Ginger is a magical, but not terribly attractive, root that’s used in a variety of culinary and medicinal preparations. On a whim I picked up a “hand” of ginger at the market. What’s the deal with this little guy? I excitedly hurried home where a quick Google search evolved into a full-blown project.

So what makes ginger so remarkable, and why should you (and I) keep some in your kitchen so that happiness is just at your fingertips?

Health Benefits of Ginger Root

• contains cineole, which has been found to relieve anxiety and stress
• alleviates stomach aches and improves digestion,
• relieves pain by reducing inflammation much like aspirin and ibuprofen,
• has been found to treat cold and flu-like symptoms such as chills, fever, cough, mucous, nausea, sore throat and body aches,
• may slow the growth of colorectal cancer cells (University of Minnesota study); induces the death of ovarian cancer cells,
• helps improve the immune system, and
• may help prevent stroke.

Good health, of course, makes me happy. But stay with me here:

Ginger Root for Natural Beauty

• improves blood circulation (which creates its signature warming sensation) which could reduce the appearance of cellulite,
• contains a potent antioxidant known as gingerol that combats free radicals that cause pre-maturely aged skin,
• relieves symptoms of external inflammation including acne, psoriasis and burns, and
• contains antiseptic elements that may help to reduce bacteria that causes acne.

Okay, I know you’re anxious to start mixing it up, but first things first:

Selecting + Storing Ginger Root

When selecting ginger, pick a smooth hand with some weight to it. Wrinkled ginger is older and will be drier. If you plan to use the ginger within a week of purchase, place it in a paper bag and store it in the crisper of your fridge. For longer storage, go on and cut the hand into fingers, and peel them. Submerge the fingers in a jar of dry sherry, and it will keep in the fridge up to three months (more on that later).

Now onward!

1. Ginger Root Tea

This is probably the best and simplest way to experience ginger happiness.

Ingredients

• 1 hand of fresh organic ginger root
• 1 cup oz water
• agave nectar or honey
• lemon juice, optional

Peel the ginger. A potato peeler works well, but a metal spoon is also handy and produces less waste. Next, slice the ginger into thin wedges. Steep 6 – 8 slices of ginger root in a cup of boiling water for 15 minutes, or 25 minutes for a stronger brew.

Strain away the ginger slices and sweeten the tea to taste.

I prefer agave nectar, but honey is lovely as well. Squeeze a little lemon for added effect, and enjoy the pleasant “tingle.” When I drink ginger tea, I can feel anxiety slipping away with each sip.

If you like the idea of drinking the benefits of ginger, but prefer them delivered in a sexier package, try this out for size:

2. Blood Orange Ginger Root Fizz

Ingredients

• 3 blood oranges
• 1 lemon
• 1 handful of thinly sliced ginger root
• 5 tablespoons of club soda
• 1/4 cup raw cane sugar

Slice the blood oranges and lemon, and place in a pitcher. Toss in the ginger slices, and fill the pitcher with ice water.

Add the club soda and refrigerate overnight.

Enjoy ginger’s signature tingle—an awesome alternative to soda. Speaking of tingle:

3. DIY Ginger Root Hair Cleanser

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons of green tea leaves (optional); recharges skin cells, treats irritated scalp
• 2 slices of ginger root; stimulate scalp circulation, anti-inflammatory properties treat scalp irritation
• 2 tablespoons of castile soap; mild cleansing.
• 8 ounces of water

Bring the water to a boil and steep green tea and ginger in it for 20 minutes. Allow to cool, strain away tea leaves and ginger, and funnel tea into a bottle.

Add castile soap, and mix well. As with all recipes, conduct a patch test to determine if you are allergic to any of the ingredients.

Pour cleanser over tresses, massage into the scalp. Enjoy the tingle, rinse well and style as usual. Your scalp will send you a handwritten thank you note.

So remember what I was saying about ginger and how its anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial magic help to fight acne?

4. DIY Ginger Root Aloe Facial Toner

Ingredients

• 3 slices of ginger root; reduces inflammation, attacks bacteria
• 1 oz aloe vera juice; moisturizing, humectant, ideally pH balanced for skin.
• 1 oz witch hazel; natural astringent
• 8 oz water

Bring the water to a boil and steep the ginger in it for 15 minutes. Allow to cool, strain away the ginger, and funnel 2 ounces of the tea into a bottle.
Add aloe vera juice and witch hazel, and mix well. Again, conduct a patch test—you never know what you may be allergic to. To use, pour a small amount of the toner onto a cotton ball and swab the entire face after cleansing. Kindly refrigerate the toner as it contains no preservatives. Plus, this feels so amazingly fresh when applied cool. It’s a great way to start the morning!

This next recipe is best reserved for a Friday evening. Cancel any plans you may have for going out, and instead spend it sloughing off the stress of the week with this:

5. DIY Ginger Root Detox Bath

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons fresh, minced ginger root; promotes blood circulation.
• 1 cup epsom salt; draws toxins from the body, relaxes muscles.
• 4 tablespoons ground mustard powder; detoxes the tissues, relaxes the muscles, promotes sound sleep.

Peel, slice and dice the ginger into small cubes. Combine the minced ginger and remaining ingredients in a bowl. Mix well and transfer into a container.

Add two small scoops of the mixture to a tub of hot water. Swirl around (the mixture, not yourself, but dance about if you’re so inclined) until the mixture dissolves. Slowly lower yourself in the tub and soak for at least 15 minutes.

While this is certainly a lovely way to while away an evening, note that the ginger root may cause your skin to become flushed and tingly. If you become too warm, add cool water to the tub. Take your time getting out of the tub—detoxing is hard work and your legs may feel a bit weak. Follow with a glass of water to flush toxins from the body.

6. Ginger Root Infused Sherry

Earlier I recommended storing ginger root in sherry for long-term storage. When you finally get around to using the ginger, don’t toss out the sherry—this will add instant flavor to soup or sauces.

Now if you really want to take it there (your life, that is), try your hand (pun intended) at some simple gardening. Gardeners have been found to live longer and happier lives. If you’re planting ginger, well, you have a gift that just keeps giving!

6½. Growing Ginger Root Indoors

Why indoors? For starters, you won’t have to deal with frosty temperatures. Plus, ginger makes for a lovely house plant. To start, buy a fresh hand of ginger root from the market and soak it overnight in warm water. Plant the hand about 2 inches deep (“eye buds” pointing up) in a container filled with light, well-draining potting soil. The container should be at least 8 – 10” deep with a drainage hole. Next, add gravel at the bottom of the pot for even better drainage—ginger hates soggy roots!

Place the container in a sunny spot where it can soak up filtered (not direct) sunlight. Make sure to keep the roots uniformly moist.

Most importantly, be patient, grasshopper—it will take almost a year before you can reap your first ginger root harvest. The plant will grow anywhere from 2 – 4 feet high. Meanwhile, below the surface, sprouts will begin to poke its way through the soil. Harvest as much as your heart desires, but remember to re-plant a bud so that you can keep the party going, so to speak.

All of this tingly happiness can be yours—simply make ginger root one of your pantry staples.

Do you use ginger root? How do you use it? Don’t you feel happier already?

If not, here are 9 reasons why you should have s*x tonight (and tomorrow morning)!

The post Got the blues? 6½ ways ginger root will make you instantly happy appeared first on lola zabeth.

While coconut oil is truly one of the best things you can do for your hair, there’s a lot to be said about an oil treatment with ingredients that also deliver the goods to the scalp:

Herbal Hot Oil Treatment (via Mountain Rose Blog)

Ingredients (click the links to shop ‘em)

• 1 Tbsp organic rosemary herbal oil; antioxidant, antiseptic, stimulates blood flow (not recommended for women who are or may become pregnant).
• 1 Tbsp organic calendula herbal oil; anti-bacterial and ant-inflammatory
• 5 to 10 drops cedarwood or orange essential oil (optional)

Directions

Mix the oils together in a glass bottle and shake well. Fill a separate bowl with near boiling water. Place the bottle in the bowl and allow the oil to heat slowly for a few minutes. Test a drop of oil on your wrist to check the temperature. Rub some of the oil in your fingertips and massage into the dry scalp starting at the front. Using a circular motion, work backward toward the crown and add more oil as needed until the entire scalp has been massaged. Next, massage oil into dry hair from the scalp to the ends using a gentle motion. Cover your hair with a shower cap or recycled plastic bag and wrap a hot damp towel around your head. Relax for 20-30 minutes before shampooing out. Enjoy your soft, beautiful hair!

Find more DIY beauty recipes at Mountain Rose Blog!

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Remember how I got all hot and bothered about egg oil? Well, it’s the leading lady of this DIY hair treat and sounds like the most divine way to try a little tenderness with your tresses. Your strands will thank you for this wallop of cholesterol.

Egg Oil + Amla Hair Serum (via The Natural Beauty Workshop)

Ingredients (click the links to shop ‘em)

• 1/2 ounce Egg Oil
• 1/2 ounce Amla Oil
• 1/2 ounce Argan Oil
• 1/2 ounce Broccoli Seed Oil
• 1/4 ounce Jojoba
• 10 – 20 drops Rosemary Essential Oil

Directions
Combine the oils in a small beaker and stir well. Add the essential oil, the stir again. Transfer carefully to a dropper bottle.

Usage & Packaging
Store this recipe in a dropper bottle. Cobalt or amber bottles provide the best conditions for storage, but the serum also looks gorgeous in flint glass. If you prefer using plastic bottles, check out these 2 oz. PET Cosmo with Snap Cap. This recipe makes 2 1/4 ounces, just enough to fill these bottles up to the brim.

Apply just a few drops to damp hair after washing to use it as a leave-in conditioner, or try applying just a tiny dab to the ends of your hair before bed.

Find more DIY beauty treats at The Natural Beauty Workshop!

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“Stevia concentrate in the form of drops has also been used directly on sores or blemishes to promote healing. For this reason, some advocates of stevia use it on other skin conditions such as eczema, dermatitis, or minor cuts or wounds.”

~ Stevia by Rita Elikins, M.H.

The post For the Mixtresses: Sweet Roses Hair Tea (stevia for itchy scalp) appeared first on lola zabeth.

Egg yolk, the base of mayonnaise, contains a boatload of cholesterol, which can help to reinforce damaged hair, making it shinier and easier to manage. Vinegar, the second ingredient in mayo, can soften, balance ph, and cleanse hair of the heavy residues that build up from everyday styling products. The final ingredient in mayo is a clear winner for hair care, vegetable oil! Those three basic ingredients create a hair mask that when properly doctored up, can rival the effectiveness of almost any store-bought conditioning treatment.

Rosemary Hair Whip

Ingredients

• 1 pasteurized egg yolk
• 2 tablespoon Organic Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 ounce Argan Oil
• 1 ounce Black Cumin Seed Oil
• 1 ounce Camellia Seed Oil
• 1 ounce Manketti Oil
• 1/8 teaspoon Rosemary Essential Oil

Get the full scoop on this recipe and more at The Natural Beauty Workshop!

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Here’s what I whipped up:

Okra Hair Conditioner
1. Wash a handful of okra pods and cut them into 2″ pieces.
2. Fill a pot with about an inch of water.

3. Toss the okra in the pot, and set the water to boil.

 4. When boiled, okra secretes a mucilage that’s chock with hearty fiber. Boil for 20 minutes, remove from heat and allow to steep for 10 minutes.

5. Pour the entire contents of the pot into a jar. 

6. Allow the okra to continue steeping overnight.

7. The liquid is now thicker and slimier.

8. Strain the mucilage from the okra. Refrigerate and use within 2 weeks.

I’ve heard of many Naturalistas use the mucilage as a hair styling gel for light hold. I use it simply to moisturize and condition (leave-in) my tresses after washing—makes the strands mucho soft! Pimp your ‘poo with a couple of tablespoons of the mucilage to give your scalp a vitamin-packed punch. Mix the mucilage with equal parts apple cider vinegar and you have great final hair rinse—this has been said to be great for treating lice.

So what to do with the left over okra pods?

Okra Facial Masque

I threw them in the blender, added a 1/4 cup of water and pureed into an awesome green facial masque. I spread the mixture fairly thick onto my face, let it sit for 15 minutes, and then rinsed with warm water. My skin felt like butter, and pleasantly tight.

As with all beauty recipes, performing a patch test is always a good idea in the event that you are allergic to a particular ingredient.

Do you eat okra? Have you ever used okra in your beauty regimen?

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Well, I blended some herbs already in my beauty pantry, plus some that I picked up while shopping and made a nice hair tea. My scalp felt awesome, curls were springy and The Mister loved the subtle peachy smell of my tresses. But the more I thought about the ingredients, I came to the conclusion that some of them were better served in a pre-wash treatment, in which the focus is usally the strands (not so much the scalp) and the treatment is left on for an extended period of time.

So I’ve moved away from the idea of one herbal blend for pre-pooing and final rinse. I’m now in the lab tweaking my perfect herbal blend to used in pre-wash oil infusions, and a blend to create a final rinse. Stay tuned for take 2.

Are final rinses a part of your hair care regimen? What do you use?

The post In the lab: Sweet Tea for Hair: Take 1 appeared first on lola zabeth.

Fast forward to modern times and many variations of the recipe are still consumed to treat everything from the common cold to indigestion. Given the antibacterial and antiviral properties of the ingredients, I’ll be whipping this up to deal with my forever itchy scalp:

Ingredients (click the links to shop ‘em)

• 1 tablespoon rosemary; antioxidant, antiseptic, stimulates blood flow (not recommended for women who are or may become pregnant).
• 1 tablespoon sage; helps relieve itching, and acts as an astringent.
• 1 tablespoon lavender; antiseptic and anti-inflammatory
• 1 tablespoon wormwood; antifungal 
• 1 tablespoon peppermint; antibacterial
• 1 tablespoons fresh, chopped garlic; antifungal, antiviral, antiseptic, stimulates blood flow. 
• 1 quarts of apple cider vinegar; ideally pH scale balanced at 4.5 to 5.5, contains acids and enzymes that destroy “bottle bacillus,” a bacteria known to cause dandruff and itchiness.

Directions

Place all herbs in a glass jar and cover with the apple cider vinegar. Allow to steep in a cool, dark place for 2 weeks, shaking daily. After 2 weeks, strain out the spent herbs. To use on my scalp, I plan to mix 1 part vinegar with 3 parts water. As with any treatments, first conduct a patch test.

Have you ever heard of this recipe? Have you ever used vinegar in your hair care regimen?

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The beveled shape of these stainless steel blades makes the perfect tool for chopping herbs and spices whether fresh or dried. Simply rock the blade(s) back and forth over the herb you’re preparing and watch the Mezzaluna chop with ease.

You can choose from two styles including a single Italian made 10″ blade with wooden handles, or a double 6″ blade with an easy-to-grip plastic handle. I gotta get it.

Now if you’re need to back it up, and start with the basics, cop these FREE e-books for your Beauty Foodie library:

•  The Healing Herbs eBook by Rosalee de la Forêt! This eBook contains 56 PDF pages covering 23 herbs in great detail. Rosalee also shares remedies and recipes to accompany each herb.
• Wild Foods Cookbook eBook by Rosalee de la Forêt: Great recipes for the adventurous foodie.

Here’s a recipe from The Healing Herbs to give you a little taste of the free-ness:

Oatstraw Hair Rinse

Oatstraw is loaded with silica and when infused into a tea, can be used as a hair rinse for soft tresses. It can also treat and itchy or irritated scalp.

1. Place one to two ounces of oatstraw in a pan with a quart and a half of water.
2. Bring to a slow simmer and continue simmering for twenty minutes.
3. Let cool.
4. After your regular hair care routine, pour the oatstraw infusion over your hair. Do not rinse out.

 Are you an herb nerd?

The post Whatever Lola Wants: Mezzaluna Herb Choppers, free Healing Herbs eBook + Oatstraw Hair Rinse appeared first on lola zabeth.

Observe, imitate, repeat. Others were amazed at my laser-like focus. Observe, imitate, repeat.

I was a model citizen in the Land of Conformity.

I was also fantastically bored to tears, and mercilessly underwhelmed by everything I produced.

‘Tis true indeed—the reward for conformity is that everyone likes you but yourself.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. ~Robert Frost

What I’m trying to say, Dear Sisters, is thank you. It’s comforting to look up from time to time and see that I’m not always traveling alone. I know of no way to gracefully connect that sentiment with this recipe so I’ll just give it to you straight, no chaser. As always, enjoy.

Hops + Horsetail Hair Cleanser

Ingredients (click the links to shop ‘em)

• 2 tablespoons dried organic hops flowers; If you’ve ever had a beer, than you’ve had hops. The flowers from the hops vine is used to give beer its bitter taste. Because of its antimicrobial, antifungal, and antibacterial properties, hops flowers have also been used in hair care to promote scalp health.
• 1 tablespoon dried organic horsetail; the mother of all hair care herbs; rich in silica, one of the building blocks of healthy hair.
• 3 teaspoons Dr Bronners Magic Pure-Castile Soap Organic Baby Mild; mild cleansing.
• 1 tablespoon organic jojoba oil; closely simulates human sebum, the oil that naturally protects the hair.
• 1-1/2 cups water

Directions:

1. Pour water into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Add in the hops.
2. Add the horsetail, and allow to simmer on low heat for 30 minutes.
3. Strain out hops and horsetail, and pour into a jar. Allow herbal water to cool.
4. Once cool, add the castille soap and jojoba oil.
5. Shake gently to mix.
6. Funnel into a bottle.
7. Application: As with all recipes, conduct a patch test to determine if you are allergic to any of the ingredients. I used a condiment bottle because the pointed opening helps to direct the cleanser to the scalp. Pour cleanser over tresses, massage into the scalp. Rinse well and style as usual.

What road are you traveling on? Where is it leading you?

P.S. I snip-snipped away at the tresses again over the weekend. This is the shortest I worn it in years O_o.

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As a supplement to Beauty In Unsuspecting Places, Part 2: Patel Brothers, below are simple steps that I take to create herbal oil infusions and teas for my hair. Enjoy!

Herbal Oil Infusion (pre-poo treatment)

1. Pour 1 teaspoon of herbal powder or 2 teaspoons of dried herbs into a glass bottle or container.
2. Warm 1 cup of coconut oil, sesame oil or olive oil in a saucepan on low heat.
3. Pour the warm oil into the glass container over the herbs.
4. Store in a dark, cool (not cold) place for 5 days.
5. Strain herbs from the oil, and apply the oil to strands and scalp.
6. Continue to store unused oil in a cool, dark area,  Use within a week.

Herbal Tea (used as final rinse)

1. Add 1 teaspoon of herbal powder or 2 teaspoons of dried herbs to 1 cup of boiling water, and steep for 30 minutes.
2. Strain the herbs from the tea using a strainer or cheesecloth.
3. Pour the tea over the hair and scalp, and rinse immediately.

While ayurvedic herbs are all natural, some of them, particularly shikakai, pack a punch.  I wouldn’t recommend leaving any of these treatments in for an extended period of time, as they can be very drying. Likewise, I would not recommend using shikakai alone, but rather balance with amla, maka or other more moisturizing herbs.

Have you ever used herbal teas or oils in your hair care regimen?

The post For the Mixtresses: Creating an herbal oil infusion or herbal tea appeared first on lola zabeth.

For a while I’ve wanted to scrap Lola’s Leave-in and rebuild it without relying on the crutch of Trader Joe Nourish Spa Conditioner. This new mix will be cheaper to produce, and I’ll have complete control of every item used.  I purchased the ingredients some time ago, and then pretty much did nothing. But I finally slowed down a nudge and “got my beakers out”.

Notice that preservatives are intentionally omitted. This batch will be small, refrigerated and used before its shelf life expires. I’ve been reading up on natural preservatives, so we’ll cross that bridge at a later date. Anyhoo, if this goes well, I’ll accessorize it and infuse it with some other goodies, but for now I’m gonna keep it simple with this oil-in-water (meaning more water than oil) using ingredients that I know play nicely with my curls.

Also worth mentioning are the BTMS-50 and cetyl alcohol. The BTMS is an emulsifier (the glue that holds water and oil mixtures together), and both are conditioning agents. BTMS-50 is vegetable-based and derived from the natural plant oil colza (rapeseed oil). Cetyl alcohol (fatty alcohol, not the drying kind) is derived from vegetable oils like coconut oil and palm oil, and can give mixes a nice texture. Both will thicken up your mix good and fat, and help with combability and detangling.

Stay tuned for the deets on how this turns out…

Also, for everything you’ve always wanted to know about emulsifiers, check out Emulsifiers: An overview over at one of my fave blogs, Point of Interest! (thx Briana for mentioning)!

How about you? Did you work on any projects this weekend? Have you ever been to the movies by yourself?

The post In the lab: Lola’s Leave-In Redux appeared first on lola zabeth.

The degrading of mayonnaise from a wonderful condiment for cooked vegetables or sandwiches to an indistinguishable layer of fat has been radical and violent. Mayonnaise is a food best made at home and almost never made at home. This has robbed us of something that is both healthy and an absolute joy to eat with gusto. ~Tamar Adler

In its most basic form, mayonnaise is simply 1 cup of olive oil mixed in for every egg yolk added. Adler’s recipe builds upon this foundation and turns mayonnaise into something just shy of amazing grace. I have come to the conclusion that in all my years, I have never truly eaten mayonnaise until now:

Ingredients

• 2 egg yolks, from room temperature eggs (here’s a great post on how to separate egg yolk from egg whites)
• A tiny scrape of Dijon mustard
• 3/4 teaspoon (a squeeze) fresh lemon juice
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• A small drizzle room temperature water
• 2 cups best olive oil around, plus more on hand

1. Make a damp dish towel into a ring on the kitchen table, then set a big, round bottomed mixing bowl in it. Separate the yolks out by cracking the eggs over a second bowl and letting the whites fall into it through your fingers.
2. Whisk the yolks, salt, and mustard together in the first mixing bowl. When it’s all uniform—after about 10 seconds of whisking—begin to add the oil in a very slow stream, only drop by drop.
3. Once the mayonnaise comes together—and begins to thicken, start adding the oil more quickly.
4. Add the water and lemon juice when it becomes difficult to whisk.
5. Whisk in the remaining oil, adding a little more than the two cups if it all seems stable.
6. Taste for salt. Refrigerate if not using immediately, and allow to come to room temperature before serving.

Optional: Add 2 cloves of garlic pounded to a paste with salt and you will have what the Spanish call aioli.

Spread the mayo on veggies, crusty bread or whatever your heart desires.

Even better, save half the batch (minus the mustard) and apply to your tresses. The egg and olive oil will strengthen and condition while the garlic delivers sulfur, selenium, vitamins B and C, and various minerals that promote scalp health.

One recipe, two uses. The beginning is the end is the beginning.

Updated 7/2/12:

Check this vid on making homemade mayonnaise in just 2 minutes. The recipe is very similar to the one above, but a stick (immersion) blender was used. This certainly seems to take out a lot of the grunt work. Thx Leslie for recommending it!

Have you ever made your own mayonnaise? Have you ever used mayonnaise to condition your hair?

The post The Art of Mayonnaise: For your heart and your hair appeared first on lola zabeth.

Jasmine & Acai Berry Hair Oil
Ingredients

• 1 ounce Acai Oil
• 1 ounce Jojoba
• 2 ounces Camellia Oil
• 1/4 ounce Fractionated Coconut Oil
• 1/4 teaspoon Jasmine Absolute

Grab the full recipe over at the Natural Beauty Workshop Blog!

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I was gonna make pesto with my fresh basil mint and sage, but instead used it to pamper myself. After showering and washing my hair with this fab-o, mulit-tasking cleanser that I just whipped up, I am so friggin’ clean, and smell good enough to have for supper! This cleanser also did a marvelous job scrubbing up my dirty fingernails after a day of gardening. Basil mint:

• provides vitamin A, vitamin C, manganese, iron, copper, and potassium
• acts as an antioxidant and helps to fight free radicals, which age the skin
• provides gentle stimulation to the scalp
• feels so fresh and so clean on the skin and scalp.

• 2 oz Dr Bronners Magic Pure-Castile Soap Organic Baby Mild; mild cleansing.
• 2 oz basil mint leaves; scalp stimulation.
• 1 oz sage leaves; natural astringent.
• 1/2 oz unrefined organic coconut oil; conditions hair and skin.
• 6 oz water

Directions:

1. Cut the basil mint and sage into small pieces using herb scissors—or a knife. Place the cut herbs into a small saucepan and pour the water over them.
2. Bring to a boil and steep for 30 minutes.
3. Strain the herbs from the liquid using a strainer or cheesecloth.
4. Pour the herbal tea into a container. I used a mason jar (surprise, surprise). Add the castille soap and coconut oil. Shake well.
5. To turn a mason jar into a hand soap dispenser, poke a hole in the lid by putting the end of a screw driver on the lid, and pounding the top of the screwdriver with a hammer. Surprisingly, the screw driver will go through the lid pretty easily and doesn’t require a lot of elbow grease.
6. Place a soap pump salvaged from an old bottle of hand soap into the hole. Depending on the length of the straw, you may have to cut it down to fit into the jar. Enjoy!

What beauty products do you have that multi-task?

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