Happy New Year! If one of your resolutions is to make more and buy less (well, buy less finished stuffs and more ingredients, that is), this is the post for you—especially if you’re super new to this whole DIY thing. I’m going to walk you through which ingredients to get, the basic concepts you should know, the projects you should do first, and where to go from there. Sound good? Cool!
First off—ingredients & equipment. You can spend a fortune on butters, oils, essential oils, extracts, and everything else. You don’t need to, I promise.
- Starter ingredients & shopping lists
- Starter essential oils & shopping lists
- Equipment you need
- DIY Equipment I use all the time
I order pretty much from New Directions Aromatics and Saffire Blue, and Amazon also has almost everything you’ll need. I’ve also got a big list of places to shop here, featuring shops all over the world.
Ok, now that you’ve got your ingredients ordered, it’s time for a few basic DIY principles while they’re in the mail. These principles will help you learn about what ingredients do in different concoctions, and why certain things don’t work.
- A quick guide to carrier oil substitutions
- A quick guide to essential oil substitutions
- A quick guide to solubility
- DIY habits you should get into
- Preservatives: When to use, Myths & Misconceptions, Which one & how much
- A quick guide to the metric system, part 1 & part 2 (bonus reading for Americans)
Phew. That was quite a lot of reading, but now that you’ve got your ingredients and your basic concepts down, it’s time to make stuff! YEAH.
I always like to tell people to start with lip balm. That’s because it’s something most people use already, and they’re used to paying obscene amounts for it. DIY lip balm is also very easy to make (no emulsions, it’s just oil + oil), so you get to start off with a nice success to boost your confidence. Here’s two of my favourite recipes:
- Super Simple 2-Ingredient Sticky Coconut Lip Balm (watch the video!)
- Naked Lip Balm
- Peppermint Cocoa Lip Balm
Awesome! From there, try a few other oil based things, like body butter and body butter bars.
- Perfect body butter bars
- Massage truffles
- Whipped cocoa-coco body butter
- Eczema salve
- Argan oil face serum
- Massage oil
Somewhere in here you should definitely try out a homemade face mask, since you’re doing so well with all your homemade goodies & all.
Now, as you’re going, ask yourself these questions to help analyze what you’re doing:
- What category (liquid, soft, brittle) does each carrier oil/butter fit into?
- What is each ingredient doing in the recipe? Thickening, hardening, moisturizing, scent, exfoliation, etc.
- What would happen if I left this out, or used twice as much? (Hypothesize & then try it with a small amount!)
Always remember to take notes and label things!
Feeling good about all that? Got the oil + oil thing down? Sweet! I think we’re ready to try some lotion. No worries, with the emulsifying wax, lotion is really, really easy to make. Just read the instructions, measure carefully, and you’re off to the races. Here’s my how-to video on lotion; I walk you through the entire process so you can’t fail 🙂
After lotions, if you’d like to add some solubilizer (polysorbate 20, a dispersion style emulsifier that doesn’t thicken things like e-wax does), you can move into room sprays, spritzes, and hair mists.
- Anti-Frizz Hair Mist
- Chamomile, Lemon, & Cinnamon Highlighting Hair Mist
- Air Conditioning in a Bottle
- Sleepy Time Pillow Spray
Got that? Awesome! Those are the basics. From here you might want more ingredients to try more things, but you’ve got the basics down. From here you can head towards soap making and DIY cosmetics (starter article 1, starter article 2). Well done!
Last but not least… if you’ve bunged something up and need a good laugh, check out my blogs on my abject failures—part 1 and part 2!
Loving your blog as I’ve been experimenting with just body butter, because I’m a serious addict and can’t afford yo buy it in the quantities I use haha… Anyway, this is awesome. Thanks!
My wish list for DIY is mixes for essential oil scents… I caaaaaant mix worth a darn!
Ha! I can relate—for me it was lip balm, which sure adds up at $5 a tube for the not total crap stuff.
I love the idea for an entry on EO scent blends 🙂 For now, I’d recommend browsing my lotion recipes—they usually all use different scent blends.
I was thinking I should do that for my next batch… Somehow, I turn all my lovely smelling oils into something that would likely repel bugs. Not sure why I can’t just stick with 1 or 2!
Ha, I have SO been there! I remember one particular batch of lotion that just reeked. I dug that hole sooooo deep that I was determined to use it all, though… I was so glad when it was finally gone. Ugh. I’ve found it’s best to start with one essential oil you really like, and then experiment with ones that compliment it. I usually start by opening the two bottles, holding them close together, and wafting the scents towards me. If that’s nice, go from there 🙂
I have been waiting for this post! Yay! I am so excited to get started.
Awesome! I can’t wait to hear how your DIY adventures go 🙂
Wondrously inspired. Thanks for sharing!! :]
♡ Dulce
Thanks for reading 🙂
This post is so welcome. You have a book here that I will print up and use as a text.
I already have most of the recipes and some of the topics and have printed them out; but the progression is important too. Doing things from simple to a little more complex, while understanding what you are doing – the whys and why nots are here.
Thanks so much.
Thanks so much for reading, Carol, and enjoy your DIY adventures & learnings 🙂
i have been making thick body butter for a number of months now. i love it! but the only problem is cleaning my jars. because of the beeswax they dont like to come clean, even in the dishwasher. help!
I’ve got a recipe for a cleaning powder coming out soon that really helps with greasy problems. In the meantime, I’d recommend boiling water and soap + washing soda (great for grease) to re-melt everything, and then some good scrubbing with lots of soap. The beeswax shouldn’t be toooo much of the problem as I find you can’t use more than about 1/3 beeswax in a recipe before it’s too hard/sticky/tacky to use, so some heat should help—if the body butter melts at room temperature, boiling water will definitely have an effect 😉
thanks so much
i did switch to straight sided jars too, so that should help
🙂
Hi Marie! Love your blog and appreciate the DIY for Beginners post very much! On a quick one, I’m making a basic body lotion using hydrofoil 118g, aloe vera gel 60g, butter 40g and oils 60g. Could you suggest approximately how much e-wax I should use? I have been using 10g beeswax but believe I am getting a mechanical emulsion rather than a true emulsion… if that makes sense! Many many thanks, René
Hi René! The general rule with e-wax & lotions is to go 75% water parts, 25% oil parts (though you can swing that as far as 50/50, though the lotion will not absorb as quickly). The e-wax should be 5–10%, and that comes out of the oils part. So, you end up with 75% water parts, 15–20% oils & butters, and 5–10% e-wax, to add up to 100%. Have fun!
That’s where I need help. A guide to how much of each product in a formula should be used. I’ll get there!!!! Sigh….
You’re going to love my next post 😀
Have you ever dabbled in home made oil infusions? I think I may experiment with some instead of purchasing a ton of essential oils.
I have! I’ve got a pretty good collection of them now, and I adore them for salves and balms 🙂 If you’re looking to avoid buying essential oils like chamomile, you can probably make do with chamomile infused oils, and you may have some luck with citrus infused oils as well. Unfortunately not all EOs will be replaceable in this manner (labdanum & benzoin come to mind), and you won’t be able to swap the infused oils for EOs in applications where you need a lot of scent from a wee bit of oil (soap especially), but when you’re looking for the herbal benefit at a lower cost, infused oils are a fantastic choice. Have fun with your new collection 😉
Do you have a guide to lotion ingredient ratios yet? I’ve been hunting around, wanting to piece together something really simple for use on my face, but I haven’t discovered whether or not you’ve done a really comprehensive lotions basics yet…
Lots of moisturizing facial serums and oils, but no lotions… Is there any specific reason?
Hi KM! No such guide yet 🙂 I did just publish a facial lotion recipe, though!
I just want to let you know… years ago, when I first had the inkling to make my own soap, it was before the real take-off of the internet and world-wide web. So all I had for information were books. I bought them, I read them cover to cover… then put them on a shelf and forgot about them because they made the soap-making process seem so intimidating.
The other day I found humble you. I had done a search for lotion bar recipes and there you were. You’re a terrific writer, clever, funny and full of information. You are NOT intimidating and you make each process sound like (I’m not going to say easy, because I can see there’s a science to the process) the most fun and rewarding thing to do.
I haven’t stopped reading since I found your site – I’ve found I want to read EVERYTHING because you’re a fountain of fascinating information 🙂 Thank you for re-inspiring me to try making my own soap. I’m starting here in the DIY for Starters section and some day I’ll be making your pumpkin pie soap 😉
CHEERS and many thanks to you!
deb
Deb— thank you so much for your incredibly kind comment, you made my day 🙂 I am so thrilled to have inspired and motivated you to text your hands dirty and start whipping up some DIY suds! Do be sure to get in touch if you have any questions, I’m always happy to offer “customer support” 😉
Hi! How r u? Thanks for sharing all this with us, I REALLY needed this DIY for dummies/beginners ;D and even more because ‘Christmas is coming” and I want to do something nice for my friends… so I was thinking that maybe the butter will do!
Finger crossed!!! I’ll let you know if I nailed it or not!!!
XOXO from Argentina
Have fun & thanks for reading!
Hi Marie,
I wanted to thank you for being such an inspiration. Although my first attempt at body butter several months ago was a complete failure, I kept working at it. And this week I finally nailed 3 great items. YAY! Actually I’m inside out with glee. My first was a a body wash that really amazed me, then I tried a facial scrub that blew my mind. Then yesterday I created the most fabulous body butter/moisturizer that had me dancing around the room and fist pumping the air. I can’t stop touching my skin. The body butter came about when I ordered some Babassu oil but got Illipe butter instead. I scratched my head for a couple of days and spent hours re-reading your basics and researching the properties online trying to figure out what to do with the Illipe butter and how to combine that with what I already had in stock. I was desperate for a facial moisturizer and finally just pulled out my scale and went for it. I am so completely thrilled. thank you, thank you, thank you. I would never have tried any of this were it not for your website here.
Sharon
Hi Sharon! Thank you so much for sharing your success stories with me 🙂 You are the reason I put all this effort into my blog—I want people to feel empowered and get all creative in their kitchens 😀 Thanks so much for reading and supporting me, and enjoy all your DIY goodies!
Hi Marie,
I would like to ask if you have any tips on getting ingredients out of the bottles they come in. I try and be careful with pricey oils (eg. Vit E), but no matter what I do some always dribbles down the outside of the bottle. Do you use pipettes or decant into bottles with a handier neck? Likewise with essential oils, some dripolator caps can run faster than others – decant into a bottle with eyedropper? Any insights would be much appreciated. Michele
Hey Michele! Honestly, I’m not all that fussed about a lost drop here or there :/ I do use a pipette with my vitamin E because it’s in a wide mouthed jar that’s impossible to drop from, but with EOs I just tip slowly and try to react fast if needed.
Hi Marie I love all your recipes was wondering can I add pearl powder to my face powder can you let me know thank you Debora
Hey Debora! If it’s micronized pearl powder, absolutely 🙂
Hi Marie, I tried to resubscribe, but could not, it wouldn’t let me. I didn’t know I had unsubscribed. I really like your blog. Thanks
Hey Lynette—I can see that you unsubscribed and reported my emails as spam 🙁 This is why the mail system will not let you re-subscribe—so I can’t “spam” you since you have told it you do not like my emails. I just sent you an email to let you re-opt-in, but after that I’m afraid there is nothing else I can do because they don’t want me to “spam” you. The only thing you can do (other than click the link in the email I just sent you) is sign up with a different email address. Good luck!
Hi Marie;
I am really enjoying your blog and all of your recipes. A friend of mine has lead a group of us in soap making based on your recipes and information.
I am very excited to start making soap on my own, but I was looking for a basic recipe to get started. I don’t have a lot of ingredients to make colours, textures etc. I have been searching around your site and I don’t see a “basic soap recipe” that I could use. I would like to add some essential oils, but that’s about it, to start with.
Is there a recipe that you would recommend that would make a good starter soap recipe?
Thank you!!
Hey! Definitely check out this recipe—it’s great and doesn’t require an immersion blender 😀 Happy making!