Homemade Eau de Cologne recipe

We love natural cosmetics and always make our own creams and lotions.During the summer we made a lovely and light Eau de Cologne with few herbs and spices.This recipe is from James Wong's fabulous book: Grown your own drugs.

Cologne and all other liquid scents are simply a mixture of fragrant oils and alcohol .You too can create your own favourite signature scent if you start to experiment with this recipe. Best is to make it in summer when  fresh flowers and herbs are available.

It's important to test homemade cologne before you actually use it. Not only do you want to experience the full scent, you need to check for any allergic reactions. Apply a small amount of cologne to a patch of skin on your arm. Wait 24 hours to check for any adverse reactions. If no reactions are noted, the cologne is safe to use.

You'll need:

• enough vodka /80% proof or 40% alcohol/
• handfuls of fresh basil,lavender and lemon balm
• Other herbs you can use: rosemary,mint,sage
• few fresh pansies (viola tricolor)
• peel of 1/4 organic lemon or organic orange or both if you like citrus smell.
• Spices you can add:cardamom, aniseed, cinnamon

To create a light and refreshing cologne, roughly chop your basil, lavender ,lemon balm along with your other chioce of herbs and the add the chopped lemon or orange peel in a wide mouthed jar.Cover with vodka and seal your jar.Leave to steep in dark warm place for 12 hours to capture volatile oils.Do not leave in your herbs and lemon or orange peel longer.

Next day strain and leave your infused vodka to 'mature' for 2weeks.After you can make a decision about scent- you can put in your jar more herbs and leave them again in the vodka for 12 hours or overnight then strain.

If you would like to add some spices ,these can be infused now. Add only a small amount and leave to infuse for 2weeks, shaking the bottle well once a week and after strain again.Once you're happy with the scent, pour into spray bottles.Your all natural Eau de Cologne will keep for up to 1year.

Homemade Playdough Tutorial Scented with Natural Extracts and Spices

It's really easy and fun to make your own non-toxic playdough and then customize it with food coloring or natural ingredients.

♥ Basic recipe:
2 Cups of Flour
2 Cups of Water
1 Cup of Salt
2 TBSP of Sunflower or other cheap cooking oil
2 Tbsp of Cream of Tartar

Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl or better already in your old pan, and stir over low heat. The dough will begin to thicken until it resembles mashed potatoes.

When the dough pulls away from the sides and clumps in the center, remove the pan from heat and allow the dough to cool enough to handle.

IMPORTANT NOTE: if your playdough is still sticky, you simply need to cook it longer!
Keep stirring until the dough looks and feels like playdough.

Divide your playdough into 4 parts:

♥For WHITE PLAYDOUGH: Make up basic recipe then at the end knead in a few drops of natural vanilla extract.Add food coloring, glitter, extracts, etc. AFTER the dough has cooled. The colour and scents won't "take" as well when the dough is hot/very warm.

♥For YELLOW PLAYDOUGH: Make up basic recipe then at the end knead in 2 teaspoons of turmeric mixed in a 2Tbsp of boiled water and a few drops of natural lemon extract.

♥For LIGHT BROWN PLAYDOUGH: Make up basic recipe then at the end knead in 2 teaspoons of cocoa powder and for more scent and color add some ground cinnamon.

♥For RED PLAYDOUGH: Make up basic recipe then at the end knead in 5-6 drops of red food colouring and add if you have a few drops of natural almond extract.

PLEASE REMEMBER:
• This recipe is for a non-edible playdough.
• Allergy warning -Almond essence contains nuts
• Please remember natural dyes can stain…so make sure you wear an apron or your old top!
• Don’t let your little one/s anywhere near hot or boiling water.
• Finally, in our experience playdough always sticks to the pan. However if you soak the pan in cold water for five minutes it comes off quite quickly.
•When it comes to storing the dough, we find it best to keep it in a Ziploc container or bag in the refrigerator. In this way it'll last months.