Hello DIYers! It is awesome to both make and receive personalized homemade gifts, and organic, natural skin care is the trend these days, so we put together a list of our top 10 DIY skin care homemade gifts that your friends and family will love! They are all holidays-themed, some with sparkles, glitter and gold, and others with holiday scents: from candy cane to cinnamon to vanilla. (Blog article updated Nov 2019)

Let’s get started.

1. Milk + Vanilla Bath Salts

When you’ve come back from a holiday shopping marathon, give those aching legs a break with this soothing bath time treat. Your skin will love the way sea salt moisturizes, while the Epsom salt will help unhappy muscles relax. Add in a little milk powder and vanilla oil to soften your skin and indulge your senses.

A cute little jar filled with these bath salts and garnished with a vanilla bean makes a great homemade gift.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup epsom salt
• 1 cup fine sea salt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups powdered milk
• Optional: 1 vanilla bean for decoration

How to:

• Pour the epsom salt at the bottom of the glass jar
• Put the sea salt in a zip lock bag, pour the vanilla extract in, close the bag and “massage”
  the salt to ensure it is coated with the extract and gets a brownish tint.
• Pour the sea salt on top of the epsom salt
• Now pour the milk powder on top of the sea salt
• If there is more room left at the top of the jar, add more epsom salt until the jar is full
  to the top.
• Close up your lid, put a nice ribbon and tie a vanilla bean on it for decoration

2. Sweet Orange Bath Bombs

For those who love baths this is a homemade gift that will not be forgotten! These bath bombs are of course super fizzy and sweet smelling, and it’s guaranteed to lift your spirits after even the most stressful day. Start with baking soda and epsom salt for detoxification, then add in essential oils of Orange and a grated orange rind to infuse the water with natural fragrance.

Use a cool shape mold instead of the usual ball shape bath bombs – we love stars! – wrap it up pretty, and you’ll have a lovely gift.

Here is the recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 cup baking soda
• 3/4 cup arrowroot powder
• 1/2 cup citric acid
• 1/2 cup epsom salt
• The grated rind of an orange dried out in the oven for 10 minutes
• 1/4 teaspoon edible powder or mica (orange color)
• 1/4 teaspoon jojoba oil
• 50 drops sweet orange essential oil
• Witch Hazel in a spray bottle

How to:

• Sift the powders into a bowl, and use a whisk to mix them up.
• Add the grated orange rind.
• In a separate small bowl, mix the jojoba and essential oils.
• Add them in the powders a drop at a time; you may have to massage them in with your
  hands to make sure they are distributed evenly in the powders.
• Put some witch hazel in the spray bottle and spritz one at a time to help hold your
  ingredients together. Do not over spray.
• Compact your preparation into silicon molds of your choice and set aside overnight.
• Carefully pop each fizzy out of the mold and they’re ready to use in a relaxing bath!

3. Sparkling Lip Balm

Give your favorite people the homemade gift of soft, supple lips this holiday season. Add a little – or a lot – of glitter and you’ll have a beautiful sparkling smile. This is a soft, creamy lip balm that is best packaged in small tins or containers.

Here is the recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon shea butter
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 tablespoon beeswax pastilles
• 1 tablespoon jojoba oil
• 1 tablespoon castor oil
• 25-30 drops of spearmint or peppermint essential oil
• 1 teaspoon of pink or red edible glitter (find it in the bakery section of your grocery store)

How to:

• Using a double boiler, melt the beeswax, shea butter and coconut oil
• Take them off the heat, then slowly pour in the jojoba and castor oils, stirring well
• Add the essential oils and glitter, and while stirring, pour your preparation into small lip balm
  containers. Pour them soon after melting the ingredients since beeswax will start to solidify
  fairly quickly.
• Leave the containers uncovered for about 2 hours, then place a lid on them, they are ready
  to use!

4. Mint + Orange Soap

Soap making doesn’t have to be intimidating: take out the hassle by starting with a shea butter or goat milk melt & pour soap base, then add the additional ingredients. We chose Mint + Orange soap, it is easy to pull together. Break out colorings, scents and fun molds to make it real crowd pleaser.

Here is the recipe

Ingredients:

• 8 oz shea butter soap base (also called melt & pour soap base)
• The grated rind of one orange
• 20 drops of orange essential oil
• 20 drops of peppermint or spearmint essential oil
• Orange soap colorant (available at craft stores)

How to:

• Melt the soap base in a microwave at 10 second intervals
• When all the soap is melted, pour in the orange zest and your scent of choice and stir.
• Without delay, pour the soap into your molds
• Add one drop of colorant in each soap mold, then swirl it around with a toothpick to give the
  soap a cool “marbled” look
• Set aside for a few hours until the soaps are solid
• Pop your soaps out of the molds and they are ready to package and give out as gifts

5. Candy Cane Body Butter

Ever wondered what a candy cane would be like in lotion form? Now you’ll know. This luxurious body butter smells just like the holidays, plus its soft, creamy consistency and nutrient-rich ingredients make it a joy to use.

Here is the recipe

Ingredients:

• 5 oz shea butter
• 2 oz coconut oil
• 1.4 oz jojoba oil
• 1.4 oz almond oil
• 40 drops peppermint essential oil
• 40 drops vanilla oil in jojoba

How to:

• Place the shea butter and coconut oil in a double boiler and melt everything slowly.
• Take off the heat and stir in the jojoba oil and almond oils
• Let the mixture cool at room temperature for about 2 hours, or until you get a trace in it
  when you stir it.
• Add the peppermint and vanilla oils.
• Whip with an electric mixer for 2 minutes while still liquid, then place in the fridge for 1-2 hours until firm but not completely solid.
• Whip it for 60 seconds, until it becomes soft and whipped.
• Scoop your whipped body butter into final containers and seal

6. Rosemary and Sage Hair & Beard Balm

Give your favorite fella or special someone a thoughtful homemade gift. This hair and beard balm conditions the hair with jojoba and castor oils and relieves itchiness using shea butter and beeswax. Play around with essential oils to create a nice, warm scent. Rosemary, sage, pine, eucalyptus and cedarwood are some of the scents we recommend.

Here is the recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon shea butter
• 2 teaspoons beeswax (either grate your beeswax or use pastilles)
• 1 teaspoon jojoba oil
• 1 teaspoon castor oil
• 10 drops pine essential oil
• 5 drops rosemary essential oil
• 5 drops lavender essential oil (note: you can substitute the 3 essential oils above with 20
  drops of any essential oils of your choice)

How to

• Using a double boiler, melt the beeswax and shea butter.
• When almost completely melted, add the jojoba and castor oil and stir.
• When all oils are melted and evenly mixed together, take off the heat, then add the
  essential oils.
• Quickly pour into metal tins or other suitable containers and let it harden at room
  temperature – preferably 12-24 hours.

7. Holiday Room Mist

Instead of lighting up a synthetically scented candle, how about spritzing a homemade, personalized Room Mist around the house? Add water, a little glycerin, and whatever essential oils you fancy, put a bow on your bottle and voila’, holiday is in the air!

Here is the recipe

Ingredients:

• 3.5 oz Purified water
• 0.5 oz glycerin
• 30 drops rosemary essential oil
• 20 drops peppermint essential oil
• 4 oz bottle with sprayer

How to

• Put water, glycerin and the essential oils in a bottle, shake and spray around the room.
  Told you it was easy!

8. Lavender Body Mousse

Give someone the homemade gift that they will cherish: a luxuriously whipped body butter – so fluffy that it’s like a mousse. Crafted with unrefined, pure and cold pressed butters and oils, and made to sparkle with some pink edible glitter, here is a classic Better Shea Butter recipe.

Here is the recipe

Ingredients:

• 2.5 oz shea butter
• 1 oz coconut oil
• .7 oz almond oil
• .7 oz apricot oil
• 30 drops lavender essential oil
• 10 drops neroli essential oil
• 1 teaspoon pink edible glitter (normally used for cake decorating)

How to

• Using a double boiler, gently melt the unrefined shea butter and coconut oil,
  stirring frequently.
• When almost completely melted, add the almond and apricot oils, stir well and take off the
  heat.
• Set it aside for about 2 hours or until your mixture is 90 degrees Fahrenheit or lower.
• Now, add the lavender and neroli oils. Adding essential oils to a hot mixture will “kill” the
  essence and you will wonder why you have to add so much to your recipes.
• Let the mixture sit at room temperature for another 2 hours, or until you can see a trace in
  the mixture when you stir.
• It’s now time to whip it with an electric mixer, do it for 2-3 minutes.
• Put it in the fridge overnight. Take it out of the fridge and let it sit there for about 2 hours or
  until it reaches room temperature.
• Now, whip one more time for about 1 minute, then scoop the whipped butter in a zip lock
  bag, cut a small corner off the bottom, then squeeze the butter in your final container.

9. Lip Scrub (LUSH hack)

Did you know that lipstick lasts up to ten times longer on top of clean, well-scrubbed lips? Whether you use a bright lipstick or a nude lip gloss, your canvas (aka lips) needs to be clean and smooth to absorb the color properly. Here’s a simple lip scrub recipe, inspired by Lush’s Santa Baby lip scrub.

Here is the recipe

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons castor sugar (to make castor sugar, take any sugar and put it in a nut blender
  for just 1 second. You want the granules to be smaller than regular sugar, but bigger than
  powdered sugar)
• 2 teaspoons jojoba oil
• 2 teaspoons coconut oil
• 1/4 teaspoon glycerin
• 1/2 teaspoon red edible glitter
• 15 drops of spearmint essential oil

How to

• Melt the coconut oil, then add jojoba and glycerin and mix well.
• Add the essential oils
• In a separate bowl, mix the castor sugar with the red edible glitter until it all looks nice and
  uniform.
• Pour the liquid into the sugar and mix, mix, mix.
• If you want, you can add ONE drop of red food coloring to intensify the color of the lip scrub,
  however too much food coloring may stain your lips.
• Use on your lips for a gentle scrub to make them beautifully silky!

10. Glittery Lotion Bars

Lotion bars are the new trend for those who wish to have a thin layer of moisturizer applied without the mess. A perfect homemade gift.  These are packaging-free, which helps the environment, and are easier to use than lotions: just glide the bar on your clean skin and voila’, you are moisturized. These bars have food-grade glitter added in for extra sparkles and glow, perfect for a night out.

Here is the recipe

Ingredients:

• 3.5 oz cocoa butter
• .5 oz shea butter
• .01 oz gold mica
• 15 drops lavender essential oil
• 10 drops chamomile essential oil
  or use 30 drops total of your essential oils of choice

How to

• Over a double boiler, melt the cocoa butter and shea butter
• Stir in the gold mica
• Take off the heat and set it aside until it cools off to 90 degrees Fahrenheit or lower
• Add the essential oils
• Pour them in your mold of choice and set them aside for several hours to completely solidify
• Pop them out of the molds and glide them on your body just like you use a lip balm. They will leave your skin soft and moisturized.

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