Super Simple Recipes

If you're looking for recipes that use simpler ingredients, you've come to the right place. These recipes don't use emulsifiers or require preservatives, and are made mostly from plant based ingredients like shea butter and almond oil. There are obviously some limitations that come with these ingredient restrictions (no lotions, for example), but there's still plenty of things to make—as of early 2021 there are nearly 300 projects to choose from. Enjoy!

Making Substitutions

Don’t have the oil or butter called for in the recipe? Here’s a guide on how to choose a good alternative from what you do have.

What's with the waxes?

Beeswax, carnauba wax, candelila wax, bayberry wax—how are they different? Can you use one instead of another?

Help, I made a mess!

My best tips for cleaning up your DIY messes 🙂
Lighter Whipped Shea Butter

Lighter Whipped Shea Butter

In this post I'm sharing two lighter whipped shea butter formulations—Lavender Calendula and Coffee—and I'm sharing the easiest formulation strategy for creating lighter, less greasy body butters. Let's go! Want to watch this project instead of read it? Watch Now The...

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Perfectly Pillowy Whipped Shea Butter

Perfectly Pillowy Whipped Shea Butter

I'm pretty excited about this simple yet perfectly pillowy whipped shea butter! This two-ingredient formulation came about as part of my work on last spring's Why is my body butter not whipping? video. I needed lots of b-roll of different body butters being...

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Easy DIY Vitamin C Suspension (Just 3 ingredients!)

Easy DIY Vitamin C Suspension (Just 3 ingredients!)

This formulation is a super simple, beginner-friendly vitamin C suspension. You don't have to worry about oxidization or pH, you'll only need three ingredients, and the finished product will help fade hyperpigmentation, increase collagen production, boost healing, and...

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Green & Gold Body Butter Bars

Green & Gold Body Butter Bars

These charming Green & Gold Body Butter Bars star two anti-inflammatory plant oils and one of my favourite soft butters for a beautiful skin-nourishing treat with a silky, non-greasy skin feel. You can make these bars as stand-alone things or package them in...

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Rosehip Oat Solid Oil Serum

Rosehip Oat Solid Oil Serum

This Rosehip Oat Solid Oil Serum formulation is a non-greasy, packaging-optional facial moisturizer starring some beautiful oils and antioxidants. The original inspiration for this formulation was Robbie Burns Day, which is tomorrow. I was thinking about Burns' "A...

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Kombo Shea Butter Balm

Kombo Shea Butter Balm

Today's creation is an ultra-crunchy, five-ingredient Kombo Shea Butter Balm. I decided to call it a "butter balm" because it's got the skin feel of a body butter, but an in-the-tin feel that's much closer to that of a balm. It's a rich brown colour thanks to...

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Almond Oat Soap

Almond Oat Soap

This creamy Almond Oat Soap came with a rather baffling (and completely unexpected!) mystery! When I sliced it after leaving it to saponify for a day I was delighted to find it was a completely different colour than I expected. Not just a bit darker or lighter (or...

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Simple Creamy Almond Body Butter

Simple Creamy Almond Body Butter

This formulation is incredibly simple, with just three (or four) ingredients and an almond-y theme. 99.5% of this formulation is almond-derived ingredients; you don't have to keep to the almond theme if it doesn't appeal to you, but you might want to re-name your...

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Creamy Almond Lip Balm

Creamy Almond Lip Balm

This rich Creamy Almond Lip Balm has a gorgeous ointment-gel consistency, and it's an evolution of the Almond & Olive Creamy Lip Balm I shared last autumn. A combination of a pseudo wax and a true wax gives us an end product that's a bit reminiscent of petrolatum...

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Cocoa Coconut Sticky Lip Balm

Cocoa Coconut Sticky Lip Balm

There was really no way I could do a Cocoa Coconut theme and not do a lip balm. Cocoa Coconut practically begs to be lip-balm-ized! Since we're in the midst of ultra-dry wintery weather right now, I opted to make this a Cocoa Coconut Sticky Lip Balm because when it is...

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Ice Palace Bath Bombs

Ice Palace Bath Bombs

One of the things I absolutely have to make every year as part of my holiday DIYing is bath bombs—my mom loves them, so I need to make sure she's set for the following year 😊 This year's holiday bath bombs are Ice Palace themed, with a fizzy surprise in the...

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Cocoa Coconut Vegan Body Butter Bars

Cocoa Coconut Vegan Body Butter Bars

Today's DIY is part of our ongoing Cocoa Coconut theme—we're melting up some stunning Cocoa Coconut Vegan Body Butter Bars that put silky cocoa butter and mouthwatering coconut oil on a pedestal so they can shine. You'll only need six or seven ingredients to make...

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Autumn Spice Whipped Body Butter

Autumn Spice Whipped Body Butter

This decadent Autumn Spice Whipped Body Butter is a Bee Better of a Whipped Pumpkin Spice Body Butter I shared back in 2016. This updated version features fully percentage-ified measurements, a safer scent blend, and a new whipping method. Starring lightweight mango...

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Almond & Olive Creamy Lip Balm

Almond & Olive Creamy Lip Balm

It has been absolutely ages since I shared a lip balm formulation, but with cold & dry winter conditions here for the somewhat foreseeable future, it's definitely time for a new way to keep our lips happy! This Almond & Olive Creamy Lip Balm has a rich,...

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Ice Palace Soap

Ice Palace Soap

Welcome to holiday soap (and holiday theme) #2 for 2020; Ice Palace Soap! This year's Ice Palace theme is all about embracing the cool, sparkling beauty of ice and ice sculptures. This cold processed soap channels dazzling wintery wonder with wispy cool-toned swirls...

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Vegan Cocoa Coconut Nanaimo Bar Soap

Vegan Cocoa Coconut Nanaimo Bar Soap

Welcome to our first project of the holiday 2020 making season—Vegan Cocoa Coconut Nanaimo Bar Soap! These decadent bars of soap are part of our cocoa/coconut theme (I announced both themes on YouTube last weekend—check out the video here!), and channel my favourite...

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Açaí & Jojoba Facial Oil Serum

Açaí & Jojoba Facial Oil Serum

Today we're blending up an all-natural, lightweight oil serum that is rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory goodness. Starring exotic açaí berry oil and featherweight Neossance® Hemisqualane, you can easily mix up this serum in just a few minutes—just weigh, cap,...

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Super Simple Whipped Shea Butter

Super Simple Whipped Shea Butter

Today's project is another back-to-basics post—we're making an all-natural Super Simple Whipped Shea Butter! You'll need just four basic ingredients to create this decadent body butter. It's not greasy, you don't need to heat anything up, and half of the ingredients...

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Gold Dust Lip Cream

Gold Dust Lip Cream

Today we're fully embracing summer with a rich, sparkly Gold Dust Lip Cream ✨ A creamy base carries a generous helping of shimmery gold things to bring some beautiful 24 karat loveliness to your days. Enjoy! Want to watch this project instead of reading it?...

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Passionfruit Facial Glow Oil

Passionfruit Facial Glow Oil

Today we're getting our glow on with a simple & shimmery Passionfruit Facial Glow Oil. This beautiful facial oil serum features a blend of luxurious, exotic carrier oils, a potent skin-repairing antioxidant, and a touch of customizable shimmer. The end result is...

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Passionfruit Coconut Matte Velvet Moisturizer

Passionfruit Coconut Matte Velvet Moisturizer

Today's Passionfruit Coconut Matte Velvet Moisturizer is a riff on something I first tried back in 2016, and it's lovely. Massage this soft, putty-like Passionfruit Coconut Matte Velvet Moisturizer into your skin and you'll feel it turn into a velvety, super-smooth...

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Passionfruit Coconut Vegan Body Butter

Passionfruit Coconut Vegan Body Butter

If you've been dreaming of enveloping yourself in tropical scented wonderfulness, this beautiful all-natural Passionfruit Coconut Vegan Body Butter is for you. A base of beachy coconut oil and passionfruit oil is thickened with a combination of stearic acid and...

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Nourishing Lip Mask

Nourishing Lip Mask

Today we're blending up a simple, all-natural, Nourishing Lip Mask. I've called it a lip mask, but honestly, it's a super versatile salve for all kinds of dry, irritated skin. It stars a short and sweet list of rich, soothing emollients to create a gorgeous ointment...

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Cinnamon Cocoa Massage Bars

Cinnamon Cocoa Massage Bars

I had a lot of fun creating these deceptively simple Cinnamon Cocoa Massage Bars. They're silky smooth, cocoa and cinnamon-scented body butter bars that liquify readily on the skin, transforming into massage oil. Inspired by a LUSH product, I had a lot of fun...

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