DIY Face Powder - Talcum Powder Alternative

One of the most commonly used beauty product is face powder, Majority of them are made of Talc, There is a lot of controversy surrounding Talc with regards to health impact, So that led to me trying out recipes that works as well as good. It is extremely easy to do and smells like a delicacy.

NaturalOrganicandHappy

Steps:
1. Take 100gms of Arrowroot powder , It is a fine powder made using tapioca. This is available in most of the medical shops.
2. Now to most of the Indian skin tone white powder looks like a patch when applied, so now you can add cocoa powder, add it enough to give a light brown tone to the powder. This can be replaced with cinnamon or casia bark powder(known also as chakke), Ground it to a fine powder and sieve it, leave out the bigger pieces and add it to the powder.Cinnamon gives a very nice aroma to it and it is also anti-septic.
3. This loose powder made of 2-3 ingredients feels very smooth and can be stored in air tight container.Treat yourself to this absolute luxury :-).
Let me know how it feels.

Tulsi/Basil Infused oil DIY

Tulsi also known as basil, In India it is considered very holy.It is also known for a lot of medicinal properties.You can find more about it's properties here.

Tulsi is also know for skin care properties, So this post is about using it to create a light essential oil at home.

©NaturalOrganicandHappy

Steps:
1. Get about 2-3 bunches of tulsi, wash and allow it to dry, preferably in sun for 2-3 hours.
2. Now crush them so that the juice is out and the pleasant aroma spreads.
3. Use any of the base oils which does not have strong smell of its own, Like sunflower oil, coconut oil, olive oil etc. Given the availability and fresheness in India, I have always prefered coconut oil.
You can add about 150ml of oil.
4. Now there are two ways, one is double boiler method. which is explained here , or there is a simpler way where you add crushed tulsi leaves to your base oil, and boil the mixture, but here you have to be careful and remove it when the fumes just starts coming.
5. At this time you can add a little bit of pacha karpoora(edible camphor which you can get in pooja stores).
6. The color of the oil is light green , this is not as strong as store bought essential oil, but it is very pure as done by you, also the cost to make this is fraction of store bought one's.

This oil is very good for skin irritation or to give general glow especially for dry skin, Also the aroma is very soothing you can give yourself a massage after a long workday to alleviate stress,I added  Pacha karpoora because it reduced body/muscle ache. It is an absolutely delightful treat you can give youself. 

Amla shikakai and Reetha shampoo DIY

Having used very less beauty product myself I have loved ayurvedic recipes and products always, When I read few articles about harmful effects of some of the ingredients in shampoo like SLES, parabens I started looking for Organic options in India, but to my dismay most of Organic variety also had these components, that's when i stumbled at this homemade variety.

It is a very simple century old Ayurvedic recipe with just 3 ingredients and from my personal experience very effective.You can these in most of the pooja shops that you find in India.

Steps : 

1. Coarsely crush about 200 gms of  Reetha(soapnut), 150gms of Shikakai and about 100-150gms of Amlaki (Dried Indian Gooseberry)  in a tumbler.

2. Soak this in about 2 litres  of water overnight.

3. Next morning heat it till the mixture comes to 3/4th its level, that is if you have added 2 litres, boil it till the level of water is about 1.5 litres, Allow it to cool and when it is lukewarm just mash all the amla, reetha and Shikakai to a pulp to extract the satva(content or goodness) at this point it will be a little frothy  and its actually fun to extract the liquid.

4. Now move it to a container and refrigerate it, The refrigerated mixture lasts for upto 2 months.

Usage:

1. Take the liquid and apply it on the scalp and massage it , allow it to sit for 2-3 minutes, It will not lather if you have applied oil before.Repeat the process atleast 3-4 times. Now in your last attempt it would start lathering a bit.You can stop then.

2. You can stop at this but if you are someone who likes some scent, you can rinse your hair in lemon solution or add some essential oil and rinse.

This is a completely safe shampoo, as you know all the ingredients and it works well, as good as any store bought, but allow your hair to adjust for sometime.