DIY holistic & natural beauty products
About the author
Zoe Penny is an experienced holistic and natural beauty therapist. She enjoys making handcrafted products and sharing her passion with others. Kits, natural ingredients, recipes and guides for creating your own products are available via her online shop
www.reviveholisticbeauty.com
One of the advantages of creating your own products is that it enables you to choose your ingredients, many of which can be natural (the gifts of Mother Earth) and which some may argue, have much greater therapeutic and skin care properties than synthetic ingredients. In contrast, many manufactured products have a high content of man made chemicals, which are not always necessary nor appealing for those who have more natural lifestyle preferences.
In addition to the greater ingredient choice that creating your own products allows, it is a fun, creative, relaxing and rewarding pastime. One which brings a sense of pride and nurturing both to yourself and loved ones when making products as gifts.
Before starting your creation, please ensure that you follow the health and safety guidelines for production and also check that the intended ingredients and finished product will be safe for your intended user.
Please note that if you wish to sell
your finished products to the general public in the EU, they legally require an
external safety assessment for each product under the European Union
Cosmetics Regulations. For further information, contact your local
Trading Standards or Department for Trade and Industry. Similar restrictions are likely to apply in other countries.
To give you an idea of what you can make here are some ideas, and a few recipes to whet your creative appetite!
- Bath melts,
- mini guest soaps and soap loaves,
- body exfoliator (with sugar or salt),
- mini foot exfoliators with shea butter,
- lip balms and face balms,
- moisturisers,
- serums,
- eye gels,
- cleansers,
- toners,
- body spritzes,
- foot refreshers,
- facial oils and body massage oils,
- body lotions,
- creams and butters,
- bubble baths,
- shower gels,
- room refreshers,
- body and face masks,
- leave in conditioner,
- hair treatment masks.
Recipes
Facial or body massage oil
- Select your preferred carrier oil or oils (e.g. grapeseed, sweet almond, macadamia, castor)
- Add up to 5% wheatgerm oil - this helps to extend the shelf life of your other carrier oils and stops them from turning rancid too quickly.
- Add a blend of up to 3 essential oils (use correct dilution) suitable for skintype, skin condition (e.g. eczema), or fragrance preference.
- Stir well with a spoon, and decant to your bottle.
Mini guest soaps
- Cut up a small block of clear melt and pour soap and melt in a double boiler. This is where you place a heatproof bowl over the top of a pan of water on the stove, as you do when melting cooking chocolate.
- Once melted, allow to cool a little, but before setting add 1-2 drops of liquid dye, essential oils or fragrance oils to suit.
- Pour into your mould. Once set, release from the mould and cut into slices 2-3cm thick. Note: Ice cube moulds in various shapes and sizes can be purchased from shops selling kitchen equipment. These, along with other small tupperware containers are great moulds for small soaps.
If you wish to make a soap loaf, use a loaf tin (as used in baking, but make sure the mould you use, is only used for sopamaking (i.e. don't use it for baking later)) lined with greaseproof paper, or a larger and deeper tupperware box. Once set, release from the mould and slice into bars.
Face or body cream
Phase A
- 6g shea butter or cocoa butter etc (of your choice)
- 10g carrier oil
- 5g emulsifying powder
- 5g cetyl alcohol
Phase B
- 37.5ml Floral Waters
- 37.5ml distilled water
Phase C
- Essential or fragrance oils
- 0.5% preservative
- Heat phase A ingredients for 15-20 mins in a double burner.
- Heat phase B ingredients for 5-10 mins in another double burner.
- Place the phase A bowl into another bowl or pan of iced cold water to prevent bittiness once set.
- Slowly add the Phase B ingredients to the phase A bowl a little at a time and whisk (using a hand or electric whisk) until you reach your desired texture and consistency.
- Add phase C ingredients.
- Decant into your jar or tub. Leave overnight before use.
Lip balm
- 1 teaspoon bees wax
- 1 tsp shea butter
-
1 tsp cocoa butter
- 2 tsp sweet almond oil
To make the balm:
- Melt all the ingredients together in a double burner and place in another bowl of iced water.
- Add fragrance oil (e.g. chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, peppermint) in 1.25% dilution once cooled, but before the mixture sets. You can also use real chocolate! Give it a good stir with a spoon.
- Pour into jars and apply!
This balm can also be used as a facial or body balm - just increase the quantities.
If along the way, you make a few mistakes which end up in the bin, please don't worry! Its a bit like cooking or starting any new activity, it takes some time to build up your skills... remember the old adage practice makes perfect. Enjoy!
