Thursday, July 7, 2011

Vine-Ripened Tomato Cologne

Any idea what this is?
OK, I guess I gave it away with this post's title.
It's a little experiment.  Homemade cologne.  Made with tomato leaves.  And lemon zest.  And basil.  And mint (shown here).  Put the first four ingredients in a clean jar, pour in some vodka (and glycerine, if you have it), shake gently and let sit, mysterious, in a darkened, cool spot for a couple weeks until it's time to strain it and and come up smelling beautiful.
At least that's the hope.
VINE-RIPENED TOMATO COLOGNE
4 T. fresh tomato leaves, chopped
1 T. fresh lemon zest
1 t. fresh basil leaves
1 t. fresh mint leaves
1 c. vodka
1/4 t. glycerine (I don't have any of this, so I'm hoping it won't matter that I've omitted it, especially since it's such a small amount. Glycerine is "a clear, odorless, sticky liquid" that "attracts moisture and keeps products from drying out," according to author and the source of this recipe, Janice Cox, in her book Natural Beauty from the Garden.)

I just made this, so I won't know the verdict for a couple of weeks.  But I stuck my nose in it just a minute ago, and it smells pungently, wonderfully lemony.

Do you ever make your own beauty products?  Feel free to leave a link if you've found a great recipe.

11 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have a couple bottles of glycerin...I kept forgetting I had it and at Christmas time my daughter was making necklaces from little bottles with that and sparkles from an American girl book. (It is good for homemade water globes) It is very cheap and at drugstores/pharmacies. I just rubbed against my tomato plants this morning and was thinking how much I enjoyed the smell! love,andrea

July 7, 2011 at 3:22 PM  
Blogger Farm Girl said...

I haven't made anything in a long time. Vanilla is about it. Megan makes brown sugar scrub for me which I love and feels really nice.
I can wait to find out how it turns out. Glycerin is wonderful stuff. I use it in soap making.

July 7, 2011 at 5:12 PM  
Anonymous donna said...

Thanks so much for visiting my blog and leaving a comment. I hope you come back often. I want to try the cake recipe you mentioned in an earlier post. I'm not familiar with the berries you named but I think I could substitute blackberries or maybe any other type berry. Enjoy your day and God bless.

July 7, 2011 at 5:13 PM  
Blogger Joanne said...

Super cool! I would love to smell like this.

July 7, 2011 at 6:14 PM  
Anonymous Vicki said...

Hi, I am so glad you stopped by my blog :) I have never tried to make beauty products before. I can't wait to hear how this turns out.

Have a nice day,
Vicki

July 8, 2011 at 6:28 AM  
Blogger ~~louise~~ said...

I too use to experiment with
beauty products at home. Bay Leaf Rum was one I faithfully made for my husband.

I really need to dig out those books again. I love waiting in anticipation. I hope you will be sharing the results, Lynn...

Thanks for sharing...

Now if you don't mind, I'm off to wash my hair in mayonnaise:)

July 10, 2011 at 6:33 AM  
Blogger Meryl said...

I'm really curious to hear how this turns out. I wonder why tomato leaves? I've never thought they smelled all that great. A very interesting experiment!

July 10, 2011 at 8:07 AM  
Anonymous Faith said...

What a great idea this is! Can't wait to hear how it turns out.

July 11, 2011 at 2:22 PM  
Blogger Donna @ The House on the Corner said...

The closest I've ever come to making my own beauty product was when I used to use egg white on my face and mayo on my hair......or was it egg white in my hair and mayo on my face.....

Oh well - obviously I didn't get really great results or I would have stuck with it!!

July 14, 2011 at 12:29 PM  
Blogger Mindy said...

Okay, I'm really curious how this came out???

My SIL and I made all of our Christmas gifts one year, many moons ago. We made homemade soap, even making our own lye, bath salts, some sort of oatbath, and hand lotion. It was so much fun! The bath salts were the easiest and probably the best outcome overall. Let us hear the rest of the story on this one.

September 2, 2011 at 8:37 PM  
Blogger Lynn said...

Mindy, sad to say this one was not the success I had hoped for. It smelled good and lemony when I first made it, and once it was done I valiantly tried wearing it, but it ended up smelling kind of musty and murky to me. My husband most definitely agreed, and I wound up pitching it. I would still love to find a cologne I could make that I'd really like. The beauty products you made sound wonderful! Have you posted about them anywhere?

September 2, 2011 at 10:01 PM  

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