Comfort zone

You know how some things just seem too intimidating to try? There's not necessarily a good reason. Somehow, some things just seem tricky.

I've made great progress over the last few years at trying things that, for whatever reason, real or imagined, used to seem to hard. Sometimes these adventures have been successful. (See: growing dried beans, canning.) Sometimes they have not. (See: growing potatoes...but don't worry, I haven't yet given up on that one.)

My latest foray into new territory has been making my own body products. I've been interested for quite awhile, but I kept putting it off. It seemed complicated, time consuming, and potentially expensive. Turns out, these were some of those aforementioned "imagined" reasons.

Everything I've made so far has taken under half an hour and been super easy. And, yes, loading up on a fully stocked cupboard of essential oils and whatnot would get pretty pricey. But slowing building a stash of a few ingredients at a time can be quite reasonable, especially if you're using them to make products that will replace products you used to buy.

Example: I've been buying this fancy-pants, all-natural powdered deodorant for a few years, and it worked pretty well, but it cost $20 for a bag that would last me around 6 months. But the homemade deodorant I recently made? Working even better (!!!) and I'd be surprised if the ingredients for a 6-month supply cost more than $2. Woohoo!

Seriously, this might just be my new favorite hobby. Expect to hear more.

And if you've been thinking about jumping in, do it! I know there are a lot of books out there, and a lot of great online resources as well. I've been using the book Organic Body Care Recipes* quite a bit, both for some of the recipes and as a fantastic reference on ingredients and their uses. Not to gush, but I really love the section on ingredients. It makes me happy.

*Just a note, for purposes of full disclosure: When linking to books, I have started using affiliate links through IndieBound rather than just linking to Amazon.com as I had been doing (the Amazon.com links were not affiliate links). I'll still only be linking to books I like or want to talk about or whatever. I promise.

 

 

 

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