I used to be a bit of a beauty product hoarder back in the day. If I saw something new, and I had the money to purchase it (or even when I didn’t), it was immediately in my shopping cart, regardless of if I had 3-4 similar products like it at home. It was rare that I completely finished a bottle of anything before tossing it and/or moving on to try something new. Now that my collection of personal care products is carefully curated, I wait until I have little to nothing left of a particular product before making a replacement purchase. Which often leads to a few days without something and a chance to experiment with a DIY version. In some cases, I stick with my DIY substitute and don’t look back. With two solid years of beauty product alchemy under my belt, I’ve discussed 3 homemade products that can be used separately or together to meet 15 different beauty needs. This is not often heard in the world of minimalism, but…..bring on the multi-tasking!

The 3 Products
1. Arrowroot Powder – This product can be found in the bulk section of health food stores or in recyclable/compostable, paper packaging.

2. Shea Butter + Coconut Oil – Ingredient #1 can be found in the bulk section of health food stores and ingredient #2 is often packaged in glass.

3. Essential Oil Blend – Carrier oils and fragrant essential oils can (and should, in the case of EOs) be found packaged in glass. My particular oil blend is vanilla suspended in jojoba oil, sandalwood essential oil, and ylang ylang essential oil.

The 15 Uses
1. Baby Powder = arrowroot powder

2. Body Moisturizer = shea butter + coconut oil

3. Cleansing Balm = shea butter + coconut oil

4. Cuticle Oil = essential oil blend

5. Deodorant = arrowroot powder + shea butter + coconut oil + essential oil blend

6. Dry Shampoo = arrowroot powder

7. Face Oil = essential oil blend

8. Hair Mask = shea butter + coconut oil

9. Hair Serum = essential oil blend

10. Healing Balm = shea butter + coconut oil

11. Lip Balm = shea butter + coconut oil

12. Mattifying Face Powder = arrowroot powder

13. Night Cream = shea butter + coconut oil

14. Perfume = essential oil blend

15. Scented Body Moisturizer = essential oil blend + shea butter + coconut oil 

*Especially in the case of essential oils, please spot test all products before using regularly to ensure no sensitivity/allergy. Many people have sensitivity to fragrant oils and coconut oil is known to aggravate some types of acne-prone skin.

Have any favorite DIY beauty products that can be made with no packaging or recyclable/compostable packaging? I’d love for you to share your recipes below! Thanks for reading!