Old-Fashioned Lye Soap by Great Cakes Soapworks

As you can see, I’ve also made more of the plain, unscented Old-Fashioned Lye Soap as well. Some folks like to make a paste and treat their poison ivy or poison oak with it. Of course the FDA has not endorsed this type of treatment and I can’t speak to its full efficacy. If you have a bad case, by all means, please see your doctor!

2 T. Olive Oil
2 T. Kosher Salt

Mix the salt and oil together – this recipe makes enough for two feet, increase the recipe if you’re hosting a spa party!

Wash feet gently in warm water and soak for about 5 minutes. Apply the salt mixture in a circular motion and leave on for 5 minutes. Rinse off with warm water and you’ll have super clean and smooth feet!

Feeling Like Fiona

Now if you’ve never bought an avocado, they are really easy to use. Make sure you get one that is fully ripe – black and soft. The outer skin is tough, but the flesh will be plenty soft to scoop out and mush up. There is a large pit in the center, so just cut it in half like a peach and scrape out the flesh with a spoon. I used less than half of the avocado on my face, and saved the other half for a little bit of guacamole on my taco salad for lunch today – yum!

If you have dry facial skin, this is definitely worth a try. And if you do try it, please leave us a comment so we know how you liked it! Take a picture too so we can get a gallery of Fionas going. Send your pictures here*. Fun, fun, fun!

*the fine print: Photos should be at least 150px by 150px, include your first name and last initial, and city and state.

Cucumber Hair Drench*

1 egg
1 half-eggshell’s worth of olive oil (i.e., one portion of the eggshell you broke apart)
1 quarter of a peeled cucumber

Blend the egg, olive oil and peeled cucumber in a blender or food processor until smooth. Spread evenly through your hair, leave on for 10 minutes, then thoroughly rinse.

After trying this recipe myself, I realized the “thoroughly rinse” part was the most difficult. I rinsed once, realized I still had bits of cucumber in my hair, and had to go back and rinse a second time. I had a hard time combing my hair out, so when I went back for the second rinse, I grabbed my bottle of conditioner and applied some.

Here is the rest of the feedback I received:

Diana, age 25, has very long, straight, thin hair which tends to have oily roots the third day after being washed, so it gets washed every three to four days. Diana said the hair drench made her hair a tad softer than usual according to her boyfriend, and gave it a nice shine. When asked if she would use the recipe again, she says:

I’d use it on a day that I have time and don’t mind the mess. I would strain the tiny pieces of cucumber that are left after blending it, so it’s easier to rinse out. After more than 10 minutes rinsing, I still had some tiny pieces in my hair.

Tracie, age 36, has thick, wavy hair. She thought her hair seemed to be softer when she went to wash it and probably could have gotten away without using conditioner. She didn’t have any problems with cucumber pieces which she says is probably because she rinsed it out in the shower. Tracie prefers the convenience of pre-packaged products, however, and isn’t sure she would do the cucumber recipe again.

Sheryl, age 55, has short, straight, normal hair. She encountered some of the same issues that I had.

It was hard to manage when I was blow drying it – it seemed “ratty” and was tangled. After blow drying, my hair wasn’t as full and didn’t have bounce like it usually does. My hair feels “heavier” and it lays against my head. I didn’t like having to rinse and rinse and rinse – I just didn’t feel like my hair was clean. There were pieces of cucumber that were hard to get out (probably my blender’s fault) and then when I was blow drying, there was a residue that got all over me – kind of like dandruff.

This recipe was definitely not a favorite among the testers, but I think it’s still good. You could strain out the pieces of cucumber before applying as Diana suggested. Also, apply before taking a shower and be sure to wash and condition your hair after rinsing out the cucumber. Remember that natural alternatives can take up to six weeks to show their effectiveness, so this really should have been tested more than once to get accurate results. You could use it once a week, or even once a day.

Big thanks to all the testers who each got $5 vouchers to use at Great Cakes Soapworks.com!

*recipe courtesy of Spa Index

If you’re not too busy right now…let me know if you want me to keep looking for a fabulous recipe! Or tell me when would be a better time. You know, like after school gets out!

The Bug Off Spray is going to have the same insect repelling essential oils in it as the soap and solid stick, but the base will be a little bit different and I want to be sure that it doesn’t stain clothes or sting anyone’s skin, etc. And of course I want to know if it keeps the bugs off! If you are interested, please make a comment on this post. I would prefer to have people who can get the product from me locally if possible. I will take up to 10 people – so keep signing up!

The doctors would not do medication for my grandson because the anti-wart meds are really hard on the body of an adult, let alone a child. They tried freezing a few times and they just got bigger and the over the counter stuff just burned the skin around them…..well, he had one on his nose and one at the corner of his mouth and one on his forehead and was to the point last July where he decided he was not going to go back to school because he didn’t want to be made fun of anymore…..so I checked out a lot of natural cures and tried this one and it worked like a dream.
Apply lemon juice to the warts morning and evening….just a drop or so will do. I got my grandson his own plastic lemon so that he could apply it himself easily. Then 2-4 times a day put dandelion sap on it…Just go out in the yard and pick a dandelion or dandelion leaf and smear the white sap on the warts. His warts were gone in a month….the large one I had on my arm was gone in 2 weeks. I know it may not work for everyone, but it worked for both of us and it’s not expensive or dangerous.

Alternative practitioners have also recommended the following remedies for the treatment of common or plantar warts:

1. Apply a paste made of vitamin C powder to the wart for one to two weeks,
2. Place a crushed or sliced clove of garlic over the wart for seven consecutive nights while sleeping, OR
3. Tape a piece of banana peel on the wart over night, with the inner side of the peel touching the skin. Repeat nightly for one to two weeks.

Let me know if you try any of these!