Bathing Beauty

I am not one to spend a lot of money on bath products. Lip gloss? That is another story. With lipgloss I go for quantity. I have a fullblown lipgloss and lip balm addiction. If you peeked into my purse at any given time you would find at least a few lip glosses..maybe a lipstick or two..and my trusty eco-lips chapstick hangs on my key chain.

I want something I can apply and reapply (and re-apply and re-apply and re-apply..well you get the picture) daily without using a mirror. Something that will not smear all over. I have tried color stay lipstick but it flakes and peels or wears off leaving an oh so attractive ring around the outer area of my lips.

Anyway, like I said I am not as into bath and body products. For a while I reacted to just about every bath scent out there and had a few select scents I rotated out. Fortunately that abated somewhat after discovering I am allergic to chocolate (oh the horror!) which also means cocoa and you guessed it cocoa butter which is in a lot of bath and body products.

So the other day I decided to go into Bath & Body works and discovered the oh so tasty smelling Iced Tea shampoo/body wash/bubble bath combo. I swear it smells JUST LIKE iced tea, with a twist of lemon. Not being a true Southern girl I have not grown up with the ever present "sweet tea"  like most people in this state but I can appreciate it a bit more now.

I didn't like the iced tea lotion quite as much because I already had my eye on the Pecan Passion lotion (smells just like pecan pie!) 

I can't quite duplicate the yumminess of the above mentioned products but here are some home-made beauty product ideas.

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Lip Gloss

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you will need:

crisco or veggie shortening, clear kind

packet of koolaid or generic drink mix, get the no sugar type

food coloring

empty film containers, washed and dried!

something to mix gloss with-coffee stirrer, qtip, or about that size 

Pack the film containers almost full w/shortening. Mix in a tiny bit of koolaid (smallest measurment on tsp set about 1/8 tsp) and a drop or two of color. Add more color as needed if using colorless koolaid or if a different shade is desired. I made this w/ a group of preteens and some of them added green and red to theirs to make a deep brownish red gloss. The powdered koolaid is VERY acidic so don't add too much. It might give that lip plumper effect...and not in a good way!

You can decorate the containers. 

Here is another project I did with several preteens. 

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Bath Salts

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3/4 to 1cup Epsom salts

scents

coloring 

Glass or plastic containers

funnel

 Put a drop or two of color in bowl FIRST. Then add salt and scent. Not too much of the liquids or it will dissolve the salt. A drop or two of EACH. Fill your container with funnel. You can layer colors. For scents we used plain old vanilla extract and peppermint soap scent. For coloring we used soap making dyes.

You could layer red or pink peppermint scented salt with plain white for a holiday theme.