Best Natural Bug Repellents, DIY Recipe, & Giveaway
We are giving away a Miessence Buzz Free Personal Zone Spray (bug spray) on our facebook page! Be sure and enter!
Okay, so this is my last post in the summer essentials series and it is going to be over bug repellents.
Where, I live bugs are a huge problem during the summer. We have tons of mosquitoes and other flying biting insects as well as ticks and other nasties. I don’t want to put toxic chemicals all over myself and my children to keep them away, so what options are out there?
Lafes Organic Baby Insect Repellent– Ingredients: Aqua (Water), Essential oils of: *Pelargonium graveolens (Geranium), *Cedrus atlantica (Cedarwood), *Eucalptus globulus (Eucalyptus), *Citrus medica limonum (Lemon), *Lavandula officinalis (Lavender), Prunus amygdalus dulcis (essential oildispersant from Sweet Almond Oil) * Certified Organic
Loving Naturals Insect Repellent Spray– Ingredients: Organic Witch Hazel Extract, Organic Citronella Oil, Organic Neem Seed Oil, Organic Lemongrass Oil, Organic Cedarwood Oil, Catnip Oil, Organic Geranium Oil, Organic Rosemary Oil, Organic Aloe Vera Gel, Organic Soy Lecithin, Water, Sea Salt
Badger Anti-Bug Shake & Spray- Active Ingredients: 23% *Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil, 10% *Ricinus Communis (Castor) Oil, and Essential Oils of 4% *Cymbopogon Nardus (Citronella), 2% *Cedrus Atlantica (Cedar), 2% *Cymbopogon Schoenanthus (Lemongrass), 1.5% *Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary), 1% *Pelagonium Graveolens (Geranium), and 1% *Mentha Piperita (Peppermint). Inactive Ingredients: Water and 0.5% *Gaultheria Procumbens (Wintergreen). * = Certified Organic
Buzz Free Zone Personal Spray- Ingredients: Certified organic aloe barbadensis (aloe vera) leaf juice, aqua (purified water), certified organic cymbopogon nardus (citronella) essential oil, leptospermum liversidgei (olive tea tree) essential oil, certified organic melaleuca alternifolia (tea tree) essential oil, certified organic leptospermum petersonii (lemon scented tea tree) essential oil, azadirachta indica (neem) extract , citrus aurantium amara (bitter orange) fruit extract, sclerotium rolfsii gum Now for my DIY recipe.
Ingredients:
32 oz Witch Hazel
1 oz Neem Oil (optional this stuff stinks but works very well)
15 drops Lavender EO
15 drops Citronella EO
15 Drops Lemongrass EO
15 Drops Peppermint EO
15 Drops Geranium EO
10 Drops Cedar EO
Dump all these contents in a spray bottle. I get amber glass ones from here and you can get amber PET ones from here.
Shake well before each use and lightly mist over skin. Reapply every two hours outside or if you go into water.
Shampoo Bar Recipe
Alright ya’ll this is a request from Erin from over at Home & Grace. She did a great post about the no-poo method to wash your hair. Sometimes though that just doesn’t get out all the goop and nasties, especially if you have had a long, hot, hard, messy day outside. So I said I would share my Shampoo bar recipe. Please not this is not a soap making tutorial this is just a recipe.
To find out more about soap making go here and here.
I get my lye and some of my oils and essential oils at Essential Depot and for just about everything else I use Mountain Rose Herbs. Essential Depot has quite a few certified organic ingredients and almost all of Mountain Rose Herbs ingredients are certified organic through Oregon Tilth and the USDA when possible and many are even wild harvested. MRH also has great teas if you like tea (which I do, I absolutely love their teas, but that isn’t what this post is about…but if you like tea then you should totally try theirs). Anyways enough of tea, back on to the shampoo bar. Ingredients:
- 2 oz Beeswax
- 6 oz Coconut Oil
- 15 oz Olive Oil
- 3 0z Jojoba Oil
- 4 oz Sweet Almond Oil
- .5 oz Essential Oils at trace
- Lye
- Frozen/Slushy Coconut Milk (in place of water)
You’ll notice that I did not include the amount of lye or coconut milk, that is because it is good soaping practice to ALWAYS run every soap you plan on making through a Lye Calculator. Even if you already have the amounts you still need to run it through a lye calculator because there could have been a mistake.
When running this recipe through a lye calculator you need to decide on the amount of superfat you want I do mine at 7% usually, but it depends on your hair type, you may need to make a few batches and see what works best for you.
Okay now that I am done with that I will give you basic instructions for making this soap. Melt your oils. While they are melting take your frozen/slushy coconut milk and add a little bit of lye to it at a time making sure it does not over heat and cause the coconut milk to burn. Remember to always add lye to your liquid, never add liquid to lye it could cause a bubbly lye volcano of doom! Once you have finished incorporating your lye into the coconut milk continue like you would making any other soap using either the hot process or cold process method.
Essential Oils: Choose whatever you like either for scent or their properties. Two combinations that I always like are Lavender & Tea Tree and Rosemary & Mint.
After you use your shampoo bar you may want to do an Apple Cider Vinegar rinse to condition your hair, just add 1 tablespoon ACV to one cup water and squirt or pour over your hair and then rinse it out. You can also do a conditioning masque or hot oil hair treatment before you hop in the shower to condition your hair.
If you try this recipe or have a shampoo bar recipe that you really like let me know! If you have any questions about this recipe feel free to ask in the comments.
If you have never used shampoo bars before Sherri at Overthrow Martha has a great post about them.
Safe Summer Fun in the Sun For Kids
So I had started another blog focusing on children but have found that one of my blogs always gets ignored so I will be slowly combining the two and expanding the content area of this blog. I always have a million ideas for posts and they are not always skin care centered, but they are always naturally focused. I will still be posting tons of skin care tips, tricks, and DIY’s but there is just so much more that I am passionate about and want to share with ya’ll!
It is time for summer fun and you know what that means; outdoors, fresh 
air, water, and sun, lots and lots of sun! But choosing what products to use on your little ones skin can be difficult.
So many products out there nowadays are packed with harmful chemicals. So here is a list of products that are safe and natural for your little ones.
Badger Sunscreens are my absolute favorite. They have daily sunscreens with minimal whitening effect and thick sunscreens for swimming or working/being outside all day. They use non-nano, uncoated zinc oxide as theif SPF.
Miessence, now this a product you can feel good about putting on your kids. They are an Australian based company with food grade certified organic skin care products. That is some seriously riggorus testing to be certified organic. This is a lower SPF though at 15 (others tested it at 29.5) 2 Moms Natural Skin Care is now carrying Miessence products!
Green Beaver– This is another ceritified organic sunscreen and it is spray on! SPF 32
Loving Naturals Clear Sunscreen– This is a great sunscreen that goes on clear so no ghost look. It is made with all natural ingredients and non-nano zinc oxide. SPF 30+
So how about those days playing in the park, hiking and camping in the woods? You’ll want something to repell all those nasty bugs like mosquitos and ticks but without all those harsh bug repelling chemicals. Here’s what I would recommend.
Warning: Many of these products contain essential oils, certain essential oils can interefere with some medicine and medical conditions please consult with a qualified person before using.
Lafes Organic Baby Insect Repellent– I use this all the time and love it. It is USDA certified organic so you can feel safe putting it on you kids.
Loving Naturals Insect Repellent Spray– This is great just like their sunscreen it is also Vegan!
Badger Anti-Bug Shake & Spray- This is another one of my favorites, it lasts for a while and is super safe.
Buzz Free Zone Personal Spray- This is another Miessence product that I absolutely love and have no qualms about using it on my babies!
Another great thing for the sun is a baby bonnet or hats. I absolutely love UB2 Urban Baby Bonnets. They have styles for both boys and girls and some are even organic.
You also might want to invest in a washable swim diaper. I love the ones from Apple Cheecks Cloth Diapers. Sweet Bottoms
Baby has a great selection of cloth swim diapers to choose from.
Summer Essentials Pet Post
I love any and all animals. My house is full of them, 3 dogs, 4 cats, and a horse. Okay, the horse doesn’t stay in the house but I would totally let her if she could.
Now that it is hot outside (happy dance) those lovely little pests are out. Fleas, ticks, mosquitoes, and flies lots and lots of flies. I think the flies may be the worst. Now I know many of you are probably thinking ‘what flies the worst?’ Well if you have never had a horse then you will probably not know all the flies of the biting stinging variety. There are horse flies, and deer flies. Then there are bot flies and sweat bees (not a fly I know). I could keep going on but I will stop here. Needless to stay anything with wings is pretty much guaranteed to be on my S list.
If you are like me you have a problem using all those nasty chemical flea and tick repellents and fly sprays. Because really if it is dangerous to get on your own skin why would you want to be putting it on your pets (which are pretty much like family/kids)?
The number one thing to do with an animal that is infested with pests, especially fleas, is to check their nutrition and health. Pests do not thrive on healthy pets, sure they may have the occasional flea or tick but they will not be covered in them. I recommend talking to both your vet and a certified animal nutritionist to build a healthy diet for your pet.
Now if you are just looking for something you can buy and use on your pets I love Only Natural Pet products I love their diaotomaceous earth product and cedar spray.
Now for a few DIY pet spray recipes.
For Dogs and Horses
32 oz Witch Hazel
15 drops Lavender EO
15 drops Citronella EO
15 Drops Lemongrass EO
15 Drops Peppermint EO
15 Drops Geranium EO
Mix it all up in a spray bottle and mist your pets with this mixture once every couple of days.
For Cats
When using essential oils on cats please watch for any changes in their behavior and stop use immediately if something changes.
14 oz Witch Hazel
10 Drops Lavender EO
10 Drops Geranium EO
10 Drops Rosemary EO
Mix all this up and mist your cat only when necessary.
Be sure and get good quality essential oils. I get most of mine from Mountain Rose Herbs I like their openness about their products. I have heard great things about Young Living essential oils as well but have only tried a few of them.
If you try out one of these sprays let me know how it works for you!
Do you have any insect repelling tricks that you use on your pets?
Watch out for my next Summer Essentials post, bug spray for humans & a giveaway! Also coming soon will be my soap recipe series! Let me know if there are any soap recipes you would really like to have.
DIY Sunburn Spray
What You Need
- 1/2 boiling cup water
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar (you can really use any type but this is my favorite)
- 4 tablespoons pure aloe vera gel
- 1 bag peppermint tea (or 15 drops peppermint essential oil)
- 1 bag green tea
- 15 drops lavender essential oil
Directions
Put the tea bags in the boiling water and let them steep until the water has cooled down. Then add the water and the remaining ingredients together in a spray bottle and shake to combine.
I usually put mine in the fridge so it gets nice and cool then spritz it over the burned areas. This is great too if you have been tanning to heal any sun damage and hydrate and refresh your skin.
I also use this spray when I come in from working outside and am really it hot, it helps me cool down much faster.
Why these ingredients?
Apple Cider Vinegar: It relieves pain, cools skin, and balances pH to promote healing.
Aloe Vera Gel: has anti-inflammatory properties and helps skin cells regenerate faster.
Peppermint Tea/EO: Soothes and cools skin.
Green Tea: Has anti-inflammatory properties and other ingredients that help protect skin from UV radiation damage.
Lavender EO: Contains ingredients that local analgesic and aesthetic effects. It has anti-bacterial properties. It also helps increase new cell growth.
You can pick and choose which ingredients to use to match what you have on hand as long as you keep the base of water and vinegar.
I hope ya’ll like this spray! Do you have any favorite DIY sunburn remedies?
Bees Make Blue Honey From M&M’s
Bees Make Blue Honey From M&M’s
I just ran across this article where some bees in France made blue honey because of a local M&M factory, it was to cool and crazy not to share.
Summer Essentials- Sun Protection
Protecting your skin from the sun is very important. The sun can damage and prematurely age your skin as well as cause cancer. It is important to not only wear suncreen but protective clothing and gear like hats and glasses.
Picking a sunscreen can be hard, especially since so many of them are full of harsh chemicals. So what are the best and most natural options available?
Badger Balm– This is one of my all time favorites. They use non-nano particle zinc oxide and have SPF’s ranging from 15 to 35. They even have a bug repellent sun screen!
Miessence– This is a great sunscreen with a lower SPF at 15 (third parties rated it at 29.5 though). It uses at least 70% certified organic ingredients and the rest are naturally produced minerals it contains no synthetic chemicals or GMO’s.
Green Beaver- Here is another certified organic sunscreen. They have a face, and spray version available!
Be sure and get a good pair of sunglasses, here is what the EWG’s Sun Safety Campaign has to say about how to pick the best sunglasses.
- Buy a good pair of general-purpose medium to dark sunglasses with large lenses and wraparound design (Health Canada 2010). UV can enter the eyes from the side. As well, light shining from a source behind the head can be reflected off the inner surface of sunglasses and into the eyes, making the shape of the curved sunglasses particularly important (Behar-Cohen 2014). Daily-use outdoor sunglasses should block 60 to 92 percent of visible light and UVA rays and 95 to 99 percent of UVB rays.
- Wear sunglasses from morning to night.
- Wear a wide-brimmed hat or visor and avoid bright midday sunlight.
- Don’t wear lightly-tinted “cosmetic” sunglasses when outdoors. They do not protect the eyes sufficiently.
- Don’t wear sunglasses made for prolonged sun exposure for driving because they are deeply tinted and can block up to 97 percent of visible light, 98.5 percent of UVA rays and at least 99 percent of UVB rays. Overly dark lenses interfere with the driver’s view of traffic signs and signals.
Have fun and be safe in the sun!
Look out for the next part of our Summer Essentials Series “DIY Sunburn Spray”.
New Certified Organic Product Line!
2 Moms Natural Skin Care is so excited to be selling a new product line Miessence. This line is certified organic. Many of it’s products are certified food grade organic which means you could technically eat them! They use the freshest ingredients possible and none of the ingredients are exposed to synthetic chemicals. They do not use water in their products instead they use aloe vera so that their products are not tainted with any of the chemicals in tap water.
All of their products are made fresh every month then delivered straight to your door. They do not use any fillers so the products are muchmore potent than others on the market. They may be a little on the pricey side but in my mind it is totally worth it for the quality of ingredients and the openess of their company.
I will be putting up a whole section about the company and the products soon, until then if you have any questions just ask me and I will be glad to answer.
Products 101 from Miessence on Vimeo.
DIY Pineapple Face Mask and Exfoliator
This is a great recipe for those with acne prone or dry peeling skin. Pineapple is high in salicylic acid and other enzymes that help exfoliate your skin and break down dead skin cells. It almost acts as a light skin peel and moisturizes your skin too. I use this mask once a week and it has helped my skin so much, it has almost completely stopped my breakouts!
Here is what you’ll need.
1/2 Pineapple cubed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
Put all of the ingredients into a blender and blend until it forms a runny paste. Apply to clean damp skin and let it sit for ten to fifteen minutes and then rinse off.
Your skin will feel so soft after this.
We've Moved to 2momsnaturalskincare.com 