Guide to Grocery Store Beauty Oils

One of the advantages of using oils for beauty care are that they are often readily available, possibly even sitting there in your kitchen cabinet right now. They don't need preservatives (though added antioxidants extend their shelf-life with no harm to you), and you only need a small amount at a time. They're best to use when you get out of the shower or after you wash your face, since they don't have water built into them like lotions and creams do. They're one of the easiest ways to simplify your beauty routine, and you don't have to read through long lists of ingredients, or figure out which of those many ingredients is the one bothering you. There are also many other beauty oils out there, but these are ones you might come by more readily.

When using oils, make sure to start with just a tiny amount, so you don't end up feeling greasy. I'm concentrating mostly on the face here, since your it's mostly likely to have problems that can take awhile to clear up- namely in the form of acne. If your skin is dry and not likely to breakout, you can experiment with different oils to see which ones work best for you. Transfer some oil into a small bottle, preferably one with a dispensing cap, so you can keep your cooking oils separate from you beauty oils. Jars would work better for coconut oil and solid butters. When buying oils, look for ones labeled "cold pressed."

Some popular grocery store oils that you can use on your hair and skin include olive, coconut, and avocado. I wouldn't use coconut oil on your face unless you're not at all prone to break outs. It does have a long shelf life, so it could to stock up if you like it for your hair and body. Olive oil seems to have different comedogenic ratings depending on where I looked, so you might want to skip that one as well. Avocado has a low-medium comedogenicity rating, so it could be suitable for most people. It does have a shorter shelf life though, so buy small amounts and keep what you're not using in the refrigerator.

If you can find them, jojoba oil and hemp seed oil are non-comedogenic. Jojoba has an indefinite shelf life, so you don't have to worry about it going rancid, but it is pricey. Trader Joe's sometimes has small bottles, so it might be worth picking up if you see it to see how you like it. Hemp seed oil has a short shelf life, so this is another one to keep the main bottle in the refrigerator.

If you see shea butter in the beauty section, it's also non-comedogenic and great for your skin and hair. Make sure it's just shea butter, though some added essential oils or vitamin E are fine. Look for unrefined shea to get the maximum benefits from it- it might have more of an odor and color to it, but it will be better for you. Cocoa butter has a high melting point, so it's not so easy to use, plus it's highly comedogenic, so unless you really want that chocolaty odor, you might want to look elsewhere.

If you suffer from oily skin, hazelnut oil is the one for you- it is slightly comedogenic, so patch test before smearing it all over your face. Putting oil on oily skin might sound silly, but it is slightly astringent, balancing your skin instead of stripping it of those excess oils. This one might be harder to find, but fancier grocery stores might stock it.

2015 Beauty Resolutions

The new year is a perfect time to clean out your beauty products. Having gone through my collection of various beauty products (I was addicted to sample boxes for awhile, so I had a lot of stuff to go through), I'll offer up some tips for going through your own.

If you have any that you don't use regularly, check the expiration dates and get rid of those first. Ingredients do break down, and any preservatives might not no longer be working, so you don't want to risk putting those things on your skin.If a product is purely oil based, you can probably tell if it's gone rancid by giving it a quick sniff- if it smells fine, it's probably fine to use.

I like to go through the ingredient lists and make sure there's nothing in there that I don't want. Fragrance, dyes, and sulfates are on the top of my list of things to avoid. If these things don't bother your skin, then it's fine to use them, but they don't add any benefits to the end products. When essential oils are used for fragrance, they can offer various beauty benefits, but when a product just lists "parfum" or "fragrance", you have no idea what you're using.

Getting rid of old make up is a good idea too, since it probably harbors bacteria from previous applications. Mascara should be swapped out regularly (about every three months), especially since it goes near your eyes and the wand and tube design make it hard to keep it germ free. Clean your brushes while you're at it, and try to clean them on a regular basis if you don't already.

I'll be posting again soon with ideas on simple beauty products to add into your routine without breaking the bank.

Ideas (perhaps too many)

I've had a hard time falling asleep lately. No matter how tired I am, as I try to sleep my brain runs wild with ideas for things to make. I've had issues with insomnia in the past, though I think it's mostly that I'm a night owl living in an early bird world.

The problem is that I have too many product ideas- probably more than I can ever make. I'm inspired by all sorts of things. Some ideas start as making unique versions of products that already exist (such as hair oils). A lot of ideas start with a single ingredient though- I read about something, and then I have to see how it works. I had read broccoli seed oil is good for the hair, but I haven't seen many people selling it. So I bought some broccoli seed oil, and Broccoli Shine Hair Oil was created. This created some interesting design problems- namely, how to mask the scent of the broccoli seed oil. I used some of the same oils I add to my other hair oils, and then added some powerful essential oils. The end result is a product that helps your hair and does not smell like broccoli.

The Everywhere Oils are a result of my testing several oils for how they feel- I wanted to find ones that you can put on without feeling greasy. Camellia seed oil works great, and I started using it regularly on my face and hair. I wanted to keep the product simple, so I used only one essential oil for each variety- lavender, rose, and ylang ylang. 

I have several new products I need to add to my store. I also need to figure out which ideas in my head are worth pursuing. I am so easily intrigued by the various ingredients out there, and I need to stop myself from buying and trying all of them.

New product ideas and other thoughts

When selling items in person, I notice that what I think is normal in terms of products, other people either haven't heard of them, or think they're strange. Mostly in terms of the oils I sell. Hair oil? Wouldn't that make your hair greasy? Only if you glob it on. With hair oils, you only need a small amount. If you're using it as a hot oil treatment, then you would add a lot more. But as an alternative to a leave-in conditioner, just a small amount works.

Same thing with face oils. A small amount is all that's needed for the face, and if the right oils are used, you shouldn't feel oily. I spend a lot of time researching oils and experimenting with them to make sure they won't feel gross. You do need more for your body, but again, the right oils will absorb quickly and won't leave you greasy.

So now that I'm thinking of new products, and testing them out, I'm wondering what people really want to buy. Current ponderings include things like dry shampoo, facial cleansing grains, scrubs, and bath salts/teas. I am also considering lotion, if I can sell one that I'm comfortable with in terms of naturalness and safety. Also expanding my selection of soaps. But since I can't expand every which way, I need figure which items people really want or need. Any feedback would be welcome.

Also, I have secret products in development. Because even if I want to figure out the products people know about and want, I also want to create things they didn't know they needed until they saw it.

Patchwork Show this Sunday!

As stated on here and a few other places, I will be selling at the Patchwork Show in Oakland this Sunday! I will have all of the products featured on my website and my Etsy store. We have six flavors of lip balms, including the Blood Orange & Juniper Lip Balm featured in Conscious Box this month. Our five floral balms will also be available, along with our foot balm.

We are also launching three new products at this show! These will be available online once the show is over.

New Products:
Pumpkin Seed & Cocoa Body Butter- Limited run for November, this is a decadent body butter that is solid in the tin, but melts easily in your hands. While it is made only from oils and butters, it doesn't leave you feeling greasy.

Hair Oils- We have four scents- Lavender Herbal, Geranium Floral, Soft Woods, and Ylang Ylang & Sandalwood. Containing argan oil, camellia seed oil, and shea oil, these oils nurture you hair without the use of any silicones.

Everywhere Oils- Available in Rose Otto, Lavender, and Ylang Ylang. The oils are lightweight, and can be used on your face, hair, or body. The primary oil used in these is camellia seed, a rejuvenating oil filled with antioxidants.

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San Francisco Bazaar Holiday Show

It feels like I haven't written in so long, but there's so much that's been going on! Part of it is a secret for now- I'll write about it in a week or two, once everything is set. For those who know- shhhh.

One of the big things for me is that I got accepted to my first craft show- I will be at San Francisco Bazaar Holiday Show, Dec 7-8, at the Concourse Exhibition Center in San Francisco. I went there last year and bought almost all of my Christmas presents. It's a really great show, and I'm thrilled that my application was accepted.

I plan to have several lip balm flavors available, body balms and butters, and some hair oils (possibly face and body, too), and hopefully some solid perfumes. It's going to be a lot of work for the next few months, but I'm looking forward to it.

In the works

I have a love for all things oil. Not just in my food, but in my beauty products, too. In addition to experimenting with body butters and balms, I've also been creating various liquid oils for my face and body. I'm still perfecting those so I can make them for sale, since I don't want to sell anything that leaves people feeling oily. That might sound weird, but some oils absorb quickly. These oils leave you feeling hydrated without a greasy feel.

I have also created a prototype hair oil that I'll be trying out. Two oils,  in fact. I've used hair oils in the past, but those often contain one or more silicones, such cyclomethicone or dimethicone. I don't feel there's anything particularly wrong with them, and they can leave your hair feeling nice. I'm just not sure if they lead to healthier hair in the long run. After all, the products that contain them often advertise the fancy oils that are in them, not the silicones.

I have two base oil blends, with argan, shea, and jojoba in each, with a different extracts in the two. One is aimed for oilier hair, the other for dryer hair. I created different essential oil blends to scent them as well. A sweet herbal lavender fragrance for oily hair, and a sexy ylang ylang fragrance for dry hair. I plan on creating additional scents, such as geranium, in the future. I researched which essential oils are good for the various hair types and issues, and then blended the oils based on how nicely the scents worked together. After all, I want them to not only help the hair, but smell good in the process.