feed your skin

This weekend I had the extreme pleasure of hosting a lotion making party. Is it because I'm a pro at this?Absolutely not! But we all learned a lot! That is in between all the chatting and chewing. Yes, you can buy lotion for super cheap, however lotion that works well and is GOOD for you and your skin can be very pricey. It's important to watch what you put on your skin, the largest organ of your body.  Your skin absorbs things sometimes faster than what you eat.  So, all of these things we put into these lotions are things that you could eat! 

Here are my top two favorite recipes that I know I will try again:

Chatherine's Coconut Oil Lotion
*Her daughter has blogged about this and she has a really neat blog that I love.
1/2-1 C unrefined organic coconut oil
Add Aloe Vera Gel
and blend until desired
(I also added some essential oil. I just put a dab of lavender- perfect for the children after baths!)

My friend Claire was probably the only one who diligently worked on a lotion, and her work paid off! I got to reap the benefits too!

Her recipe included melting, cooling and mixing...I'm hoping to get the recipe from her!

(She did! Here it is!)

We ALL LOVED the coffee scrub. We made a batch in about a minute and a half and had to try it out right away. Made me silky smooth for the rest of the night!

(my sink is NOT that dirty- it was the coffee!!)

Coffee Body Scrub

2 cups ground coffee (I hear you can also prepare this with used coffee grounds -- another great way to recycle!)

1/2 cup salt or sugar

2-3 tablespoons oil, to desired consistency

(I also added some lavender to this as well. I think I'll try some tea tree too next time)

As Meg blogged about this that you could probably use old coffee grounds then that would make this recipe dirt cheap!

A big saver for the day was a friend who printed out these recipes for us on card stock. What a great idea! Put some of these together for yourself and a friend and print out some of these cards and have a very personal and thoughtful gift...for a fraction of the price.

I must add that food was hit.  Erin brought some yummy homemade pita chips and hummus and I look forward to seeing a recipe on her blog...hint hint!

I made two of my favorite chip dips, spinach artichoke dip (I don't follow the recipe exactly- do I ever?) and spicy red pepper dip.  Both of them are addictive but I can never get enough of the red pepper dip. My father in law bought a season mix in Texas. It seemed so simple to me I threw something together and I liked the results! I haven't really gotten the measurements down yet but I have the gist. To me it's wonderful because of the cool creaminess from sour cream, the slight sweet from the Mayo and the wonderful flavor and heat from cumin and red peppers.

Rep Pepper Dip

1/2 C sour cream

1/2 C olive oil mayo

1 t red pepper flakes

1/4-1/2 t ground red pepper

1 t cumin

1/2 t salt

dash of black pepper

Mix and refrigerate 1 hour- overnight

Red Pepper Dip

Artichoke Dip

We all had a blast (at least that's what they tell me :)

And the end result:

Coffee scrub, coconut oil lotion, wonderful face lotion.

I hope to do more of this. I hope to find some pumps to make mason jar lotion/soap pumps.

I love being productive, I love getting together with friends, and I love eating...this party was just that.