I have tired hands.  Working hands. Old hands.  And it shows.

When I was in my thirties, someone told me that you can always tell a woman's age by her hands.  Looking at my mother at the time, I knew that was true and as I have aged, I am starting to see my own hands become thin-skinned, spotted, and knarled a bit. 

I suppose I should consider myself lucky since although I have bumpy arthritic fingers (which can happen at any age), they do not hurt.  That said, I have always taken pride in my nails.

I do my own manicures, topping my mid-length nails with a coat of clear nail strengthener.  Side note: my toenails are pink but that is another story entirely.  Sadly, though, something happened over the summer months and by September my nails were in shambles. 

There were severe cracks and ridges that ran the length of the nail and as soon as there was even the tiniest bit of length, they crumbled.  Knowing that my eating and nutritional intake from real food was sound, I decided to attack the problem externally using essential oils.

Voila! 

My nails are now back to normal with very few ridges and cracks.  Even though my hands are not as attractive as they used to be, my nails look great.  Today I share the nail serum I came up with.  It uses just three, inexpensive essential oils and olive oil. 

Are you ready to have beautiful nails?

The post DIY Nail Serum for Damaged Nails by Gaye Levy first appeared on Strategic Living.

Last week I was asked about how I am currently using CBD and specifically, how my husband was using CBD to conquer arthritis and joint pain.  This was a timely question given that I recently developed a simple to make and simple to use rollerball/roller-ball formula using CBD oil, essential oils, and fractionated coconut oil. 

Why a roll-on formula? 

As much as I love using all manner of salves, including CBD salve, a rollerball bottle is super portable.  Furthermore, concocting a rollerball is as easy as adding CBD and essential oils to an empty bottle then topping with a carrier oil. There is nothing to melt, mix, or dissolve.  Not only that, chances are the CBD you already have on hand is an oil and not a powdered concentrate or isolate.  That means there is one less thing to buy.

I am thrilled to share my rollerball and essential oil formula with you and if it helps just one person get relief, the effort will have been worth it.

The post Create a CBD Rollerball for Joint & Arthritis Pain Relief by Gaye Levy first appeared on Strategic Living.

I don't remember exactly when I embraced DIY other than to recall that I used vinegar and water as a household cleaner when I was a mostly-broke college student.  Over the years, I became interested in natural homemade products and experimented not only with simple household cleaners, but also personal products such as cleansers, salves, and home remedies. 

More recently I have turned to soap making and you might say the rest is history.

While teaching myself to make soap, I discovered  Jan Berry and her blog, The Nerdy Farm Wife.  I purchased a couple of her books and was hooked.  When I learned that her book of homemade products was being updated and expanded, I knew I just had to have it.

This wonderful book is suitable for every kitchen chemist and in this article, I will tell you why.  I am also going to share the recipe for a Calendula Spice and Honey Scrub that I have made myself and, in my usual style, offer a copy of the book in a giveaway.

The post The Big Book of Homemade Products for Your Skin, Health & Home + Recipe & Giveaway by Gaye Levy first appeared on Strategic Living.

When I become passionate about something, be it prepping, essential oils, CBD, adult coloring or ballroom dancing, I go all in. 

By that I mean I spend hours embracing my new passion, learning as much as I can about it, and spending hours practicing and enjoying my craft.  Reading between the lines here at Strategic Living, you know that my latest passion is soap making.  Hot process, cold process, rebatch, and melt and pour, I do it all.  It is the latter that I do when time is short and I don't want to mess with lye and the associated safety precautions and cleanup.

Melt and Pour soap takes a lot of the work out of soap making.  Because it starts with a premade base, you can focus on your inner creative self by customizing your soap with colorants, fragrance, additives, swirls, and fancy shapes.

For those of you that are new to the soap making world, there is one name that stands out as somewhat of a legend when it comes to making soap naturally.  Her name is Jan Berry and she is a prolific do-it-yourselfer when it comes to DIY body care projects.  When I learned that she was coming out with a book on Melt and Pour Soaps I knew I just had to have it and let me tell you, if there is such a thing as an MP bible (MP is the acronym for Melt and Pour), this is it.

Today I am thrilled to share a brief review and interview with Jan and, in my usual Book Festival style, offer up a print copy of her new book, Easy Homemade Melt & Pour Soaps, in a giveaway. 

The post Easy Homemade Melt & Pour Soaps: Interview with Jan Berry by Gaye Levy first appeared on Strategic Living.

For almost six months, I have been trying to formulate a topical version of CBD that can be used to mitigate the toughest forms of pain and inflammation.  With my understanding of how the endocannabinoid system works, I was convinced that a topical CBD salve would provide relief from both chronic and incidental muscle and joint pain.

It seemed simple enough since all I thought I needed to do is add some CBD oil to a base carrier, similar to what I do when making an essential oil salve.  As it turned out, it was not so simple. 

Most of my attempts became expensive and messy failures as batch after batch was either too greasy, too firm, or simply too messy to use.  I finally resorted to purchasing a pre-made CBD salve and it was perfect in all ways except for cost.

I did not give up, however.  About six weeks ago I went back to the drawing board, this time using a CBD concentrate in powdered form. Within days, my resident tester (husband Shelly) told me that not only was this DIY version better than the purchased salve, but when layered with essential oils, it was "unbelievable".  His words, not mine.

So here you go.  I am thrilled to share with you a  homemade CBD salve that is perfect for back pain, sore knees, wrenched shoulders, sprains,  pinched nerves and more.

The post Homemade CBD Salve that Really Works by Gaye Levy first appeared on Strategic Living.