On A Natural High...

Lately I've been obsessed with natural hair and body products. I've been experimenting and trying out some recipes I've found online. Here is my haul from this weekend.

DIY Natural Deodorant

DIY Natural Lotion

DIY Natural Lotion Bars

  

I got some requests for how to make the lotion bars so here's the basic info. I found this recipe on ehow.com

My Notes:

1. I got the silicone mold from Hobby Lobby but you can purchase them at any craft store. 
2. I cut this recipe in 4 because I wasn't sure how much it would yield. Plus I only had a small package of beeswax and I needed to save enough for another recipe I wanted to try. Diving the recipe in 4 yielded 15 bars in my molds. If I wanted to make the whole recipe I would probably need about 3 molds.
3. I used a glass measuring cup with a pouring spout in a pot of boiling water to melt my butters in. The pouring spout helped tremendously when it came to filling the molds.
4. The mixture starts to solidify very quickly and will begin to build up on the inside of your measuring cup. I ended up having to remelt mine towards the end so that I wouldn't waste any. (You may want to leave your boiler on until you finish pouring.)
5. Once you fill the molds you will want to leave them sit for 5-10 minutes. If you're using silicone molds you will not be able to move them without spilling. Once they are solid on the outside, you can move it to the fridge or freezer to speed up the process.
6. I highly recommend using silicone molds because the bars pop right out.

Ingredients

• 1 cup shea butter
• 1 cup cocoa butter
• 1 cup sweet almond oil
• 2 cups beeswax pellets
• double boiler
• 1/2 cup jojoba oil
• 1/2 cup virgin coconut oil
• 1/4 tsp. rose absolute (or other essential oil)
• 1/4 tsp. of cocoa absolute (or other essential oil)
• Molds (such as baking pan, soap molds or recycled deodorant sticks)

Instructions

1.        Measure 1 cup of shea butter, 1 cup of cocoa butter, 1 cup of sweet almond oil and 2 cups of beeswax pellets into the top portion of a double boiler. Never attempt to heat beeswax directly over a flame or in the microwave as it is potentially combustible.

2.       Heat the butters, beeswax and oil slowly, stirring occasionally. Once the wax has fully melted, remove from heat and allow the ingredients to cool for 1 or 2 minutes.

3.       Stir in 1/2 cup of jojoba oil and 1/2 cup of virgin coconut oil. Add 1/4 tsp. of rose absolute and 1/4 tsp. of cocoa absolute. You can swap the absolute fragrances to other essential oils to create your own unique scent. Consider scents that blend well with coconut, such as strawberry, coffee, vanilla or even lavender and jasmine.

4.      Make sure the ingredients are well mixed and then pour the warm ingredients into molds. You can use a baking pan and then score and cut the bars into squares, use soap molds or even pour the butter directly into recycled deodorant sticks.

5.       Let your body butter bars cool completely before wrapping, sealing or using. For best results and consistency after they bars have hardened, place them in the freezer to cool and harden. To use your body butter, place the bar between warm hands to transfer the oils and then massage the oils into dry skin.