Whipped Body Butter

I finally made a body butter that my husband LOVES. He has super dry skin and has to use a moisturizer everyday. I on the other hand do not like the feeling of lotion so I only use it on occasion. I'm sure he will have better skin than me 20 years from now! Whipped Body Butter takes time and patience so set aside some time when making this.  I played with this recipe until I felt that it was perfect. It's important to use a scale that measures ounces.  I found an inexpensive one on amazon.

Whipped Cocoa Butter

3 oz Cocoa Butter

6 oz Almond Oil

1/2 tsp Vitamin E oil

Melt Cocoa butter with almond oil in a double boiler. Remove bowl with melted cocoa butter and almond oil from the double boiler and set it in a lager bowl with ice water to cool it down. Add the vitamin E oil now. The melted mixture will be transparent until it starts to cool and then it will become opaque. Once it becomes cool and starts thickening slightly, start whipping it in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer on medium speed.  You could even keep the bowl in the ice water bath and whip it with a hand whisk. If you use a stand mixer you will have to alternate between mixing and putting it into the freezer to cool it down.  Scrape the sides of the bowl while mixing. You may think it will never whip up but it will. It's important to cool it down slowly so that you can whip air into it at the same time making it a nice mouse consistency.

Cocoa Butter from Mountain Rose Herbs

This is after it had been whipped a little. It's developing volume.  If you keep whipping it and never chill it in the freezer or ice water bath every few minutes then it warms up and breaks down again.  That is why it's important to chill it from time to time while mixing.

I switched to a hand whisk and whipped it while the bowl sat in the ice water bath.  This whipped it up very quickly.  I think I will start off with a hand whisk and the ice water bath from the get go next time.

Look how luscious and smooth this looks! I love watching it come together. It's finished when it holds soft to semi-stiff peaks.

I filled a nice airtight glass jar with my wonderfully rich Whipped Body Butter.  This goes a long way.  It melts perfectly in the hands and spreads really well. I would say it lasts a few months and that is with my husband using it everyday!  It may look good enough to eat but don't do it!

I love Henna for hair!!

(Did you know that Lucille Ball hennaed her hair?! That is cool.  She even references it several times in the show, "I Love Lucy" and in interviews)

I came across a blogger who hennaed their hair and I immediately became interested.  Red hair and natural?!?!  Could it be? I have been blond all of my 26 years.  I started off being a very light blond but not quite a "toe head" and then it turned a more dirty blond with some highlights as I got older.  As an adult I would get all over highlights put in to brighten the color some.  I loved being a blond but have always had a love for red hair.  I finally convinced my husband to let me dye my hair darker so a few month ago I had my hair chemically dyed a deep red which almost looked a little on the brown side. I used a picture of Amy Adams as inspiration but I think her hair looks redder.  Anyway, the chemical dye is not only expensive but...um chemical and fades badly. I didn't want to damage by hair or health with chemical coloring anymore and I didn't want to spend a lot of money for a color that fades so I was happy that I found an alternative.

  

(My chemical dye job.  I had some highlights put in for dimension)

I went straight to the Google machine and found several helpful websites on henna for hair.  Most of them agree that 100% body art quality henna was the best to use for a natural hair dye because it is free of metallic salts and added chemicals that could damage your hair.  I found the site,  Henna For Hair very helpful with my decision making. They list real people's experiences with henna and their recipes for their henna mix. I bought the Celebration Henna from them which was only $9.50 for 100 grams and I used 300 grams for my long, thick hair.

The thing to remember about henna is that it will not lift color.  It only adds transparent color to the hair.  That means that everyone's color will turn out different and that it will allow natural highlights to show through.  The more you henna the deeper the color gets because you are layering the transparent color. The lighter your starting color the brighter the red and the darker your hair the deeper the red.

(this is the morning after I hennaed my hair.  It is quite bright and in person it was a coppery orange red)

(This is almost a full week after I hennaed.  The color is fully oxidized which turned the bright coppery orange red color into a rich deep coppery red)

When hair is hennaed, the starting color will be bright and coppery orange. Of course people with darker hair will experience less orange in their color.  Over the next week the henna will oxidize into a deeper color.  Maybe a few shades deeper.  Just think of how an apple oxidizes after being cut.  At first I was shocked at how bright the color was.  I had to keep telling myself that the color was going to deepen.  I love the finished color and will just touch up my roots when needed so I don't make my color any deeper.  I may uses a henna glaze from time to time to freshen up the color though.  Henna only fades slightly which is great.

Henna conditions and makes the hair strong and shiny which is why a lot of women who choose to grow their hair long will use henna to strengthen the hair to prevent too much breakage. I am told that as long as you use 100% body art quality henna that you will be able to bleach or dye over the henna with no problems.

Lindsey's Henna Mix

300 grams Celebration Henna

2 cups fresh lemon juice

2 cups distilled water

Mix well in a glass bowl and then cover the surface of the henna mixture with plastic wrap.  Set it in a warm place for at least 12 hours to dye release. Add 1 tablespoon ground cloves to mask smell of henna which smells like hay. Add a little more water if the henna has thickened too much.  It should be like yogurt or cake batter.

Apply it to clean dry hair making sure to get to the roots well.  Pile hair on top of head then cover head with a plastic bag or plastic wrap to help control any leaks.  Wrap a towel around head to keep henna moist and warm.

I left the henna in for about 3 1/2 hours and then rinsed the henna out with lots of conditioner.  Don't wash hair with shampoo for at least 2 days but 3 days is better,

I did a test strip of hair before I did my whole head so I knew what the color would look like around 3 1/2 hours.  Less time would have meant a lighter color red.

I will most likely stick with henna red hair for a long time.  I love it so much.  My great grandmother and some of my great aunts had beautiful red hair so it's neat to have red hair too.

(edited to say that I found the Strawberry Blonde eyebrow powder from Bare Escentuals to work really well with my color)

Body butter

So I think I have perfected the best lotion/butter for my family's skin.  My first lotion was a little too greasy for me but my husband liked it for his dry skin. This time I decided to replace some of the coconut oil with cocoa butter. Since I added cocoa butter the consistency is more like a body butter than a lotion. You can add more "water" if you want more of a lotion instead of a butter. I have to say that I love the consistency of the butter more than the lotion.

Lindsey's Perfect Body Butter

3/4 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup cocoa butter

1/4 cup calendula flower oil

2 grams vitamin E oil

2 grams Grapefruit seed extract

20 drops or more of essential oil

6 tablespoons aloe vera juice

10 tablespoons Chamomile infusion

2 oz beeswax

Follow the same directions as my Coconut oil lotion.

I added the natural preservatives, Vitamin E oil and Grapefruit seed extract to help extend the shelf life of my lotion plus it is good for your skin.

Handmade Coconut Oil Lotion

I finally made handmade lotion.  It turned out great! I was so excited. This lotion is great for really dry skin which is what my husband and daughter have. Most homemade lotions follow the same ingredient ratio which allows room for creativity.  An ounce of natural bee wax for every cup of oil/butter plus a few tablespoons of a "water" to change the consistency from thick, like a cream or thinner like a lotion.  I developed my own recipe using these ratios.

All of my ingredients, except my essential oils, came from Mountain Rose Herbs.  I love MRH.  They have tons of bulk herbs and tools. They can also be found on facebook which is awesome because they always answer your questions when you post. 

1

Handmade Coconut oil Lotion

(Make sure all tools and containers are clean and dry)

2 ounces Natural Bees Wax

1/4 cup Calendula Oil

1 1/4 cup Organic (unrefined  cold pressed) Coconut Oil

1/2 cup cold pressed Olive Oil

8 tablespoons Chamomile Infusion

61 tablespoons Aloe Vera Juice

(less "waters" will make more of a cream)

2 Tablespoons Vitamin E Oil

1/4 teaspoon Tea Tree Oil

15 drops essential oil Fragrance (add more if you prefer)

I made my own chamomile infusion by putting 1/2 ounce chamomile flowers in a clean pint jar and then adding boiled distilled water to the top.  You will need to use a knife or chopstick to stir out the air bubbles.  You may need to keep adding water until it reaches the top of the jar with 1/4 inch space left from the rim.  Let it 11steep for at least 2 hours. Strain into a strainer lined with a coffee filter or layered paper towels.  You can make all types of healing herbal infusions for lotion and salve making.  Lavender, Calendula, Plantain, St. John's Wort, Rose, etc. have healing and calming properties.  You could also use Flower Waters (Hydrosols).  

"Hydrosols, also known as floral waters, hydroflorates, flower waters or distillates are produced from steam-distilling plant materials. Hydrosols have similar properties to essential oils but are much less concentrated. Unlike their "essential oil added to water" counterparts, true steam-distilled hydrosols contain all the beneficial components that whole plant materials have to offer.
Hydrosols are usually a by-product of essential oil production, but the highest quality comes from devoted distillers who, with artist-like precision, steam small batches of fresh floral and plant material strictly to produce hydrosol (the hydrosols offered by Mountain Rose Herbs are produced in this fashion)." -- Mountain Rose Herbs

Chamomile Flowers

You don't have to make an herbal infusion if you don't want to.  You can just add more aloe vera gel/juice instead. Also Rose water which can be found at most grocery stores can be used.

After the herbal infusion is ready then the next step is to melt the bees wax in a double boiler.  

1oz Beeswax bars

Melting beeswax in a double boiler

While the bees wax is melting, measure out your oils/butter.  No matter how much of each oil/butter you use, it has to equal 2 cups total.  So next time I may try one cup coconut oil, 1/2 cup shea butter, and 1/2 cup of an herbal infused almond oil. See? So versatile and fun!

Calendula Flower Oil

Cold Pressed Olive Oil

Virgin Coconut Oil

Once all oils/butters have been measured, pour into bowl with melted wax.  The wax will seize up at first but it will melt back down again as you stir. 

Melting oils and beeswax

Once everything has melted pour directly into the blender so that it can cool.  You just want it to thicken like a pudding but not harden.  Next you will add your "waters" through the top of the lid while you are blending.  You will notice the sound of the blender change as the water is being added.  Add any essential oils or natural preservatives at this time as well.  

Cooling oil mixture

 Blend well and then pour your finished lotion into your desired container of choice.  Something opaque and air tight is recommended.  I re-used a plastic pump lotion bottle that I cleaned well. I am storing the extra in a glass jar and placing it in the fridge.   

Oil mixture blended up with the waters

I recommend storing extra lotion in the fridge unless you use a natural preservative which I am going to get for my next batch.  I am told that unrefrigerated lotions containing NO preservatives will last a few weeks at room temperature. I did add a little tea tree oil to my lotion which will help cut back on bacterial growth but there are definitely stronger natural preservatives available.  

Both T-50 Vitamin E Oil and Grapefruit Seed Extract are used as natural preservatives because they are anti-microbial and will extend a product's shelf life. Both can be found on From Nature With Love.  (Stay away from the parabens!)

Well I hope you all try this recipe and maybe even experiment and develop your own special handmade lotion or creme.  I know I am hooked!!!  Next I will make a face cream. Yay!