I already try to buy household and beauty products that are kinder to the environment but these always seem to still contain an alarmingly long list of ingredients, many of which have rather chemical-sounding names. I was therefore interested to read about Castile soap, which is one of the most pure soaps you can buy. It is made from olive oil and the only chemical used in its making appears to be skimmed off before the product is finalised. I was delighted to find a liquid version that is unscented, meaning that I can either use it in this form or add essential oils of my choosing. I swiftly bought myself a large bottle and already have it lined up for use in the shower, as a hand soap and will also try it in place of washing-up-liquid.
The ability to scent my own shower gel and soap got me thinking that it would be nice to be able to make my own hand and body lotion, similarly scented. But how?
It almost felt as if my fairy godmother was watching over me. Having come across an interesting magazine abandoned at work, I decided to scour the magazine rack in my local shopping centre for the latest issue. I did find it but I also found another magazine full of recipes to make your own bath, body and household cleaning products. I couldn't believe my luck.
The magazine is American and so I was a bit worried that the ingredients may not be available in the UK or that the measures would be a bit different. However, I soon found a website selling lots of the products specified and decided, when it came to quantities, that half the fun would be in the experimentation.
I have started small but I guess that is sensible if experimenting and also considering the fact that these products have absolutely no added preservatives and so I have no idea if they are likely to go off. I opted to make an intensive hand and foot moisturiser. The sort that I can slather on at bedtime and let it work its magic while I sleep.
It's not very photogenic but here goes. I melted 1/8th of a cup of cocoa butter with 7 teaspoons of beeswax pellets in a Pyrex bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water.
I then added 1/2 a cup of coconut oil and mixed until melted.
To this I added 1/8th of a cup of almond oil, 1/4 teaspoon of caster oil, and a few drops of essential oil. The magazine suggested just 6 drops but I could barely smell anything so I added another 4 for good measure. Since I'm going to be using this at night I chose calming scents - lavender and vanilla. I poured this into a clean container that I had saved which used to contain body butter.
It only took about 10 minutes to cool and completely set.
I still think it could have had more scent added but I can experiment with that another time. For now I'm just chuffed that I've made my own hand and foot balm and it took less than half an hour, including the washing up!
I wonder what I'll attempt next? No doubt I'll let you know...
No comments:
Post a Comment