Mama can cook

The kitchen can be used for more than just cooking food. It’s time to run a bath and take a moment out with these gorgeous natural recipes.

Rose-vanilla bath melts

These bath melts give you a nourishing alternative to conventional body moisturisers, and they smell divine. You’ll get 10 bath melts from this recipe, so if you prefer less, then just halve the amounts.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons dried rose petals 1 vanilla bean (chopped into small sections) ½ cup shea butter 2 drops rose essential oil To make: Grind the rose petals and vanilla bean together in a mortar and pestle to create a fine powder. Alternatively, you could use a coffee grinder. Melt the shea butter in a saucepan over a very low heat while stirring in the rose and vanilla powder. Remove from the heat as soon as it’s melted and combined, and stir in the rose essential oil. Pour into small silicone moulds and let them set in the fridge or freezer. Once set, remove from the moulds and store in a container in your fridge. To use: Place one bath melt in the water as the tub is filling up. Feel free to rub the bath melt over your body if it hasn’t melted by the time you get in the bath. Use as often as you’d like.

Ultimate flower bath salts

For an instant detox that also helps with water retention I’ll always vouch for the benefits of a Himalayan salt bath. It has a wonderful detoxing effect on the body and skin. I must say, though, it can get a little boring. That’s why this recipe calls for flowers. It totally transforms the experience and makes me feel a bit like a fairy goddess, if I’m being honest. You need a lot of salt to really get the benefits here – this recipe makes enough for just one bath – so I recommend shopping at a bulk ingredient or health store, where you can pick things up relatively cheaply. As for the flowers, you can use fresh or dried, or a combination of both. This is my favourite thing to do with a bunch of flowers that aren’t quite good enough to sit in a vase anymore.

Ingredients

3½ cups pink Himalayan salt 1 cup marigold petals 1 cup rose petals 1 cup lavender flowers Option: If you have any favourite fragrant flowers, you can add them too! To make: If you’re using dried flowers, mix the salt and flowers together with your hands, bruising the flowers and allowing the salt to be infused by their aroma. Add the mixture to the bath as you fill it. If you’re using fresh flowers, add the salt to the bath as you are filling it and sprinkle the flowers on top of the water after it’s filled. To use: Hop in your bath and enjoy for at least 20 minutes. Use as often as you’d like.

This is an edited extract from The Botanical Beauty Hunter by Maddy Dixon, published by Hardie Grant Books.

Berry enzyme mask

For an extra exfoliating boost.

I’m always using berries for beauty. Not only are they great for our health and full of vitamin C, strawberries even whiten our teeth! I also love recipes that use up food that is no longer fresh enough to eat, as I hate waste. The alpha-hydroxy acids in berries help exfoliate dead dry skin off your face, and the lactic acid in yoghurt supercharges this effect – you can use coconut or soy yoghurt for a vegan option. Lavender oil is really soothing for the skin, that’s why I added it here – and, of course, it smells heavenly.

Ingredients

½ cup organic yoghurt or coconut yoghurt or soy yoghurt ¼ cup blueberries ¼ cup raspberries 1 drop lavender essential oil To make: Blitz the yoghurt and berries together in a blender until the berries have broken down completely. Pour the mixture into a bowl, add the lavender essential oil and stir to combine.

To use: Apply the mask to a clean face, neck and décolletage and leave on for 10 minutes. If you notice a little tingling, that’s OK – it is the alpha-hydroxy acids working their magic. Use once or twice a week.