DIY: Basic shea coconut lip balm

Ever since I made my homemade + natural moisturizing lotion recipe, I've been on a quest to eliminate as many chemicals from my home as possible. Some of it involves making my own products like these homemade baby wipes. I've also been trying out a few cleaning and body care products from different brands.

It's been quite an intense journey to be honest, mainly because my life has been on overload recently, but also because I never realized just how many chemicals are around us on a daily basis, it's actually kind of scary! Anything from our skin care routine, to bathing, to cleaning our home, in our food, even our mattress and our car contains harmful chemicals, can you imagine?



With that being said, I have no intention of turning into a full on Green Holistic Naturalist (or whatever you call people that are 100% natural living) but I do hope to find some kind of balance and be more intentional in my everyday life without compromising my happiness and that of my family. Life is just to short to not enjoy everything you love.

Today I want to share with you a super easy basic shea coconut lip balm recipe. I'm using raw, pure and fair trade Shea butter from Kariderm. It's my absolute favorite product from their company. The texture is super light, it absorbs quickly and has intense moisturizing action. I use it in practically all of my homemade body care products.

MATERIALS

1 tsp Shea butter
1 tsp Coconut oil
2 tsp Beeswax (grated)

TOOLS

Glass bowl
Pot
Pipette
Lip balm tube

DIRECTIONS

Heat all ingredients in a glass bowl over a hot pot of water, on low heat. If you have a double boiler, you can use that too. When I'm in a hurry, I do it in small increments in the microwave, but I really don't like using the microwave too much so the stove top is my favorite way. Once everything is melted, mix it a bit, then transfer the mixture to the lip balm tube using the pipette (the recipe is enough for 2 tubes). Wait until it cools and enjoy!



This is super quick and easy to make and it's surprisingly moisturizing. It's been my go-to natural lip balm for quite some time now and although I keep trying different brands once in a while, I always return to my homemade one. It's also a super fun, thoughtful and intentional gift to make for your friends and family.

What kind of skin care products have you tried making at home?

Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by Kariderm. The Shea butter was sent to me at no cost. All thoughts expressed in this post are my own.

Nail art: Gold, white and black leopard print

This nail art is actually from last summer. I actually haven't been using any nail polish lately. When I'm pregnant I'm always very (probably-way-too-much) careful about absolutely everything...and I'm not too sure about those nail polish fumes! To think that not so long ago I didn't use nail polish at all, and now...I miss it! Not like I wore it every day, but still, I really enjoyed these little nail art projects of mine. Anyway, here's my version of a quick and easy gold, white and black leopard print nail art. Enjoy!

MATERIALS:
Blanc nail polish by Essie
Gold nail polish by ORLY
Black nail polish by Revlon (I used the black end of Moon Candy Nail Art)
Dotting tool
Nail art paint brush



First, apply a gold base. I used two coats.


Second, use the dotting tool (or tooth pick) to make random white dots on selected nails.


Third, use a nail art paint brush (or tooth pick) to make 2 black lines around each white dot.


...and done! Super easy. Don't forget to add a top coat, it increases durability. Wouldn't want to lose your art within a day now would you?

I really want to do a maternity outfit post. I've never really tried styling my belly before. I just kind of throw anything that fits on. Lol. I might challenge myself to do that so I can make a cute Blurb book of my style's evolution. Wouldn't that be cool?

Giveaway with pure impressions

I would like to introduce you to Laura from Pure Impressions. She creates the most charming, handmade personalized jewelry. Her shop is filled with gorgeous items; rings, necklaces, bracelets, earrings and even key chains. August marks her shop's first year anniversary and for the occasion, she is giving one lucky xfallenmoon reader a custom mantra cuff (see below for details).

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I’m a mom of 2 lovely kiddos, with another full-time job on top of Pure Impressions. When I'm not holed up in my corner of the basement (others call this an office space), you can usually find me in an airport traveling for work, or curled up with a cup of tea and my newest book. That's when I'm not chasing peanut butter and jelly monsters, listening to the latest pre-teen drama, or playing taxi for my two kids. They are my world and they remind me every day how precious life is.



I've always been a DIY’er, mostly because I don’t have the patience to wait for things to be done or arrive when I want them. I also cringe at the outlandish prices of things I tend to want. *shakes fist* I've redone just about every piece of furniture in my home...some of them twice.

Can you tell us about Pure Impressions?
I started creating jewelry a few years back. I was searching for the perfect necklace to go with an outfit for work. I wanted a bronze chain with a yellow rose. Simple, right? Not so much. Just about everything I found was exactly the opposite of what I was looking for, and everything that came close had a price range that definitely didn't match the quality. So I did what any DIY'er would do; I made my own. My thoughts were: "if I can repaint my kitchen cabinets, refinish all of my furniture, install my own tile and epoxy my basement floors, why can't I make my own jewelry?" and so it began. I haven't looked back since.

Out of all the items you've created, which is your favorite and why?
This is a hard choice! Today I would say it’s one of my personalized arrow name bracelets (shown below). It’s one of the first items I really made just about from scratch. I cut the aluminum out of sheet metal, shaped it, filed it down, darkened the aluminum and stamp the names on them. What started off as a hunk of metal turned into a lovely bracelet. Tomorrow my answer could be different…



What do you love about what you do?
I love creating just about anything. It puts me into a whole different world and lets me just be. Just like the bracelet above, here’s a huge sense of satisfaction when you take something so plain and turn it into something that makes people feel beautiful. I’ve sold jewelry to beautiful women all across the world. Knowing that someone in Germany and Zimbabwe are wearing my pieces makes me smile.



How do you stay inspired?
There never seems to a lack of inspiration, I hope that’s always the case. I get a lot of custom requests from friends and customers. Custom orders are definitely my favorite. I’m taking someone else’s ideas and turning them to reality for them.

What is your future goal for your shop?
As scary as it is to say, I’d love for this to be my only job someday. What started off as a hobby has turned into so much more in the last year. I feel so very blessed to have come so far and accomplished as much as I have.

giveaway / sweepstake
Laura from Pure Impressions is offering one lucky xfallenmoon reader a custom mantra cuff (see picture below). The winner can chose a personal mantra to be stamped on the cuff: it can be a name, initials, a date, or something more personalized. enter below for your chance to win!



a Rafflecopter giveaway
GIVEAWAY TERMS AND CONDITIONS
This giveaway is open to residents of the USA and Canada. The winner will be chosen at random and will be announced publicly as well as notified via email. If the winner chosen does not have a valid email address and a way to contact is not left in a comment or a registered entry, then another winner will be chosen. If the giveaway host does not complete the giveaway, xfallenmoon is not liable to replace any offer promised and is released of any responsibility thereof.

A fun night out, how i met my husband

Last weekend, my husband, son and I went out for some hot chocolate at Juliette & Chocolat. It was so nice to get out of the house and enjoy the city a bit. Even though our life has been filled with many magical moments ever since we became parents, I miss going out with my husband. The last time I remember going out alone with him was when we were dating. Speaking of which, I don't think I ever wrote how we first met.




I'm sure you all know that I absolutely love to dance. Strangely though, I was never really a fan of salsa until I met my husband. A friend of mine had convinced me to try it out. The very first time I accompanied her, my husband (who was a random man at the time) kept waiting in line to dance with me... and every time we danced, he had this huge smile stamped on his face. He later told me that my smile and passion for dancing kept him coming back. At the end of the night, he asked for my number. I didn't really feel comfortable with the idea, so instead, I gave him my email so he could add me on Facebook. Every weekend he would send me private messages asking if I was going salsa dancing. I replied no quite a few times, because quite frankly, salsa dancing still wasn't my thing. A few months later, on a weekend where I needed to unwind, I said yes. We spent a part of the evening sipping a deliciously creamy milk hot chocolate at Juliette & Chocolat, followed by an evening of hot salsa dancing at Club 649. This later became a weekly routine. We fell in love shortly after that. :)




Juliette & Chocolat is chocolate heaven, literally. They offer a wide variety of imported chocolates with unique flavors and serve them practically in any way imaginable: grandma or classic style, dark, milk or white, in shots, milk-shakes or smoothies, with fruits or spices, and even as alcoholic cocktails. They also serve meal crepes and salads; perfect for a quick boost in energy before an evening of dancing... that velvety grandma hot chocolate will always pull me back in.

Club 649 is a Latin night club. There are four reasons why I enjoy this club. First, knowing how to dance is not a requirement; they offer free dancing classes (beginner, intermediate & Brazilian) Monday through Thursday, from 9:30 to 11pm. Second, the cover charge is only $5, yes... $5. Third, the age group varies quite a bit; anywhere between 20 and 50. Last, you don't need a dance partner; there are plenty of friendly single men and women waiting around the dance floor just waiting to dance with you. Plus, the atmosphere is fun and relaxed.

So there you have it, that's how I met my husband. I seriously can't wait to go out dancing again, I miss it a lot. Until then, we'll just enjoy a hot chocolate in town once in a while.

Where do you go to enjoy the nightlife?

If you want to know of other awesome places to go out at night in Montreal, you can check out the nightlife category of tourisme-montreal.org.

Married and still going

As some of you may know, last Easter, we celebrated my parent's 30th wedding anniversary. Congratulations mom & dad, I love you both very much and am extremely proud of you. I hope my husband and I have the strength to follow in your footsteps.



Planning their celebration got me reflecting on my own marriage and how it has evolved over the last 2 years. We've had some good times (birth or our first son, buying our first house) and lived through some rough times (losing 2 jobs, moving 3 times).



A pearl of wisdom from my dad:

 "I keep my old things for a long time." - my dad.

You might be thinking: "Ahah, good one!" but seriously, think about it for a sec. It's no secret that we live in a very materialistic age. We buy something, a few years later we get bored of it, throw it out and buy a new one. Better yet... the item breaks and it's cheaper to replace it than fix it. What do you think this encourages? Do we bring this mentality into our relationships? Do we throw out our old things too quickly? I'm no better than the next person, but in this case, I think I'll also try to keep my old things for a long time. (:



My mom always has the best advice:

"Friendship is a basic requirement for a lasting relationship." - my mom.

She. Is. So. Right. Even if you aren't friends when you start dating, there is no way you can reach love if you don't befriend each other first (and constantly work at it). Friendship is all about communication, respect, compromise and getting to know each other; all very important to build a lasting relationship. In hard times, that friendship is what will hold you together. Thanks for the awesome advice mom.

Dear husband,

I know I'm not always the perfect wife, but I hope you know how much you mean to me. You complete me and you make me so happy. I promise you that I will always try to be better.

Your loving wife

That reminds me: for my parent's 30th, we offered them a photograph memory book. We used Blurb and absolutely loved it. It was very easy to create, and fun! Blurb is currently offering a 15% discount until may 31st 2013 on school books and yearbooks. Use code MYSCHOOLBOOK.