Eight Acres

Since we got our own bee hives I've been able to enjoy the many benefits of bees.  Honey, improved pollination and lots of beeswax (and the occasional bee sting).  I was excited to receive a review copy of  The Beeswax Workshop: How to Make Your Own Natural Candles, Cosmetics, Cleaners, Soaps, Healing Balms and More , by of Chris Dalziel (Affiliate link).  This book came at a good time, we have harvested honey several times and have rather a lot of beeswax to use up (see my post about how to refine beeswax ).  As you know, I already use beeswax in salves , lip balm and honey and oatmeal soap .  The Beeswax Workshop takes that even further, instructions for making everything from candles, to foodwraps, lotions and wooden cutting board polish...  I've made a list of all the projects that I want to try, but it was the cutting board polish that stood out. We have a collection of wood cutting boards, having retired a set of nasty plasti...

I've been making my lip balms with macadamia oil and beeswax (peppermint, lavender and honey flavours), but in winter, they just aren't strong enough!  I get really dry and sore lips in winter, so I need a heavier soothing lip balm for cold and windy weather. I decided to try this recipe from The Nerdy Farmwife for a soothing chamomile lip balm.  It uses chamomile infused oil (I used olive oil) and castor oil (which is heavier than macadamia oil) and peppermint essential oil.  The chamomile is soothing, while the peppermint gives you a nice tingle like blistex.  I have been trying to grow chamomile, but no luck so far, so I used dried chamomile (actually it was pure chamomile tea from Tea2). Making an infused oil is very easy.  Just put your herbs in a jar of oil and leave them for a few weeks, then strain out the herbs.   For my herbal salve I use comfrey, chickweed and calendula petals.  Other herbs that are good for skin include borage, y...

After my success using neem oil to control insects around the farm and to cure my toenail fungus ( how I use neem oil ), I did a lot of reading about neem oil and I was keen to try to harness its properties as an anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory  to help heal skin.  Neem oil itself is a bit of a pain to use, as it goes solid in cold temperatures, liquid when it warms up and it never seems to stay in the bottle.  I have tried to take neem oil insect repellent on holiday and ended up with it spilled through my bag.  Luckily it does seem to wash out, but I thought it would be easier to use in a more solid form. I came up with a couple of solutions.  First I made a soap with 25% neem oil.  It smells like neem oil, but I am getting used to the smell.  Its kind of nutty and pungent.  I gave some of this soap to a friend of North African origins and she thought it smelt nice, so maybe it depends which spices you've grown up with!  This s...

Recently I started offering my handmade soaps and salves for sale on Etsy. I really just wanted to share with others the products that I make and use every day.  Since then I have had a few questions, so I thought I should explain more about the soaps and salves that I make.  It seems that soap has a bad reputation, but I think its all you need to use.  Keep reading to see how you can get my soap at a discount.... I keep thinking about when one of my uni friends went to a dermatologist to get a prescription for roacutane (for acne). She was on the drug for several months, and at the end her skin was perfect. The dermatologist told her to simply wash her face with soap and water. I was horrified! I had a morning and evening routine involving soap-free cleanser, toner, moisturizer and various other beauty “must dos”. Now I just splash my face with water in the shower once a day, and I really can’t see the difference. The strangest thing is that I often see in women...