DIY Body Wash and Lotion

I'm moving on to the next car on the DIY crazy train. I've already made my own face wash and dish detergent (and laundry detergent, but I've never made a blog post about that one). I was going to do shampoo/conditioner next (it's just baking soda for shampoo and cider vinegar for conditioner), but since I have 1/3 of the hair I should I don't think I'm ever going to run out of shampoo/conditioner! But I am almost out of both body wash AND lotion! I've mentioned it before, but I've been using the same lotion for nearly a decade. It's so cheap! But...look at this! They're not terrible scores, but DIY could be so much better! Plus, I've drank the Kool-Aid and there's no going back now....

My friend Banana (needs a new nickname) posted a link to 101 Uses for Coconut Oil on my wall not too long ago. I got her a ticket on the train, too. ;) She's done...deodorant, I think? And something else. My memory, it's weak. I'm not up for homemade deodorant, though. At least not yet. I think that will be my final experience. I just...hate sweaty, stinky arm pits! And I love my deodorant. 8} Of course, they say it causes Alzheimer's and all sorts of terrible things. So maybe one day...if everything else works out.

Anyway! Now that we're on this Dave Ramsey budget, I have to plan out my purchases and look for recipes that have repeating ingredients. I found this lotion that only has 3 ingredients (cocoa butter, aloe vera gel, and sesame oil). I already own the oil for my face wash, so zing! There is also this sugar scrub on that same site. Ingredients: coconut oil, brown sugar, and vanilla extract. We already own brown sugar, so zing! And I feel like the vanilla extract is optional, for scent. So I'll probably skip on that, if it comes down to it. I also found this recipe for lotion and this one for lotion bars, but they seem a bit more complicated and require more ingredients. None of which I own. So maybe next time...

The only thing I'm struggling with is body wash. I *think* I'm going to go with this recipe. It has a lot of ingredients, but most of them are optional. Required ingredients: water, citric acid, coconut oil, honey, castile soap, and guar gum. She infused oatmeal and rosemary to "soothe and tone" whatever the f that means. And all three of the recipes have an option for essential oils, which just add scent. They are also supposed to be good for you and different ones do different things. So that's another thing that, if I have any money left over I might purchase something. I'm only getting $30 in pocket money this month (curse you, Dave Ramsey!!) so I'm not sure how much of this I'll be able to do. Let's do a price breakdown, shall we?

Ingredients Needed:

• 3/4 cup coconut oil
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa butter - I think I can replace this with coconut oil
• 1/2 cup aloe vera gel
• 3/4 cup sesame seed oil
• 1 tsp citric acid
• 1 Tbsp honey - I think we own some honey, but I need to double-check
• 1 1/2 cup liquid castile soap
• 1 tsp guar gum

Coconut Oil:
I'll need about 1 1/4 cups (12 oz.) of this total. On this site I can get 32 oz. (four cups) for about $15. Which is half my budget, but that store supports family farms in the Philippines! (Say that five times fast.) And you get this book full of recipes that use coconut oil. (I think all for cooking, but whatever. I guess I can eat it, too...) I checked Amazon and you can't really get 32 oz. for much cheaper.
Total Price: $15.00
Sigh....this has gotten a bit too expensive. I'm going to have to drop down to the 16 oz. one for $8. That will give me 2 cups, which will have to do. I just can't spend half my budget on coconut oil!
Total Price: $8.00

Brown Sugar:
I'll need a cup of this. I already own it, both dark and light brown sugar. I'll probably do half of one and half of the other, so I still have a little of both left for cooking.
Total Price: $8.00

Aloe Vera Gel:
I'll need 1/2 a cup of this. Found a 32 oz container of it on Amazon for about $7.50. Interesting thing I learned just now - you can eat aloe vera! I always just put it on my skin for sunburns and cuts...THE MORE YOU KNOW. Still not sure I'll eat any...
Total Price: $15.50 (aaaaand...I'm almost out of money. 8P)

Sesame Seed Oil:
I'll need 3/4 cup of this. I already own a big ol' bottle of it for my face wash, so it's FREE!
Total Price: $15.50

Citric Acid:
I only need a teaspoon of this, and she said it's to prevent bacterial growth in the body wash. None of the other recipes I found called for this, so I may not include it. I only have $6 left!! Yeah...I'm not finding it for very cheap on Amazon, soooo....imma pass. If I get some funky bacterial growth I'll call it a life lesson learned and do better next time. 8P
Total Price: $15.50

Honey:
I'm pretty sure we already own some honey. At any rate, she doesn't explain why she put honey in the body wash...I think it may just be for the scent. So if we don't have any, I won't worry about it.
Total Price: $15.50

Castile Soap:
I'll need 1 1/2 cup, or 12 oz. of this bad boy. Budget panic!! I found a two-pack of 32 oz. that only costs $1 more than a single bottle of the self-same stuff. Strange... But it's still going to be $19!! There is this stuff which has citric acid in it already. So that would make my not buying it more justified. Everything I saw said to use Dr. Bronner's, though. And this is Dr. Wood's. The reviews are "meh" on it. Dr. Bronner's is 4.6 out of 80+ reviews, while Dr. Wood's has 4.2 with 14 reviews. But...it's only $5, so I think I'm going to have to take it. Budgets!!
Total Price: $20.50

Guar Gum:
I did some research, and guar gum is just a thickening agent. So I can replace the 1 teaspoon of it with about 800 teaspoons of flour and get the same result. 8} You need 8x the amount of corn starch to replace guar gum, and you to use a bit more flour than asked for to replace corn starch. (I have never been able to find corn starch!!) So let's say......12 teaspoons? That's 4 tablespoons. So 4 tablespoons of flour, which I own. Bam! Done!
Total Price: $20.50

*whew! I think that'll have to do. I had to get half as much coconut oil as I wanted, and a cheaper brand (and half as much) of the castile soap as I wanted....but I stayed in budget! Even with S&H! (I hope...) I won't really be able to buy anything else fun this month, but what can you do? DIY is a harsh mistress.

Update with S&H:
Price for purchases from Amazon: $22
Price for coconut oil: $15.50

Grand Total: $37.50



Balls.






ALRIGHT. So screw you, local Philippine farmers! I'm going to buy THIS coconut oil off of Amazon for $7.30 (plus shipping)!! THAT will put my total Amazon order....to $34.37. Mother. Of. Pearl. It's impossible! It's just...impossible.

Okay, okay - total idea redo.

I'm still going to make the scrub, because it's only coconut oil and brown sugar. Instead of making lotion, I'm just going to rub coconut oil on me. What?? Lots of people do it! Don't judge!! And I'll make the same body wash. If I go back to the original store for coconut oil, it will be $15.50 with S&H. Then the only thing I'll need to buy from Amazon is the castile soap (does this even make sense anymore?) and the cheap bottle of that + S&H will be $8.66. $24.16! BAM! Done.

I'm exhausted.


Now, of course, I can't order any of this until after my paycheck on the 15th (thanks, Dave Ramsey), so God knows what will happen to all the prices by then. But! For now...this is my plan. 8P I need to go take a nap now.

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God, I love Jennifer Lawrence.