Homemade Body Butter - Bath Blend of the Month

 Homemade Body Butter

Body butter is a great way to soothe skin and give it a silky feel.  

• 6 oz Coconut Oil
• 2 oz Cocoa Butter
• 2 oz Essential Oil of Choice

This can be placed in several 8-ounce (1/2 pint) canning jars.  Clean your containers in warm soapy water and allow to dry.

While your containers are drying melt both your coconut oil and cocoa butter. You can melt them over a double boiler, or in a microwave-safe bowl in microwave in 20-second bursts, stirring in between each burst.

Once the oil and butter have melted, place them in the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes. Do not place in the freezer. Once the oils and butter are opaque, using a stand or hand mixer, beat on high for 4-5 minutes. The mixture should become thick and creamy. If after 5 minutes of beating it doesn’t become thick, refrigerate for 5 more minutes and beat again.

Once the oils become creamy, refrigerate for 5 more minutes. After 5 minutes, add in your essential oil and beat until well incorporated. Once stiff peaks form, spoon into your clean containers and seal. Will last up to 6 months in an airtight container.

TO USE: Spread a small amount onto face, neck, hands and arms to give skin a smooth, soft feel.

Bath Melts - Bath Blend of the Month

Enjoy these moisturizing cocoa butter bath melts in a wonderful bath and add some sweet luxury to your day, or make them for your friends for Gal Spa Day. They are made with ingredients so natural that you could eat them. The aroma of cocoa, coconut, and lemon is uplifting and can brighten a gray day in March. These bath wonders are perfect for a pick-me-up-bath, as the silky soft oils melt in the warm water and soak into your skin, leaving it moisturized and soft.

 

I got this recipe through Stephanie Rose at Garden Therapy and added my own twist to it.  Her version used lavender essential oil and flowers, but I like a lemon scent in my bath, so I swapped in my favorite lemon herbs.

 

The main ingredient, Cocoa butter, is hydrating and soothing for your skin. At room temperature it is solid but as you add it to a hot bath it melts and the oil disperses into the water and absorbs into your skin while you soak. An edible fat extracted from the cocoa bean, it smells and tastes like chocolate because it is the main ingredient in chocolate. High in antioxidants it is ideal to use in bath items.  As a moisturizer it is perfect when combined with lemon herbs because lemongrass is known to enhance overall skin texture by cleansing and detoxifying, eliminating excess oil from the skin making it more supple while lemon balm is known to be an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory with antibacterial qualities. 

 

Coconut oil also becomes liquid at body temperature.  It is smooth and smells of coconut and is so moisturizing that it is often used to treat eczema.  It has the ability to reduce the inflammation caused by sun exposure and can fight bacteria without drying.

 

Lemon and Cocoa Butter Bath Melts (Makes 12 1-ounce bath melts)

·      2 Ounces cocoa butter (measure it by weight to get the best ratio or use 3 1/2 Tablespoons)

·      2 Tablespoons coconut oil

·      20 drops lemon or lemongrass essential oil

·      1/2 Tablespoon dried lemon balm

·      1/2 Tablespoon dried lemongrass

·      Silicone soap or ice cube mold to use as a mold

 

Melt the oils in a double boiler over hot water. Stir constantly and keep a watchful eye on the oils. You want them to just reach the melting point and not overheat.

 

Immediately pour into silicone molds. Sprinkle the dried herbs on top of the hot oil, dividing the tablespoon up evenly between the bath melts.

 

Move the silicone mold to the refrigerator to cool for two hours, and you’re done. Store the finished bath melts in the fridge or a cool place if your house is warm so that they don’t melt before you want to use them or gift them.

 

To Use: Pop one or two bath melts into a tub filled with hot water and soak for at least twenty minutes. Although designed for the bath, these melts can also be smoothed on the skin in the shower, just beware of a slippery floor when you rinse the oils off.

 

Cocoa Butter Lip Balm - Monthly Bath Blend

I did a program on using botanicals to create body and spa items for the Schaumburg Library back on May 1.  The program was designed for 50 people, but enrollment filled and we expanded it to 75 people.  I think there were still a few more that wanted to get in, proving there is a desire to know how to make beauty items with herbs.  Every month I share a bath related recipe and thins month I thought I would do something similar to the one in the program.

Then, because of the popularity of Body Botanicals, I thought I would share a few recipes and also go though, in the next few months, how to use your fresh herbs to create bath related items.

Look for a series later this month I am calling "Getting Started Using Herbs." 

Cocoa Butter Lip Balm

1 Tbls jojoba oil
1 tsp cocoa butter

1 tsp beeswax

essential oil

Melt the beeswax along with the oil and butter in a double boiler. Add any flavoring you might like at this stage. Pour into small tubes, pots, or slip-tins and allow to set-up.

A drop of lavender is really nice on chapped lips! Alcohol based flavorings will not incorporate. A drop or two of various essential oils will. Rose, lavender, orange, grapefruit, or lime all work well.

Homemade Body Butter - Bath Blend of the Month

Happy Labor Day - 

To celebrate, pamper yourself with this fluffy body butter.  It is one of the simplest to make.  You need a hand mixer and a decorative container to place it in when you complete it.  It makes a great gift and you can scent it with any fragrance you want.

6 oz Coconut Oil

2 oz Cocoa Butter

2 oz Essential Oil (your choice)

Mixer

Directions:

Clean your container in warm soapy water and allow to dry.

While your container is drying melt both your coconut oil and cocoa butter. You can melt them over a double boiler, or in a microwave safe bowl in the microwave in 20 second bursts, stirring in between each burst.

Once the oil and butter have melted, place them in the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes. Do not place in freezer. Once the oils and butter are opaque, using a stand or hand mixer, beat on high for 4-5 minutes.

The mixture should become thick and creamy. If after 5 minutes of beating it doesn’t become thick, refrigerate for 5 more minutes and beat again.

Once the oils become creamy, refrigerate for 5 more minutes. After 5 minutes, add in your essential oil and beat until well incorporated.

Once stiff peaks form, spoon into your clean container and seal. Will last up to 6 months in an airtight container.

An Icy Chill, Chapped Lips and herbal Lip Balm - How Tuesday

It got bitter here.  The same time of year it gets bitter here every year, but this year it was 40+ degrees leading up to a dip with wind chill below Zero and air temps not far above Zero!  Now I know I shouldn't but as soon as I get outside in the bitter wind, I lick my lips.  I hate it when they feel dry.  I remember to put on a lip balm only after they start to crack and ache.  This year I actually thought ahead and made a lip balm which is in my purse, but old habits die hard.  I did not put it on today until I was on my way home from work after the cold weather had done its worst.

I still thought I should share the balm I made as it is very effective.

Lip Balm
The easiest way to make a lip balm is to infuse dried calendula petals with 2 parts cocoa butter melted with 1 part sunflower oil. When pour into cold jars, the balm will keep solid at room temperature. 


If you want to make something more elegant and ricchly scented, you can try this recipe.  I got it from Herbaholics Herbarium.  This is a UK site so be aware they use herbs differently there than we do in the US.

Rosebud Lips Balm
9fl oz. Calendua Oil
3 Tablespoons Jojoba Oil
1½ oz. Dried Alkanet Root
1oz. Beeswax, grated
12 Drops Rose Essential Oil (optional)

Gently heat both oils in the top of a double boiler for about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the alkanet root and steep for around 30 minutes, to extract the color from the root. Strain the root from the oils through cheese cloth or a coffee filter. Return the oils to the double boiler with the beeswax. Once the wax has melted, remove from the heat and add the rose essential oil drop by drop. Pour into small sterilized jars. Allow to cool thoroughly before putting the lids on.

Notice when making balms or salves you generally use materials by weight not volume.  That is important to getting a stable salve or balm that hardens as you would want.