DIY lux face, hand, and diaper cream homemade from whipped coconut & shea butter!

I love, love love this stuff!  I cannot get enough of it.  You know it has to be good if I am bothering to make it with 5 kids and homeschooling! Ok it doesn't hurt that it is really fast and easy and works for a plethora of uses.  Yes I did say plethora! Pretty sure I learned that word from the movie "The Three Amigos" in the early 90's.   Anyway...this all natural moisturizer is not only highly effective, free of unwanted chemicals and additives, but it is made from 2 of natures most amazing products coconut oil and shea butter.  

Coconut oil and shea butter are some of the best possible ingredients when it comes to skin care!  If you aren't familiar with coconut oils miraculous healing powers be sure to read my earlier post  "One of nature's best healers! 20 NEW reasons to love coconut oil!". I can't go on with this recipe without letting you first know why it is so fabulous for your skin.  This combo is unlike most commercial moisturizers in that most commercial moisturizers are filled with water so the lotion becomes ineffective as soon as the water dries on your skin.  They are also often filled with additives, and petroleum byproducts that are carcinogenic and can suffocate skin causing breakouts.  Coconut oil and shea butter on the other hand are rich and truly moisturize your skin down at the deepest levels where they are even responsible for strengthening the underlying tissue .  They are both excellent at treating acne as they kill off bacteria and acne is a bacterial infection   Coconut oil also helps remove the dead, dry, flaky layers that causes rough and dull skin.  Convinced? Not yet?  Well African Shea (pronounced shay) butter has been proven to reduce the appearance of lines, scars and stretch marks as well as ease a host of skin irritations such as psoriasis, eczema, and sunburn.  WHAT IS NOT TO LOVE!

So here it is... your super simple 2 ingredient beauty wonder,,,

Combine 1 cup African shea butter and 1/2 cup coconut oil. 

Mix on medium high with an electric mixer for about 5 minutes till you get a nice whip cream texture.  I make  big batches to jar in several containers so I have diaper cream, body butter, and portable hand cream.

That is it!  Now you have an AMAZING face, body, hand and diaper cream that moisturizes at the deepest level, clarifys skin, strengthens the underlying tissue, reduces the signs of aging, scars, lines and stretch marks while treating eczema, psoriasis, and other irritations!  I buy my coconut oil at Costco for a very inexpensive $22 for 78 ozs and the African shea butter I got from amazon for around $18 for 32 oz. with shipping.  I will never go back to a commercial face or diaper cream again!  My face feels amazing after using this.  I use it every morning and night.  I used it on my baby when he was a newborn with a terrible rash that nothing would touch!  The secret was this cream plus a few shakes of corn starch each diaper change.  It is all we ever use now.  You can use it as chap stick, hand cream, body butter, for stretch marks, for acne, sun burn cream etc....  Let me know how it works for you!

Hair, Hair and more Hair ideas!

I was perusing pinterest yesterday  like I usually do when I get a few minutes and saw this great hairdo
 and I knew I had to share it with you guys. The blog is called the small things blog and she has a lot of gret beauty info.  My favorite though is this hair style.  I have not had a chance to master it yet but I am hoping to soon!  She calls this the messy side updo.  I put a few of her photos here so you can see what it looks like.

She has several more photos of this hairdo from different angles and a video tutorial for this hairdo here.
She also has some other great hair tutorials on her blog you will love it so go check it out.

I am surprised how easily it is now days to learn new hair styles and makeup techniques.  I used to be something your mom or friends taught you and if you didn't have stylish friends you were out of luck!  Now none of that matters and you can find anything you want to learn about QUICKLY!! Especially if you have pinterest.  Just got to pinterest (request and invite from me by emailing if you don't already have a free login), and search the word beauty and tutorial or makeup tutorial or look at peoples "boards" titled beauty or hair  etc..  This is where I find all my styles for my hair and daughters hair.

Another great blog FULL of hair tips tricks and styles for African American hair is one called Chocolate Hair Vanilla Care.

It is run by an adoptive mother.  It is such a help for me as a mom with an adopted daughter from Vanuatu since I have no experience with black hair.  It is a completely different hair type that requires a new set of skills and tools.

Another hair tip or trick I learned on pinterest is one I LOVE and have blogged about previously called the sock bun. It is basically an EASY simple way to do your hair at night so that in the morning you have beautiful EASY heat free curls.

This is my hair after the sock bun but without any product that would have held a better curl.

Found any other tips or tricks you want to share?  Let us know!

the small things blog

Still dealing with mom hair? More hair help.

The sock bun was a huge hit so I thought I would share a couple other ideas to keep you inspired and away from the everyday ponytail.  Don't get me wrong I resort to the ponytail on occasion as well, but I am trying to make it less and less frequent  I NEVER have time for complicated hair styles or curling or blow drying, so I found these when looking for easy solutions to good looking hair in a short amount of time.

"The Simple Gibson Tuck" 

Easy instructions and full video found at  Sara Lynn Paige

She also another great hair tutorial for
  "The simple Up Do"

This photo is her photo of version 2 of the up do.
 Another easy to follow video is found here,

I love easy ideas for hair and I have more coming soon  like the one I am currently using all the time. It is great for a cute pulled together look when it is up and when taken out it gives you  beachy waves .  Still need to have hubby take photos and then I will post.  Any other ideas for great hair in short amount of time?  Let me know!  I love comments!

  

Suffering from "mom hair"? Meet the sock bun that changed my life...

Who does not want to be more glamorous with less work?  I do!  I have had long hair for a while and was contemplating cutting it all of because I felt like I have "mom hair".  Every photo I would look at of mine had bad hair!  I do not want to have mom hair.  So I decided if I want to have long hair then I needed to find ways to do it. Spending a lot of time with a curling iron was not an option.  Moms often have mom hair for a reason... They are too busy chasing kids to worry about their hair.  With 4 kids 6 and under to chase I had to come up with some good solutions.  Here is one of my favorites since it is so versatile.

So here is what I found... THE SOCK BUN THAT CHANGED MY LIFE!

Now I would love to say how I used this technique and immediately met the man of my dreams, but I already have him, and that I got the job I have always wanted, but I already have that too as a mom who gets to stay home with her kiddos.  A luxury not everyone is able to enjoy.

So here is the real scoop... I saw this photo on pinterest with no credit as to who took it, but titled "sock bun curls".  "YES YES!!" I said and promptly looked up sock bun.  I discovered something amazing... heat free curls!  You just use the sock bun technique at nigh and sleep in it (you do it on the top of your head so it is comfortable), and when you wake up and take it out you get these curls.  It sounded too good to be true but IT WORKED!! My hair had long beautiful curls and it really was easy once you practice a few times.

Check out the following video on how to do a sock bun.  VERY helpful.

Here is a tutorial on how to do the sock bun as a style in itself from Cheeky Chicago

Another example of a great sock bun worn as a style all on its own.

Find a sock to cut and go get glamorous!