My perfect evening is making being in my kitchen, listening to old time hardcore music, and getting serious with my DIY recipes; I was thrilled when my favorite essential oil company, Aura Cacia announced a DIY Night to launch their new blended oils, which would involve teaching all the attendees how to make hand lotion, foot scrubs, and other yummy natural beauty recipes. Hmm, my favorite company, my favorite pasttime, and cocktails? Please, as if I was ever going to miss out on this event. The only other time an evening so perfect presented itself to me was when I was in 8th grade and my parents told me I could go to the first Black Sabbath reunion tour, I was on cloud 9, thrashing around in my kitchen. I pretty much did the same thing when I heard about this DIY Night.
Let me start off by telling you why this company in particular made the evening of DIY beauty even more powerful. Before the event, I had the chance to speak with Anne Rierson, Aura Cacia's PR Manager and Jennifer Ferring, Aura Cacia's Commodity Manager. As with anytime I've conversed with Aura Cacia, our phone call lasted well over an hour while we discussed our favorite blends, hilarious DIY disasters (mostly mine), and the importance of purity in natural skincare.
Aura Cacia is part of the Frontier Group, with co-op members like Whole Foods, Vitamin Shoppe, small retailers, and recently, Rite Aid. Together, they are focused on the quality and purity of essential oils through protecting the people they work with and the planet. Instead of going to places like Senegal, snagging baobab oil and leaving, the Frontier Group worked to outfit farming tools. They've built preschools in Madagascar, helped develop a women's cooperative with the talented women who make Argan oil, and are constantly looking at the longevity of the relationship they have with farmers around the globe.To put it simple, I like to think of the Frontier Group as the Trader Joe's of essential oil. You aren't going to be purchasing an oil that hasn't been made at a fair wage and passed the purity test with the Group. You can literally smell the purity and the social justice in every bottle of essential oil.
The DIY Night revealed several new products for me to obsess over. The Body Care blends come in Indulge, Comfort, Renew, and Freshen. Aura Cacia also featured their new body wipes, which are perfect for the upcoming heat. They come in scents labeled Calm, Balance, and Focus, which is basically everything you want when you are smelling, well, not so fresh. You can purchase these and the Frontier Group's extensive line of products through their website or with any of their co-op members. The event wasn't just for sniffing the new blends though; we tried three amazing DIY recipes that were totally easy to make.
My favorite DIY recipe from the event was the soothing hand gel, made completely refreshing by Aura Cacia's new blend "Renew," definitely my favorite of the blends. Nearly every hand sanitizer I've ever used has felt like I was rubbing my skin off, so this gentle hand gel is a great alternative to those not-so-friendly sanitizers we keep in our bags.
Soothing Hand Gel
You'll need the following to make a new soothing hand gel:
- 1/8 cup of aloe vera gel
- 1/8 cup of water
- 2 teaspoons of vegetable glycerin
- 1/2 teaspoon of sweet almond oil (I used jojoba oil as a substitute, since I have a nut allergy)
- 29 drops of Renew essential oil blend
- 2 drops of tea tree oil
- 2 oz bottle
Filling up the two ounce bottle with your ingredients, saving the essential oils for last. Once complete, shake your bottle vigorously. Your new hand gel will last longer in a tinted bottle and double as a hand sanitizer. Once you've gotten that DIY beauty bug, you'll never want to stop. I promise.
Image: Kristin Collins Jackson
