DIY lavender lip scrub

It has been ages since we have made a beauty product of some sort on our blog, so we figured it was about time! Our first attempt was with our Moisturizing Coffee Scrub, which turned out to be pretty delightful. This lavender lip scrub was actually really easy and it makes your lips so smooth and taste delicious! Plus we had this adorable little flower jar that needed to have something in it. In a mason jar we mixed up approximately a half a cup of coconut oil, a half cup of sugar, and a couple drops of lavender essential oil (though you could use any essential oil you wanted). We have been keeping a large amount of the scrub tucked away in a mason jar, but put a little in our flower jar to put out on display. Isn't it adorable? What essential oil would you use for your lip scrub? -a clover & a bee

It has been ages since we have made a beauty product of some sort on our blog, so we figured it was about time! Our first attempt was with our Moisturizing Coffee Scrub, which turned out to be pretty delightful. This lavender lip scrub was actually really easy and it makes your lips so smooth and taste delicious! Plus we had this adorable little flower jar that needed to have something in it. In a mason jar we mixed up approximately a half a cup of coconut oil, a half cup of sugar, and a couple drops of lavender essential oil (though you could use any essential oil you wanted). We have been keeping a large amount of the scrub tucked away in a mason jar, but put a little in our flower jar to put out on display. Isn't it adorable? What essential oil would you use for your lip scrub? -a clover & a bee

coffee coconut oil sugar scrub

Remember a while back when I made that wonderful Coconut Oil Sugar Scrub? Well, it was about time to make another one. With the multitude of kinds of scrubs around Pinterest, I decided to use what I had handy in my dorm room and go from there. The is something comforting about knowing that I could literally just eat a spoonful of this stuff and be fine. In fact, I'm sure there is some recipe for a delicious cake or something that use all these ingredients! If you get tired of using it in the shower, just transplant it to your pantry! Just kidding, I wouldn't do that after sticking soapy fingers in there - but it is a nice thought.

One thing I may not have made clear just yet is my love for coffee. Coffee is a wonderful thing, and can turn a nice relaxing morning into a glorious one. I can't resist a cup of steamy black coffee. Working in a coffee shop has only helped to encourage this addiction, but at this point in my life I'm quite alright with that.

Coffee is generally made into a tasty beverage, but if you happen to have some coffee grounds that you aren't planning to imbibe, I would highly recommend throwing them into a sugar scrub. This would be perfect for those people who love the smell of coffee brewing, but don't like the taste. Just rub it all over your body instead!

Turns out, using coffee in a scrub actually has some benefits other than making your body smell like heaven. Here are some benefits that I discovered from creeping around on the internet a bit.

• Caffeine has anti-inflammatory properties and also helps to speed the healing of skin wounds. 
• Caffeine is a natural antioxidant and has heart disease and cancer fighting qualities. Along with that, antioxidants help reduce age spots and wrinkles and can help prevent your skin from aging prematurely.
• Coffee, along with the sugar in this scrub, help exfoliate skin and make moisturizing more effective. Conveniently, using coconut oil turns it into one nice exfoliating, moisturizing scrub. I still lotion up afterwards anyways, but I also have particularly dry skin.
• Caffeine typically aids in blood flow, and consequently helps prevent the occurrence of varicose veins and cellulite.

Cool, huh?

Body scrubs are so, so easy to make and adapt to your own preferences.
You will need:

coffee grounds

coconut oil

sugar in the raw

I used raw sugar because the granules are larger and a little more scrub-like. Also, just because that is what I had on hand. If you want to go the cheap route though, regular white sugar would work just fine. Before you start, figure out what size of container you want to store your scrub in, and portion appropriately. Scoop your coconut oil into a bowl, and add the sugar and coffee. Mix vigorously. Because coconut oil can be used as a moisturizer by itself, I wouldn't worry about your proportions being a little wacky.

Once you're done, rub it all over you body, face, friends, etc.

I hope you all enjoy this scrub as much as I do! What kind should I try next?

- e 

Remember a while back when I made that wonderful Coconut Oil Sugar Scrub? Well, it was about time to make another one. With the multitude of kinds of scrubs around Pinterest, I decided to use what I had handy in my dorm room and go from there. The is something comforting about knowing that I could literally just eat a spoonful of this stuff and be fine. In fact, I'm sure there is some recipe for a delicious cake or something that use all these ingredients! If you get tired of using it in the shower, just transplant it to your pantry! Just kidding, I wouldn't do that after sticking soapy fingers in there - but it is a nice thought.

One thing I may not have made clear just yet is my love for coffee. Coffee is a wonderful thing, and can turn a nice relaxing morning into a glorious one. I can't resist a cup of steamy black coffee. Working in a coffee shop has only helped to encourage this addiction, but at this point in my life I'm quite alright with that.

Coffee is generally made into a tasty beverage, but if you happen to have some coffee grounds that you aren't planning to imbibe, I would highly recommend throwing them into a sugar scrub. This would be perfect for those people who love the smell of coffee brewing, but don't like the taste. Just rub it all over your body instead!

Turns out, using coffee in a scrub actually has some benefits other than making your body smell like heaven. Here are some benefits that I discovered from creeping around on the internet a bit.

• Caffeine has anti-inflammatory properties and also helps to speed the healing of skin wounds. 
• Caffeine is a natural antioxidant and has heart disease and cancer fighting qualities. Along with that, antioxidants help reduce age spots and wrinkles and can help prevent your skin from aging prematurely.
• Coffee, along with the sugar in this scrub, help exfoliate skin and make moisturizing more effective. Conveniently, using coconut oil turns it into one nice exfoliating, moisturizing scrub. I still lotion up afterwards anyways, but I also have particularly dry skin.
• Caffeine typically aids in blood flow, and consequently helps prevent the occurrence of varicose veins and cellulite.

Cool, huh?

Body scrubs are so, so easy to make and adapt to your own preferences.
You will need:

coffee grounds

coconut oil

sugar in the raw

I used raw sugar because the granules are larger and a little more scrub-like. Also, just because that is what I had on hand. If you want to go the cheap route though, regular white sugar would work just fine. Before you start, figure out what size of container you want to store your scrub in, and portion appropriately. Scoop your coconut oil into a bowl, and add the sugar and coffee. Mix vigorously. Because coconut oil can be used as a moisturizer by itself, I wouldn't worry about your proportions being a little wacky.

Once you're done, rub it all over you body, face, friends, etc.

I hope you all enjoy this scrub as much as I do! What kind should I try next?

- e 

Coconut Oil Hair Treatment

We had heard about the possibility of using coconut oil as a hair treatment for awhile now and we were so curious to try it out for ourselves. We have also heard many other uses for coconut oil that we are also excited to try out (I think it might be natures gift to humanity). One of our big goals with e plus l is to try out new beauty techniques that are either more natural or more cost effective, and this fit right in! Unfortunately, Erin was concerned about her hair looking too oily because it is so short, so I (Leah) was the guinea pig for this experiment. 

I used: Trader Joe's Organic Virgin Coconut Oil. If I am remembering correctly it wasn't the cheapest jar of substance I have purchased in my life, especially when using in large quantities. It fits more in the "natural" category than the "cost effective." I may start looking around for a cheaper brand here soon (know of any??).

My Procedure: Because I plan on using my coconut oil for things like cooking as well I stuck a couple spoonfuls in a mason jar. This turned out to be a pretty good idea as there was oily hair literally everywhere afterwards. 

Once I had it nice and separated from the cooking oil, I ran a brush through my hair so that I wouldn't have to worry about finger combing my natural unwanted dreads whilst my hands were oily (are my long haired ladies with me on this?).

Once my hair was nice and detangled, I took a nice big glob of coconut oil and began rubbing it into my hair starting at the roots. Once I had it coated fairly evenly on my scalp I spread it out to the ends of my hair. For me this took a lot of coconut oil (about three large spoonfuls) due to the length of my hair. It also started melting in my hands so it was pretty easy to rub in. I did have to pick a couple chunks up off of the floor in the process.

(we decided Erin needed some camera time,we noticed with our recap that the photo balance has been a little skewed so far. Plus she looked really adorable yesterday. Her dress has little foxes on it!)

Once my hair was completely coated I realized I was an oily mess, not a good feeling. I highly recommend clipping or pinning your hair in place, or even wrapping it up in a towel. I let mine sit for about an hour before rinsing it out and shampooing it thoroughly in the shower.

The Conclusion: It definitely went way better than the time I tried to dye my hair with coffee. Sometimes it is good to rationalize the "awesome new ideas" that you hear about on the internet. Coffee dying? Not the best idea (I will talk about that more later). Coconut oil for conditioner? The best idea.

I am literally ecstatic with how it turned out! My hair is super soft and really pleasant to touch, plus I smell delicious! It also didn't look too oily once it was dry (maybe just a little bit shiny), which is a large bonus. I did end up using dry shampoo on just my bangs in the morning. I may only do this once a month or so though, but it will definitely become a regular part of my routine.

(please note: this is not an after picture of Leah's hair. She still has large amounts of coconut oil in her hair and all over her body in general. We just wanted to show the general excitement and how "cray" Leah is about coconut oil)

I will keep you kind readers updated on the long term effects and my thoughts as the week goes on and once I try it again. And who knows, maybe with my glowing review Erin will try it eventually too. 

-l.

We had heard about the possibility of using coconut oil as a hair treatment for awhile now and we were so curious to try it out for ourselves. We have also heard many other uses for coconut oil that we are also excited to try out (I think it might be natures gift to humanity). One of our big goals with e plus l is to try out new beauty techniques that are either more natural or more cost effective, and this fit right in! Unfortunately, Erin was concerned about her hair looking too oily because it is so short, so I (Leah) was the guinea pig for this experiment. 

I used: Trader Joe's Organic Virgin Coconut Oil. If I am remembering correctly it wasn't the cheapest jar of substance I have purchased in my life, especially when using in large quantities. It fits more in the "natural" category than the "cost effective." I may start looking around for a cheaper brand here soon (know of any??).

My Procedure: Because I plan on using my coconut oil for things like cooking as well I stuck a couple spoonfuls in a mason jar. This turned out to be a pretty good idea as there was oily hair literally everywhere afterwards. 

Once I had it nice and separated from the cooking oil, I ran a brush through my hair so that I wouldn't have to worry about finger combing my natural unwanted dreads whilst my hands were oily (are my long haired ladies with me on this?).

Once my hair was nice and detangled, I took a nice big glob of coconut oil and began rubbing it into my hair starting at the roots. Once I had it coated fairly evenly on my scalp I spread it out to the ends of my hair. For me this took a lot of coconut oil (about three large spoonfuls) due to the length of my hair. It also started melting in my hands so it was pretty easy to rub in. I did have to pick a couple chunks up off of the floor in the process.

(we decided Erin needed some camera time,we noticed with our recap that the photo balance has been a little skewed so far. Plus she looked really adorable yesterday. Her dress has little foxes on it!)

Once my hair was completely coated I realized I was an oily mess, not a good feeling. I highly recommend clipping or pinning your hair in place, or even wrapping it up in a towel. I let mine sit for about an hour before rinsing it out and shampooing it thoroughly in the shower.

The Conclusion: It definitely went way better than the time I tried to dye my hair with coffee. Sometimes it is good to rationalize the "awesome new ideas" that you hear about on the internet. Coffee dying? Not the best idea (I will talk about that more later). Coconut oil for conditioner? The best idea.

I am literally ecstatic with how it turned out! My hair is super soft and really pleasant to touch, plus I smell delicious! It also didn't look too oily once it was dry (maybe just a little bit shiny), which is a large bonus. I did end up using dry shampoo on just my bangs in the morning. I may only do this once a month or so though, but it will definitely become a regular part of my routine.

(please note: this is not an after picture of Leah's hair. She still has large amounts of coconut oil in her hair and all over her body in general. We just wanted to show the general excitement and how "cray" Leah is about coconut oil)

I will keep you kind readers updated on the long term effects and my thoughts as the week goes on and once I try it again. And who knows, maybe with my glowing review Erin will try it eventually too. 

-l.