Going Green {A Guest Post}

I have an exciting guest post for you guys today!
 

Michelle Pinto, from SkA:nA, is here sharing her recipe for a DIY Body Scrub! It's super easy to make, and sounds like a perfect way to jump start a "green" beauty routing for spring!

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I’d like to introduce myself to y’all, I’m Michelle! I work at SkA:nA, a luxurious spa in upstate new york. At SkA:nA we believe in using natural ingredients to revitalize the mind, body, and spirit. I enjoy sharing recipes and tips like these so all women can feel empowered and beautiful. I love meeting others, sharing ideas and exploring new opportunities!

Instead of just wearing green this St. Patrick’s Day, try going green as well. We hear the phrase “go green” quite often these days, having to do with anything from cleaning products to food, and from make-up to sustainable living. Almost any aspect of our lives can part of the ‘Go Green’ movement. Instead of just wearing green March 17^th, use this day as inspiration to use green products on your skin as well.

Using ‘green’ products on your skin doesn’t actually have to mean you’re using something that is the color green. It simply means that it’s consists of natural products, is chemical free, is good for you and is good for the environment. There’s no need to spend a lot of money on a natural product for your skin either, a great skin exfoliation scrub can be made with ingredients that you might already be able to find in your kitchen.

Try making this all-natural Body Scrub to wash away winter skin and go green just in time for St. Patrick’s Day!

Ingredients:

-Sea Salt

-Sweet Almond Oil

-Mint Essential Oil

Directions: A homemade body scrub is pretty simple to make, its 2 parts salt (or sugar) to 1 part oil. Typically, for one batch it’s recommended to use 1 cup of salt and ½ cup of almond oil. This body scrub can easily be stored however, so if you want to make a little extra and keep it to use later in the week you can! Add as few or as many drops of essential oil as you want, and mix the oil, salt and fragrance together in a small bowl.

** Use a mason jar for storage, and your body scrub will last for about a week.

To Apply: While in the shower, apply the body scrub to clean, warm skin. Use small circular motions to rub the body scrub on your arms, legs, hands, feet and torso. Wash the scrub off. Finish normal shower routine.

The sea salt will act as en exfoliant, washing away any dry flaky skin. As the new skin underneath is revealed, the almond oil will moisturize and revitalize your skin leaving you feeling fresh and clean! The mint scent will provide you with the extra “oomph” and fresh clean feeling.

For little to no cost, you can go green and feel clean this St. Patrick’s Day. Try making your own body scrub and have the peace of mind that knowing what you are using on your skin. Spring will be here faster than you can find the end of the rainbow and no one wants the embarrassment of dry flaky skin!

Sharing the Love

I know... Valentine's Day was last week. But I can still share the love!

One of my 2013 New Year’s resolutions was to be more green. We try to be as eco-conscious as possible, and have made big changes in our house the last few years:  greener cleaning products, composting and eating organic whenever we can. I’ll write more about this (one day), but this even goes for Otto now, who is on an all-natural raw meat diet as of a few weeks ago.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but one of my guilty pleasures is to pick out new nail polish. I have a little bit of a nail-polish hording problem. Thankfully when we renovated our bathroom last year, I had to do some major purging. But I still have at least 6 or 7 colors at the ready. While looking for a new color last week, it occurred to me that I’ve never sought to “green” my manicure routine... and with all of the new, toxin-free formulas available, there was really no reason not to try them.

Zoya offers over 300 shades, and all of their formulas are all formaldehyde, toulane, DBP and camphor-free.

As part of their “Share the Love” program, it is super easy to get free nail polish. By clicking on the below (which is my personal share-the-love link), and creating an account, a coupon for a free bottle of nail polish will automatically be added to your account (FYI, this is an $8 savings). You will only pay for shipping, or, if you buy 2 bottles of nail polish on top of your free one, you will get free shipping on your order!

https://www.artofbeauty.com/rd/01726BFC

In the spirit of full disclosure, I will get  “points” when you create an account & place an order. While I’m sure the points will eventually amount to something (I’m not sure what, to be honest), that is not why I’m sharing the link. I really just thought it would be fun for all of you to get a free bottle of nail polish!

I just placed my first order, so I can’t comment on the product itself, but since Sherry (from YHL) has been using Zoya since 2008, I’m sure it is great. After-all, I consider Sherry & John the ultimate product knowledge gurus on pretty much everything.

In case you are curious, here’s what I ordered!

Morgan

Jane

Happy Shopping!

I was in no way compensated for saying anything about Zoya products or their “Share the Love” program. My order was placed by & paid by ME, and I received absolutely no discount from Zoya. 

Green Cleaning

I loved 'being green', before being green was cool. I was an UVM grad, after all, and Vermont has always been a little ahead of the curve when it comes to the environment. While we have always used green cleaning products in our home, we've also been guilty of using some very not-green ones.

When I was pregnant with A, I went through and cleaned out every toxic cleaning product I could find, and vowed that during my maternity leave, I'd make a whole slew of all-natural cleaners that we'd use exclusively after the baby was born. Ha! That did NOT happen. 

This past weekend, I set out to finally check that item off my list. I had pinned several natural, homemade cleaning recipes for future reference, and was so thankful I did that. I've listed the original sources along with the recipes, below.

INGREDIENTS

• White Vinegar
• Washing Soda*
• Castile Soap
• Essential Oils
• Baking Soda
• Ammonia
• 6 empty spray bottles
• Labels

*I, of course, didn't look to see what I needed before I started this project. Luckily, I googled Washing Soap, and found out that you can make this from baking soda (original post here).

I purchased these bottles the week before, so that I'd have fresh bottles to work with, and this sample pack of essential oils.

RECIPES

One thing of note before beginning... the reviews of the plastic bottles all recommend waiting for your mixture to cool completely before attaching the spray-component. So while these are all relatively easy to make, I did wait almost 6 hours for them to cool before using them.

All-Purpose Cleaner (original post here)
• 3 tablespoons vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon Washing Soda
• 1/2 teaspoon Castile Soap
• 2 cups hot water

I was impressed with how well this worked. I definitely thought it cleaned just as well as my other all-purpose cleaners.

Grease Cutter (original post here)
• 2 Cups water
• 1/4 Cup Castile Soap
• 10 drops lavender oil

Again, impressed with how effective this was. I've never used a specific cleaning product just for grease, but it really did a great job on the stove and countertops after a weekend of cooking. It also smells pretty good, too!

Tub & Tile Cleaner (original post here)
• 2/3 Cup baking soda
• 1/2 Cup Castile Soap
• 2 Tablespoons vinegar
• 1/2 Cup water
• A few drops of Tea Tree oil

This may be my new favorite cleaning product. I was literally amazed how well this worked, and how well it smelled. The recipe above does not make a lot, so the next time, I would double it. The bathroom is a place I tend to use very abrasive cleaning products, and honestly felt that this was just as effective. The best part was that the bathroom smelled of Tea Tree Oil instead of cleaning products, afterwards!

Glass Cleaner (original post here)

• 1 cup Water
• 1/4 cup White Vinegar
• 2 to 3 drops Dawn Dish Soap

I didn't use Dawn Dish Soap, since I only had Castile soap. This works well, although you have to wait for it to 'evaporate' a bit from the glass. At first it looks a little hazy and dirty, but within 30 seconds the glass was clean and dry.

Miracle Stain Remover (original post here)
• 2/3 cup Dawn Dishsoap
• 2/3 cup ammonia
• 6 tablespoon Baking Soda
• 2 cup warm water

 Warning: this makes ALOT. more than could fit in a 16oz spray bottle. I recommend cutting the recipe in half.

 I haven't had to use this yet, but I'm sure A will find a reason for me to try it soon! I promise to post about how effective it is, especially since this is the product I'm most skeptical of.

Linen Spray (original post here)
• 2 tablespoons Vodka
• 10 drops of essential oil
• 1 cup warm water

Love this! Easy to make, smells great and dries quickly. I give our couch and rug a quick spray every other day to avoid the dog-smell that sometimes takes over the house. This works very well, and I'm not worried about A being on the couch immediately afterwards since it contains no harsh ingredients.

I didn't realize it when I purchased the spray bottles, but they were also the perfect size to store in my wooden create (purchased from Hobby Lobby years ago)!

Love that my new products also have cute new storage :)
Would love to hear what kind of green cleaning products you are using in your home!

Happy Thursday, friends!

Linking up with A Bowl Full of Lemons