HI THERE.

The most amazing invention ever made, besides post-it notes, and stretch jeans.. for me right at this moment in my life is a SPICE GRINDER.

Up until now I have had to find powdered plant products in order to make up my …make up .  Wow that was funny.

I have spent so many hours grinding bits of beets and gritty greens, with my mortar and pestle that I have biceps now. (No I don’t) but it IS time-consuming and often not very effective in pulverizing anything plant-based into fine soft powder you would want to put on your eyes.  Gritty green tea is gross. Baby soft rose powder is heaven.

So now that I have my little new lovely spice grinder, I have been scouring my herb cabinet for anything I can blast into fine powder that might create a color I like.

Today it was SUNFLOWER PETALS that I collected, dried and stored myself. Last summer I got my hands on a boat load of local sunflowers that were not treated with chemicals so I jumped at the chance to enjoy them first and foremost for their beauty as flowers (because we must when we are blessed with gifts from nature) I used them in all manner of photo shoots for future use in many arenas.

 

 

Then when they were starting to fade, I dried and stored them for all sorts of uses.  I have made infused oils for whipped body butters, healing salves, teas for hair rinses and facial mists. I’ve made bath salts and even hair conditioner.  So much floral fun.

 

 

But today takes the cake!

Making pure ground soft petal powder is my latest obsession.  I already am head over heals in love with Roses  and the sunflower version was just as delicious (minus the rose fragrance)

If you find yourself inclined to give dried flowers a whirl I suggest using a good spice grinder (they are not expensive) and process the petals until they are super fine and not gritty, (and I have fought with many a gritty powder on my eyes and I mean it when I say finer is FINER).

While I was making my powder, I suspected that the sunflower petals alone would not provide too much pigment but if you add in a 1/2 teaspoon of dried turmeric root to the grinder then you’ll have golden goodness to make fun new creations with.  I mean, you really could color so many things because the turmeric is super potent; plus the color is reminiscent of SUMMER..

I still wanted to use my pure sunflower petal powder so I added a wee bit of cosmetic grade gold mica powder and now its shimmer-fied.  With three simple ingredients, you’ll have chemical free beauty magic.  Sunflowers are a great source of Vitamin E, and the cream base I make and use for my makeup is loaded with shea butter, oil infused with calendula, chamomile, plantain, chickweed, (these sunflower petals), and jojoba.  I think your eyes and skin are in good hands here.

This golden goop is exactly what I have been aspiring to create: simple, plant-based two-ingredient makeup (not exactly true because the color is made from 2 sources and my cream base is made from many healing oils) but for simplicities’ sake I will show you how you can take a simple product made from simple natural plant material and blend it with another product made from nature’s healing goodness add in a dash of creative ingenuity and Voila… EYESHADOW you can feel good about.

Golden shimmer body and eyeshadow is divine!

So we already know Sunflowers are full of vitamin E, but when you add in turmeric with its anti-inflammatory, and anti-oxidant properties and you have a nourishing product for your skin.  I would even (and have) use this on a blemish overnight or a skin irritation like a little patch of dry skin.

***CAUTION*** because of the curcumin in turmeric, anyone on blood thinners should avoid this herb and anti-oxidants.

If you feel inspired to give making your own plant-based makeup a try, start with a simple formula.  First and foremost you could simply get a makeup brush and use the powdered petals or colorful powdered herb and simply use it like you would mineral eyeshadow.

Put some aside in a sterilized jar (preferably glass especially if you are adding any essential oils because the oils can leach chemicals out of the plastic..eww) and give it try.  One of my very first attempts was just that.  You can use arrowroot powder to make it a lighter color and that worked great for many of my pigment options.

This sounds ridiculous but take a gander in your spice cabinet or pantry.  I’ve used cinnamon, cocoa powder, paprika, turmeric, beets, berries, you name it, to try to add color naturally to not only makeup but fabrics or culinary uses too!  It’s an insanely fun journey and rewarding when it works.

If you want a cream base eyeshadow (my current favorite) and you have access to pure hand crafted body butters or lotions that don’t have any chemicals you don’t want on your skin, try mixing some up with one of the above ingredients as a colorant.  Try just using shea butter that’s a pretty simple start!  So what I am saying is that wherever you are on this journey of a greener, chemical-reduced body products or makeup, give it a try! What do you have to lose?  Give flower power a chance and see how you feel about letting nature inspire your beauty routine.

I mean who knows about beauty more than nature, right??

~in health and happiness

Annie