Homemade Organic
Skin Care that's Affordable

We handmake our skin care products with care to deeply nourish your skin.

We at Relax Blacksburg are more than a little crazy when it comes to quality, so you should expect nothing less than the absolute best homemade organic skin care products at very reasonable prices.

My husband Brian gets to obsess over selecting the best, most comfortable high-end massage tables while I (Melissa) get to go nuts over skin care.

And why wouldn't I? When it comes to my own skin, I am very particular. There are lots of questionable ingredients in skin care products, so I try to stick with simple, nourishing ingredients.

When it comes to our clients, I wanted nothing but the absolute best ingredients. I searched all over for high-quality, unrefined ingredients so all of their skin-nourishing powers would be preserved.

I also carefully blend all the ingredients using a heat-free method (for the massage cream, scrubs, and spa products) or gentle low heat method (for the body butters to prevent graininess).

After all, I didn't want to go through all the trouble of sourcing these amazing ingredients just to destroy a lot of their nutrients by applying too much heat.

I started with our organic massage lotion. I've since been making organic body butters and organic body scrubs. I am now working on organic lip balm and organic spa treatments. Any other products you'd like to see? Contact us and let us know.

I challenge you to find better homemade organic skin care products! Especially at these prices.

Our Organic Body Butters are Made from Scratch

Here are the only ingredients we use in our products:

All of ingredients are FOOD GRADE.

This means you could eat them, although they would probably taste terrible (even though they smell good - kind of like eating a stick of butter :).

I just tell you this so you can feel confident that these products are so safe you can eat them! Don't try that with your conventional body care products!

Let's look at each ingredient individually so you can see why I chose them for our products.

Organic Raw Shea Butter

Raw Shea Butter and Shea Seeds

Shea butter contains high levels of vitamin A, vitamin E, and essential fatty acids. It is known for its moisturizing, anti-aging, and anti-inflammatory properties.

Shea butter is made from the seeds of the African shea tree. For use on the skin, you want shea butter that is extracted by cold press methods and without chemicals. Otherwise most of its healing benefits are lost.

Raw shea butter deeply nourishes the skin, so it is highly recommended for various skin ailments like dry skin, cracked skin, dermatitis, skin allergies and rashes, sunburn, other burns, insect bites, stretch marks, and more.

I can personally testify to its healing properties for burns. I accidentally touched a hot burner once and immediately reached for our big block of raw shea butter. A tiny chunk of the butter quickly took the pain of the burn away. A few hours later I couldn't even tell I had been burned!

Organic Unrefined Jojoba Oil

Jojoba Oil and Jojoba Seeds

Jojoba oil is an odorless, golden wax extracted from the seeds of the jojoba plant. This native woody shrub thrives in the harsh conditions of the Sonoran desert in the southwest U.S.

Its oils contain almost all of the nutrients needed for healthy hair and skin - vitamin E, B-complex, chromium, copper, selenium, zinc, and iodine.

Its benefits are very similar to shea butter. It acts as an emollient, gently soothing and softening the skin, speeds up wound healing, conditions skin and hair, and unclogs pores. It helps clear up psoriasis, eczema, acne, sunburn, and quickly heals rough and dry skin.

It also has antimicrobial properties, so it acts as a natural preservative, keeping my homemade organic skin care products pure. Oh, and did I mention it has powerful anti-aging properties? This oil seemingly does it all!

Organic Safflower Oil

Safflower is an annual plant that belongs to the sunflower family. It is primarily grown in the Great Plains as it is a dry-loving plant.

When the seeds are cold-pressed and unrefined, this oil retains its nutty, earthy scent.

Safflower oil has many skin benefits. It helps lock moisture into the skin, improves skin elasticity and tone, softens skin, and soothes skin conditions. It is excellent for those with sensitive and/or dry skin, but all skin types can benefit.

The oil is light, non-greasy and fast-absorbing.

Organic Raw Cocoa Butter

Organic Cocoa Butter, Beans, and Mass

Our organic raw cocoa butter is by far my favorite homemade organic skin care ingredient. I wish you could be here to smell this heavenly aroma. It has such a rich chocolate scent with just the lightest finish of coffee.

Sure cocoa butter is mostly used in delicious chocolate, but did you know that it does wonderful things for your skin?

It is known for its moisturizing, anti-aging, and anti-inflammatory properties as well as its ability to heal scars and stretch marks. It is high in fatty acids and deeply nourishes your skin.

Raw cocoa butter applied to the skin makes your skin soft, smooth, and so healthy it glows!

Beware of the cheaper refined cocoa butters out there. The refinement process strips away a lot of the benefits. As with most things, you get what you pay for. We only use the highest quality, organic raw cocoa butter we can find. Your skin will be able to tell the difference.

Organic Virgin Coconut Oil

Organic Coconuts

I'm sure many of you are aware of the powerful healing benefits of organic virgin coconut oil. It has had a tremendous resurgence in the natural health field.

Just like olive oil, it is excellent when taken internally or applied externally - as long as a quality oil is selected.

The coconut oil I use in my homemade organic skin care recipes is organic and virgin. This means the oil is processed in the traditional way. This involves selecting only the best organic coconuts, grating them by hand soon after harvesting, removing the coconut milk by squeezing the grated coconut, and letting the oil separate naturally from the milk.

Coconut oil has antifungal, antibacterial, and antiviral properties, as well as the ability to moisturize, nourish and heal damaged skin. Put in on a cut or scrape to prevent infections. Use it as a moisturizer to relieve dry, itchy skin and rashes. Use it as a hair conditioner for shiny, strong hair and a dandruff-free scalp. The benefits are many!

Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Olive Oil

We know that olive oil is good for us to consume, but did you also know it is very good for your skin? Just like shea butter and jojoba oil, olive oil contains vitamins, minerals, and essential fatty acids that sooth and rejuvenate your skin.

It is another great anti-aging and anti-inflammatory oil, making it a good choice for all the skin conditions mentioned above. It smooths and conditions, leaving your skin super soft.

And don't worry about it leaving a greasy residue. It will soak deep into your skin to moisturize, leaving a healthy glow and no oily mess. The trick is to mix it with other ingredients, like arrowroot powder.

Certified Organic
Hand-Poured Beeswax

Organic Hand-Poured Beeswax Bars

Next to the raw cocoa butter, I think the hand-poured beeswax bars are my next favorite homemade organic skin care ingredient that we use. The light, fragrant smell of honey is simply divine. You'll find me frequently opening the bag I store them in just to take a whiff!

Before I get into the benefits of beeswax for your skin, maybe you are wondering how something like beeswax can be organic? Good question.

There are many regulations involved, but mainly it means that the bees' foraging area must be in an area where no pesticides are applied, they must have an organic living environment (made of wood generally), and integrated pest management practices must be used to prevent and treat bee parasites.

We only use certified organic beeswax in our body care products. I feel strongly about this considering beeswax acts as a trap for pesticides and other pollutants. There probably are still some contaminants in the beeswax we use, it's just the world we live in, but those contaminants are at a much lower level than conventional beeswax.

As far as skin benefits, beeswax is antiviral and antibacterial making it a must for troubled skin. It also provides protection against inflammation and irritants while still allowing your skin to breathe. It is also known for its ability to smooth and soften skin and lock in moisture. In short, it is fantastic for your skin.

Pure Dead Sea Mud

100% Pure Dead Sea Mud

The Dead Sea is one of the natural wonders of the world and well known for its therapeutic properties. It is unique because of its high salt and mineral content.

Dead Sea mud nourishes and soothes the skin, leaving it soft, smooth and younger looking after just one use. Lots of products contain Dead Sea mud, but they also have a lot of other ingredients and fillers. We found a source of this beautifully smooth mud that is 100% pure - just like you would find in the Dead Sea.

Our Dead Sea mud will improve skin health, improve skin conditions, increase circulation and draw impurities from your pores. It is my new favorite product and I've been slathering it on my skin every chance I get!

Pure Dead Sea Salt

100% Pure Dead Sea Salt

Like the Dead Sea mud, this Dead Sea Salt has many therapeutic benefits. We found a pure source of this salt that comes with a certificate of authenticity with each batch. Apparently, there are unscrupulous companies passing off regular sea salt as Dead Sea salt, so buyer beware.

Our Dead Sea salt also comes with a guaranteed mineral composition analysis. This is what it contains:

Magnesium Chloride - 33.3%
Potassium Chloride - 24.3%
Sodium Chloride - 5.5%
Bromide - 0.5%
Calcium Chloride - 0.2%
Sulphates - 0.15%
Insolubles - 0.03%
Water of Crystallization - 36.4%

Regular sea salt contains about 80% sodium chloride (salt). The Dead Sea contains only about 5% sodium chloride and a very high concentration of other minerals important for good health.

Pure French Green Clay

French green clay is another product full of beneficial minerals for the skin and body. It contains dolomite, manganese, silica, copper, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, selenium, and cobalt. It gets its green color from decomposed seaweed, algae, and other plant matter. The more green this clay is, the higher the quality.

This clay is harvested from quarries in France. Specific sites are chosen that are free from pollution and high in mineral content. It is prepared by sun-drying and crushing.

This mineral clay is excellent at drawing impurities out of your skin, as well as tightening, toning and increasing circulation.

Organic Kelp Powder

Kelp is a nutrient-rich seaweed that grows in colder waters. It is a good source of calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, vitamin C, pantothenic acid, vitamin K, folate and riboflavin.

Applied to the face and body, kelp will leave your skin, soft, smooth and younger looking. I noticed fine lines go away from just one use.

Organic Dulse Powder

While green seaweed like kelp has long been known for its amazing skin benefits, red seaweed like Dulse has been largely ignored. This is unfortunate as it is full of lipids, amino acids, vitamins and minerals that are all easily absorbed by the skin.

Nutrients include vitamins A, B1, B12, C, D, E, K and P, calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron and iodine. Skin is left soft, smooth, glowing and younger looking.

Organic Arrowroot Powder

Arrowroots

Don't let its looks fool you. Arrowroot has many benefits for the skin, although it is traditionally used as a thickener in foods.

Arrowroot is a small perennial herb native to South America. To make the powder, first the scales of the roots are removed. Then the roots are beaten to a pulp using mortars. The pulp is passed through a cloth where the starch and a milky liquid are separated. The starch is sun dried - creating a fine, silky, odorless powder.

Fun fact - The name is said to come from natives that used the root powder to draw out poisons from arrows from rival tribes.

As far as skin benefits, it is used to treat blemishes, rashes, sunburn and other types of skin problems.

It also it used to help the oils and butter I use to deeply penetrate the skin for unrivaled moisturizing. This means that you won't have a greasy residue on your skin. Unless you really slather it on, that is. Remember that our homemade organic skin care products contain no fillers like traditional products. This means that a little goes a LONG way!

Natural Vitamin E

Last but not least in my homemade organic skin care products is 100% natural vitamin E. I add it to act as yet another natural preservative to maintain freshness, but it also provides many skin benefits.

Natural vitamin E is yet another excellent moisturizer. It also hydrates and nourishes your skin as well as helps your skin resist aging. Also helps your skin retain elasticity!

Natural Light Fragrance

We know many of you have sensitive skin. We also know that artificial/synthetic fragrances have been linked to numerous health problems such as hormone disruption, reproductive harm, certain types of cancer, diabetes and obesity.

For these reasons we look to natural fragrances to use in our homemade organic skin care products. They are light in fragrance compared to their synthetic counterparts.

Funny thing is once you give up artificial fragrances, your sense of smell improves, so these fragrances won't seem quite so light. Still, we make sure they are only there to enhance the products.

We choose essential oils mainly, but we occasionally will use food grade spices as well as dried herbs.

So are you ready to try our homemade organic skin care products yet?

We know you will be thrilled with how they makes your skin look and feel. We have gotten rave reviews from our clients and we're sure you'll love them too.

Plus, the best thing about them is since we hand-make these products ourselves, we can take specific requests to meet your needs. If we don't have something you want, let use know and we'll look into making it.

We have our homemade organic skin care products for sale at Relax Blacksburg as well as at Eats Natural Foods.

Homemade Organic Skin Care that's Affordable