These scented swirly two-tone soaps make quick and easy Christmas gifts - if you can bear to part with them. I love using essential oils and choose fragrances that make me feel happy. I have gone with using single oils but there is no reason why you can't blend them to make your own signature fragrance. Melt & Pour soap bases can be purchased from any soap-making supplier such as Pure Nature and couldn't be easier to use: you simply cut it into cubes, heat briefly in the microwave to melt, … [Read more...]
Vanilla & Cinnamon Bath Bombs
Bath bombs are reputedly fun and easy to make so I thought I would try this Vanilla & Cinnamon Bath Bomb recipe which uses ingredients that I usually have at home. I found it a bit tricky to form them into balls (even with a mould) as it is a fine line between adding enough water to have the balls stick together but not too much so that they start fizzing too soon. I've since read that you can press them into muffin tins if you don't specially want them to be round. 1 1/2 cups baking … [Read more...]
Using Hydrosols for skin care and around the home
I'll be honest - I had never heard of hydrosols before I did my Distillation Course in anticipation of finally receiving the still I had ordered. But I had used them in cooking. You will all be familiar with rose water and perhaps orange blossom water - these are hydrosols. Essentially when plant materials are hydro- or steam-distilled the resulting condensed steam is known as hydrosols or aromatic waters. In some cases the distillation is done primarily to produce essential oils and hydrosols … [Read more...]
Homemade Hand Sanitiser Recipe
I thought I would try making some homemade hand sanitiser because it is very topical and useful in these COVID19 days. I love making things myself just to see what is involved in doing so, understanding what the ingredients are, and of course for the satisfaction of thinking 'I made that'. It turns out to be very simple: using ethanol (or isopropyl alcohol) and aloe vera gel along with your favourite essential oils. This recipe is courtesy of Go Native New Zealand. Homemade Hand Sanitizer340g … [Read more...]
Jojoba, Rosehip and Lavender Face Oil Recipe
Jojoba, Rosehip and Lavender Face Oil is my favourite evening moisturizer for face and decolletage (particularly for more mature skins) and it is so easy to make for yourself that I thought I'd share the 'recipe'. All of these oils can be put directly on the skin and have wonderfully healing properties: Jojoba is a fabulous oil that closely resembles human sebum, an oily skin moisturiser produced by the sebaceous glands, and penetrates the skin extremely well. Jojoba comes from the … [Read more...]
Chocolate Body Butter
This Chocolate Body Butter Recipe is very easy to make and gives a soft, fluffy cream that melts easily onto your skin and is perfect for nourishing dry skin. I wanted to make some body butter for gifts and had an unsuccessful attempt at trying a more complicated recipe for Rich Rose Geranium Body Butter, so I decided to make a quick and easy variation of the Mango Body Butter Recipe I had made previously. As I’m trying out different recipes for various natural skin and hair care products, … [Read more...]
Rich Rose Geranium Body Butter Recipe
I've previously tried other cosmetic products with simpler recipes such as Mango Body Butter but Rich Rose Geranium Body Butter was my first attempt at making a more complicated cosmetics recipe that involved combining various phases at different temperatures. It was not particularly successful but I thought I'd share my learnings with you: The hardest part was trying to coordinate the temperatures of the different phases so that they reached the desired temperature at the same time. The … [Read more...]
Natural Calendula Antiseptic Cream Recipe
This recipe for a Natural Calendula Antiseptic Cream uses more natural ingredients than the simple Calendula Cream recipe made with Vaseline petroleum jelly that I described in an earlier post. You can make little jars for kids so that they can put "Owie Cream" on their cuts and scrapes or to tuck into your day pack if you are heading out into the Great Outdoors or travelling. It would make a great gift for the travellers or hikers in your life. Calendula flowers have bee used by many ancient … [Read more...]
Solid Shampoo and Conditioner Bars
In an earlier post I wrote about the simple recipe I had found for a solid moisturiser stick that was perfect for travel. After the success of that, I had to try making solid shampoo and conditioner bars for travelling too. They will be great for cutting down volume and weight, and they're not liquids or gels so you can take them on the plane with you as well if you want. The recipes are from Go Native (I have their permission to reproduce them on my blog) and you can buy all the ingredients … [Read more...]
Mango Body Butter Recipe
This Mango Body Butter Recipe gives a soft, fluffy cream that melts easily onto your skin and is perfect for nourishing dry skin. It is also very easy to make which is good as I haven't yet picked up the courage to try any of the more complicated sounding recipes. As I'm trying out different recipes for various natural skin and hair care products, I'm starting to learn the difference between creams, balms, and butters. Balms and butters differ from creams in that they don't have any water added … [Read more...]