is often overlooked in skin care recipes, but it's a very powerful and inexpensive ingredient.  Green tea is high in catechins, which are a type of polyphenols.

These catechins help reduce swelling, redness, and irritation, hence why I added it to this natural bug bite relief stick.  The polyphenols can also damage the membrane of bacteria.

Green tea is also high in vitamins B2 and E for your skin.  Vitamin B2 promotes collagen production, and vitamin E promote skin cell turnover for softer skin.

Coconut oil is naturally antifungal and antibacterial thanks to lauric acid and capric acid.  It's also high in medium chain fatty acids to keep skin moisturized, and they also help the skin retain its moisture.

BEESWAX 

Beeswax is very hard at room temperature, so it makes this lotion a solid for portability. But that's not the only benefit of beeswax.  Beeswax is also naturally antimicrobial.  It also forms a barrier on top of the skin, which helps seal in moisture.  This also seals in the other ingredients.

ESSENTIAL OILS

I chose peppermint, tea tree, and lavender essential oils for their unique properties.  I used lavender essential oil because it's naturally antibacterial, but it's natural properties are actually enhanced when you combine it with another oil like tea tree oil.

Lavender essential oil has been proven to promote wound healing in rats.  It help heal wounds by promoting collage production and promote tissue formation.

I chose peppermint essential oil because the menthol in it can reduce itching.  It's also calming for your skin and naturally anti-inflammatory.

Tea tree oil is my go to antimicribial essential oil.  I also added it to this bug bite relief stick because it's naturally anti-inflammatory and can reduce swelling.

CONTAINERS

I really like the cardboard push up tubes from SKS-Bottle.  They are recyclable and compostable, so they don't create waste.

You can also get cardboard tubes from Amazon or use a plastic lip balm tube.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 tablespoons Green tea infused coconut oil
• 2 tablespoons beeswax
• 10 drops peppermint essential oil
• 5 drops tea tree oil
• 5 drops lavender essential oil

DIRECTIONS

STEP #1

Infuse the coconut oil and green tea.  Since coconut oil is a solid at room temperature, you have to do this over the stove or in a slow cooker.  

Place at least 3 tablespoons of coconut oil in a mason jar.  I usually do at least a cup of coconut oil since I'll use what's leftover in other recipes.

Line your slow cooker with a kitchen towel.  Add several inches of water.  Set the mason jar with coconut oil on the towel and turn the slow cooker on low.  

When the coconut oil is melted, add 2 tablespoons of green tea per cup of coconut oil.  If you use less coconut oil, just adjust your tea accordingly.  It won't hurt the recipe if you use a little less or a little more tea.

You can use a tea bag or loose tea.  One loose tea bag should have 1 tablespoon of tea, but yours might have more or less.  

I usually just use a tea bag because it eliminates the need to strain it later.

Keep the lid off the slow cooker and let it "cook" for 4 hours.  

If you used loose tea, strain the herbs out with cheesecloth or use tongs to squeeze the tea bags.  Discard the tea.  

For directions on infusing the oil on the stove, read this post on how to infuse oils with herbs.

After you infuse the oils, you can use them immediately.

STEP #2

Melt the coconut oil and beeswax in a double boiler over medium heat until the beeswax is melted.  I prefer to use beeswax pastiles because they melt quicker.  It will seem like it will never melt, but then it will start melting.

For small recipes like this one, I use a 2 cup Pyrex measuring cup and set it on a canning ring and put that in a medium sized saucepan.

STEP #3

Carefully remove the measuring cup from the pan.  Let it cool until no longer steaming but not set up.  Add the essential oils.  Stir well.

STEP #4

Carefully pour into lip balm tubes or cardboard tubes.  Let cool completely before you use it.

To use, simply rub on a bug bite or other itchy area.

This thing is magic. My kids get a bug bite that itches so bad that they have to talk about it incessantly, but as soon as they use this, it's magically all better!

Seriously though, it will help.  It may not help right away, but it will help within a few minutes.  Reapply as needed.  

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