The Essential Guide to making your own Rosewater Rosewater is a fundamental in skincare, as an ingredient it crops up in many blend it yourself recipes and it can be used on its own when cleansing, toning, bathing and refreshing. It’s even a calming and restorative cure for a headache. So rosewater is a staple…
5 TO FORAGE IN JUNE June is a fantastic month to forage for natural skincare ingredients. There are many flowers and leaves in both hedgerows and gardens. If you can, pick in full sun and then use fresh right away, or alternatively dry for later use. To dry your plant material, either hang in bunches…
Fresh skincare in April Make the most of any sunny days in April to go out for a walk and seek among the new shoots some fresh gatherings for Blend-it-Yourself skincare. Here five things to look out for and how you can use them. Daisy Daisy’s are one of those flowers that open up when…
We rely on our deodorant to keep us fresh and smelling good morning to night. So we gravitate towards the tried-and-tested formulas available in sticks and bottles on the shelf. We want something we can trust. These bottles that have been around for decades are getting a rethink. We’re now not so sure we can…
Persistent packaging Packaging has been used for as long as humans have wanted to transport goods and exchange between ourselves. Throughout history we can tell where different peoples have been by the packaging they left behind: think of the amphora that crop up all over the ancient territory of the Roman Empire, remember how the curvaceous…
Bathtime relaxation Here’s how to create a jar full of loveliness to destress, ease and delight. Make it for a special friend, or as a gift to yourself. This is so simple to make, but requires a little forethought in macerating the herbs to create your own blend herbal oil. It’s an especially thoughtful gift…
Balms and Creams Skincare products come in many forms from purely water based like a simple plant infusion to the waxy balms that need just a smear in application. Balms and creams sit at different points along this spectrum. And the defining aspect of the spectrum: water. Water content While it’s true that a whole…
Blackberry and Honeysuckle Lotion for oily skin When your skin is oily it needs bringing back into balance. This blackberry and honeysuckle lotion makes use of dry oils and a range of emollient and humectant ingredients to bring your skin into balance. You are producing oils to lubricate your skin, but if it seems over-oily,…
Apples to look after dry skin When your skin feels dry you need look no further than a simple apple for help. Apples can help give your skin a boost when used in a nurturing face mask. It’s good to use ingredients in your mask that grow in your climate. Fruit is often a good…
Midsummer Elderflowers Elderflower (Sambucus nigra) is an essential summer scent, a classic element in the hedgerow. It has been used since Roman times. The whole elder tree has uses: leaves, flowers bark and berries. Elder has been termed ‘the medicine chest of the country people’ (Ettmueller). John Evelyn wrote: ‘if the medicinal properties of its leaves,…
