Quick Lip or Cuticle Balm - Bath Blend of the Month

This quick and easy balm can be used on lips or cuticles and is simple to make with three ingredients and a microwave.  It is a perfect last minute gift or a way to pamper yourself in this hectic season.

Lip or Cuticle Balm

5 Tble coconut oil

3 Tbls beeswax, grated

12 drops essential oil your choice of scent

Place coconut oil and beeswax in a glass bowl and microwave on high in 30 second intervals, stirring in between.  Add essential oil to melted mixture and stir well. Pour liquid into a two ounce tin and allow to cool.

To USE: spread by finger on lips or cuticles to avoid and repair dryness.

 

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.

Beeswax Lip Balm - Weekend Recipe

This Saturday I am in Wisconsin at an Herb Fair put on by the Wisconsin Unit of the Herb Society of America.  Held at the Boerner Botanical Gardens 9400 Boerner Drive Hales Corners, WI 53130 (near Milwaukee)

It is the second show this month where I will be outside in the sun all day.  The hardest part is drinking enough water when it is warm.  If I do not the sun and the dehydration make my lips brittle.  I started making this plain beeswax lip balm to wear outdoors when doing these shows and gardening.  It is protecting to your lips, keeping them soft.

Balm for Lips
Makes 1 ½ ounces

• 2 tablespoons grated beeswax

• 1 teaspoon sunflower oil
• 1 teaspoon apricot kernel oil
• 1/8 teaspoon vitamin E oil

On a stove or in a microwave, gently heat beeswax and oils until melted; be careful to not overheat. Stir well to combine. Pour into a small, clean container, then cool completely.  You can add essential oils by the drop as it cools or flavored extracts if you want, but I like it plain in the summer.

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.

Making Herbal Gifts - Lip Balms and Bath Bags

Don't forget to check out the Advent Calendar for more recipes and tips available each day until Dec. 25th!


Pampering Gifts

Herby pamper products to give as gifts are sweet, fun and much less expsnsive that the store alternatives.  At a recent workshop I made Herb Bath Bags, Bath Salts, Lip Balms and more.  Here are a few recipes we did not get to try that day.

Chocolate Lip Gloss
This one is simple & easy and you can make it with your kids.  It uses a few simple ingredients from the grocery and a microwave!

2 tsp. petroleum jelly

1/8 tsp. honey

10 mini Hershey's milk chocolate chips

1/8 tsp. shortening

Directions:

1. Carefully mix all ingredients into a microwave safe container.  Make sure they are all clumped together.  Do not put a lid on. 
2. Heat on high power for 30 seconds, stir then repeat until fully melted. 
3. Then pour into a small bottle and freeze for 15 minutes or until solid. 
4. Then you can apply on to your lips.

Store bought salt scrubs can cost a pretty penny these days, but the ingredients to make your very own salt scrub right at home cost next to nothing. This simple body scrub recipe provides a refreshing departure and the delicious scents will invigorate your senses while exfoliating and sloughing away dead skin. Here’s how to make a cinnamon ginger body scrub right at home. 

Cinnamon Ginger Body Scrub

·         1 cup sea salt

·         1/2 tsp ground ginger

·         1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

·         1 cup olive oil (almond oil works well too)

·         Fork

·         Large spoon

·         Small mixing bowl

·         Airtight glass or plastic jars

Directions

1. In a bowl, combine the sea salt, ginger, cinnamon and oil. Mix vigorously with a fork until fully combined.
2. Let the mixture sit until the salt has settled to the bottom of the bowl (about an hour). There should be a thin layer of oil covering the mixture. If you need to add more oil, do it now.
3. Scoop the mixture into an airtight container. If you’re selling the scrub at a fair or giving it away as gifts, pick out some cute vintage bottles or wide-mouthed glass jars to store them in. Make sure that the containers you choose seal completely, so the mixture doesn’t dry up.
4. Use the scrub. While in the shower or at the sink, apply the scrub to damp skin and scrub gently. Rinse with warm water. Avoid using salt scrubs on delicate facial skin.

This Bath Truffle is something I want to develop into a product, some day, but for now I only make it for my freinds... Try it with your leftover champagne.

CHAMPAGNE BATH TRUFFLES

Ingredients:

1 ¼ cups baking soda
7 Tbls. citric acid
3.5 Tbls. cocoa butter

a little left over champagne
1 tsp. your favorite essential/fragrance oil (optional)
a little gold mica and/or cosmetic grade glitter (optional)

Directions:

1. Melt the cocoa butter
2. Place baking powder and citric in a bowl and mix well
3. Add the champagne to the melted cocoa butter - how much champagne?  Well hopefully you won't have too much left in the bottle, but about a third of a champagne glass is enough.  Don’t add too much or the mixture will be too sloppy.
4. Pour the champagne/cocoa butter into the baking soda/citric acid mixture and mix well.
5. Add your fragrance/essential oil if you are using it and mix again. 
6. Add your gold mica and/or glitter if you are using them and mix again.
7. Place into molds - ice cube trays, little petit fours cases, small cup cake tins - they'll all do.  Leave to set. 

Directions for use:  Run a warm bath, pop a champagne bath truffle into the bath and enjoy.

If you like bath and spa items but do not have the time to craft them yourself, try those made by the Backyard Patch with organic herbs and natural ingredients -- Backyard Patch Bath Products!