Get Kamfortable

DIY Natural Whipped Coconut Oil for Skin and Hair

03.19.17

I’m back again with a super easy DIY natural whipped coconut oil that you can use for your skin and hair. I’ve decided to do a series of spa/skin care/beauty related DIY natural products that you can easily make at home on a budget!

This week it’s just coconut oil that you can whip up and use to apply to your skin and hair. Everyone knows coconut oil is amazing for your skin and hair and I’m sure a lot of you use it on a weekly basis one way or another.

But, the most annoying thing to me is coconut oil in my home is usually located in the kitchen, because we often use it in baking and cooking (for good reason, because I LOVE coconut everything). But, because it’s usually located in the kitchen, it means it’s in that big tub that it comes in. So when you want to use it for your hair or skin, it means getting a spoon and taking out a bit of the coconut oil by digging your arm way into the container (which also involves getting oil on your arms and clothes), before finally putting it into a bowl to heat up a little bit. Because, usually the coconut oil is so hard, it needs to be softened enough to put onto your hair and skin. This whole process I go through every week when I want to put coconut oil onto my hair and it’s super annoying!! All for just getting a little bit of coconut oil into my skin.

But, not anymore! Because when you whip up coconut oil, you can keep it in a little container in your washroom and it’s the perfect consistency for using as a lotion for your skin and perfect for applying to your scalp!

And all you literally do is whip it up using a Kitchen Aid (or something similar) and put some drops of essential oils and place the contents into a glass jar! Easy peasy!

And all you do is soak up the benefits. I particularly love coconut oil for its benefits for hair, especially for promoting hair growth and preventing breakage. It also helps with fighting against dandruff and adds softness and shine to the hair. It is a winner for hair growth and I love the smell of it!!

But, coconut oil also has many benefits to the skin, including being an excellent moisturizer, but I’m sure most of you knew that. Coconut oil is solid at room temperature, but as soon as you apply it to your skin, it melts right in, without leaving any clumps. You can apply it to your arms and legs as well as your face! The one interesting property I learned as I was researching coconut oil, is that it has antimicrobial properties. This is because coconut oil is composed of lauric acid (a fatty chain that makes up 85% of coconut oil) that acts as the antibacterial agent. And finally, coconut oil has an SPF of 4, which isn’t much at all, but applying coconut oil everyday can provide some sun protection. Coconut oil is an antioxidant that soaks up the free radicals that the UV rays of the sun trigger, preventing further DNA damage.

Coconut oil is a hair and skin winner!

INGREDIENTS

1 cup coconut oil (food grade)

3-5 tsp of essential oil of choice (I like citrus-y ones)

DIRECTIONS

Scoop out 1 cup of room temperature coconut oil (should be solid).

Add your essential oil of choice and whip up using the whip attachment of your Kitchen Aid (or whatever else you use to whip things at home).

Whip for at least one minute, until softened and fluffy.

Place in a clean, glass container to enjoy.

Kamfy Living

DIY Bath Salts in Test Tubes

03.12.17

Today, I am back with another DIY project for DIY Bath Salts. And I am so happy with how it turned out and how easy it was!

So, on my birthday, I received a bunch of bath bombs from Lush and have been taking advantage of them by taking a bath once a week! I also have been adding Epsom Salts to the baths because I’ve heard a lot of people talk about them and my massage therapist recommended them to me as well. After a quick google search, I learned that Epsom salts are named after a spring in England and is not actually a salt, but a mineral: magnesium sulfate, which is really good at improving absorption of nutrients, flushing toxins, reducing inflammation and easing headaches. I’m not sure about the easing headaches property (because fortunately, I don’t get headaches too often), but they are AMAZING at flushing toxins and providing relief to muscles because they have seriously worked wonders for me.

That’s why in this post I will be writing about an easy DIY using Epsom salts that you can use when you take a bath: DIY Bath Salts!!

They just contains three ingredients: Epsom Salts, sea salt and baking soda. You can add essential oils for added benefit, but I just added lavender seeds for scent.

So, a little more about the benefits of Epsom salts. Magnesium and sulfate are both easily absorbed through the skin and play role in the body including regulating enzyme activity, reducing inflammation, muscle relaxation and flushing toxins. Because both are so easily absorbed through the body, they make an ideal mineral to add to a bath.

The second ingredient added to the DIY bath salt is baking soda, which also has some beneficial properties and is safe and inexpensive, perfect to add to a bath to soak in more more health benefits. Baking soda is good at detoxifying your body by neutralizing your body. It also helps relieving pain from yeast infections and discomforts in the genital area including soothing irritated and itchy skin. The other amazing thing about using baking soda in a bath is that it doesn’t leave any residue in the bath tub, making your skin feel clean and soft!

The last ingredient for the bath salt is sea salt which also has many health benefits. This is because it contains several minerals including potassium which helps to balance skin moisture; bromide which helps reduce muscle pain; and sodium which helps with circulation.

Each of these ingredients on their own has amazing benefits and you could potentially take a bath with each alone. However, we will go above and beyond and soak in all of their benefits by combining them in this recipe, which is super easy!

INGREDIENTS

1 cup Epsom Salts

1/2 cup baking soda

1/4 cup sea salt

2 tbsp lavender seeds

2-4 drops of essential oil (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Combine all ingredients in a bowl using a fork.

Using a funnel, pour the bath salt mixture into your container, I used test tubes which you can find on Amazon.

To use, draw a bath and pour the contents of the test tube into the bath.

Relax, enjoy, and soak up the benefits.

To gift: add some decorative Washi tape and tie a ribbon!

Kamfy Living

Monthly Favorites – February Favorites

03.05.17

February is over and with that comes monthly favorites time!! February is probably one of my favorite months because my birthday and Valentine’s Day fall in this month and it’s the shortest month of the year and goes by super quickly. February for me this year was an okay month because I was thinking about my family a lot this month. But, because it was my birthday month, there were quite a few freebies that I got this month that definitely got added to my favorites list. Read till the end for some amazing birthday freebies you can get as well!

BOOK

The Emperor’s Soul: Surprise surprise, another Brandon Sanderson book! I love this author so so much! So far, every book I have read of his has been amazing. One thing I love about his writing is, you can pick off wherever you stopped reading, and immediately get sucked into the world of the book! This particular book is another stand alone book and it literally took me 2 day to read (3 hrs total). So, if you’re looking for a book to see if you would like Brandon Sanderson books, this one is a great one to start!

PODCAST

Pod Save America: I think this podcast through Crooked Media is just a couple months old and I love it. One of the hosts was the former speech writer for Barack Obama and the guests that come on this podcast are often people who have some sort of connection to the White House or have worked there in the past. The hosts are hilarious and are always updating everyone on what Donald Trump is up to. It’s a really good podcast about American politics and I really have been learning a lot and been keeping up to date as to what’s happening in politics. Highly recommend!

APP

Flipp: OMG guys!! How come I have never heard of this app before?!! It’s amazing!! If you haven’t’ heard of it before, it’s an app that helps save on groceries. It has all the weekly flyers as well as coupons you can clip, print and use to save money. I learned about it from a cashier at Walmart when Gursheel and I went grocery shopping. Our mom had given us a stack of flyers to use to price match some groceries (because FYI, Walmart does price matching). It was so funny, when we got to the cash register, we kept saying to the cashier we had a flyer to price match, but it took us forever to find the item, because different items were on different flyers. It was such a mess. Good thing there was no one behind us and the cashier was patient with us. That’s when she told us about Flipp. Basically, you can create a grocery list on the app, and when it comes time to price match, you just search the item and all the flyers that have that item will pop up and you can just show that to the cashier to price match any item. It’s amazing and we have been saving quite a bit of time and money! Super easy to use!

FOOD

Aloo Parathas: I had to include this as a favorite because I’m honestly impressed with myself as to how amazing these parathay were! If you haven’t checked out the blog post, check it out and try making them! They are delicious and definitely a February favorite!

ITEM

Brass plant mister: Gursheel and I have three plants: a bonsai tree (Mr. Bonsai), and two cacti (Gutti and Porcupine) and we bought a new terranium for Porcupine, but it was quite hard to water it. Sooo.. we bought this beautiful plant mister on ebay (see link) and it’s the cheapest one I’ve seen anywhere! It’s useful because it helps us water Porcupine and it makes a beautiful decorative item as well!

SKIN CARE

Smith’s Rosebud Salve: This smells so good!! Normally I use Vaseline on my lips when they are dry but I thought I’d try something new. I got this from Chapter’s and I’ve been loving it. It smells good and hydrates my lips, although the price of $9 is quite high. I bought this with a rewards card I had for $10. Although I do love this, I wouldn’t buy it for myself. I think it makes an amazing gift though!

BIRTHDAY FREEBIES

Booster Juice: If you sign up for a newsletter, they will send you an email on your birthday for a free regular sized smoothie! This is an awesome freebie because a smoothie normally costs around $7!
Starbucks free drink: Starbucks gives you a free drink around your birthday for having a Starbucks account. Any size, any drink. Awesome freebie.
Second Cup: if you are signed up for their rewards program they give you 500 points around your birthday, which is enough for any size any drink.
Body Shop: If you have a body shop rewards card, you can get $10 towards a purchase in your birthday month! I got my rewards card for free, but it normally costs $10 and gives you tons of discounts!

That’s all for this week! Hope you have an amazing March 🙂