Lauren Cox - Ecobeauty: Scrubs, Rubs, Masks, Rinses, and Bath Bombs for You and Your Friends

Contents

Acknowledgments

We were very lucky to have so many amazing people be a part of this book.

Thanks to all of our friends and family members who helped us test the recipes and gave us their feedback and opinions, especially Marie and Ray Cox, who always support us in everything we do.

Thanks to our agent, Laurie Harper, whose enthusiasm and support is never-ending.

To our editor, Lisa Westmoreland, who shared our vision and passion for EcoBeauty from the start, thank you for everything.

A special thank-you to Chloe Rawlins for your cover and interior design, Angie Cao for your photography, Daniele Kent Maxwell for your help in styling all our shots, and Jasmine Star for your eagle-eyed copyediting.

And a big thanks to everyone at Ten Speed Press for your time and effort; writing a book is definitely a team effort, and we had the best team ever. You are all naturally beautiful!

Lauren and Janice

Introduction

Creating your own scrubs, rubs, masks, bath bombs, and other body care products is fun, easy, and cost-effective. Plus, homemade, natural beauty products will make your skin and hair look amazing. They also make great gifts for family and friends. I loved putting together this collection of recipes. Many of them are things I use every day, and all of the ingredients are easy to find. You may have to go to a natural food store for some of them, like essential oils and natural clay, but the majority of the recipes call for common kitchen items such as milk, honey, salt, sugar, baking soda, tea, and vinegar.

I grew up using homemade beauty products because my mom is Janice Cox, a writer and expert on natural beauty, and my sister, Marie, and I were her recipe testers. I always had homemade lip balms in my backpack and spa-themed birthday parties. One year my mom even put a Barbie doll on my cakefloating in a fluffy frosting bubble bath and with cucumber slices over her eyes! You may also have used homemade treatments that your mother taught you, such as using a baking soda rinse on your hair or treating a sunburn with aloeor maybe not, and this is a whole new world for you to discover.

Today Im a freshman in college, but I still find time to put together home beauty treatments. When my skin looks a bit dull, I mix up a quick scrub of yogurt and cornmeal, or if Im stressed-out after a long day of tests, I dab on some scented oil, listen to my iPod, and relax. Ive even gotten my roommates into the habit of home facials, manicures, and hair rinses.

Im also on a pretty tight budget, and making your own products and treatments definitely saves money. Some girls spend $20 per week on salon manicures and pedicures. Learning to do your own could save you over a thousand dollars a year! And for mere pennies, you can make products that would cost dollars in a store. Plus, you have the benefit of not having to wait for an appointment or drive to a salon.

Making some of these recipes is also a fun and relaxing way to spend time with friends. Ive gotten together with my sports teams, roommates, and best girlfriends for spa parties and gift-making sessions, which is an especially great idea around the holidays. You can create Halloween facial masks, holiday bath salts, or birthday bath bombs. They make truly unique gifts, and your friends and family will be impressed that you made them yourself.

Making your own body care products will also make you a smarter shopper. Youll start reading labels and looking at the list of ingredients. Sometimes I just do this for fun, and other times Im trying to figure out how to make my favorite product at home. I dont like a long list of ingredients. In fact, the shorter the list, the better for your skin and hair (and the planet!). Also, the ingredients are usually listed by amount, from most to least. Sometimes chemical names are used on commercial products, but a chemical name isnt necessarily a bad thing. For example, sodium chloride is table salt, bicarbonate of soda is baking soda, and tocopherol is vitamin E. You can easily find websites and books that are good resources on cosmetic ingredients. Use them to check out the ingredients in the products you use; you might be surprised at what youre putting on your skin and hair.