Natural beauty products and making your own

Hi Atlantic Pearl,

You could start with a really easy, gentle one like rosewater and glycerine cleanser/toner. Just put about 1 cup of rosewater and 2 tsp glycerine into a dark glass bottle. Shake before use.

xxx

Hi AP,

I am currently looking into making my own products too and found this site recently. I cannot recommend them as Ive not used them but thought the site was informative and may give you some ideas/answer your questions.

Hope you find what you are looking for x

Hi Atlantic Pearl,

You could start with a really easy, gentle one like rosewater and glycerine cleanser/toner. Just put about 1 cup of rosewater and 2 tsp glycerine into a dark glass bottle. Shake before use.

xxx

Hi Lumiere

Thank you, do you know approx self life for this.

thanks
AP

Hi AP,

I am currently looking into making my own products too and found this site recently. I cannot recommend them as Ive not used them but thought the site was informative and may give you some ideas/answer your questions.

Hope you find what you are looking for x

Hi Kerry

Many thanks will check the link out.

Jane

Have you thought about using shea butter (if you're not allergic to latex)? It's excellent for very dry skin and very versatile. I make a whipped shea butter using 10% sweet almond oil but you could use any other liquid oil. Avocado is very good for very dry skin as is peach kernel and coconut is very good for sun damage. If you have a stand whisk you can whip it in there for 10 mins, pour in the sweet almond oil and whip it for 10 mins every half hour (to allow the motor to cool) and then add 2% vit E (to preserve). You could also add some essential oils to fragrance it. I infuse with Calendula petals to make a really versatile cream which is good for healing eczema, psoriasis, cuts, stings, nappy rash etc... I also use it on my face and (sparingly) as a leave in hair conditioner. Use very little on your face to start with until your skin gets used to it.

Plush folly is another place that you could look at for skin making products.

I'm interested in making my own beauty products too.

Annax, when you say whip the shea butter for 10 minutes every half hour, how long exactly do you need to whip it for?

Hi ylangrose
It depends on the Shea butter and the temperature of the room your working in. Basically it should almost double in volume and look fluffy and mousse like. It's quite hard to over whip shea butter but, if you do just put it in the freezer for 5 mins and then whip it again. It's really a personal preference finding the consistency you like. You can also mess about with the oil ratio. 10% oil works better in Spain as it gets very hot here. If you like a softer butter you could go up to 25-30%.
Experiment with it.... it's great fun 🙂
My project for this year is Castille soap and I'm told that soap making is quite addictive 😀

Sorry Atlantic Pearl,

I've no idea how long you can keep the rosewater and glycerine lotion. I've never thought about it.

Does anyone else know?

Annax,

Thanks for the shea butter recipe - I tend to just scrape bits off mine and warm it in my hands when I use it. Will try your recipe tomorrow.

xxx

Atlanticpearl, the Rosewater & Glycerin toner should last up to 6 months but, if using home made rosewater, approx 2 weeks. You can extend the shelf life by adding a few drops of vinegar (apple cider would be best) but remember to shake well before using. Keep in a cool dark place or in the fridge during summer.

Other good toner ingredients are witch hazel & orange flower water.

Let us know how you liked the whipped shea Lumiere 🙂

Thank you Annax. I shall try it. Where do you get your ingredients from?

I have tried several companies and I have stuck with the one that can get stuff to me in Spain quickly and cost effectively
They also have organic and non organic versions of many of their ingredients. With Shea I don't go for organic as it is African shea which is sustainable without any human help. Organic shea butter is grown in places where the Karite tree does not grow naturally. The naturally refined one gives a really good consistency without needing to be fully melted. If you buy unrefined, it will need to be fully melted to avoid graininess and also has a much stronger natural smell which doesn't appeal to many people.

Another one with some interesting products is I'm keen to try their virgin cocoa butter which sounds like it smells divine 🙂

Thank you so much. I used to have a good supplier but, unfortunately she doesn't do it any more. I'll have a look at these sites.

hi

just to add to this have a look at makeyourcosmetics.com. they have around 400 recipes that are in alphabetical order and also categorised into soaps, makeups, oils, creams, hair, facial etc

for each recipe there are ingredients listed withe the procedure along with reviews from people who have tried them out. you can even add your own home made recipes if you want

Hi Annax,

I made the whipped shea yesterday (added some grapeseed oil and sweet almond oil). I melted the shea down until it lost its graininess. The one I have has a strong smell but I quite like it. The result is good - I'm using it as a handcream.

Thanks!
xxx

can anyone tell me when buying beeswax does it matter if you buy pellets or a block and should you buy white or normal yellow. thanks

I make my own lip balms and body lotion, I use a company called potthille, they sell cosmetic grade beeswax in either White or yellow.

As for needing alot of pots I use a double boiler to melt the wax then stir in the oils, then I pour the mixture into the pots I use.

Hope that helps 🙂

Hi Atlantic Pearl,

The small pellets of beeswax melt more easily.

xxx

Thank you I have purchased white beeswax pellets are are as i type experimenting

a different query cocoa butter, I follow the recipe however something has gone wrong. I thought I would start off with something simple and found a recipe for creamy cocoa butter, which states:

chop up cocoa butter place in bain marie on a low heat until it just becomes liquid (maybe i melted it too much, but as some was lumpy and some had melted i waited until it had all melted)

add half the almond oil (puzzled why half), anyway I added half the almond oil remove from heat, which i did

then it says let it cool to a fudgey mixture (but its cool and very liquid), once cool whip until its light and creamy (I did hand whip for 10 minutes and it looks the same as it did)

the next bit was about adding essential oil

it does say if it comes out too soft or too hard add more oil or c.b...well I added some more c.b and it looks no differnt.

the recipe was for 50g c.b & 50-100 ml of sweet almond oil. I used half the quantities as I wasn't sure how much it was going to make.

what have i done wrong?

I don't think you've done anything wrong, cocoa butter does take a while to set back but, it then sets very quickly. You could hurry it along by putting the bowl into an ice bath whilst whipping. You should see the consistency firm up fairly shortly. If it's still completely liquid, you could put it in the freezer for a couple of minutes to get it setting.

I don't think you've done anything wrong, cocoa butter does take a while to set back but, it then sets very quickly. You could hurry it along by putting the bowl into an ice bath whilst whipping. You should see the consistency firm up fairly shortly. If it's still completely liquid, you could put it in the freezer for a couple of minutes to get it setting.

Hi Annax

Relief!!!! I put in the freezer for a couple of mins and that helped a lot. Just made a couple of small pots (50 ml) with different fragances...its rather addictive this!!!! lol

can I ask do you have a simple receipe for making shampoo?

Thanks

Hi ylangrose
It depends on the Shea butter and the temperature of the room your working in. Basically it should almost double in volume and look fluffy and mousse like. It's quite hard to over whip shea butter but, if you do just put it in the freezer for 5 mins and then whip it again. It's really a personal preference finding the consistency you like. You can also mess about with the oil ratio. 10% oil works better in Spain as it gets very hot here. If you like a softer butter you could go up to 25-30%.
Experiment with it.... it's great fun 🙂
My project for this year is Castille soap and I'm told that soap making is quite addictive 😀

Hi Annax

For your shea butter whip, how much shea butter do you use? thanks.

Hope the soap making is going well.