Don't worry you are not the only one who forgot to get your mum something... do you want an easy, cheap, but luxurious fix?
For this recipe you will need three things.

1. 2 cups of Epsom Salt
2. Peppermint Essential oil (or the essential oil your mom will enjoy the best)
3. A jar/ container

Directions

1. Add Epsom Salt to container of choice
2. Drop in 15-20 drops of the essential oil you choose
3. Place lid on container
4. Shake to mix

Feel free to print off the label above and place on the jar you choose to use!

If you are looking for a few more easy gifts to pair together try these

• 3 Ingrediant Sugar Scrub

• 2 Ingredient Air Freshener

I hope all of you lovely Mother's out there have an amazing day with your children. My mom wanted family portraits made for her Mother's Day.. so I guess I'll be saying "cheese" all afternoon!

Do you know of any quick home made gifts that mom would love? Let me know in the comments section below & Thanks for reading! 

Two of the most common household ingredients have kept me from being stuck in the bed over the last few days. I figured I should share the results of taking Cinnamon and Honey for the common cold here with you all.


First of all, don't you love my tiny glass bowl in the photos! =D

Back to the topic at hand: I noticed Sunday night that I had a cold coming on, when I had to take a nap between going to IKEA and watching Game of Thrones I knew something was wrong.

The good news is that I have been relatively healthy since I started my all natural journey; with the exception of the occasional kidney stone giving me trouble and one bladder infection I have not been sick since December of 2012.

When I felt this cold coming on I knew what to do immediately and I ran.. slumped rather.. into the kitchen and mixed up this age old remedy.

Yes, I was hit hard with this cold and spent most of the day Monday in the bed. I continued to take the cinnamon and honey 3x a day and now, on Tuesday, I have enough energy to work, take photos & blog about my cold, and catch up on all that I have missed while being sick on Monday.

I'm still taking the mixture of Honey and Cinnamon and I will continue to do so until all symptoms have passed but I can assure you that I've never gotten over a cold this quickly.

Do you use Honey and Cinnamon when you have colds? What else do you use this mixture for? Let me know in the comments section below!

Don't forget to enter the giveaway for a chance to win a copy of my book (giveaway ends 5/9/2014). 

Remember: "Sharing is Caring" use the tiny social media buttons below to share this info with your friends!

Thanks for reading! -Kayla

**Update 02/18/2018: While I fully believe in the power of honey and cinnamon I would strongly suggest that you visit your doctor for a diagnosis when you are feeling symptoms of a cold. It could be a cold, it could be something else. I would hate for you to think that you have a cold and actually have bronchitis!**

What is it? How is it used? Wait.. is this bbq charcoal?

Hello wonderful reader! I would love to introduce you to my dear friend Activated Charcoal!




This is not the same thing that you use on your grill. It is carbon that has been activated to increase its adsorption.

Adsorption, to explain simply, is the process of one substance attracting/ catching another substance (in this case a toxin) to remove it from a given surface.

Typically Activated Charcoal is used for dietary purposes as a laxative or aid for food poisoning. It is great to have on hand and you can even put it on snake bites to pull out the poison.

How I use it:

When I began my natural journey I threw away all of my makeup. I used to love eyeliner and mascara.. but I gave it all up in the name of a toxic free, all new me!

For eyeliner I carefully open one of the capsules and store it in a small plastic container. I lightly wet the end of an eyeliner brush and apply. Activated charcoal works great as eyeliner and comes off easily as well.

Mascara.. ah the fights I have fought with myself over the perfect mascara recipe.. after many wasted attempts, where I end up with more on my cheeks than my eyelashes, I have finally won the battle! :)

I only make this recipe in tiny amounts because now that I have gotten used to life without make up I rarely wear it. So when I have an occasion where I want to wear mascara I mix:

1 part bentonite clay, 1 part activated charcoal, 1 part vegetable glycerin & mix. Because I use tiny amounts at a time 1 part is equal to one capsule of activated charcoal.

Beauty Mask: This is super simple, and effective. Activated charcoal works wonders for purifying your skin. This mask may look scary but it really pulls out the bacteria and toxins hiding in your pores and makes your skin smooth.

Mix 1 capsule of activated charcoal with 1/8 cup of rose water, or regular water.. your call. Apply to your face, leave for 3-5 minutes and wash off.

Oral Hygiene: Many bloggers have talked about how well activated charcoal works as an all natural teeth whitener.(The picture above is for added entertainment, and because I'm cool like that!)

I had to try it, and now I'm hooked!

It's simple too; just open a capsule, wet your toothbrush, dip your toothbrush in the activated charcoal powder and brush your teeth. I like to leave the activated charcoal in my mouth for a minute or two and swish it around before I spit it out. Then brush your teeth as normal. Hopefully with hemp-paste! ;) I use this method once every two weeks or so. If I have an event or night out planned I will use it before I leave the house that day.

Tips for using activated charcoal:

First, it will make a mess if you buy it in the capsule form and open a new capsule each time. Why do I use the capsules then? Let's just say I've cried over my fair share of spilled ingredients/ makeup before and I would rather have a little mess than a dustpan full of it!

The solution here is simple, lay out a paper towel and try to bust open the end, don't pull the capsule apart just bust one of the ends. If you have any small jars laying around or even a plastic bag/ container (pill sized) you can bust open a few capsules at a time and store the rest for later use.

Also, this has nothing to do with health or beauty but... when I used activated charcoal on my teeth for the first time I made a HUGE mess in our white porcelain sink in the bathroom. Instead of freaking out I just sprinkled a little baking soda on a scrub brush and used the mess to my advantage! The activated charcoal made our old white sink sparkle like new. Hey.. if it will remove stains from my teeth why wouldn't it work on my sink right? I don't advise using it on furniture or your floors, I am only sharing this cleaning tip so that you don't freak out if you get it everywhere! ;)


I buy my activated charcoal from Vitacost,
click the image to the right for more info!

Thanks for reading! Sign up for e-mail alerts to stay up to date with my latest posts or join me on my social networking accounts! (find the links on the top left near my photo) =)

p.s. Don't forget to leave a review on Amazon if you buy a copy of my book! I want to hear from you all and see what you think! Thank you all for the support! <3

A super simple recipe that works without making your hair feel crunchy..

Well.. as it turns out Raw Sugar, water, and grapefruit essential oil are the ingredients for an awesome all natural hairspray recipe!!

The trick is in how you mix these ingredients!


To start out you will take a small sauce pan and boil 2 parts water with 1 part raw sugar. Once the sugar has dissolved you will remove the mixture from the heat and add in your favorite essential oil. Add to the container of your choice, I use the small brown one pictured in the photo above because it has a fine mist atomizer, which ensures even coverage.

This hairspray is the perfect blend, I am amazed at how well it works! It does not leave your hair feeling sticky or crunchy, it simply holds.


I hope to investigate the world of all natural hair dye at some point. I am proud to say that after 14 years of continual abuse to my scalp I quit coloring my hair cold turkey over a year ago. =)

As far as the essential oil goes I use grapefruit essential oil because the scent reminds me of summer! Usually I choose an essential oil such as rosemary or peppermint when it comes to my all natural hair care routine, however since I bought this grapefruit essential oil from Eden's garden I can't get enough of how awesome it smells!

If you are interested in my complete haircare routine you can read more about that in my brand new book! Apothekayla Year One =)

Thanks for reading, please let me know what you think about this recipe in the comments section below!

Don't want to miss a post? Sign up for e-mail alerts in the left sidebar of this page.

I've been using the Re-mineralizing toothpaste recipe for some time, and I can truly say that it works. Small cracks/ cavities in mine and my husbands teeth have literally vanished.

However, this recipe does taste a little bitter and because I love Hemp Oil so much and the makeup of Hemp is ideal for perfect human health I decided to make, try out, and share my review of a toothpaste made with Hemp oil!

Hemp Paste is perfect for the kiddo's, because it does taste better and doesn't have the tingly sensation; my little brother chooses it over the Re-mineralizing toothpaste. He uses it everyday!

1.  ½ cup of Coconut Oil


2.  1/8 cup of Hemp Oil


3.   1 Tablespoon Baking Soda


4.  15-20 drops of Peppermint Essential Oil

1.  Mash the baking soda into the coconut oil with a fork or whisk.


2.  Stir in Hemp Oil & Peppermint Essential Oil


3. Place in container with small spoon or BPA free plastic squeeze bottle.

Clean it up; with simple ingredients found here: 

These recipes are SUPER simple, most only include a few ingredients.I am a beginner at all of this; and with a little help from a few of my blogger friends and a few age old recipes I have successfully been able to transform this area of my life. ... Let me tell you, this was an area I had been avoiding. But why?!? There are so many positive aspects to making your own cleaning products:

• You can craft non-toxic recipes in your home
• You probably already have the ingredients
• You can totally customize the scent
• You can take small steps by figuring out which recipes you actually need based off of the products you have been using and replace them.. as you go!

Without further adu; here are the links to the posts I wrote during the challenge. Did the challenge help others? I hope so; did they help my family. For sure! Tell me your thoughts in the comments section below!

1. Week 1 | Cleaning with Vinegar.
2. Week 2 | Simple Baking Soda Recipes.
3. Week 3 | This is a mess that calls for some serious soap.

Labels I made specifically for the challenge, feel free to save and print. If you do not have label sheets on hand, just print out the label and use packing tape to stick it on the bottle!  

To be honest when I first came up with this perfume I was mixing this blend because these are some of my favorite scents. I had no idea that they were so healing and romantically intense!

This spray smells amazing, and you can spray it on your pulse points (neck or the back of your wrist for example) or you can spray it onto your pillows to enhance the "mood" in the bedroom!

The blend is super simple:

Fill your container with witch hazel. Then add 20 drops of Rosemary Essential oil, 15 drops of Ylang-ylang Essential oil, and 10 drops of Patchoulli Essential oil.

This is the blend I use, you can adjust the ratio a little or add in 10 Drops of Clary Sage to change up the scent.

You can wear this as your daily perfume if you like, just because you spritz your wrist does not mean you will have men falling over you at the market.. The best part about this mixture is that it will smell different on each person that applies it.

The essential oils in this mixture work on the aromatherapy level to sooth any emotional tension you have around "love"; whether it is self love, or frustrations in relationships.

If you want to know more about raising your libido and how aphrodisiacs work check out this article.

In the coming months I will be concocting several different types of perfumes, fragrance oils, and body sprays.

I used to be that girl who had to have the latest and greatest perfumes. I had so many scents I could choose a different one for each day if I wanted to. I had my favorites so I'm working to replicate those scents and create new scents that match my current style.

Do you remember the "Pamper Yourself Giveaway?"

One of the prizes was a full sized bottle of a fragrance oil that I have named 'Uplifting'.

The absolute best perk of using essential oils in your perfumes/ fragrances has to be the aromatherapy factor!


Uplifting Fragrance Oil is a simple blend of 100% Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil with 15 drops of Lavender Essential Oil and 10 drops of Sweet Orange Essential Oil.

To make you simply fill the container of your choice with the Olive Oil (or carrier oil of your choice), drop in the essential oils, replace the cap & shake!

To use place a few drops of this fragrance oil on your wrists or the side of your neck.

The aromatherapy of this oil is.. well.. Uplifting!

I'm looking forward to sharing more recipes of the different perfumes, fragrance oils, and body spray blends that I have made with you!

Let me know which types of fragrances you like the best in the comments section below!

-Kayla