Basic –
and more complex lotions – are always well received. All of these will last for
at least 6 months, probably as much as a year if your ingredients are fresh or cupbord safe and you treat the containers as
described below.
Glass,
plastic or metal containers each need slightly different treatment to clean
them for the safe storage of lotions…
Glass –
Wash in the dishwasher, remove and pour in the lotion whilst still hot – do not
touch the inside of the jar.
Plastic –
Plastic jars can be washed in the dishwasher, but plastic has a tendency to
gather drips of water even after the drying process. Often the lids have paper
or rubber liners, but a spray with rubbing alcohol is usually enough to ensure
both are safe.
Metal –
Adding water to metal jars is definitely not ideal, so a couple of sprays of
rubbing alcohol is usually sufficient.
All of
your utensils should either be direct from a hot dishwasher or sprayed with
rubbing alcohol and set on racks to dry.
Video HERE
This balm
is a thick unguent which is soothing for dry, cracked skin on heels, hands and
elbows. A little goes a long way. I usually leave this unscented – it has a
very strong scent of beeswax which isn’t unpleasant, but is perhaps not quite
right for a gift-worthy item – but this time I decided to try a little
experiment. I have a collection of melting cakes, which are very vibrantly
scented and made of mostly paraffin wax, which blends quite well with a beeswax
base…
Ingredients:
[Fills 6x100ml pot]
½ cup
Beeswax, chopped or grated*
½ cup
Olive Oil
½ cup
Coconut Oil
½ tbsp.
Vitamin E Oil
1tbsp
Essential Oil or ½ a Wax Melt, chopped**
*Beeswax
takes a long time to melt, I would suggest coarsely grating it rather than
chopping so that the whole mix doesn’t have to get quite so hot to break down.
**This
scenting experiment was actually quite successful, although in future I would
add a little more as the scent is milder than I would like. Adding the cake to
the melted waxes rather than melting them all together reduces the amount of fragrance
lost, but I think that perhaps ¾ of a cake would be better overall.
Method:
1.
Melt together the beeswax, olive and coconut oil
in a bain marie.
2.
Remove from the heat, then stir in the vitamin E
and fragrance.
3.
Pour into jars and leave to cool before adding
lids.*
*Don’t
seal the jars whilst the balm is still hot or you might have a problem with
condensation. Cover loosely until the surface sets.
Video HERE
This
recipe is a more complex one, requiring a rather scientific process and much
more precision, but it makes a completely cupboard-safe lotion which is good
for at least a year.
Ingredients:
[Makes 3x100ml pots]
[Oil
Phase]
30ml
Jojoba Oil
12g
Emulsifying Wax
12g Cetyl
Alcohol
20g Shea
Butter
[Water
Phase]
110ml
Floral Water
10ml
Glycerine
[Cooling
Phase]
1ml
Preservative
10ml
Essential Oil
Method:
1.
Put the oil phase and water phase ingredients into
separate jars.
2.
Melt the oil phase in a bain marie, then heat the
water phase. Bring both phases to around 60C (or within 5C of each other)
3.
Remove from the heat and add the water to the oil.
Stir to combine.
4.
Place the jug in a bowl of cold water and stir in
the preservative and essential oil.
5.
Stir until reduced to 20C and thickened, then pour
into jars. This should be cool enough to lid immediately.
Video HERE
This
lotion is really easy to whip up – as it were – and makes a pleasantly light
cream.
Ingredients:
[Makes 6x100ml Pots]
½ cup
Coconut Oil
½ cup
Shea Butter
½ cup
Cocoa Butter
½ cup
Sweet Almond Oil
½ tbsp.
Vitamin E Oil
30 Drops
Essential Oil
Method:
1.
Melt the coconut oil, shea butter, cocoa butter
and almond oil together in a bain marie or the microwave.
2.
Remove from the heat and stir in the vitamin E and
essential oil.
3.
Cool, then transfer to the fridge for 1 hour.
4.
Whip until soft and white.
5.
Transfer to jars – I like to use a piping bag for
easy dispensing.
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