Credit ReadyMade
DCL
A weekend trip to the spa is one of the most indulgent--and relaxing--ways to get refreshed for the week ahead and forget the deadlines, meetings, and office politics of the week behind you. But making your own spa products--like the ones in this article from ReadyMade saves you time and money (while letting you skip the chemicals and preservatives that keep traditional versions from being eco-friendly).
The recipes are easy to make and, in some cases, use ingredients that you probably already have on hand: try mixing sugar, lemon juice, water, almond oil, and cornstarch to make a Lebanese Hair-Removing Body Sugar; apply it to your skin, press down with strips of muslin, and pull off the fabric for a smooth wax. The other recipes here--shaving cream and shampoo--call for herbs and materials that are less common in the kitchen but still accessible. Make shaving cream from apricot kernel oil, beeswax, water, liquid castile soap, glycerin, borax, tea tree oil, and lavender essential oil; whip up an herbal shampoo from nettle leaves, horsetail, coltsfoot, spring water, liquid castile soap, almond oil, and lavender essential oil.
If you already have these products on hand, try more DIY body product recipes, like these for rose-scented lotion, massage lotion, tinted lip gloss, buttermilk hair conditioner, blueberry facial masques, and hair dye, or check our archive of homemade beauty products for more ideas.
