(Detail from one of the Secondhand Shabby example pieces.)

Quick quiz — do any of these describe you?

• You have an instant attraction to distressed white paint on an old kitchen table “with character.”
• You have a fondness for furniture with romantic detailing and old-fashioned charm… in fact, your basement is full of your finds.
• You can’t stand to see lonely chairs in an alley or dumpster and start making after-dark rescue plans.
• You covet certain items from Jayson Home & Garden or Restoration Hardware, but you can’t bring yourself to buy any of them.  After all, even if you can afford their prices, “It can’t be that hard to make.”

If you’ve answered yes to those, here is a book you’ll want to know about.  Secondhand Shabby is a practical and inspiring hands-on ebook that shows you how to create your own shabby chic looks using vintage and thrifted furniture.

(Found in an alley behind a Victorian house, stripped and ready for a new life.)

Go shopping at Goodwill and Home Depot, make your own “exquisitely distressed” table for about $25.

What is so cool about this particular ebook is how it shows the rising participation in the “secondhand economy.”  It’s written by Diana, a prominent upcycler who has a column about creative reuse in Time Out Chicago Magazine.  She is also the writer behind “Garage Sale Warrior,” a Chicago Now blog about thrift and vintage markets.

More and more people are looking at the makeover value of well-made old stuff, compared to IKEA’s disposable modern ticky tacky.  (We call it the IKEA furniture rental program at our house because the clock starts ticking after you put it together…)

Shabby chic that’s eco-friendly and economical.

If you’ve been into shabby chic, you already know that its critics usually raise their eyebrows at the high price of furniture that’s mass-produced to look used, worn, and one of a kind.

But Secondhand Shabby gives this popular style an eco-friendly (and economical) slant.  The low-cost projects all start with thrifted, vintage, or family furniture — the kind anyone can find at Goodwill, a junk shop, or an estate sale.  Each old piece gets new life (and sometimes, a completely new purpose) using some versatile but beginner-friendly techniques.

Materials cost?  Unless you’re going all out, the stuff you need usually costs less than $20 per project.

Create the classic distressed paint finish, and much more.

Shabby is much more than old-looking furniture with worn white paint — only one of the chapters is about getting that classic distressed shabby finish (which is just about as easy as you think it is.)  You can take a look at the table of contents to get an idea of what you’ll learn:

Click to see the table of contents full sized in your browser.

Emphasis on one-of-a-kind creations.

Some do-it-yourself books are like paint by numbers: they teach you how to make a specific thing, and your end result is supposed to look just like theirs.  Secondhand Shabby’s approach is different.

The author’s mission is to help people create eclectic, pretty, and casual decor using their own ideas and eye for potential.  The example projects are inspiration and practical demonstration of the techniques.  When you use the techniques on your own thrift and vintage finds, you will get elegant, one-of-a-kind things with real histories, unique origins, and distinct personalities… that probably look nothing like the example projects!

The stories behind the finds...

Shabby makeovers use everyday stuff from the hardware store.

Shabby chic is clearly rooted in history, but using actual secondhand furniture used to be designers’ and boutique owners’ uneasy secret.  Now, anyone can make a trip to the thrift and make their own unique pieces with a few key skills.

Diana Durkes has always encouraged people to be their own designers.  With Secondhand Shabby, she has created a hands-on guide that gives budding DIY decorators the confidence and practical skills they need to channel their inner Rachel Ashwell.

But all is not lost!  I’ve had offers over the last couple years to buy the site & books (theperfumereport.com, not this blog), and I am really willing to sell to the right buyer.  You can read more here:

http://www.theperfumereport.com

I will continue to blog here and run this site, and take bath bomb mold orders.  (Speaking of, I will send out a notice soon — just got the new supplies straightened out, FINALLY.)

Join us in an excellent lifestyle based on creativity, high-quality, and frugality -- become part of the Excellent Living Guide community! You'll be invited to participate in member discussions, projects, events, and special PDF tutorials on making more cool stuff. Read about ELG values and sign up here.

But the recipes are the least part of the book. The real excitement comes from creatively designing and customizing your products beyond the basic. For example, I give you ideas for:

* Adding advanced ingredients, such as silk and shimmer
* Packing your products with super moisturizing power
* Designing your own fragrance blends with a beginner-friendly blending technique
* Recreating discontinued Bath and Body Works and Victoria’s Secret products
* Getting started with natural essential oils and aromatherapy with a few simple blending recipes

But I want to stress that I don’t do the thinking for you. Instead, I help you design your own recipes by helping you build on the basics. That’s much more fun.
The best quality of daily-use products possible

I truly believe that using my technique will give you the best quality of daily-use products possible. I cannot teach you anything that borders on dermatology; I am not a doctor, just a hobbyist.

But the products you use every day, such as shower gel, lotion, and shampoo, will come out so high in quality, you will never set foot in another Bath and Body Works again.

You can also make great gifts.

But you knew that, right? It’s really fun to present your friends and family with custom-scented stuff — I made a laundry-based toiletries set for my sister, who loves to clean and loves the scent of cleaning products. She did like the products, but also loved the fact that I designed it for her, using a trait of her personality that she is most proud of. You can easily do the same thing.

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The Body Shop charges $12 for 8.4 ounces of Satsuma lotion. To be fair, their lotion is pretty decent, a step above drugstore quality. But expensive! At this price, it would cost $182.86 for a gallon of Satsuma lotion.

One of my most expensive and highest-quality suppliers charges $35 for a gallon of their lotion, and the quality is incredible! The first four ingredients are:

* Water
* Shea butter
* Meadowfoam seed oil
* Avocado oil

Well, let’s take shipping into account – $14.98 for UPS Ground. And let’s add in some Satsuma fragrance ($15.00) and silk proteins ($5.00) to make it extra luxurious.

We’re still at $69.98 for an entire gallon of spa-quality Satsuma lotion. I don’t think you can get any better than this stuff, and it is almost 1/3 the cost of The Body Shop’s average quality.

Let’s Make Ginger Scrub!

Origins charges a staggering $25 for 8 ounces of ginger body scrub. It is very luxurious and excellent, but… have you seen what’s in it?

Salt. Sugar. Olive oil. Fragrance. That’s about it. In fact…

Here, I’m making the exact same stuff for $4.

All right, one more… Bath and Body Works’ Aromatherapy Sleep Shower Gel

Vanilla and lavender is such a winning combination, but can you believe that they charge $13 for only 10 ounces of body wash? That would mean that a gallon costs $166.40.

Let’s make it ourselves, and we’re going to use real essential oils of lavender and vanilla.

This is probably overkill, but the essential oils together cost $17.80 – one ounce of lavender, and half ounce of vanilla.

A gallon of high-quality shower gel base – containing aloe juice and extracts of witch hazel, horse chestnut seed, ivy and arnica montana – costs $33.22, including shipping. All together, we made a gallon of real aromatherapy shower gel for only $51.02. This is higher quality than Bath and Body Works’ gel, uses real essential oils, and costs 1/3 what you would pay at Bath and Body Works.

As you can see, making your own products gives you a higher quality for lower cost, one of the major benefits of “making stuff.” Even better is that once you have all the ingredients, whipping up a batch only takes about 5 minutes.

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Using product bases is a fairly new method that wasn’t available until a few years ago. It ensures that you get professional, usable products on the very first attempt. The bases I recommend are absolutely wonderful in terms of natural, high-quality ingredients. One supplier has shea butter as the second ingredient!

For most people, the main reasons for making products “from scratch” are:
1) The ability to use high quality natural ingredients but still have a reasonable cost.
If you see “shea butter lotion” in Whole Foods or Origins, it costs an arm and a leg, and there’s not much shea butter in it. In the past, making shea butter lotion from scratch was the only way you could get real shea butter lotion at an affordable price.

But now, many spa suppliers have opened up their unscented base catalogs for crafters like us. You don’t have to make your own basic shea butter lotion if you don’t want to spend the time – you can just buy the base and add your own cool ingredients to it.
2) Getting products in your favorite scents.
Using bases is perfect for this! You can cut straight to the fun part, scenting your toiletries with your signature scents. Some fragrances are so hard to find, especially old-fashioned florals like lilac and honeysuckle, that the only thing to do is make them yourself!

I have an entire section devoted to helping you choose, find, and make your own fragrances. It was so much fun to write, and I think it will help you find the perfect fragrances for your bath and body products!
3) Using your creativity
For me, this is the main reason to “make stuff.” Creativity! It wakes up the brain. But making products from scratch is often a chore that gets in the way of creativity, at least for me. I have to go through the motions of making a basic lotion or gel before I can add my “mad science” ingredients (silk, weird botanical extracts, whatever!)

In fact, for me, making bases is a boring task that I hate. It’s a lot like stretching and gesso-ing canvases before you can paint on them! (I went to art and design school.) By using bases, I don’t have to worry if my products will turn out (or worry that my expensive extra ingredients will be wasted.)
Want to experience a pioneer activity or lifestyle
The bases method is admittedly modern. If what you’re after is to experience the romance of using historical methods, then you should make everything from raw materials! It can be incredibly fun, it just takes practice. Many people do it, though, and if you persevere, you will get good at it.

One thing, though… if you want to get started making products from scratch, do not learn from websites. You’ll spend more time researching and trying to cobble together enough information to hack it. Some of these sites are from amateur enthusiasts who don’t know how to teach that well, and they may promote wrong information about ingredients and safety practices.

Instead, go to Borders or Amazon and buy some real, published books with photos. Read the reviews or do your own flip-through. This alone will save you a lot of frustration.

If you just want to make good, basic products, try my method. By using bases, you save a lot of time and gruntwork. Your products will be ready to use or give in about 5 minutes (unless you do something experimental.)

Ready to get started? Buy “How To Make Popular Bath and Body Products” in combination with the Perfume Fast Guide for only $27.

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Is your method less creative than making products from scratch?

Absolutely not! In fact, I think this method makes you more creative; that is why I teach it. You can find out more about my philosophy in the free sample, but I compare it to being a master chef.

The master chef designs the menu – the creative part – but doesn’t work on the line, chopping veggies or making a basic white sauce. The chef just adds the spices and invents the dishes – just like you will do with bath and body products.

Have you written any other instructional bath and body books?

Yes. My first book, the popular “Fast Guide to Making Your Own Bath Bombs & Fizzies,” has been dowloaded over 10,000 times this year. I’ve helped a lot of people make perfect, rock-hard bath bombs!

My second book is being revised, and it’s about how to get started making your own perfume. I hope to complete that by the end of the year, but it takes as long as it takes.

I am interested in making products – especially lotion – from scratch.

I don’t teach that in this book, but the information is still useful. It’s what you will do after you make a basic lotion or shower gel – customizing it with your own unique ingredients.

If you’re a total beginner, I recommend that you start with my method first. Yes, it is self-serving, but it’s also completely sincere. I have seen too many people get frustrated when their lotions or liquid soaps don’t turn out right, and they give up on the hobby altogether.

I don’t live in the US. Can I still use this book?

Well, you can, but I can’t honestly recommend it to you. You will still learn the method, but you will have to find your own suppliers. In addition, most of the suppliers are in the US – the US has the biggest health and beauty market in the world.

I am a complete, total beginner to this stuff. Are you sure I can make bath and body products?

My book was written for “complete, total beginners.” If you can’t cook at all, then I don’t recommend it. But if you can handle making tea or Top Ramen, you should be all good.

Where do you get the professional cosmetic bases?

I give you a great list in my book. If you want to start with one supplier and see how you like this method, request the free sample pages and recipe.

How does the cost of my products compare to buying them at The Body Shop or Bath and Body Works?

Your savings will average around 25% – 50% of what you would pay at stores, and it’s all higher quality. I give you some ingredient and cost comparisons – read those!

You are a complete stranger to me, and I’m nervous about giving you my credit card number. How do I know I can trust you?

I use PayPal, which gives you additional protection on top of what you get from your credit card.  I don’t store or even see your credit card number — only PayPal sees it.  If you’re really nervous, you can use a personal check.  Just email me for my address.

Also, just send me an email and say hi, or if you have comments and questions! You can find my email here.

You can also browse the rest of this website’s articles on making stuff, and my values of creativity, frugality, and landfill-friendliness.

You can even visit my Etsy shop where I occasionally sell scented soy candles.

Join us in an excellent lifestyle based on creativity, high-quality, and frugality -- become part of the Excellent Living Guide community! You'll be invited to participate in member discussions, projects, events, and special PDF tutorials on making more cool stuff. Read about ELG values and sign up here.

Adding fragrance to scrub.

“How To Make Popular Scented Bath & Body Products” is my ebook with instructions on making several daily-use toiletries. The book shows how to make the most popular bath and body products — shower gel, Origins-style classic body scrub, basic salon-style shampoo and conditioner, Bath and Body Works type body lotions, and more.

Frugal, landfill-friendly, and high quality products.

With detailed instructions and step-by-step photos, I teach you how to make these products your favorite scents – even Bath and Body Works own fragrances, but without the mineral oil. The products you make will usually be higher quality than the standard mall chains, but lower in cost and much lower in packaging waste! Since you’re not paying for that fancy and wasteful packaging, retail mark-up, and elaborate advertising, the cost of your products is at least 50% less than Bath and Body Works (as a reference).

Instead of water and mineral oil, you can use aloe juice and shea butter. You can experiment with exotic extracts and proteins in your daily-use shampoo and get something better than the salons! (And most of the time, the amount of active or functional ingredients in commercial products is so small, it doesn’t make a difference.)

Beginner-friendly method.
Unlike other books in this area, I use an intuitive and beginner-friendly method that even kids can do. (Actually, many of my students are preteens and teens.) My focus is on getting high-quality, usable products without needing a lot of messy raw materials, storage space, or technical skill — just common sense.

Fun and creative.

Once you master the basics, though, you can easily experiment with more advanced ingredients, such as botanical extracts, cosmetic ingredients such as mica powder for shimmer, and anti-aging additives, such as cranberry and evening primrose oils. If you’ve visited my site before, you know that one of my values is helping people be more creative.

The book teaches you to customize cosmetic bases, not make them from raw materials. By doing this, you will be able to do the fun, creative part — designing your product line — right at the start. It’s not foolproof, and you will make mistakes, but starting “from scratch” can take months, and often years, to master. While this can be rewarding, it’s definitely not the most encouraging path to beginning hobbyists who just want a good basic product! Most people who go this route end up with a garage full of abandoned ingredients.

The Popular Bath & Body book is not for everyone.
I wrote it for people who aren’t necessarily “do it yourselfers,” but those who just want their favorite scented products at the best possible price. Experienced crafters, or even journeyman crafters, may find my instructions too basic. The five returns I’ve had in my four years of selling this book have been for that reason.

How to get this ebook.

I used to sell this ebook separately, and it stood well on its own.  My students quickly told me, though, that the combination of the Perfume Fast Guide and Popular Bath & Body was a way better value.  So, I made “The Perfume Book Bundle,” which is the two books at a discount, along with a companion chapter on making creative bath recipes.  You can read about it here.

Get the free sample chapter!

This 8-page PDF is an introductory chapter that explains more about exactly what information you will learn in my book. It tells you:

• More about the method, which is based on leverage, not “reinventing the wheel” as they say
• A sample recipe for recreating Moonlight Path lotion!
• A link to one of the best suppliers so you can try it for yourself

Since it’s as e-book and you can’t give it a flip through, it’s only fair to request more info, right?

Just fill out the simple web form below. You will need to confirm your request for spam protection, then you will immediately be sent the sample download link.

Join us in an excellent lifestyle based on creativity, high-quality, and frugality -- become part of the Excellent Living Guide community! You'll be invited to participate in member discussions, projects, events, and special PDF tutorials on making more cool stuff. Read about ELG values and sign up here.