Although summer is nearly over, we’re still spending plenty of time outdoors. Whether we are taking a walk, bicycling or jamming at an outdoor concert, we’re not usually thinking about the dangers of being exposed to the sun’s UVA and UVB rays.  But the dangers are real, and its not something that we can just ignore as the rates of melanoma and other skin cancers are on the rise,. So, we just want to keep our skin hydrated and healthy. It is important to wear sunscreen year round. But some of us don‘t like putting foreign chemicals and agents on our skin, so we must find alternatives to the sunscreens with toxins that many cosmetic companies make.

Coconut oil is considered a top choice in soap making. Just the vision of an opened creamy white coconut conjures up the words smooth and silky. Just how does this magnificent oil do its job?
Being an important ingredient in the “Cold Process Method” for soap preparation, coconut oil mixed with lye causes a chemical reaction called saponification. The resulting reaction is soap.

The first contribution coconut oil adds to handmade soaps is hardness to the bar. This will be very important if one is looking to make a stable, very white bar of soap as the base.

Natural is almost always better than synthetic.  Many health and beauty products have harmful chemicals that we’re unfamiliar with.

Either way, its not such a good idea to use something that you’re not familiar with, yet most of us do.  Here’s where information comes in: It is crucial to know more about natural and handmade products. Here are ten steps to get you started.

1- Read up about natural beauty products. Go to your local library(or bookstore) and browse through books about the natural herbs, vegetables and natural essential oils used commonly in handmade vegan skin care products.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, chances are you’ve heard of mineral makeup or natural mineral makeup. Often made of combinations of finely crushed loose minerals such as zinc oxide, iron oxide, and mica, mineral based cosmetics .  Mineral based cosmetics can give you natural looking coverage, SPF protection, and more. Many mineral makeup companies make several mineral based cosmetics including foundation, powder, bronzer, and blush.

What you won’t find in most mineral cosmetics are fragrance, parabens, and other artificial ingredients. But with so many different natural and mineral cosmetic products to choose from, how do you know which is best? Read on for more information.

For a lot of people with sensitive skin, the changing of the seasons is never fun. One season you’ll experience dry skin, and the next season you break out in hives. You realize that you will have to switch to a good skin care routine according to season, and choose natural products that will solve your current skin care issues. Here are some tips to help.

According to Ayurveda or the “science of life,” we are to nourish and protect our skin differently from one season to the next for optimal health (and in my opinion, comfort!).

During the winter months, our skin is wrapped under many layers of clothing. We are indoors more often than not, thus exposed to dry heat from the furnace and very little sun, so we need dry skin care products and dry skin remedies. Ayurveda recommends that we use oils and creams to nourish the dry skin.

Your skin and hair are not the same (nor should you treat them the same). Your skin is living (with the occasional shed of dead cells), but you hair is actually dead cells. What is good for your skin, is not always best for your hair–hence we don’t wash our faces with shampoo nor do we wash our hair with bath soap. The one thing your hair and skin both need are natural or vegan based products-since natural is always best.

When it comes to skin types, there are differences and sometimes combinations that can confuse even the best of us. In choosing natural care products, it is good to know which ones will best suit your skin’s needs.

Dry skin is dull, flaky and can easily itch. Tell tale signs are rough, “whitish-looking,” and even cracking skin. Think desert. Dry skin is caused by a lack of oil productions from the glands. Environmental factors like wind and excess sun can rob skin of its natural oils. Dry skin is most prevalent on knees, elbows and especially feet around the soles. For fixing this problem you need to use only dry skin moisturizer and dry skin lotion, and make sure that you do not purchase an oily skin treatment by mistake.

Many women and men endure skincare challenges. My husband is a good example of what  many can experience when they transition from a strategically annihilating diet (S.A.D.) and unhealthy toxic lifestyle to one that is healthy and organic.

He was raised on a S.A.D. Diet and used mainstream toxic chemically laden personal care products from early childhood until early adulthood. He often felt bad physically and his skin was very vulnerable to acne breakouts and skin blemishes. He had a very rough time and he didn’t know what to use. He was often so desperate for a solution, that he’d resort to using a popular mainstream product, laden with toxic chemicals and advertised as being effective and healthy, and one of the professional skin care products.

There are some very simple, easy ways to keep your skin beautiful, healthy, and young. It’s been said that “you are what you eat” and it’s true. Eating healthy, organic, whole, plant-based foods and using only organic skincare products will go a long way to keeping you feeling good, and looking vibrant.

A healthy, green, organic diet and lifestyle will contribute.  Using natural organic skincare products and haircare products that contain plant essences is very helpful. Wrinkles, spots, blemishes, and discoloration may be caused by an unhealthy lifestyle, stress, erratic weather, and excessive sun exposure.

The skin, as the largest organ in the human body, is the first part of the body that is exposed to anything external. Therefore, everything you put on your skin and in your hair should be of the highest possible quality. The best way to ensure that your personal care products and cosmetics are of the highest quality is to make sure that you only use organic vegan skin care products.

So you want to start making your own vegan homemade skin care products, how do you start?  Its not really that hard, just simply do your research on not only actual recipes, but the benefits of certain natural or organic plants. You cannot just take a salad and throw it in the blender and expect to make, let’s say, an exfoiliant scrub. Here are some tips and ideas to get you started in your kitchen beauty lab with homemade skin care products.