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Quick + Easy DIY Bodycare Gift Ideas (with recipes)

by Green & Frugal

DIY holiday gifts are a great way to show your creativity and thoughtfulness.  They can be easy to make and often less expensive, especially when you can just buy the quantities you need! Here at Green and Frugal, we carry all of the botanical ingredients you need along with many plastic-free packaging options for all of your DIY Projects.  We have even included a list of easy and fun bodycare recipes to help you show your loved ones how much you appreciate them this year.

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Recipe 1: Whipped Body Butter 

Create a rich and creamy body butter that acts as a fantastic moisturizer, especially for winter skin! This is a gift that everyone you know can use and is sure to love.

 

Ingredients (this recipe can be doubled or tripled):

Makes about 4-5 8oz tins, depending on the whipped consistency that you achieve.

1 cup Shea Butter

½ cup Apricot Oil **

1 tsp of Lavender Essential Oil*. 

*You can choose the scent you want – some other great simple options are orange & vanilla or peppermint & vanilla. You can find all our essential oils here.

** You can change the carrier oils, but just make sure to keep the ratios of butter to oil the same.   Also, the oil you choose determines how greasy the product will be.  We chose Apricot in this recipe as it is rich in nutrients, silky, not too heavy, and its affordable.  Other great options are Safflower (absorbs fast), Camillia Seed (non-greasy, softening, and rich in vitamin E), Sunflower and Grapeseed. You can find all our carrier oils here.

Directions:

  1. Using a double boiler, melt the shea butter. If you don’t have a double boiler, you can also use a pot with an inch of simmering water in it, then place a steel or glass bowl over top to allow the steam to melt the butter.
  2. Once melted, keep it in on the double boiler for another 10 minutes.
  3. Remove the bowl from heat and mix in the balance of the ingredients (put in the essential oils last) 
  4. Stir well, then put it in the freezer until it solidifies (about 20 minutes). This step is important – you don’t want it too hard or too liquid.  When you take it out of the freezer give it a mix and if you still see some liquid put it back in for another 5 minutes.
  5. Now whip on high until you get a nice thick consistency similar to whip cream.  If after 3 minutes, it is still not whipping up, put it back in the freezer for 10 min, then rewhip.
  6. Place in your containers and give it a day to solidify. 
  7. Tie a cute little ribbon on them and attach a gift tag to personalize.

Your butters are now ready to gift!

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Recipe 2: Floral Bath Salts

Makes about 4 small mason jars, depending on the size of the jar you are packing the salts in.

This is a simple recipe that’s super quick and easy to whip up and you can double or triple the batch to make enough for everyone on your list! We love the calming properties of lavender so that’s why we chose lavender essential oil and dried lavender buds for our recipe but you can also used dried rose, jasmine or calendula petals to name a few! 

Ingredients:

1 cup Epsom Salt

1/2 cup Sea Salt

1/2 cup of Himalayan Pink Salt (optional for layering effect)*

1/4 cup baking soda

1/4 cup of dried Lavender Buds

1/2 tablespoon of  MCT coconut oil (or cooking oil that you have at home such as avocado or olive oil)

10 drops of lavender essential oil (or any scent you prefer)

*Pink Salt is great at providing visual appeal.  I like to put one scoop of Epsom, then one scoop of Pink salt, then repeat for a layered effect.  In this case, I would just put the flower petals in with the Epsom Salt.  See directions below

Directions:

  1. Combine essential oils with the oil base in a bowl and stir to combine.
  2. Add in Epsom salts, Sea Salt (if using), and baking soda in a bowl and mix (leave out dried flowers and Pink salt if you are layering).
  3. Mix well until oil is fully incorporated.
  4. Pack your salts. Now for aesthetics, there are a few options.
    1. You can add some layering stripes of dried flowers. Simply put one scoop of the Epsom salt mixture, then add a small layer of flowers, then repeat.
    2. You can add some layering stripes of pink salt. First mix the lavender with the Epsom salt mixture, then put one scoop of the Epsom/lavender salt mixture, then add a small layer of pink salt, then repeat.
    3. Mix lavender flowers into the salt blend to add a pop of color throughout – no layering needed here.

 

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Recipe 3: Creamsicle Lip Oil

(Makes about 100ml , or 20 lip oils depending on container)

Create a nourishing and conditioning lip oil with a creamsicle-like scent of orange and vanilla. This is a no tools needed recipe that will make a great stocking stuffer or addition to your other handmade gifts.  All you need is a bowl, bottle or jar for mixing and roller ball bottles  to put your lip oil in!

 

Ingredients:

60g Jojoba oil

40g Camellia seed oil

5 drops Vanilla Essential Oil & 14 drops Orange Essential Oil

(Optional - add 2 drops of Myrrh resin for dry chapped lips)

(Optional - add 10g of Meadowfoam oil which is High in vitamin E and is very conditioning)

5ml Roller ball bottles

Directions:

  1. Combine all carrier oils in a bowl, jar or bottle and swirl/mix.
  2. Pour into roller ball bottles.

 

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Recipe 4: Whipped Body Scrub

Create a head-to-toe scrub that has fantastic exfoliating properties. Raw shea butter and avocado oil have great softening properties and are deeply moisturizing. Fine and course sea salt work to exfoliate the skin making your skin feel super soft!  A great self-care gift!

Ingredients:

½ cup shea butter

¾ cup avocado oil

1 ½  cups fine sea salt

2 cups course sea salt

½ tbs of lavender essential oil

½ tbs of peppermint essential oil

 

Directions:

  1. Using a double boiler, melt the Shea Butter. If you don’t have a double boiler, you can also use a pot with an inch of simmering water and place a steel or glass bowl over top to allow the steam to melt the butter.   
  2. Once melted, remove the bowl from heat and mix in the Avocado oil, then the essential oils.
  3. Put the product in the freezer for about 20 minutes to allow it to harden a little. 
  4. Add in the fine and course sea salt
  5. Whip until texture becomes fluffy. If you don’t want to whip, just mix well, but the texture won’t be as fluffy and light.

 

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If you have any questions, please contact us and we'll be happy to assist!  DIY is our specialty!

And for those of you who are new to our shop, we sell all of the ingredients you need.  Bring your own container and fill up on the quantities you need in-store, or buy online in a reusable deposit jar.

Have fun making all of your gifts! 

The Green & Frugal Team

 

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