Tuesday 22 March 2016

PitRok Natural deodorant review

I like to mix up my deodorant brands as I find that the more I use one product my body seems to get used to it and it works less effectively. I've tried most natural deodorants out there. Some of them work great! Others, not so much. My main routine was changing between my all natural homemade deodorant recipe and my salt of the earth pure aura spray on Alum based deodorant. They seem to be the ones that work best for me. I'm someone who gets a little bored with routine though and as my salt of the earth spray was running low I was looking to try something Alum based but maybe something a little bit different.

This is why I was super excited about the brand PitRok sending me a couple of there products to review! The ones I received from their range were the PitRok crystal fragranced for women, roll on deodorant and the PitRok crystal natural deodorant stick!
The first one I gave a go with for a few days was the women's roll on deodorant. The packaging for this one was most like a standard kind of roll on deodorant which is great for those just starting to get into a more natural kind of care routine. It doesn't look to different from what the vast majority of people are using at school or the gym so you won't really draw as much attention to yourself than if your applying your deodorant from a block of crystal or a tin of homemade gunk. I know it doesn't really matter, but from a perspective of a shy teenage girl, looking like a bit of a hippy weirdo was one of my main concerns when moving into a natural care routine all those years ago.

The design is pretty nice as well which is a welcome change from the standard pink or purple colours most women's personal care products seem to be plastered with nowadays. This product is rather more fragranced and contains a few more ingredients than you'd expect in most natural products but I see this one as more of a transition product from your standard roll on deodorant. The information on the back of the packaging is also very transparent and explains exactly what is in the product, and more importantly, what they've chosen not to include. There is no Alluminium Chlorohydrate or Alluminium Zinconium which are the main ingredients which most people would like to avoid when switching to a more natural deodorant. There are also no parabens, SLS/SLES, Propylene Glycol or Silicones which is also an added plus and where a number of other 'natural' deodorants fail (I'm looking at you Forever Livving).

The directions are pretty standard when it comes to application. Make sure your underarms are freshly cleaned and apply. It's also to be noted that this product can also be applied to feet which is interesting (untried so far) but those of you who want to sort out whatever kind of Eco system your tootsies have started creating in your shoes at the end of a busy day should probably give this a try too!
I also really loved how the packaging acknowledges the use of fragrance and that is probably not going to be one of your best ideas to stick this on any broken skin.

Anyway enough about all of that. It sounds pretty good but does it actually work? I'm pleased to say that for me it did! With all Alum based deodorants though it is imperative that you give your body a chance to 'detox' a little from standard pore and lymph node blocking deodorants before expecting this to work for you. This should probably only take around a week really. In my experience the way I moved to alum deodorants was to start with my homemade deodorant for a while as my underarms were figuring out why they were allowed to breath again and just make sure you clean those pits a couple of times a day to remove bacteria build up. It's also probably not the best idea to be exerting too much energy as you will be a bit stinkier than usual as your body is working stuff out. But once that's done you're probably ready to move to the wonderful world of Alum!

I work in a job that when I'm not writing, I'm out and about on my feet most of the day talking to people. So it's pretty important for me not to be stinky when hanging out with quite a few members of the public. This worked great and I even had a couple of people comment on how they liked my perfume when all I had on with any fragrance at all was this bad boy. To be honest I was relieved with that compliment as it was day one of trying this and although I didn't think I smelt it was nice to get that reassurance from others around me too that my new deodorant change wasn't causing any offended noses. I did find though that after returning home after a busy 14 hour day a shower and change of clothes was probably required. 
The next day though I brought my little deo along with me and one reapplication in the middle of my day kept me smelling totally fresh until I made it home. I kept this going for the rest of the week and I do have to say that this little package is now in my current care routine possibly for good!

The PitRok natural deodorant stick works much in the same way to the roll on deodorant except it only contains one ingredient. Just one big block of Alum! I was particularly interested in this product as its so simple and also has a use in my current shaving routine to help close my pores after shaving and help stop any nicks and cuts I might cause from not paying as much attention or care shaving as I should have. This is also pretty important right now as I'm entering the terrifying world of mastering the straight edge razor.
I am obsessed with the simplicity of this product and the really useful packaging. As you use the product rather than tipping the stone out of the container and getting germy hands all over it there is a push button on the base which allows more of the product to be released. This is also great for my slippy hands and clumsy nature as it prevents the problem of dropping the stone on the floor and watching it shatter into a million pieces. (This seems to be a relatively common problem with Alum stone users online and a quick googling will show this).

Overall I'm extremely happy with both of these items. Thank you PitRok for letting me try these great products! Once these are gone I can't wait to see what the rest of the range has to offer!
Tina
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Tuesday 15 March 2016

Homemade almond milk recipe

I don't always drink much milk but when I do (usually in an occasional coffee) I love to make it myself. It's so simple to do and if you have a couple of minutes and a blender then you can pull this off pretty easily. It tastes so much fresher and creamier than the stuff you get from the shop. It's also great that you know exactly what's in it too. This recipe is for 1/2 pint of almond milk which I find is great for my very low consumption of alternative milks. If you want more however just double up on the ingredients! It lasts probably the longest out of most homemade milks, 7 to 10 days which is great. You could probably get away with a couple of days longer but the fresher the better
Ingredients:
1/4 cup almonds
1/2 cup water
2 dates
1 cup water
A couple of pinches of salt
A teaspoon of vanilla extract

Equipment:
Small bowl
Blender 
Cloth/teatowel

First start by soaking your Almonds for 6-12 hours in half a cup of water and a few pinches of salt. It may be best to do this overnight or first thing in the morning before you leave for work. Soaking the almonds helps soften them and makes them much easier to peel.

After your almonds have soaked remove them from the water, discard the water and peel them. This should be relatively easy to do and becomes simpler the longer you soak them for.
Once you're done put the almonds and the remaining ingredients in your blender. Blend for 60 seconds to make sure you've blended all of your milk finely enough.

After that use your cloth to filter out the pulp of the mixture. It'll reach the point where you need to squeeze the cloth to remove all the liquid from the cloth. 
Once you've done that pour your milk into an bottle and store in the fridge!
I hope you enjoyed the recipe. I know I love it!
Tina
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Elephant Box

Plastic isn't the best material. It's porous which means not only is it a possible breeding ground for bacteria, some levels of chemicals can even leach into the food your storing in there. It's also not great for the environment. Plastic never really biodegrades  which is pretty terrible for the environment. 
It was definatley time to get myself a lunchbox that was a lot healthier, better for the environment and lasts for years. Bringing a packed lunch also greatly reduces the amount of waste in packaging you'd normally use buying lunch every day.
This is where the company elephant box come in. They have a great ethos about being Eco friendly and even reading about them impressed me greatly.
Elephant box say, "At Elephant box we believe in making things to last. It's better for the environment and it makes people happy too. This box is made out of stainless steel which, unlike plastic, need never end up in a landfill." That sounds good to me so that's why I couldn't wait for my elephant box to arrive in the post.
The tin itself is 2 litres which is huge particularly in comparison to many other stainless steel lunch boxes on the market. And the clips on each side of the box keep it pretty air tight which is also great. It holds up really well in my handbag too and doesn't open or spill while I'm going about my daily business which was my main worry.
To be honest I can't really fault this item. It's light but also very strong and sturdy and is the perfect addition to my kitchen. And look at the cute little elephant logo on the top of the box! I can't wait to buy myself a couple more for extra food storage in my fridge.
The elephant box is priced at £25.99 and available at elephantbox.co.uk
Thanks,
Tina
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Saturday 12 March 2016

Super chocolatey vegan Oreo milkshake

This is my favourite recipe even though this is the definition of junk food but it's so good!
I mean just look at it I bet you can taste the chocolatey goodness already! This is the easiest and simplest chocolate milkshake I've ever made. The almond butter gives it such a creamy consistency and really adds to the 'milkshake' flavour.

Ingredients:
- 6 Oreos 
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 2 bananas
- 1 tablespoon almond butter
- dairy free milk or 3 tablespoons oats
-  1 tablespoon hemp seeds (optional)
- water
Throw everything apart from two Oreos in your blender and fill with water. Blend for a couple of minutes. Crush up the remaining Oreos and use as topping. Simple as that! 
I hope you enjoyed this super quick recipe!
Tina
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Wednesday 9 March 2016

DIY scalp treatment

In winter find my skin gets rather dry and I need to exfoliate and moisturise a lot more. But what do I do about my equally dry and a little itchy scalp? I use this scalp treatment whenever I feel my hair needs a little TLC. I just melt the treatment in my hands and massage it into my scalp. I leave it for around twenty minutes to work its magic and then A quick rinse sorts it out. 
This is a great DIY for beginners as it requires few ingredients and so little effort.
The coconut oil is conditioning and the rose water (optional) is calming. Tea tree and lavender essential oils help clean the scalp and sort out any dandruff that might be lurking.
Here's how you make it.
Throw some coconut oil into the container you've chosen to store your mixture in. Add a few drops of rose water into the mixture. Then put in a few drops of tea tree and lavender essential oil. It really is that easy! You may wish to melt your coconut oil a little if you live in a cold climate but I feel that mixing alone softens the coconut oil enough to sufficiently combine the ingredients together.
Now it's ready to use straight away! I hope you enjoyed this super quick recipe and this great DIY you can make in less than two minutes!
Tina
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Tuesday 8 March 2016

Three simple Low waste swaps bathroom edition

Want to reduce your environmental impact but with as little effort as possible? Make some of these easy swaps today!

Shampoo bars
Stronger, cleaner hair not coated in plastics and silicones? Sounds good right. How about also knowing it'll help you save the environment one bar at a time. Shampoo bars are my new holy grail and have saved my hair no end. A quick online search shows that you can get them almost anywhere. Even if you don't feel ready to brave the no poo movement just yet you can get bars made from more traditional shampoo ingredients from brands such as lush and Tigi. They are also great for the frequent flyers and travellers among you. Not messing around buying travel sized bottles of shampoo sounds good to me!
Safety razors
Disposable razors make up a huge amount of waste every year. They also aren't that great for your skin or bank balance either. It might be simpler to just banish the razor from your life for good but to be honest I prefer being a little more smoother. Safety razors can be reusable for years and the only thing you need to change are the blades every few weeks depending on how often you use them. Also no plastic in sight! You can buy good quality safety razors online for as little as £8.99 and razor blades can cost you less than £1 a pack depending on which brand you choose.
DIY or solid toothpaste
Solid toothpaste comes in so many flavours from cola to rose. Even if you prefer a more traditional mint flavour you can also get that too! Lush used to offer solid toothy tabs in small cardboard boxes however the newly repackaged toothy tabs now come packaged in plastic bottles which can be recycled in store. If that's still not quite your cup of tea you can try your hand at making some yourself and storing it in a glass jar or a silicone squeeze bottle. Recipe to come soon!
I hope you liked this post and look out for my other simple and easy low waste swaps.
Tina
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Sunday 6 March 2016

Safety razor shaving - ladies edition

So you want to start shaving with a safety razor. You've heard about how much better it is for the environment, your sensitive skin, a closer shave and your money so what exactly do you need to get started.
Below I'm going to share with you my safety razor kit and what I've learnt you really need if you want to get started.

The first thing you are going to want to buy is a safety razor. But which one and does it matter how much you spend? You want a nice heavy blade made well as this baby is supposed to last you a lifetime. For anyone considering shaving with a safety razor, it is relatively important not to start too cheap as anything under 8 quid will probably not last too long before it starts rusting and falling apart. A really great brand for a good price is the Merkur razor. I would suggest getting something with a slightly longer handle and would suggest either the Merkur 33c or the Merkur 25c as these are probably my favourite styles of Merkur (33c is pictured in this post).

Now you have your razor what else do you need? Razor blades to go in it of course. Not all razor blade brands are created equal however and each one offers a different level of shave. I find the personna blades, although really sharp, a little too close for my skin and they tend to give me razor burn pretty easily. But brands such as Astra, Shark and Derby tend to offer me a close shave with very minor cutting and burning. Blades are usually purchased online and a quick search will show you many offers of trial blade packs which offer you a selection of single blades from different brands to try at a pretty decent price. I find a razor blade lasts me around two to three weeks depending on how often I shave.

A pre and post shave is the next thing on the list. You can get many fancy scented ones available to you but to be honest I prefer a product which is simple and can do both jobs. Almond oil with a little tea tree and lavender essential oil thrown in. The oil softens the hair nicely pre shave and posh shave the tea tree and lavender help to clean out any cuts I may have made on my skin which I can't see. For me sometimes the simplest are the best.

Oh and what if you do really cut yourself? Well there is a handy remedy to stop the bleeding and disinfect the wound almost immediately. Alum. Yes that stuff you can also use as a natural deodorant too! I love items that can do more than one job. It definitely cuts down on my spending no end and saves me a lot of space in my bathroom. The cool thing about this is that the industry has made tiny alum matchsticks which are such a handy little and very cool part of any kit. Simply snap of a stick use on the effected area and you're done. These however aren't what is call an 'essential' but they will probably come in handy more than a few times.
The last two things you really need are a shaving brush and some shaving soap. There are so many shaving brushes on the market some animal hair and some synthetic. I personally use an old unwanted brush of my fathers which is a good 20 years old and I do believe is some kind of animal hair.
If I were to buy new though (and I am in the market to) I would go for a much more animal friendly synthetic brush as you don't have to break them in, they're cheaper and the work similarly to animal hair brushes.

Now for the shaving soap. I personally use shaving soap from the brand Funkysoapshop.com as it's very natural and gives a great lather and moisturises my skin when I'm shaving and I also have a diy natural shaving cream recipe which I will post at a later date for you guys.
So that's everything that you need to get yourself started safety razor shaving! If you have any questions feel free to message me or comment below

Tina
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Saturday 5 March 2016

Salt of the earth-pure aura review

I finally received the brand new Salt of the Earth new pure aura scent and I was very excited as I've heard such good things about using a natural alum based deodorant but I was yet to try one. 
 the only deodorant that's natural that I've really found to work is my DIY recipe also on my blog, so I was hoping to find another alternative for when I'm on the go or when I'm working out or riding my bike anywhere so I was really excited to get this one.
The salt of the earth pure aura comes in a spray bottle consisting of the alum, a type of glycerine, aloe leaf juice and flower extracts which was different to traditional stick alum deodorants, 100% natural and a lot more simpler to use as you don't have to wet it every time you want to get it on your skin. You just spray, and go!
The scent is lavender and vanilla but the smell of lavender is much more prominent than the light vanillary tones in the scent, so if you're not a fan of lavender this probably isn't the one for you. I used this for a few days to really see what it stood up to and I was rather impressed with my findings. On the longest and sweatiest day which included multiple bike rides and some pretty constant walking around the deodorant lasted from 9am when I put on a thin amount all the way to 6pm. That's over 9 hours! That's pretty impressive considering how much I was doing all day.
Overall I'm pretty impressed with this product and it seems like it'll come in handy on particularly warm summers days when I'm out a lot of the time and my DIY deodorant gets a little bit messy after spending a while melting in the summer sun!
The new Salt of the earth Pure Aura deodorant is available at crystalspring.co.uk

Thursday 3 March 2016

How to stay natural pre and post swim

I like most people love to swim. I go close to 3 times a week give or take the odd holiday or trip away. It is defiantly my preferred form of workout with my weekly Pilates and yoga sessions a close second.

The one thing I don't love about swimming though is the chlorine and what it does to my skin and hair if I don't treat it properly. Chlorine is a sanitiser which almost certainly should be added to every public pool for the health of everyone in it. However it may stop you catching God knows what from the hoards of people that use the pool everyday but there are also many reasons why it's not exactly the best ingredient in the world. Chlorine is a known carcinogen, is incredibly drying to hair and skin and can cause wrinkles prematurely. So if you still want to swim after knowing that it'd probably be best if you protect yourself from it but in the most natural way possible.

So here's what I use to keep my exposure as minimal as possible.
Before you get in the pool:
I oil up! Well, not too much anyway because you don't want to be leaving an oily film everywhere you go but oil will create a barrier between you and the water so slather on a body moisturiser and make sure to coat your hair too. I do this before I leave the house to save time and not risk looking like a total mental case in my local gym changing rooms. 
On my body I use a diy moisturiser which is a mixture of coconut oil and Shea butter to nourish and protect my skin. 

And now for my hair. I tend to oil up my hair quite a lot with a basic almond oil, even olive oil from your kitchen will do the job. I start at the ends of my hair and work my way up focusing mainly on the lower half of my head as it has the most contact with water than anything else. I use a decent amount to do this, more than I normally would to moisturise my hair but not so much that I can practically ring puddles of oil out of it. I then tie this up into a very high bun on the top of my head and I'm ready to head into the pool.

Now afterwards I shower immediately with plain old water at the gym change and shower again once I get home. When I do shower though I tend to use a clay based shampoo bar and hair rinse and then to prevent any chemical build up.


if I've been going to the pool for a few days in a row I turn to my more traditional shampoo by the brand Faith in nature followed again by a hair rinse. The faith in nature brand are a company against animal testing and their products contain all natural ingredients even including the use of ALES, which is a little harsh on my hair and the only reason I don't use this product every time I wash. This however is a good reason of why I do use this whenever I go swimming, it does a wonderful job of removing the choline from my hair!
I also use their shower gels for the same reason.
My feet are normally the first to get dry after a long swimming session and I've found the only thing that really works is Lush's Pumice power foot soap. I also use this in winter regularly on my feet too. It's also less than £4 which is a great deal for how long it lasts me but if anyone knows a good diy with less fragrance I'd love to know!

Once I'm out its a full moisturising session again and I feel totally chlorine free!
So that's how I keep myself as protected as possible from my frequent pool trips!

Tina
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Alibi health drink review

Alibi were nice enough to send me a few of their health drinks to try and I think I've found my new favourite post gym drink. I've recently got in the habit of packing one of these in with my homemade raw vegan protien snickers bars and I'm glad I did.

The Alibi company have excellent ethics which is what attracted me to them in the first place really. For every can of Alibi sold 500 litres of drinking water will be provided to the developing world. So vitamins for you and clean drinking water for those truly in need feels like a good deal for me. 
It is also vegetarian society approved, is 100% recyclable and comes in three different flavours; blueberry, citrus and pomegranate. My favourite has to be the blueberry one.

The packaging is simple and white which does look rather stylish when I'm wandering around with one in my hand but that's besides the point. It's all very well looking good but it is mostly what's inside that really counts.

So what is inside the health drink. Is it really that healthy? The drink counts as one of your five a day through the 45% of fruit juice in the drink. The fact it contains no added sugar, artificial sweeteners, caffeine or stimulants is another great plus for me. 
It's 45% fruit juice but what else is in it. Looking at the ingredients I can see a list of 21 vitamins and botanicals along with an acidity regulator and citric acid which can be expected from a carbonated drink.

Each flavour can is less than 90 calories too which comes from the juice and vitamins itself and not through any other additional nonsense which only adds to the benefits of this drink. Alibi health drink is available at Alibidrink.com

Tina
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Wednesday 2 March 2016

Vegan swaps lip balms

I went out today with the intention of finding a replacement for my Burts bees lip balm as I'm running low, well, low in my opinion (I still have one left). Although Burts bees prides itself on being natural and even offering a lip balm recycle scheme I just didn't feel comfortable buying products containing beeswax anymore.
As a side note, I do still have a little beeswax left which I use for my natural beauty products, but as soon as that runs out I'm going to buy a vegan alternative. I don't believe that you should just throw an item away if you find out it contains an animal product or has been tested on animals. The way I see it is that the damage has already been done and you can either waste the item or use it until finished and then learn from it.
I found the best alternative brand while I was out which I'd never heard of before so I thought I'd share them with you. It's the brand Oilology which I discovered in TKMaxx which is a supprizing treasure trove for natural beauty alternatives if you keep your eyes peeled. It's also a great place for glass jars too!
These lip balms came in a pack of three too and the price was only £3. So not only am I helping the poor little bees out now, I'm also making huge savings considering each one of these is double the size of a Burts bees lip balm and it's cheaper for me to buy 3 of these than it is to buy one Burts bees lip balm!

The type of balm I chose was the Argan oil citrus flavour which I wasn't overly looking forward to as citrus is never really my first choice of anything. However I was pleasantly surprised! It tasted like a light mango and never turned my lips white or made them feel greasy which was a concern considering how oil based this product was.
The main ingredients list is; vegetable oil, soybean oil, coconut oil, Shea butter, candelilla wax, apricot kernel oil, jojoba seed oil, Argan oil, avacado oil and vitamin c. This is natural enough and an incredible alternative for me!
Tina
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No poo and shampoo bars

No poo is not exactly what it sounds like. It's not using traditional shampoo to cleanse your hair in favour of more natural options. There are many options available from water only to washing your hair in honey. 

After moving onto a sulphate free shampoo I was loving the benefits my hair was reaping. But still, something still felt wrong. The shampoo may have improved my hair immensely in comparison to the silicone filled others I had used before but it still wasn't exactly 'natural' was it? Also I wasn't a big fan of the packaging I was still throwing into the recycle bin every other month. It also didn't help that it was almost impossible to find a brand that wasn't ridiculously green washed and bought out by a not so animal friendly company.

So where did that leave me? Was it possible to find a natural shampoo that was good for my hair and wasn't owned by a brand with some rather questionable morals? I'm glad to say that there was! I was soon transported to the wonderful world of no poo and all the experimenting that was to follow.


So that left me with the shampoo bar/Castile soap option or a clay mud wash. And these were the two I experimented between until I found what worked best for me. (I'm now an avid shampoo bar user with a once every two months clarifying clay wash)
Shampoo bars (not to be mistaken with Lush's sulphate filled shampoo bars) are made usually through traditional cold processed soap making methods however they are formulated with hair in mind. They come in many different scents and have many different formulations depending on your hair type so you'll be sure to find one for you. The best news is I went from having to wash my hair every other day to now barely needing to wash it once a week!

But if you've decided how you'll wash your hair have you decided how you'll rinse or 'condition' it? Most conventional conditioners have to go out the window when you start no pooing but you need something to replace it and also something to wash all that product out of your hair.

The widest used rinse is probably watered down apple cider vinegar but to be honest in the uk it is extremely expensive and near impossible to get a hold of in the uk but white wine vinegar and red wine vinegar do the job just as well. The only things I have against the vinegar rinsing is the smell. You can smell it in the shower and on your hair afterwards as it dries. Then the smell totally disappears! That is until you sweat or get caught in the rain and in England, that's a common occurrence
So being a little fed up with my rinse and smelling a little bit pickled I thought it was time to do some experimenting. Lemon juice! It worked pretty much the same and didn't stink, however there was one issue my naturally dark hair seemed to be getting lighter and lighter from the lemon juice. But I found a solution soon enough through the wonderful world of tea. In place of my water in the lemon rinse concoction I used tea which has appeared to pretty much have kept the hair lightening at bay for now.

Do you use shampoo bars or do you want to try them? Let me know!

Tina
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DIY All natural deodorant

After searching through the world of natural deodorant like a woman with no hope I finally discovered one that worked. A diy recipe I could make myself for not even a quarter of the price I was paying for store bought ones that didn't even work.

I've perfected this recipe over the years to be the perfect texture and not fall apart or melt and also so it works and doesn't stain my clothes, so I thought I'd share it with you!

I've really thought a lot about what goes into my deodorant recipe and every ingredient I've used has a reason to be in there and here's a little reason for each one...

I use coconut oil as its a natural anti fungal and antibacterial. The Shea butter moisturises the skin and gives the deodorant a nice texture that doesn't melt too much under hot climates. 
I add bicarbonate of soda as it works incredibly well at not just masking your 'natural scent' but neutralising any odour. The wax is there just to solidify the mixture further and it does wonders at preventing coconut oil stains on your clothing. 
Lavender essential oil is soothing, anti bacterial and provides pain relief for minor burns or skin irritation. Then finally tea tree oil is a natural antiseptic and cleaner which can work wonders for your skin.
Ingredients:
3 tsp Coconut oil
Bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp Shea butter
1/2 tsp Vegan wax (I have some beeswax knocking round the house from my pre vegan days)
A few drops Lavender essential oil
A few drops Tea tree essential oil
Fragrance oil (optional)
Aluminium tin 
Ceramic/glass bowl
Spoon
Melt the coconut oil, Shea butter and wax in your bowl then spoon in your bicarbonate of soda and mix. Before the rest of the mixture cools throw in a few drops of your essential oils and your optional fragrance. 
Pour your mixture into your aluminium tin and once it's set your ready to start using it! I apply once a day on cold days but if you're being particularly active it will probably be better to apply twice a day as heavy perspiration can wash it off a little. 
If you use this recipe or have any suggestions for improvements let me know I'd love to hear how it's worked for you!

Tina
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