Tenth Acre Farm

Permaculture for the Suburbs

  • Home
  • About
  • Start Here
  • Books & Courses
  • Categories
    • Edible Landscaping
    • Garden Planning
    • Growing & Using Herbs
    • Growing Fruit Crops
    • Growing Vegetables
    • Permaculture Gardening
    • Rainwater Harvesting
  • Resources
Home / Article / Homemade Products for Your Skin, Health & Home

Homemade Products for Your Skin, Health & Home

Last Updated June 6th, 2023 by Amy 4 Comments

The Big Book of Homemade Products offers simple instructions for turning your homegrown, fresh herbs into personal care products.

This page may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Have you ever flipped through a new recipe book and oohed and awwed over the gorgeous photos? That’s what happened to me when I picked up Jan Berry’s The Big Book of Homemade Products for Your Skin, Health and Home.

Master of Homemade Products

I’ve been following Jan’s work through her blog The Nerdy Farm Wife. Her recipes are always beautiful, and I love that she thoroughly researches and tests each one. I fell in love with her ebook Natural Soap Making because she simplifies a process that could otherwise seem confusing or intimidating.

She’s done the same in Homemade Products. She makes me feel confident in making my own hair care products, health remedies, and household cleaners that are safe and effective.

DIY skin care does not have to include hard-to-find, fancy, expensive ingredients.

While many online recipes come with an outrageous ingredients list, this book will not take your wallet for a ride.

I want recipes that allow me to use the herbs that grow right in my own backyard.

(Check out my eight favorite herbs for the medicine garden.)

I’ve experimented with making my own herbal salve, herbal infused oil, and other herbal preparations. However, my imagination only takes me so far!

chamomile lip scrub (homemade products)

Chamomile Lip Scrub (Get the recipe in the book!)

Jan has opened up a world of possibilities.

I was excited to discover that most of the herbs in her recipes are ones that I grow myself. She tells me exactly how to use these fresh-from-the-garden herbs.

No fancy equipment needed!

I appreciated her explanations for her most-used ingredients and equipment and the best way to use them.

For example, Jan includes an explanation on how to make blocks of beeswax easier to use.

She also explains how to substitute candelilla wax or sunflower wax for the beeswax, to accommodate vegans and others who can’t tolerate bee products.

Homemade Spa Treatment

The book includes a vast collection of recipes for homemade products like salves, balms, body butters, creams, and lotions. I was mesmerized by the recipes for Peppermint Pine Headache Salve and Dandelion Body Butter.

Pamper yourself with bath soaks, salts, melts, and scrubs (I can’t wait to try the Garden Herbs Bath Soak). Lip care (Hello, Daisy Vanilla Lip Balm!) and hair care is next, followed by homemade soaps.

Home remedies like Lavender Dandelion Pain Relief Oil and the nontoxic Lavender Fabric Softener stand out for me. Even your dog is pampered with the Peppermint & Parsley Fresh-Breath Dog Treats!

Tip: Want all the benefits of a healing herbal salve but don’t have time to make it yourself? Here’s my favorite source for high-quality, farm-grown and handmade herbal salve.

Want to grow fruits, vegetables, and herbs in your front yard landscape without sacrificing curb appeal? Check out my mini guide, The Permaculture Inspired Edible Landscape.

The Permaculture Inspired Edible Landscape

Don’t give up your herb habit.

In spite of my jungle of a garden, I still can’t resist buying or growing new varieties of flowers and herbs as I discover them. Rather than give up my compulsion, I’ve made it my mission to see how creative I can get in using those plants that surround me.” ~author Jan Berry

She gets me.

Homemade Products That Nurture

Our skin is our largest organ, and many of us know that our store-bought skin care products—with their toxic ingredient lists—are just not cutting it.

Jan’s simple instructions and explanations leave me no more excuses: It’s time for me to nurture my own wellbeing (and that of my family) by making more of my own homemade products.

In fact, these herbal products would even make great gifts alongside herbal tinctures, elixirs, and vinegars.

Check out The Big Book of Homemade Products for Your Skin, Health and Home, and be sure to tell me about your favorite recipes below!

READ NEXT:

  • 5 Reasons to Grow Yarrow in Your Garden
  • 7 Reasons to Grow Calendula Officinalis
  • The Secret to Growing Rosemary Indoors

Related Articles:

  • How to Make Calendula Infused Herbal Oil
  • How to Make Herbal Salve with Calendula and Comfrey: Herbal salve is often used for healing skin ailments. Learn how to use herbs from your garden to make a healing herbal salve. #microfarm #herbalism #herbalsalve
  • Medicinal echinacea purpurea coneflowers are in bloom.
  • 5 Easy, Homemade Infusions for Perfect Gifts

Filed Under: Article Tagged With: Growing and Using Herbs

« Grow the Best Cucumbers with These 12 Steps
Growing and Harvesting Beets Year-Round »

Permaculture Mini Course

Comments

  1. Jan says

    March 21, 2016 at 1:27 pm

    Hi Amy,

    Thank you so much for writing such a nice review of my book! I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed reading it.

    I really appreciate you sharing it with your readers! 🙂

    Reply
    • Amy says

      March 31, 2016 at 11:31 am

      My pleasure, Jan 🙂 I hope they enjoy it as much as I did.

      Reply
  2. JessB says

    March 30, 2016 at 10:09 am

    This book looks awesome! It’s on my amazon list for my next gift-receiving event! Glad Mother’s Day is just around the corner.

    Reply
    • Amy says

      March 31, 2016 at 11:31 am

      Good idea! Happy early Mother’s Day 🙂

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Author Box

Amy StrossHi, I’m Amy!

I'm the author of
The Suburban Micro-Farm:
Modern Solutions for Busy People
.

Join me as I share my permaculture gardening adventures in the suburbs.

Popular Articles

A permaculture swale is a technique for capturing and storing water in a garden. Learn how to build a swale in the home landscape.
The process of designing an efficient site is like putting together a puzzle. By drawing these six maps, you can create a permaculture design that maximizes your efforts for a low-maintenance garden, landscape, or whole site.

Topics

  1. Building Soil Fertility
  2. Composting
  3. Edible Landscaping
  4. Garden Planning
  5. Growing and Using Herbs
  6. Growing Fruit Crops
  7. Growing Vegetables
  8. Permaculture Gardening
  9. Rainwater Harvesting
  10. Suburban Homesteading

Copyright © 2025 · Tenth Acre Farm by Twisted Creek press