All natural DIY hand sanitizer

This treat for natural beauty will keep your hands clean and your body free of harsh chemicals. This is an easy DIY recipe that smells great and can be carried in your purse and also makes great gifts in a basket filled with other goodies. 

Here's what to grab:

• 4 tbsp aloe vera gel

• 1/4 tsp vitamin E oil

• 2 tbsp witch hazel 

• 10 drops Thieves essential oil

Mix together in a travel bottle and shake.

We all know that washing our hands with good old soap and water is the best way to get rid of nasty germs. I remember trying to persuade soldiers in the field that hand washing was actually a great way to stay healthy. Here's why it works:

Soap helps to chemically break down the oils and grime on your hands, while the friction of rubbing your hands together breaks down dirt and cooties mechanically. Nothing is being killed in the process, and the nasties are rinsed down the drain. Now, if your soap is gross, then that's a different story. 

I don't have small kids anymore, but I thought it was interesting that scientists found that kids get more chemicals into them through their hands than from putting toxic products directly into their mouth!

Sometimes, we're in a situation where hand washing isn't an option. Like, I don't know, maybe two boys you know won't wash their hands in the bathroom before lunch as school. This is where a hand sanitizer is a good option. 

You can pick up a hand sanitizer in most stores for close to one dollar, but be sure you know what you're rubbing on your body before checking out. You're not rinsing anything down the drain, so all the gel is being absorbed into your hands. My germaphobe friends won't agree with me, but I advise against using sanitizers that are anti-bacterial for a couple of reasons. The active ingredient in many anti-bacterial sanitizers is triclosan, which is linked to liver toxicity and thyroid dysfunction. These hand sanitizers may also encourage bacterial resistance to antibiotics.

So, you can see why I LOVE making my own hand sanitizer, and thought you might want to know how, too. I know exactly what I'm putting onto and into my body. 

So, I got all of the supplies at Walmart, except for the Thieves oil. I bought Thieves from Young Living as part of my Premium Starter Kit. You can tell it's been well used! 

Ha! It was really hard to get the aloe gel into the travel bottle, so I wanted to show you how much a tablespoon looked like inside the container, just in case you want to eyeball it. 

Found this in the vitamin section. It's also great for rough cuticles!

After shaking all the ingredients together, it looks like this.

Stick it in your purse, a lunch box or two, or dress it up with twine and a label and give it away!

You can find more info about washing your hands and hand sanitizers from these sites:
Environmental Working Group
How soap works

Stay healthy and let me know how your hand sanitizer turns out!