Bohemian Kate

Homemade Leave In Conditioner

Sometimes things are so damn easy that I have to scratch my head and wonder why...why we has humans, have to make things so complicated?  Of course there are bigger problems in the the world than the status of our hair (right?), but this is what got me thinking about it.  Leave in conditioner.  Have tried a ton of them.  Some worked, some didn't.  Most have a load of ingredients that I can't pronounce and have no idea what they are.  Well, here's something really easy that has worked well for me.  Three ingredients.  That's it.

Ingredients:

• Olive oil
• Baobab oil
• Argan oil

Directions:

• In a glass container mix 80% olive oil to 10% baobab and 10% argan oil.
• Apply a small amount to toweled dried damp hair after using your regular shampoo and conditioner.  Don't go overboard, a little goes a long way.  Style as usual.

Yup, that's it.  The simpler the better I think.  Why these three oils?  Argan and baobab oils are super moisturizing for hair and I like to mix it with olive oil that is also moisturizing, yet light.  It doesn't leave an oily residue,  it just give your hair a nice sheen.  I always apply it on my hair when it's damp because when your hair is wet, it's able to absorb better.  Also, if you wanted just a little extra sheen you could try applying it to dry hair, but just a tiny bit!  I usually pour a little in my hands, rub them together and gently pat my hair with it.  If you have drier, thicker hair (I have pretty fine hair) you may need a little more.

You can buy all these oils at my most favorite store and affiliate, Mountain Rose Herbs.  Let me know what you think.  I've been using this combo for a while now and I can't see myself going back to a traditional store bought leave in conditioner.

xoxo...Kate

How to Wash Your Face with Honey

A while back I did a post on the benefits of using honey as a facial wash.  It has been one of my most popular posts.  However, to this day I still get questions about how to actually wash your face with honey.  This is my own fault for not explaining clearly enough what the process is.  So today I thought I'd do a little update with clear instructions on exactly how to do it.  Easy as pie my friends.

• First wet your face like you normally would before washing your face.  This step is really important.  If you put honey on dry skin, it will be sticky and not able to glide over your skin like a normal facial wash or soap.
• Scoop out a little honey and wash your face with the honey like you would an actual soap. You don't need to add anything to the honey, it dissolves once it touches water making it easy to move around and not sticky. 
• After washing, thoroughly rinse off your face with cold water.  Any honey that hasn't been rinsed off will feel sticky on your face once it dries.  Rinsing with cold water instead of hot helps your skin retain it's moisture.
• Then softly pat dry and apply whatever moisturizer you normally use (check out my magical eye oil and coconut oil for ideas on homemade moisturizer recipes).

Most people find that the honey leaves their skin super soft.  This whole process of washing my face takes me about 2 minutes.  I don't leave the honey on for long amounts of time (then it would be more of a mask).  It's a very simple process!

To learn about the benefits of honey, check out my previous post Honey Facial Wash.

As always, let me know if you have any questions either by leaving a comment or emailing me at kate@bohemiankate.com.

xoxo...Kate

Where I Buy My Natural Beauty Ingredients

I receive a lot of questions and emails regarding where I buy the ingredients for all my natural beauty recipes.  The truth is I'm pretty brand loyal to one company that I think is the bomb. I'm super picky about the ingredients I use and truth be told, I don't trust a lot of the brands out there.  However, I am completely sold (and have been for years now) on now one of my favorite stores ever, Mountain Rose Herbs.  Love them!

They are only online and believe you me,  you could spend hours looking through the huge selection they have of oils, butters, herbs, teas, spices...the list goes on and on.  And their site is really pretty too.  And don't even get me started on their catalog (which according to them is so clean it can be composted..and it's lovely to boot). 

But what I love the most about them is that they completely stand behind their product.  None of the stuff they sell uses any sort of pesticides or chemicals, even if it's not organic.  I found this out because I actually emailed them when something I wanted to get didn't have the organic label on it and I was nervous that it meant it may have pesticides or other chemicals.  Well they actually emailed me back (good customer service) and explained how they source their products.  Instead having me trying to explain it, I think they do a better job of it, so here it is straight from their site:

"Mountain Rose Herbs incorporates its passion for organics into every fiber and thread of its operational foundation.  Currently we offer one of the most thorough selections of certified organic herbs, spices and botanicals today, and contrary to other companies who will supply both an organic and conventional variety, organics remain our first and only choice regardless of price or profit! We will never stock a non-organic item if an organic one is available, nor will we offer our customers material which has been conventionally grown using synthetic substances. In the event that certified organic material is not available, we opt for material which was cultivated without chemicals or harvested in the wild, thus liberating ourselves from commercial farming dependencies, and all of these materials have been meticulously analyzed in the lab for both chemical and pesticide residues."

I'm in love with this company and hands down, once you get to know them, you will be too.  I would only recommend products that I truly believe in (my loyal readers know that it's rare that I actually recommend products in general...I'm pretty picky).  There are those rare occasions that I will need something fast and will have to go to the local health food store to pick something up.  However, 95% of all the ingredients I use are from Mountain Rose Herbs.  I'm kind of in love with them.

To be honest, I've been an affiliate for them for awhile now, but just rarely talk about it.  But these days I'm trying to be a better business woman and since so many of you are asking where I get my ingredients, I'd thought I'd let you know.  I love helping you guys out with any natural beauty questions you have and I would love to have even more time to do it!  When you buy your ingredients through my affiliate link, it helps me out a little bit more in being able to do that.  Of course no pressure, but if you are interested in buying from MRH via Bohemian Kate, I have an affiliate link that's always on the side bar and as well as the text links in this article.  And thank you in advance for your support and help!

By the way if you have any natural beauty questions, be sure to email at kate@bohemiankate.com and sign up for my newsletter on the side bar.  Or leave a comment on this post!

Back to the ingredients...I usually get my little mason jars from the local hardware store, they sell them in packs of 10 or 12.  I get those little amber bottles that you see in a lot of my posts from Mountain Rose Herbs. 

I think that's it, but if I'm missing anything, please let me know.  In the upcoming weeks I'll be sharing how to make a cleansing oil,  a toner and my deep hair conditioning experiment.

xoxo...Kate