All Natural, Do It Yourself Skin Care Recipes and Books

One of the things I love doing most is crafting all natural skin care. So I love sharing recipes for making simple, natural, 'kitchen', DIY (Do It Yourself), MIY (Make It Yourself) cosmetics. There are many recipes located on this blog (you may have to do a search in the search box--located in the upper top left hand side of this blog--to find them, because although some of the more popular posts are listed on the right hand side of this blog, there are over two hundred entries on this blog, so I can't link all of my posts on the right side). Search using the name of the herb/plant first (such as 'aloe'), and if that doesn't help, then I recommend searching for the basic type of recipe (like 'brown sugar scrub').

Here is my list for other good (free) recipes online:

One of my friends, Sharon, has three amazing all natural beauty (anb) websites, and all three websites have skin care and hair care recipes from herbalists, aromatherapists, natural skin care formulators, skin care business owners, and/or diy recipe enthusiasts, including herbal and aromatherapy pioneer Jeanne Rose and aromatherapist Alexandra Avery. I have posted many recipes on all three websites too (either under Li Wong or the user names Snowcat or Solarkat). I have been posting recipes and articles on the anb websites for many years (years before I ever started my all natural skin care and DIY ingredient business, Earth Alkemie). I am proud to say that Earth Alkemie is an all natural beauty partner to all three anb websites! (The criteria to become an anb partner is very strict, especially for anb portal and all natural beauty website). There are so many amazing recipes, articles, and other companies listed on her websites, so I highly recommend checking them out.

The all natural beauty website has a nice recipe section. Be sure to also check out the articles (many of which discuss ingredients and herbs) and also the list of all natural companies too!


There are a lot of recipes on anb portal. Some of the recipes are the same as the ones on all natural beauty website, but others are exclusive to the anb portal.


There are several beauty recipes on anb mall.

I have many recipes in my eco living articles on anb mall. This includes recipes not posted in the anb mall beauty recipe section above, and my articles also include more in depth notes. I have also written a lot of articles on green house cleaning (including recipes) and many other eco living topics.

The other article sections (beautiful living, inspired living, and the general article section) of anb mall have some recipes too.


One of my favorite forums, skin care talk has a nice recipe section too. I have posted one recipe there (for a vinegar based toner).



Here are some links to several good book reviews or book lists:

A long time ago I wrote several posts on book recommendations or book reviews on natural skin care (herbal, aromatherapy, and other books) here on this blog. The link will bring you to many of my previous posts. :)


This is Sharon's list of books and their links to amazon, and some reviews on anb portal.

In my spotlight (about my plant background) on the anb websites, I have listed many books, scientific journals, and other resources (it's a long spotlight, so you will have to scroll down in the article for this info).

My friend Markey of Garden of Wisdom has also listed some of her favorite books on her website (she offers a lot of nice ingredients too).

Amazon has great prices for used books (many of them are only available used). A few of the more popular ones may be available as an e-book, but many of my favorites are not yet available as e-books.

Your local library may have some books or you can request them through interlibrary loan. Sometimes libraries have annual (old library book) sales too. Another good place to try are local used book stores.

Black Bean Brownies with Agave (Hypoglycemic and diabetic friendly, gluten free, flour free, vegetarian recipe)

Many years ago I used to love to bake (my sister used to call me cookie master!). But when I discovered I was hypoglycemic I stopped eating sweets and stopped baking for a very long time (usually the only sweet thing I will eat is fruit, with lots of protein, but no real desserts). Nowadays, every once in a while (maybe once every couple months) I will get a craving and actually bake or make a dessert. When making desserts, I use sweetener alternatives that don't make me react that much, such as agave. Too much still makes me feel ill, so when baking or making sweets I still have to watch the amount of alternative sweeteners, and make sure the dessert is protein rich. I also try to limit my other carbs too, and really watch the serving size (wish I could eat larger servings, since I love sweets and I need to gain weight, but since I get sick if I eat too much, I need to limit myself strictly to one small serving). So it can be difficult finding recipes that I can eat or that I can easily convert. A lot of the time I look at vegan, gluten-free, and sometimes raw websites since often these recipes are made with ingredients I can eat, or I only have to alter the recipes a little.

One of my favorite recipes is a black bean brownie recipe from 'Baking with agave' by Ania Catalano. The recipe is posted on the 101 cookbooks website. This recipe is not only delicious, but it is made with agave, a single serving does not make me react (I like to drink organic soy or cow milk with the brownie, for extra protein and since the combo of milk and brownies is yummy!), and I didn't need to change the recipe at all. Catalano has hypoglycemia so she uses agave and alternative sweeteners, and also does not use white/refined wheat flour in her recipes. I have seen other so called 'hypoglycemic' recipes that don't use white sugar but that use refined/white wheat flour, so it is nice that she really knows how to bake for this condition, since she has it herself too! Her recipe is also gluten free and grain/flour free (basically the ground nuts serve as the flour). Now some of her other recipes still have a touch too much agave for me (different people have different reactions to sweeteners so some people may be able to tolerate much higher amounts of agave than I, and others may not be able to tolerate it at all). I highly recommend getting her cookbook too.

For agave brands, I basically just get whatever organic agave brand is onsale or least expensive at whole foods or another natural foods store (I have tried a few different brands and they are all pretty good). There are two versions of agave: light/regular and dark. The light version is sweet and heavenly, while the dark version is a bit richer in taste and tastes a little like maple syrup (not exactly like it but it reminds me of it). Agave is technically sweeter than white sugar, so when using it in recipes, you need to use less than the amount of other sweeteners. But Agave is mostly fructose and low glycemic.

Eco Living: Rose Cosmetics

For my newest eco living article on anb (all natural beauty) mall for the month of February, I choose to write about the rose: a symbol of love and beauty.

Rose is one of my favorite skin care ingredients. Since this article was an eco living article, and I try to keep my eco living tips simple, I decided to write about a cosmetic that anyone could easily make, and that had multiple uses (I love multiple use cosmetics; it makes skin and hair care much easier!). So this month's anb mall's eco living article is on using rose infusion in cosmetics. I posted my recipe for organic rose infusion (tea), the properties of rose infusion, and also how to use rose infusion in skin and hair care.

Additional notes, not posted in the article: there are many good vendors for organic roses. You can buy them already dried, or you can dry fresh organic roses (just hang the bunch upside down and let it dry out). I had planned to carry some in my store (but at the time of this writing, I am currently on hiatus, so Earth Alkemie is closed right now, but check back later! I hope to reopen this spring). You may be able to find them locally: either buy fresh organic roses (Whole Foods usually carries them, and you can get a small bunch for only a few dollars--surprisingly much cheaper than other food stores and floral shops--at least in my local store), or check the dried herb or the tea aisle of health food stores. Your local small natural skin care company may carry them. You can find some on amazon. Also one of my favorite herbal vendors, Mountain Rose Herbs carries some.

Just wanted to mention that my recipe is for an infusion (which is pretty much a strong tea) which is different than a hydrosol, floral water, or an aromatherapy (essential oil) spray .

I hope everyone enjoys the article!

A New Beginning...

It's been a very long time since I've posted on a regular basis. A few years ago I stopped posting regularly because I was completing my master's in environmental science and policy (my research and thesis), moderating and answering questions on Garden of Wisdom's forum (which was very time consuming and extremely busy back then), and writing Eco Living articles for the anb (all natural beauty) mall. After I graduated I started an all natural skin care and mineral makeup business, Earth Alkemie, and in the past couple years, much of my online time was devoted to writing entries for Earth Alkemie's blog and EA's forum and EA's face book, answering EA emails, other emails and PMs etc, posting on various other forums, and writing my monthly Eco Living articles. With my health issues (and also helping my dad with his health issues too) that didn't leave me much time to post here.

But I miss posting on Solarkat's eco blog. I loved posting on this blog in the past since this has always been a place for my own thoughts on a wide range of subjects: plants, aromatherapy, herbalism, natural products, eco living, vegetarianism, ecological issues, etc. And even a few things that have nothing to do with some form of environmentalism, like my favorite musicians. Just basically whatever was on my mind on the moment. :) And I have missed having that outlet. I do have a personal face book page and also post regularly on EA's blog, but it is not the same as posting on a personal blog. I am just too wordy and there are some thing that just don't belong on a business blog.

So I am going to try to start posting regularly again. Right now I am on hiatus for my skin care business (because of health reasons) so posts will probably be more often now than in the future when I reopen Earth Alkemie (which I hope will be sometime in March or April. No set date yet). But for now, I will start posting again. :)

ANB mall contest for FREE products and also all natural summer sampler (Natural Skin Care)

I don't plug my skin care company, Earth Alkemie, or EA related news too much on here, as I have a business blog, forum, and facebook for that. ;P

But I am going to plug a contest for FREE products, since the contest is for my friend's website, and also plugs many other natural based skin care companies in addition to my own. :)

ANB mall is having a contest for $200 worth of FREE products from different anb mall vendors. These products are either all natural or natural based (mostly natural but non-toxic).

I haven't tried any of the other companies who contributed for the contest prize, but looking at their ingredients, the products look very nice, and many of the companies have gotten good reviews from customers on facebook or various forums. I contributed a yummy smelling aromatherapy soap as one of the prizes.

So definitely check it out and good luck to all that enter. This is an amazing contest, and a good way to try some awesome products if you win.

More all natural beauty website news, is a summer sampler that you can buy that also features products from different all natural and natural based companies. I am not involved in this sampler (but have been involved in previous anb mall samplers, and will probably be involved in the upcoming fall and winter one) but you can try some wonderful product at one low price. The products look amazing, I may get one if budget allows (I have a lot of ingredients to buy for the business, so personal treats have been put on hold for a bit).

I really want to try the perfumes in the sampler from Evan's Garden, because being an all natural perfumer, I am always interested in trying others perfumes! Their perfumes sound delectable and they are a company I've been meaning to try for a while but haven't had the chance to try yet (though I use mostly my own, I still try many other companies and crafters products, since I just like to see what others have created :) ). The other products in the sampler also look nice too.

Eco Living: Eating out the green way

A few weeks ago, I posted an Eco Living article on green tips on eating out. I wrote about a few of my favorite green tips (bringing your own utensils & containers, and also eating more vegetarian foods).

I try not to post links to companies in my Eco Living articles that aren't anb (all natural beauty) mall vendors out of respect for the other anb mall vendors (Earth Alkemie, my all natural skin care company, is an anb mall vendor too ;P) so I have decided to post some links here on my personal blog for green utensil companies and container companies that I like. :)

The bamboo utensil travel set I mentioned in my eco living article is from To-Go Ware. I bought one of their sets in a natural food store a year and a half or so ago when I was visiting my sister. I love my bamboo utensil set, I just stick in it my purse, and bring it everywhere with me! As mentioned in my article, the set I have comes with chopsticks, a fork, knife, and spoon. I have the set in the pumpkin colored case. I just checked out their site and it looks like they have stainless steel food containers too! According to their main page, they were recently featured on the Oprah Winfrey show!

For containers, I usually just reuse any container I get from the deli, food places, etc, or I use tupperware or rubbermaid type containers. But my sister recently gave me a container made from Preserve. Preserve is a company I really respect; I like their toothbrushes and also their razors (which are eco-friendly and cruelty free). I didn't know they made food containers though, I have the small apple shaped green container--I love its small size, since I can carry snacks with me and it is small enough to stick it in my purse or bag. Preserve also has a program that recycles plastic #5, which is a widely used plastic, that is often not recycled in most areas.

My next eco living article will be posted on the anb mall site by monday (I submitted it a few days ago). I will post more about it in another post :)

Local Eco Earth Day events for Northern VA, George Mason University

I graduated a couple years ago but my grad school, George Mason University, has been having a lot of local, green, environmental events (that are free and open to the public). Here is a link to their face book post that sums up all of their Earth Day/Month events. I am going to try to go to some of them since the events look awesome! I wish I could have gone to some of the ones late last month and earlier this month, but I wasn't able to :( (I have been dealing with a lot of family and personal issues, as well as revamping and reorganizing my green skin care business, doing business taxes, and getting Earth Alkemie's new products and Earth Day specials ready--so I feel like I have been in a whirl wind recently! I will be trying to post more often on this blog too, since I miss blogging; lots of things to write and post about :) ).

Different events are being held at the different GMU campuses. Tomorrow (the 21st) there is an environmental expo at the Fairfax/main campus (from 11 am to 4 pm).

Happy Chinese New Year! :)

Gong xi fa cai! :)

Today is the art of the Year of the Metal Rabbit. It's a very special day today, for many reasons. It is also my skin care company's 1 year online anniversary, among other things).

I remember last year I wrote a post during Chinese New Year on my favorite chinese astrologers. White and Wu have updated their websites (Liao's website isn't working right now, hopefully it will be back up soon). White is also on face book and she regularly posts.

I am just spending today with my family, and also for the past couple months I have been reflecting a lot spiritually, and working to make a lot of positive changes in my life :)

Happy New Year! Hope everyone has much joy and prosperity in this coming year!

Snow, the environment, and crop failures (Environmental Issues)

We ended up getting somewhere between 5-10 inches of snow in the D.C. metro area/Northern VA (the snow depth at my house is about 7-8 inches), and according to the weather forecasters we may get some more snow on Friday and also next week too.

I like snow but it is very unusual for this area to get this much, the natural pattern is one huge snow–maybe 8-12 inches–every 8 or 9 years. We had a lot of snow last year in two super huge storms one right after another (which was also not part of the natural pattern, since we usually don’t get over a couple feet of snow, and don’t have two major storms within days of each other). We also had a major snow storm, I think in March 2009. Most of the time, in regular years, we usually get maybe 1-3 inches every once in a while during the winter time. As an environmentalist/biologist, changes like this really worries me. Other changes have been really worrying me too, like one day it is freezing cold and the next day hot. Or seeing mosquitoes out of season, or trees blooming at the wrong time, or leaves changing colors too early or too late. I’ve lived in the D.C. area my whole life–except for my undergrad years–(I am 32 now) and none of these are part of the natural patterns in this area.

Another concern that I have is crop failures all over. I’ve noticed this a lot more as a business owner (many ingredient prices are going drastically because of A LOT of crop failures or poor crop yields world wide, which I will post about shortly. There is a long list of ingredients whose prices have been changing over the last couple years. Noticed it as a hobby crafter, pre-business, but as a business owner been noticing it even more especially when many prices have doubled or more). But I’ve also noticed this as a consumer too, like cranberries not being available (a couple years ago) or pumpkin last year (there was a shortage of canned pumpkin during the holidays for a few weeks), etc.

Note: parts of this post (the above information) are also posted on Earth Alkemie's (my all natural, green skin care business) blog.

I hope one day (soon) I can get back to doing environmental field work/education/community work. I really miss it (I had to give it up because of my health issues in recent years). I try to live my life as eco-friendly as possible, but am always trying to find ways to be even more green :) One thing that I will start doing again, is posting on this blog more regularly again (another thing I miss doing!).

Miniature Earth (Environmental/Social Information)

Someone on a forum I frequent posted this powerful video called 'Miniature Earth'. Basically it shows the world's population in terms a community of 100 people. Very eye opening, and very well done, intense.

Vegetarian and vegan cookbooks, hypoglycemic friendly (Vegetarian Foods and Hypoglycemia information)

Here is a list of some of my favorite vegetarian and vegan cookbooks that are also hypoglycemic friendly (or that are easily converted to hypoglycemic friendly foods). I will post others at another time.

I am only vegetarian (I eat eggs and dairy) but my favorite veggie cookbook is actually a vegan one called 'Vegan With A Vengeance' by Isa Chandra Moskowitz". I love this cook book because the recipes are very simple to make, full of flavor, and absolutely delicious (she really knows how to use herbs and other ingredients to enhance taste; she's absolutely brilliant). Moskowitz also has a cookie and also a cupcake book that is really good too.

I've mentioned on my blog a few years ago, that it is sometimes hard to convert vegetarian recipes into something I can eat (since I can't eat white/refined flour, white sugar/refined sugars, or too much carbs, since I feel really sick and my symptoms flare up). But I've found that vegan cook books, especially ones that use a lot of whole grains and alternative sweeteners like agave, are easy to convert or don't even need any conversion. (I can have a little agave, but I still feel sick if I have a lot at one time). The author uses a lot of different grains and also things like agave, and when she doesn't, I've found the recipes are still easier to convert into something I can eat (like using whole wheat pastry flour for white flour. And instead of white sugar, try agave or coconut sugar).

She has a few other books that I hope to get soon (I have her cupcake book too but want her others). Parts of her books are viewable on google books. For 'vengeance' most of the recipes are breakfast things like scones.

I also like Madhur Jaffrey's 'World-of-the-East Vegetarian Cooking'. This book is not vegan (some recipes contain dairy and eggs) but many recipes are vegan, and many that aren't vegan you can substitute vegan ingredients for. I love this cookbook, the spice combos used are authentic and the dishes are tasty, very yummy. The recipes are from many different cultures around the world. Some recipes are a little complex or time consuming to make, but they are worth it. I like making several of the lentil dishes. I remember once E.G. and I made paneer (which is an Indian cheese, it took a lot of milk but it was damn good!).

Peta (People for the ethnical treatment of animals) has a vegan cookbook called 'Compassionate Cook: Please don't eat the animals'. It is one of the classic vegan cookbooks, and one of the first I ever got (I've been veggie for over 16 years). The recipes are very basic (some of them are a little bland, and need to have additional spices added to them. But other recipes are delicious) but there is a lot good info in it. There are several recipes from vegan and vegetarian celebrities, as well as quotes from famous veggies throughout time.

Washington D.C. Green Festival This Weekend

One of my favorite green festivals is this weekend at the DC convention center. There are lots of green vendors as well as environmental/green organizations, as well as speakers. You can also get discounts for admission (see their website: if you buy a ticket, you can get 'green festival bucks' and use them as a discount for vendors. Also if you are a student, senior, ride a bike or took public transportation you can get a discount and the GF bucks too), or free admission (for free admission: if you shop at MOM's organic market and bring a $25 receipt from october, OR if you become a member of Green America--which is one of the non profit environmental organizations that sponsors the green festivals--you can get free admission).

Next month (in November) there is also one in San Francisco.

There are others in other cities around the country, but these are the last two of the year.

Check out the green festival website for more information for both the Washington D.C. and San Francisco green festivals

Link to Green America's website

Coconut Bliss: Ice Cream with agave (Hypoglycemic/Diabetic and Vegetarian/Vegan Info and Foods)

I have not had ice cream for several years (I am hypoglycemic and nearly all brands have sugar in them which makes me feel sick). But this year I found a brand that I can actually eat without setting off my symptoms too much.

I just found a coconut milk based ice cream earlier this year called 'Coconut Bliss'. It is soy, dairy, and gluten free and sweetened with just agave. It is also vegan! It just has coconut milk, agave, and things like cocoa, vanilla, pineapple, etc (depends on the flavor). And it's organic and made with fair trade ingredients!

It is so rich and creamy, and delicious. The chocolate one tastes like this coconut chocolate pudding that I make sometimes (just started making that last year sometime). So far I've tried the coconut bars, dark chocolate, and chocolate hazelnut fudge (which is especially yummy). Even if you don't have blood sugar issues, I recommend trying it because it is really good!

PLEASE note that most of the flavors do not contain any cane sugar but at least one of them does (Mint Galactica, because it has chocolate chips that are made with organic cane sugar. So if you have blood sugar issues you may want to avoid this one). I haven't tried one with fruit in it (not sure if it will be too much fructose for me but I am going to try a fruit one next). I am very excited to have found it since (as mentioned above) I have not had any ice cream or many sweets in YEARS. I found mine at Whole Foods.

I still can't eat a full serving of it though (too much agave makes me feel sick though I can tolerate small amounts) so I eat only 1/3 to 1/2 serving. I also have to eat it after a very protein rich meal (can't eat it on an empty stomach) and I usually don't have any other complex carbs in that meal (so when i eat ice cream I don't eat fruit or whole grains in that meal, only lots of protein and also some veggies--so only low amounts of carbs). Other hypoglycemics or diabetes may be able to eat a full serving and may be able to eat it with other complex carbs (I'd still advice to eat it with lots of protein though). While others may not be able to eat it at all :( (some hypoglycemics and diabetes can not tolerate any amount of sugar, even a piece of fruit or a small amount of agave). So if you have blood sugar issues, you will need to see how you personally react to it.

Remembering Sept 11th

I remember where I was Sept 11th; I was working/interning for National Park Foundation at the time (which is in Washington D.C.).

We saw it on television at work, and it just didn't really click in my head at the time what happened--I was in semi-shock. (NPF was in North West part of D.C. back then).

My company let everyone off, and we all tried to scramble to get home.
For a couple hours I thought I could not get out of the city, and get home (I live in Northern VA) because I had heard on the news that they had block the main highways out of the city. Luckily after a while it was reported that the roads were not blocked or unblocked so I was able to get home.

It wasn't until I got home and watched the news more that I got over my initial shock and finally understood. I remember crying when I saw people in the smashed buildings jumping out of the windows of the towers, and hearing more about the pentagon, and then the crash of last plane in PA.

My sister at the time lived in NYC--you could imagine what she must have went through. Traffic was blocked for days, some people walked miles to get home.

I knew two people from my undergrad college that worked in the world trade center. One of them was sick so didn't go to work that day. The other one was running late since she had stopped to get coffee.

I remember in the weeks afterwards, military with huge guns on some of the street corners of D.C. just standing guard. I thank those soldiers for their presence in the aftermath. Their presence made me feel safer.

Through all the pain, I remember the good things too. How we all got together and stood as a people.

I was in Chicago recently for my grandfather's funeral, and on one of the days there my aunt and uncle showed us around their area. There was a sept 11th memorial. There was a flame burning, a flame as a reminder to remember those events.

Many swore on that day to never forget. Please take a moment with me to pray to all those that we lost.

Li

Larry Hagman solar energy video

I have a lot of things to blog about (it's been a super busy summer, especially crafting for myself and also my business). But I just thought I'd post this link since I thought it was awesome.

I don't know much about the background of this solar company (Solarworld) aside from what I've read on their own website (they are supposed to be one of the biggest solar energy businesses). But they have an ad with Larry Hagman (I used to watch Dallas with my mom when I was a kid, and also loved watching reruns of I dream of Jeannie too).

Here is the link to Hagman's video on solarworld's website. I thought it was clever getting him to do their ad (because of Dallas and the character he played) to inform the public about solar energy.

I think that 'Shine baby shine' is much better than 'drill baby drill' ;P

I'm not a home owner yet, but I want to get solar panels on my house when I buy one in a few years so need to research about them more (not really about the basics of solar energy and how it works--I've studied that in school--but I need to eventually research more on best options on buying solar panels for houses etc).

New eco living post

My newest eco living article is up on anb mall's site. This month my article is on summer skin care tips for sun burn, sun protection and hydration.

Last month's eco living article was on laundry and also paper tips.

Hope you enjoy! :)

Eco Living Papaya Mask (All Natural Cosmetics/Make it yourself)

My newest Eco Living article was posted a few days ago! It is a recipe for a papaya mask (I was talking to S on garden of wisdom's forum about papayas recently, so decided to do this month's eco living article on a papaya mask). This mask will leave the skin soft and smooth! I hope you enjoy the recipe :)

Comments on brown sugar scrub shelf life; freezing aloe; and testing cosmetics for bacteria/fungi (All Natural Cosmetics/Make it yourself)

So it's been a long time since I've answered comments. (I have about 80 comments to sort through, most of which are spam, though there are a few real comments in there). Below I have answered the most recent (if I have time I will sort through the really old ones, but some of them are many months old, so not sure if I post the answer if the original poster will see it, though it may be of interest to new posters). If you previously posted a comment and I did not answer it, thank you and I am sorry.


Here is a comment from my old brown sugar scrub post

Question on brown sugar scrubs:

I've made a body scrub and have used dried herbs and vanilla extract and peppermint extract (food grade). Do you know what the shelf life would be for these? Thx.

All the ingredients used are:

1) Raw Sugar
2) Grapeseed Oil
3) Olive Oil
4) Aloe Vera Gelly
5) Maple Syrup
6) Fresh Rosemary (dried)
7) Chamomile Flowers (dried)
8) Peppermint Extract (food grade)
9) Vanilla Extract (food grade)

My answer

Hi NH, thanks for posting :) Shelf life would only be a few days (maybe a couple weeks if you are careful, though it could go bad in days) since you added aloe gel and maple syrup. The food extracts contain a little alcohol (which is a natural preservative) but you'd have to use A LOT of alcohol (much too much for a scrub) to preserve it, so the amount of alcohol in the extracts (used in low concentrations) would not be enough to preserve it. Please be sure to use a spoon or spatula to scoop it out of the container to keep it fresher longer. In addition, do not store in the bathroom or a humid area (which will decrease shelf life even faster). For a good shelf life, you may want to add a broad spectrum preservative (like Geogard Ultra, which is an eco cert approved preservative). Or just omit the aloe gel and maple syrup next time. If you still wanted to use aloe in a future scrub, try aloe oil (which is aloe that has been infused in an oil). Hope that helps!

Question on freezing aloe vera:

This comment was posted under the Herb info: Aloe vera (Natural Skin Care)" entry.

I would like to know how freezing aloe leaves affects the plant and its properties. Can they be thawed out and used topically with the same results?
Thanking you.

My answer:

Hi WF

Thanks for posting :)

I am not sure, I have never frozen an aloe leaf before. I think it would be best to take the gel out of the aloe leaf and then refrigerate the gel or freeze it to prolong shelf life. You can add potassium sorbate to it, but that is only a good anti-fungal and a poor anti-bacterial, so it is not a broad spectrum preservative (most companies add this to packaged aloe. Personally I would add geogard ultra or another preservative (geogard is a broad spectrum preservative so would protect against a wide range of bacteria and fungi, and shelf life would be at least a few months or longer)). Aloe (when you buy it from a company) is packaged in clean sanitized conditions and for several weeks/month can sit on the shelf unopened, but once the consumer opens the bottle and handles the aloe, the potassium sorbate won't be able to preserve it for long. So if you prepare/process the aloe yourself, and add potassium sorbate to aloe, it may or may not be able to keep it fresh for a long time (and it would only protect against fungi and not bacteria).

Question on testing cosmetics:

This comment was posted under the current blog update.

I've been a long-time reader of your blog, and I've gained so much from it, not least discovering AV-AT (and their amazing essential oils) and Monave - thank you for your wonderful blog!

Congratulations on starting up your business!! So exciting! I'm de-lurking because I'd love to know more about something you mentioned... in your post on the Earth Alchemie blog about Geogard, you wrote that you do your own simple bacteria and fungus tests at home - I'd love to know more about how to do this myself! Can you point me to a reference? I was wondering, do you just use the Chek-It tests from Snowdrift? I come from a science background too (though not a lab science), and I understand it's not as good as a challenge test in the lab - but I'd love to be able to collect a bit more data myself before forking out the $ to send a batch to a lab!

My answer:

Hi P

Thanks! You're very welcome :)

I do not use Snowdrift Farm's check it kit, I buy the supplies from a biology supply company (less expensive), but their kit is a good way to start out with (gives you everything you need, with instructions). These tests would only indicate if there is bacteria or fungi in a batch. It would not tell you what kinds of bacteria or fungi, or how much is in it. Also I'd imagine there may be some kinds of bacteria and fungi that may not grow very well on the plates, though a wide range of bacteria or fungi will grow on agar plates (depending on the types of agar used). So it not as good as what a lab can do, but I still do them anyways because it is still a good indicator if an ingredient or product has gone bad. Many small companies do not even conduct basic tests). If you didn't want to do the tests yourself, Cindy Jones from Sage script does them for a reasonable fee.

Recycling information (Environmental Issues)

Someone asked about recycling on my forum, so I thought I would post the information I wrote there on my blog too (slightly edited).

Recycling not only saves energy but it reduces waste. Though recycling takes some energy and water use (to melt the plastic or glass down etc; everything has an impact), less energy etc is used when recycling compared to making new materials from scratch. In addition, less waste goes into the landfill (many landfills do not have much room left, and there isn't much place to put things).

Everything makes an impact, but the goal of recycling and being 'eco-friendly' is to create less of an impact.

Here are some links from governmental, school, and organization websites.

The EPA's (Environmental Protection Agencies) information on recycling

Recycling information from Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection

Energy Quest is a site for kids but there is a lot of good information, eco living tips, and also some stats on this site. Also contains good links to many other sites. It is by the California Energy Commission.


A bit of info about recycling from Stanford university. Contains information on how much energy is saved.

This was from a magazine. I am not sure how accurate some of the stats are (not sure who wrote it) but it was interesting since it showed how much energy is saved. Super interesting is that it's from Popular mechanics magazine

Eco Living article updates (Environmental Information, Green Living)

I haven't posted about my Eco Living articles in a while!

My last Eco Living article was posted on anb mall's website earlier this month. It is on a few quick eco living tips (just in time for Earth Day!). I love the concept of Earth Day but I think that everyday should be Earth Day ;P so these tips are good steps to live a more green lifestyle every single day :)

My february article was on simple ways to donate. I wrote it after the aftermath of Haiti.

My March article was a recipe for a simple apple mask. I love apples in skin care, they mildly exfoliate and provide the skin with lots of nutrients!

Enjoy!