SOAP MAKING BASICS

Make sure you like Soap Recipes 101 on Facebook to be updated every time we find a new soap recipe.

I assume that, since you are reading this page, you already know why you should be making your own soap, as well as the benefits of homemade soap and are ready to start making your own.For the seasoned soap-makers, all the lingo like CP, superfat and lye calculators make a lot of sense. But if you are just getting started, maybe you haven’t even gotten that far yet.You just want to whip up a batch of soap that’s relatively easy for a person who hasn’t done it before. After all, everybody has to make that first batch sometime. There are several websites that give good soap-making information, but for newbies it often feels like they’re jumping the gun a bit.If you’ve been having a little bit of trouble tracking down some straight-forward information for first-timers, let me just say something really important: working with lye can be very dangerous! You should read a lot and get yourself acquainted with all the steps before you attempt your first batch. To ensure a safe and enjoyable experience, it’s highly recommended that you read this list of safety tips before you begin:

SAFETY GUIDELINES

Always store lye in air-tight containers. Label the containers appropriately. A label with “DANGER! – Sodium Hydroxide” and a skull and crossbones or a big red X in a circle is not overkill

Keep containers out fo reach of children and pets When working with lye, you’ll need to wear safety goggles, rubber

gloves, a long sleeved shirt, long pants, socks and shoes It’s a good idea to wear a disposable face mask while working with lye When mixing your lye-water solution, remember to ALWAYS ADD

THE LYE TO THE WATER, and not the other way around. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. If you add the water to the lye, the chemical reaction could cause some of the mixture to spill on you!

Add the lye slowly while stirring the liquid gently. It will get quite hot, so be sure to always start out with cool water, never warm or hot water.

Prepare the lye and water solution in a well ventilated area. If I use the kitchen sink, I make sure that the stove vent is on and that the window above the sink is open. I actually prefer to mix it outside if it isn’t windy and the air temps are comfortable. I have an outdoor sink near my potting table that works well for this.

If you do get some of the lye solution on your skin, rinse well with lots of cool water, then spray some vinegar on your skin. I keep a spray bottle handy for just such emergencies

SOAP MAKING CHECKLIST

In an effort to assist beginner soap-makers with the basics, and as a reminder to the more experienced, here’s a list of soap-making basics: Wear protective gear & clothing – rubber gloves, goggles, long

sleeves, long pants, & shoes Run every formula through a lye calculator before using it Pots: use stainless steel pots. Enamel is ok so long as there are NO

chips. No glass – heat from lye/water solution can cause glass to shatter

Utensils: use stainless steel. No wood utensils as lye causes wood to splinter over time. Use plastics with caution as some will melt

Use a stainless steel immersion/stick blender to mix lye solution into oils

Use a digital scale that measures at least to 10th’s of an ounce & one that measures ounces & grams

Measure by weight, not volume Don’t substitute oils without using a lye calculator to re-calculate the

lye amount Keep a journal or book of formulas, & take notes of every batch Once you use pots, pans or even the immersion blender for soap

making, don’t use them for anything else (specially cooking!). Keep those items for soap making only

Line and/or prepare your molds before you start. There’s nothing worse than have your soap reach trace only to realize your mold are not ready

STANDARD SOAP MAKING PROCEDURES

Now that you have read the safety guidelines and the checklist, let’s go over some basic, step-by-step instructions. Depending on the recipe you’re making, the steps might be a little different. But for simple recipes you can consider these as standard soap making procedures:

Start by weighting all your ingredients. Don’t forget to allow for the weight of the containers by using the tare function on your digital scale;

To prepare your lye solution, put the weighted water into a bowl or pot, preferably stainless steel. Then slowly and carefully add the lye, stirring constantly. A reaction will occur, heating up the water. Do not let the water boil and don’t breathe the fumes. Set aside to cool.

While the lye solution cools down, add your weighted oils to a stainless steel pan. Heat gently until the oils are melted.

Take the temperatures of your oils and the lye solution. When both are within 10 degrees of each other (ideally in the 100 to 125 F range), slowly add the lye solution to the oils.

Mix gently at first, until the mixture takes a smooth texture and color. Then turn on your immersion blender and mix thoroughly, in short bursts of 20 seconds so as not to burn your blender.

At some point, your mixture will reach trace. Trace is when the surface of the solution starts to show ripples from your mixing and the ripples tend to stay on the surface. It should look almost like very thick custard.

If you’re adding essential oils, fragrances, colorants or other additives, this is usually the time to do it — unless noted otherwise.

Pour this into the molds and place them in the setting area, then cover them with the blanket.

Let the molds sit for about 24 hours, then remove the blankets and lid and let the soap air in the mold for another few hours.

You should have a nice hard block of fresh soap, which you can now remove from the mold. If it’s still a bit soft, let the block of soap sit for a day to firm up before unmolding.

When the soap is firm enough, unmold and cut it into small bars. 

Place the bars in an open box or drying rack for 4 to 6 weeks. Make sure the bars don’t touch one another, and remember to turn them every once in a while, so all sides can dry equally.

While you should be able to test the soap after 2 weeks, it could still be  

a bit harsh on your skin. So, resist the urge and wait a few more weeks.

The longer the soap cures, the milder it will be.

LET’S MAKE SOAP!

A basic soap recipe for beginners should contain no fragrance, essential oils, color or additives. For your first batch, stick with one that has no more than 3 or 4 oils, lye and water. The recipes on this page are great for first timers. Once you have made a few batches and are confident to try more advanced recipes, head over to my recipe index page and happy soaping!

WHY MAKE HOMEMADE SOAP?

With so many options of commercial soaps lining the shelves of grocery stores and supermarkets, why would anyone go through all the trouble to make their own soap from scratch?

COMMERCIAL SOAPS ARE NOT REALLY SOAPS

Soap is the product of a chemical reaction that occurs when mixing oils and lye, along with some water. The process is called “saponification,” in which the lye has been processed to help form the soap itself – there is no lye after this chemical reaction.But on your next trip to the supermarket or the grocery store, take a look at the labels of the products on the soap aisle. Despite the lovely packaging, alluring colors and fresh, clean scents, you’ll notice that most of them don’t contain the word “soap” on their labels. You may find “beauty bars”, “moisturizing bars” or “body bars”, but not soap. That’s because these products are not actually soap. They’re detergents.Detergent is a petroleum-based product, akin to gasoline. Detergents will leave the skin feeling very dry, or sometimes itchy. They contain synthetic lathering agents, artificial colors and fragrances and other harsh chemicals.

STORE-BOUGHT “SOAPS” CONTAIN HARMFUL INGREDIENTS

Have you ever read the label of a store-bought “soap”? Were you shocked at the amount of synthetic ingredients listed there? There are ingredients such as alkali and DEA, Triclosan, BHT other unpronounceable chemicals

that have been demonstrated to be detrimental to healthy skin and even linked to cancer.

The problem is that even though companies are required to release information about the ingredients of the soaps they manufacture, one can never be too sure of all the chemicals listed (or not listed) on the labels.

When you make your own soap from scratch, you get to control the quality of the ingredients you use, and ultimately what goes in what stays out of your soap. You can choose only the most natural, gentle and soothing ingredients to your skin.

HOMEMADE SOAPS ALLOW YOU TO DETERMINE HEALTH BENEFITS

The ingredients that you put in your own soaps, if you teach yourself how to make your own soap, will determine the benefits that you enjoy. Often, with skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis, the removal of harmful chemicals and possible irritants from the soaps used can greatly improve your overall skin health all by itself.

Besides the base oils (fats) that will react with lye and form the soap, you can get creative and play with essential oils and other soothing, healthy and fragrant additives – such as herbs, clays, honey, cocoa, tea, seeds and much more – each offering their own benefits to the skin. For instance, honey can be a great moisturizing agent, while certain clays do wonders for oily skin.

Working with essential oils can also open a world of possibilities. They are not really oils, but very powerful and concentrated extracts from leaves, flowers, stems, barks, roots or other elements of a plant.

Anyone who has tried aromatherapy knows that essential oils are nothing like perfumes and synthetic fragrances. They are the true “essence” of a plant, and their use can provide valuable psychological and physical therapeutic benefits.

GLYCERIN, THE ULTIMATE MOISTURIZER

Another benefit of homemade soaps is that you will retain full glycerin content. This is a product of soapmaking that is known to draw moisture from the air, and as a natural ingredient in soap, can moisturize the skin.Most commercial soap companies will mine the glycerin from their soaps, and will sell it in other products for the higher cost items. This means that

most soaps and detergents have been stripped of this key benefit (so that you can buy moisturizers separately from these same companies).

Think about that dry and cracked bar of soap that stood there in your bathroom for too long. That’s because all the glycerin has been stripped from it to make more expensive products such as moisturizing creams and lotions. If that’s what it looks like after a few weeks, just imagine what it will do to your skin!When you make your own soap from scratch, all that moisturizing glycerin remains intact and you will see a huge improvement on how your skin looks and feels. Main line soap manufacturers care more about their bottom line and how to increase their profit margin than they care about the health benefits to your skin. When you make your own soaps, you have different objectives in mind, such as moisturizing your skin, preventing rashes, eczema flare-ups, oily skin and dry skin and more.

IT’S FUN!

Finally, some people just make homemade soap for the fun in it. The process can actually be quite enjoyable, especially to those who love arts & crafts and cooking.It’s also a great way to come out of a hobby with a usable set of items. As for the soaps you make: you can give them out to your friends as gifts on special occasions, for example, or perhaps even sell them online or on crafts shows. Whatever you want to do with the soaps, there is something in handmade soapmaking for everyone.

READY TO MAKE SOAP?

If you’re convinced on trying your hand at soapmaking, take a look at our soap making basics page. There, you’ll find important information to help you get started. For the seasoned, experienced soap makers that are just looking for recipes, check out our collection of homemade soap recipes.

BAMBOO CHARCOAL SOAP RECIPE

This recipe makes a lovely soap with a rich black lather that cleanses deeply and leaves the skin feeling soft and refreshed:

30% palm oil 25% olive oil 25% coconut oil 15% palm kernel oil 5% castor oil bamboo charcoal powder  (approximately 1 tbsp for every 2 pounds

of soap)

Run this recipe through a lye calculator to find out how much lye, water and oils you’ll need for a given amount of soap. To make a 2 pound batch at 5% superfat, you’ll need: 9.6 oz palm oil 8 oz olive oil 8 oz coconut oil 4.8 oz palm kernel oil 1.6 oz castor oil 12.1 oz water 4.7 oz lye (NaOH) 1 tbsp bamboo charcoal powder

Follow standard cold process procedures. Mix the charcoal powder with a small amount of melted oils until fully dissolved, then add to the rest of the oils at light trace. Palm kernel oil can speed up trace, so be vigilant.For fragrance, I used a blend of cedarwood atlas, ylang ylang and orange essential oils. This synergy is woody and slightly sweet. Fresh scented oils, such as lemongrass or peppermint, would also work well for this soap, enhancing the deep cleanse feel you get after using it.

What to Do With Herbs You Grow – Herbal Oil Infusions

March 21, 2012

Plant materials for making herbal oil infusions

The key to making herbal oil infusions is in the choice of plant materials, such as: Calendula, plantain, chickweed, chamomile, lavender and comfrey, just to name a few. Knowing this ahead of time will be helpful in determining which oils and herbs you want to use. . Uses may range from culinary to health/medicinal to beauty aids.

Oils to use: Use a refined oil to attract the essential oils of the plant. Choose one that has pale color and mild scent. Olive oil, safflower oil and sesame oil all work well. Or you can use almond oil for cosmetics, safflower or canola for general purposes, and olive oil for cooking.

Flowers to use: Choose any of the following: roses, jasmine, pinks and carnation, violets, wallflowers, lavender, honeysuckle, hyacinth, orange blossom, lily of the valley, sweet pea and heliotrope, frangipani, marigold.

Cut the flowers just before they are fully open and where possible, use the petals only. You can use a single type of flower or a mixture of 2 or more flowers.

Herbs to use: Almost any garden herb can be used to make herbal oil infusions. Cut the herbs just before the flowers open. Use the leaves and flowers, but not the woody stems.

Chop the leaves before adding into the oil. Treat the leaves of scented pelargoniums (geraniums) in the same way.

Recommended herbs are: marjoram, peppermint, thyme, lemon verbena, lemon balm and rosemary. If you want to make essential oils for cooking, you can use basil.

Spices to use: Cinnamon, coriander, cloves, cumin and nutmeg (grated) are the best for homemade oils. Use a pestle or mortar to crush them before adding them to oil.

Citrus to use: The zest of citrus fruits can be used to make homemade essential oils. Use them sparingly in mixtures. About 2-3 strips of zest per bottle.

Mixing the plants materials:

You can mix the plants to make oils that are used in potpourri and other scented craft items. While mixing the materials, use at least twice as many flowers as herbs and only small amounts of spices and peels.

The mixtures can be vary depends on your needs and personal taste. Below I will give you the example of plants mixture that works well:

Rose, pinks, honeysuckle, nutmeg

Rose, lavender, cinnamon, nutmeg, orange peel

Rose, jasmine, coriander, lemon peel

Rose, marjoram, lemon verbena, lemon peel, cinnamon

Lavender, peppermint, lemon balm, marjoram

Violets, lily of the valley, hawthorn and cinnamon

Instructions for Making Herbal Oil Infusions – the slow cooker method:

If your finished oil will be used for culinary purposes or in herbal salves, a high quality olive oil may be your best choice. Extra virgin olive oil is more stable and doesn’t go rancid as quickly as most other oils.  However, if using your finished oil in beauty products, jojoba oil, sweet almond oil, or coconut oil may be wonderful choices.

Most flowers or herbs can be used for infused oil, but be sure you know a little something about the herb you choose. Some herbs can be used for their healing qualities, while others may be chosen for their pleasant aroma.

The use of dried herbs and flowers is preferred as fresh herbs contain water that can cause mold growth and spoilage of your finished oil. Grow your own or purchase organic dried herbs so you don’t end up with pesticides in your herbal oil.

Slow Cooker Method for Herbal Infusions

Place a hand towel in the bottom of the slow cooker. This serves to keep the direct heat off jars and promote more even heat distribution, as well as cushioning jars from bumping the pot which could cause chips and breakage. Fill slow cooker about half-way with water. Turn slow cooker on “warm” setting to preheat.

Prepare herbs by gently rubbing between your palms before adding to a glass mason jar. Fill jars 1/3 – 1/2 of the way with herbs, then cover with oil, leaving at least one inch of headspace in your jars. Stir the herb/oil mixture in each of your jars to cover herbs with oil and release any air bubbles.

Cap jars and place into slow cooker on top of the towel. Allow oils to infuse for 8-12 hours on your slow cooker’s lowest setting. Temperature should remain between 100° –

120°. You may want to check the temperature every few hours, turning off the slow cooker for a bit if needed. Stir or gently shake jars a few times during the infusion process.

Once herbs have been infused, turn off slow cooker and allow to cool to room temp. Strain herbs/flowers out using a tea towel or several layers of unbleached cheesecloth. Compost or discard the spent herbs.

Transfer your infused oils to clean glass jars or bottles and cap tightly. Label your jar with 1) the type of oil used, 2) herb it was infused with, and 3) date. Protect your herbal oils from heat and light by storing in a cool, dark place. Your oils may last a year or more if stored properly. http://www.diynatural.com/easy-herbal-oil-infusion /

http://livesimply.me/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/1F-homemade-vapor-rub-2.jpg

Last year, on a quiet afternoon, alone in my bathroom, I mixed a few ingredients in a simple glass bowl: cocoa powder, arrowroot, clay, and a dash of spice. The creation of my very first DIY,homemade foundation powder. Hesitantly, I dipped my finger in the powder and applied it to my face. I studied the mirror, inspecting my creation. Homemade make-up worked. It was a glorious moment. An addictive moment. An epiphany.

Since that quiet afternoon, I’ve been on a DIY kick. A mission to oust the chemicals and replace them with simple homemade products that actually work.Body wash? I got that.

Boo-boo cream for ouchies? Homemade salve to the rescue.Laundry Soap? Absolutely. Move aside Tide.

And the list could go on.

Last week, Piper started to get the sniffles. Sniffles led to congestion and no sleep. A couple of nights later, congestion struck again, this time it was my turn. Immediately, knowing a very rare cold was coming for our family, I made a batch of homemade elderberry syrup. While the elderberry syrup, broth, and probiotics went to work cold-busting, congestion relief and a good night’s sleep were needed.Time for a new DIY?I think so.

http://livesimply.me/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/1-homemade-vapor-rub-4.jpg

Colds always evoke memories of my mom with a little blue bottle. The smell that radiated from that bottle was like no other.  The sweet relief it brought to my congested nose and chest was always welcome. My mom would gently rub the moist balm under my congested nose, back, and chest.  Anytime I feel congestion coming on, my mind always goes to that blue bottle and my mom’s TLC.

With the memory of my mom’s healing touch and a love for DIY, this recipe was born in our time of need. A combination of simple, natural ingredients coming together to provide a relief for chest and head congestion. The warm touch and scent of this homemade rub is not only calming, but also contains antiviral and anti-bacterial properties. A vapor rub that’s natural and effective.Homemade Vapor RubIngredients

5 TB coconut oil (where to buy) 2 TB cocoa butter (where to buy) 1½ TB beeswax (where to buy)30 drops eucalyptus essential oil (for children use Eucaylptus Radiata or Eucaplytus

Citriodora) (where to buy) 12 drops each of essential oils: peppermint, lavender, and rosemary 5 drops tea tree essential oil (where to buy)

Instructions1. In a saucepan, over low

heat, add the coconut oil and cocoa butter. Melt.

2. Once melted, add the beeswax. Melt.3. Remove the pan from the heat. Allow the mixture to sit in the saucepan for 5 minutes.

This will allow the mixture to cool so the oils aren't damaged.4. After 5 minutes, add the eucalyptus, peppermint, lavender, rosemary, and tea tree oils to

the coconut oil mixture. Combine with a spoon.

5. Pour the mixture into a glass jar. I use a mason jar. This recipe will make one 4 oz. jar of vapor rub. As the mixture cools the liquid will solidify, making it a creamy, spreadable rub.

NotesHomemade vapor rub will keep at room temperature for 12 months.

http://livesimply.me/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/1-homemade-vapor-rub-3.jpg

As always, please do your own research when it comes to using essential oils, particularly on young children. Using eucalyptus on young children may slow respiration in some children. Rubbing vapor rub on the feet of young children may be safer than using it around the face or chest.

Natural Soapmaking for Beginners - Ingredients

This is the first post in this four-part series natural series on natural soapmaking that includes learning about ingredients, equipment & safety ,  basic soap recipes and formulating your own ,  and finally the process of making handmade soap using the Cold Process Method.

I make soap most every day and it's become so much a part of my routine that I sometimes take for granted all of the little steps and tips I've learned through the years. I'm a self-taught soap-maker and though I now get consistent results I still remember my first attempt. It was a very small batch of peppermint and I and a friend spent over an hour stirring that pot by hand without getting it to mix (called trace). If I hadn't have been persistent then it would have been easy to have given up after that. Through trial and error, a lot of time spent scouring the internet and books, and quite a few unsuccessful batches, I now have a successful process and a great range of products.

Most of my soap is now destined for shops around the Isle of Man and for direct sale to customers though some of it is used at home in the bath, kitchen, and even laundry. I haven't purchased a bar of soap, bottle of shower gel, or even liquid hand soap in years! I still find it an amazing

experience to make soap and get a little excited every time I un-mould a new loaf. Through having a stall at the local Farmers Market I also chat to a lot of people about my products and it's become clear to me that more people would like to find out about making their own soap too. I hope to begin offering local courses by next year but in the meantime I'd like to share some of what I've learned here.

What is 'Natural' Soap?For me, making natural soap means avoiding the use of any ingredients that could be toxic or are manufactured in ways that use questionable substances or methods. This means that I personally don't use artificial dyes, perfumes, or additives in my own soap. While some people might want to try to make soap for fun and aren't too fussed about using all natural, my thoughts on the subject are that if you're going to go to the effort of making handmade soap why not make a product that is going to be completely safe for you, your friends, your little ones, and your entire family?

But what exactly is Soap?Most people ask me how to make soap but maybe the first question that should be asked is 'What is Soap'? At the heart of all soap recipes are two main ingredients: oil and lye, also known by its chemical name Sodium Hydroxide. Your soap making recipe will, through a simple but controlled process, chemically bond these two ingredients into a new compound - Soap! I'll go through the process in a later post but let's first look at your ingredients. The below is only meant as an introduction to your options and each section could be expanded upon with enough information to literally fill books. If you have any specific questions about anything please leave a message below.

Lye - Sodium Hydroxide Sodium Hydroxide Beads 1kg High Purity (2.2lb)Right, let's talk lye. I'd like to start off by stating that you absolutely cannot make your own soap without lye. A lot of people shy away from making soap due to experience with the harsh lye soap their grandmothers made or because the thought of putting caustic soda into personal care products scares or puts them off. As I shared above, soap making is essentially the chemical reaction between oils, which are acids, and lye, which is a base. Together they will form a completely new material which will be gentle and nearly neutral in PH.

If you'd like to make soap but are still feeling a bit unsure about handling Sodium Hydroxide then I'd suggest that you look into purchasing 'Melt-and-Pour' soap. This material is pre-made soap and will come in blocks or cubes that you can melt on your stove or in the microwave and then pour into moulds.

WaterWater is used to help activate the lye and disperse it through the oils. However, there will be no water left in your bars of soap by the time you use them. The water will evaporate out of your bars during the four to six

week curing process which will leave your bars slightly smaller and harder than when you first took them out of their moulds.

Oils & FatsAny oil or fat can be used to make soap and in your own recipes you can use anywhere from a single oil to a dozen. But when you're just starting out I'd recommend sticking to just three to five. Soaps made from a single oil, such as Castile (olive oil) soap can be tricky to master and choosing more than a handful of oils can be expensive. Each oil that you use will combine with lye to create a soap characteristic of that oil and some are selected to provide hardness to the bar while others provide lather, conditioning, and cleansing. Here's some common examples of oils used in soap making:

Beeswax - Stakich 1 lb Pure BEESWAX Pellets - Cosmetic Grade, Top Quality -Vegetarian but not Vegan, this wax will add hardness to your soap and a beautiful scent. Use only small amounts of beeswax in your recipes since it stops lathering at larger quantities.

Cocoa Butter - Certified Organic Cocoa Butter, Pure, Raw, Unrefined. Incredible Quality and Scent. Use for Lotion, Cream, Lip Balm, Oil, Stick, or Body Butter. Organically Grown on Small Family Farm in the Dominican Republic. Best Cocoa Butter on Amazon! (1 Pound)  provides gorgeous moisture and skin protection and also helps to harden your soap. Use in smaller percentages as a 'superfatting' oil.

Coconut oil - 100% PURE Coconut Oil Wholesale 1 Gallon creates a hard bar with loads of fluffy lather and cleansing power.

Olive oil - Olio Casa Pomace Compound Oil, 1 gal soap made with olive oil is sensitive, conditioning, and great for all skin types.

Palm oil - Palm Oil, Natural 1 Gallon a great oil for soap making but one that is very controversial. Palm plantations in south-east Asia have led to devastating deforestation and loss of habitat for animals such as Orangutans. If you choose to use Palm oil please consider using oil that's been certified as sustainable and try to learn more about where exactly its being grown and by whom.

Soybean oil - Zoye Premium Vegetable Oil, 16 Ounce helps create a conditioning bar with a stable lather

Shea Butter - 100% Pure Unrefined Raw SHEA BUTTER - (1 Pound) from the nut of the African Ghana Shea Tree.  An interesting oil since it has more difficulty turning into soap than other oils and will often stay in your soap as moisturising butter rather than soap. Use in smaller percentages as a 'superfatting' oil.

Sweet Almond oil - NOW Foods Sweet Almond Oil, Moisturizing Oil, 16 ounce used for its light feeling and ability to moisturise and condition the skin. Use in smaller percentages as a 'superfatting' oil.

When formulating your recipes you'll first choose oils that will make up the bulk of your recipe, such as Coconut and Olive oils, and those which will be used to 'Superfat'. Superfatting means adding extra oils at the very end of your process that will be free-floating rather than combining with the lye and transforming into soap. Superfatting makes the difference between a bar of soap that's cleansing and a bar of soap that's cleansing and moisturising.

AntioxidantsPreservatives are only used in 'wet' products since water creates a habitat where bacteria can grow. Soap does not require preservatives since the water that you use in the recipe will evaporate out. If you're Superfatting your recipe (which you should definitely do) then what you will need is an antioxidant to help free-floating oils stay stable and not go rancid. There are two main antioxidants that soap makers use in very small quantities at the very end of the soap making process:

Grapefruit Seed Extract (GSE) - Nutribiotic Gse Liquid Concentrate, 2 Fluid Ounceextracted from the seeds and pulp of grapefruit this thick and clear liquid doesn't add a scent to your soap and is very effective at keeping other oils from spoiling.

Rosemary Oleoresin Extract (ROE) - Aromatic Rosemary Oleoresin 6% 1 oz in Amber Glass extracted from Rosemary leaves and quite a thick and strong smelling herbal liquid.

Soap Fragrance - optionalSome people will choose to let their soap scent speak for itself and  leave it to smell like simple, clean, handmade soap. Another idea is to use oils in your recipe like sesame or beeswax since they will impart their own unique and natural fragrances. I create an unscented soap that is fragranced with only the natural aroma of oatmeal and it's proven quite popular with those suffering from extremely sensitive skin or reactions to fragrance of all kinds.

Personally I enjoy soap that's subtly scented and leaves your skin smelling lovely. I've used essential oils in my soap from the the beginning but have also experimented with using 'Fragrance oils', which are commercially produced perfumes for the toiletry industry. Both have their pros and cons but if you like the idea of scent that has therapeutic powers then I'd suggest you'd stick with essential oils. Some have powerful medicinal properties and can help heal the skin or clear your sinuses and airways. The downside of using essential oils is their expense and propensity for fading with time if you leave the soap sitting in the open or in direct sunlight. This can be especially problematic for citrus essential oils such as lemon and orange.

Fragrance oils on the other hand are relatively inexpensive, have scents

that last ages, and have a much more varied range to choose from. If you like baby powder scented soap or a shampoo that smells like coconut then you're going to have to use fragrance oils. The con of using them is that they are trademarked and patent protected artificial perfumes that you'll never truly know the contents of. In many cases fragrance oils are made of petrochemicals and allergens that cause people to sneeze or have skin reactions. Using fragrance oils in your soap also means that your product will not be 'natural'. In the end it's your choice to use one or the other but I urge you to do a bit of research before making a decision.

Scent Fixer - optionalAbove I mentioned that the scent of essential oils can fade over time but there are ways to 'fix' the scent so that they'll last longer. Sometimes another essential oil can help the others to stick and at other times it's best to use another additive that works to absorb the essential oils into it. Fixers are a bit more advanced in soap making but I thought I'd add them in so that those experimenting with making nice smelling soap aren't frustrated by their soap's scent evaporating during the curing process. Here are some of the choices you'll come across:

Arrowroot - use as little as a teaspoon in 800g (28oz) batches 

Benzoin - available as both a powder and as an essential oil 

Cornstarch - use as little as a teaspoon in 800g (28oz) batches. 

Oatmeal - this is one that I've discovered on my own. Using fine blended oatmeal in your soap will add light exfoliation and will absorb and hang onto your essential oils.

Orris Root Powder - made from the dried and powdered root of the Iris (Iris germanica) and has a woodsy and violet scent of its own. 

Soap Colours - optional

In Natural Soapmaking you have several options for colouring your soap

which will include powders you can purchase from specialty suppliers and even flowers and plants that could be growing in your garden right now. Your other option is to choose oils that will impart a natural hue to your soap or to use ingredients that will caramelise and give a warm colour to the finished product.

Oil Selection - some of your oils, such as olive oil, will impart a more yellow or creamy colour to your soap, while white and/or light coloured oils will create white soap.

Clays - though limited in palette to just pink/red, green, and white, cosmetic clays can add beautiful natural colour to your soap. Clays also help to lightly exfoliate and detox the skin.

Minerals & Micas - Mineral and Mica powders are available in a wide range of colours that can help you hit most of the hues of the rainbow. Please note that while these cosmetic materials are considered natural they are both created in a laboratory environment. Minerals and Micas are found in nature but are often tainted with unsafe heavy metals and are unfit for use.

Sugars - milk, sugar, and honey will caramelise if you add them to your batch before trace.

Herbs, Flowers, & Roots - my personal favourite! Nature creates all types of wonderful colours useful in soap making. Use Calendula petals for golden orange, Alkanet root for purples, and Madder root for pink. I even have a soap-maker friend who uses fresh Spinach to give her soap a brilliant green hue.

Botanicals - optionalThe word botanicals simply means natural fruit, flower, leaf, and root additives that impart either colour (see above), visual interest, or exfoliation to your soap. There is some conjecture as to how much of the original properties found in these ingredients survive the soapmaking process but you can try adding them to your recipes and judge for

yourself. This is again a more advanced area of soap making and completely optional.

Botanical oils - mainly used in the superfatting phase and may include Rose-hip oil, Neem oil, and Borage Seed oil. With the exception of Neem, it's my opinion that the addition of these oils to soap might be a waste since their beneficial components can be destroyed by heat. Probably save them for making handmade lotion and cream.

Dried Fruit & Spices - lemon and orange slices, peppercorns, and cinnamon sticks are just some of the items you can add to your soap to create holiday or scent themed designs. Others, like Turmeric powder, can also provide vibrant natural colour.

Exfoliants - Rolled oats, ground almonds, and ground pumice stone can all be added at small amounts to create a more scrubby soap.

Herbs & Flowers - these can be used to both decorate and tint your soap. Use infusions of flowers and herbs in place of some or all of the water content and feel free to use dried flowers on both the tops and interiors of your soap. A word of caution though in using flower petals - most will discolour during the soap making and curing process. If you'd like lovely colour from your botanicals, make sure that that they're ones that will stay true. You'll see some lovely soap out there that use pretty rose petals and lavender buds on top and think you might want to do the same. If you decide to go down this route be prepared for them to turn brown in a very short period.

Roots - there are various roots with medicinal value that can be used in soap making but again, the effectiveness of the active ingredients can be questionable in your final product. Alkanet and Madder root are roots used purely for colour and are added either by infusing liquid oils with the dried root or by adding a powdered version of the root directly to the soap.

Where to purchase your Soapmaking IngredientsFirstly I encourage you to pop into your local bulk foods wholesaler or cash-and-carry and see what they have on offer since you can often get a much better deal with them, especially with food grade oils, than with specialty soap and beauty suppliers. Secondly I'd like to emphasise is that it's easy to spend a small fortune when starting out making your own soap. You don't need much to get started so try to resist purchasing expensive oils and equipment until you've made a few batches and have decided that soap making is for you. 

Homemade Liquid Dish Soap RecipeAuthor: The Prairie HomesteadRecipe type: DIY

 

Ingredients 3 cups water 2 tablespoons grated bar soap-- I used my homemade tallow soap (it's a very basic

soap--nothing fancy) ¼ teaspoon washing soda 1 teaspoon vegetable glycerin 20-50 drops essential oils of your choice

Instructions1. Mix the water, grated soap, and washing soda in a small saucepan over medium

heat. Stir until the mixture is hot and all the ingredients are dissolved. (If it simmers or boils, that's ok--just make sure everything is completely dissolved.)

2. Remove the mixture from the heat, and mix in the vegetable glycerin and essential oils. (If it's very hot, allow it to cool slightly before adding the essential oils)

3. Pour the liquid dish soap mixture into a jar and allow it to sit at room temperature for 6-12 hours. It will thicken during this time. I like to give it a stir every couple hours (if I think of it), but you don't have to.

4. When you are ready to use it, give it a vigorous stir (it might seem too thick at first, but should easily soften once you start stirring) and pour into a soap pump or squeezable container. (I repurposed an empty dish soap bottle)

5. Give it a shake, and enjoy doing those dishes with your very own homemade liquid dish soap!

6. I loved the consistency of this dish soap--it's thick enough to stick to the dishes, but not chunky.

7. *Important Note* Keep in mind that your results may vary a bit depending on the type of bar soap you use. My homemade tallow soap is quite hard. I also tried this with a softer homemade soap (containing ingredients such as coconut oil and olive oil), and I had to tweak the ingredients a bit.

8. For the batch using the softer bar soap, I had to increase the soap flakes to 3 tablespoons and the washing soda to ½ teaspoon. You may even have to go as far as 4 tablespoons of soap flakes and 1 teaspoon of washing soda.

9. However, there is a fine line--and I found that adding too many soap flakes makes it too thick, and too much washing soda results in it separating into cloudy chunks.

10.Now that I have the basic formulation down, I plan on doing more experimenting with different types of soap--including some "brand name" bars, so stay tuned!

Making of 5.5 kg Detergent Powder (very equal to Surf Excel or Ariel):

(you must sift all the materials in a sieve before mixing them)1st step. Take 2.5 kg Washing Soda.2nd step. Mix 1/2 kg LABS/Slurry in the Washing Soda3rd step. Add 200 ml SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate) liquid to the mixture and mix it well.

Mix all these below material one by one in the above mixture4th step. 1/2 kg TSP (Trisodium Phosphate)5th step. 1/2 kg STPP (Sodium Tripolyphosphate)6th step. 100 gr CMC (Critical micelle concentration)7th step. .100 gr Tinopal8th step. . 1 kg G-Salt9th step. 50 ml Thousand Flowers Scent10th step. 10 gr. Detergent granulesCongratulations ! You could produce 5.5 kg Super Detergent Powder very equal to Surf Excel or Ariel.

This past year, I’ve become more interested in making my own bath and body products. When I was pregnant for the first time, I started doing a lot of reading about all of the nasty chemicals in a lot of store bought products, and I started reading the labels, and avoiding parabens, phthalates, artificial fragrances, etc. I have my favorite natural products that I use, but I think it’s fun to make my own products as well. I have had very good luck with my homemade deodorant  – it really is the only natural deodorant that works for me! Believe me, I’ve tried them all…they work for a while, and then stop working. Usually at a very inconvenient time. :( This Christmas, I also made homemade lip balm , and that was a big hit! And such an easy and cute present to make and give.

http://theprettybee.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/You-might-be-surprised-how-easy-it-is-to-make-your-own-lotion-All-natural-ingredients-and-simple-instructions.-.jpg

A couple of weeks ago I ran out of lotion, so I decided I would try to make my own. To be honest, the basic ingredients for deodorant, lip balm and lotion are basically the same, so it’s easy to experiment once you make the initial investment in oils, butters, and beeswax. I adapted a recipe from Wellness Mama , and I bought a really tiny jelly jar from Michael’s- I would say it’s about a 2.5 ounce jar. This recipe was the perfect amount to fill that jar.

All Natural Lotion Recipe

Ingredients

1/4 cup almond oil 1/8 cup coconut oil1/8 cup beeswax 1 Vitamin E oil capsule1 Tablespoon Shea Butter 5 Drops of Lavender Essential Oil5 Drops of Sweet Orange Oil

Small glass jar for storing your lotion

(The ingredient list does include some Amazon affiliate links).

1. If your beeswax is in chunks or bars, you will need to grate it. I bought a cheap grater from the Dollar Tree to use just for beeswax. Grate it before measuring. If you buy beeswax pellets, you will skip this step.

2. Place the beeswax, almond oil, coconut oil, and shea butter in a glass mason jar (this is just a container for mixing, not a container for storing. It should be a larger jar). Place the glass jar inside of a pan that has a couple of inches of water in it, and turn heat on medium.

3. As the water starts to simmer, the ingredients will melt. Stir occasionally to help them melt. It will take about 7-8 minutes for everything to melt fully.

4. Once everything is melted, remove the pan from the heat and add the Vitamin E Oil by poking a hole into the capsule and squeezing out the oil, and the essential oils of your choice. (Be sure to research your essential oils, not all of them are safe for your skin. Lavender, sweet orange, tangerine, and peppermint are okay for body products. This  is a great guide to essential oil use and safety.

5. Carefully pour your lotion into the container that you want to store it in. Be careful, wear oven mitts! The oils are really hot.

6. Let lotion cool completely before using.

http://theprettybee.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Its-so-easy-to-make-your-own-lotion-with-all-natural-ingredients-Customize-it-with-your-favorite-fragrance.-.jpg

 

This lotion absorbs well into the skin, and is really moisturizing. The texture is a little bit more oily than the kind of lotion you might buy at the store. I really like how it makes my skin feel, and I love the lavender and sweet orange scent. One of our friends who makes body products suggests using something other than your finger to remove the lotion from the jar, since it does not contain preservatives, and your fingers can introduce bacteria into the jar. However, this makes such a small amount, it really depends on how quickly you think you will use this lotion.  A small wooden stick or spoon is a great way to keep your lotion pure.

If you want to read more about essential oils, I wrote about them HERE .

Have you ever made any of your own body products? How did they turn out?

Cooling Aloe-Mint Body Lotion

This lotion is perfect for summertime because of the ‘cooling effect’ of the aloe and mint. It’s perfect after a long day on your feet. I particularly love

it massaged into my legs and feet after a day hiking in the mountains. With the warmer temperatures finally arriving, I wanted a light moisturizer with a cooling effect. I use coconut oil as a moisturizer year round, but sometimes I just need a little moisturizing not the full coconut conditioning. I think a 50:50 ratio of coconut oil to aloe vera has been the perfect amount with just enough moisturizing. It sinks right into my skin leaving, a smooth surface.

Tip: to get the beeswax off your grater, pour boiling water over the surface and watch it melt away.

I like to have all of my ingredients ready to go before I start. That way, when the beeswax has melted into the oil, you’re ready to whisk in the aloe vera. The top left bowl is aloe vera, the bowl to the right is coconut oil, and the bowl on the bottom left is grated beeswax.

This photo is what your lotion will look like right after you’ve whisked in the aloe vera gel and the peppermint essential oil.

This mixture will look too thin at first, but it thickens up as it cools (above photo). I like to blend mine on the lower settings of the blender to make it fluffier. Also, it sometimes separates as it cools and the blending emulsifies better than whisking. Once it’s fully cooled, I haven’t had it separate. The above picture is the lotion before blending, so you don’t have to blend it by any means. It’s perfectly emulsified, but I like the lighter texture of the lotion after it’s blended (refer to picture below).

Enjoy all summer long!5.0 from 4 reviews

Cooling Mint-Aloe Body Lotion

 

Prep time10 mins

Cook time5 mins

Total time15 mins

 Author: GI 365Serves: 1 cupItems

¼ cup grated beeswax ½ cup coconut oil ½ cup aloe vera gel, room temperature ⅛ Teaspoon peppermint oil

Instructions1. Place the beeswax and coconut oil in a saucepan over low heat. Heat

just until just melted. Try to keep the temperature as low as possible to preserve the benefits the of coconut oil.

2. Remove from the heat and whisk in the aloe vera gel and peppermint essential oil until it's thoroughly combined.

3. Let cool to room temperature, about 1 hour. Whisk again, or place in the blender and blend at a medium speed for about 30 seconds for a fluffier version.

This recipe was first posted by GI 365 | Gourmet Innovations. All content is Copyright Protected - ©2013 - 2014 GI 365. All Rights Reserved. This content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License*You may only re-publish this recipe with attribution to this post. Feel free to contact me with any questions*

Read more: Cooling Aloe-Mint Body Lotion - Lifestyle | GI 365 Gourmet Innovations http://gi365.info/lifestyle/cooling-aloe-mint-body-lotion/#ixzz3XuKyhZbl THIS CONTENT IS COPYRIGHT PROTECTED © 2013 - 2014 GI365. All Rights Reserved - PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SHARE THIS CONTENT, JUST DON'T DELETE THE ATTRIBUTION LINKS PLEASE - GI 365 | Gourmet Innovations For Everyday Life! Follow us: @GI_365 on Twitter | GI365 on Facebook

Formulating Cold Process Recipes November 27, 2013  Filed Under: Tips & Tricks  149 CommentsIt may be the foundation of cold process soapmaking, and it’s often the most difficult and intimidating part — formulating a cold process recipe. From this post about my favorite cold process recipes to our Free Beginner’s Guide to Oils and Butters, we’ve got plenty of resources to help you create your own recipes. Sometimes though, it’s

nice for a little refresher course if you want to try and create a recipe from scratch. Customizing your recipe is all part of the fun!

When formulating a basic cold process recipe, you can never go wrong with a 33/33/33 ratio. That’s 33% Olive Oil, 33% Coconut Oil and 33% Palm Oil. Another good standard recipe is the 30/30/30/10. That’s 30% Olive Oil, 30% Coconut Oil, 30% Palm Oil and 10% of something special — Rice Bran Oil, Sweet Almond Oil, Shea Butter, Mango Butter or Sunflower Oil are all good starter options. When you begin to branch out from that basic starter, there become many more factors to consider.We usually create recipes by starting with the trinity of base oils: Coconut, Palm and Olive. These three oils have become the de facto foundation of many soap recipes because they have qualities that complement each other to form a robust bar of soap. Palm acts as a secondary lathering agent and contributes to bar hardness, Coconut Oil produces big bubbles and is super cleansing, and Olive Oil is moisturizing and gives soap a silky feel.

 To formulate a recipe, start by designing your base oils or foundational recipe. You can use each oil between 20 – 30%. For the remaining portion of your oils, consider what you’d like the outcome of the final bar to be. Do you want it to be super moisturizing, have a nice thick lather, or be hard and long lasting? Once you decide the end result, you can flesh out the remaining oils. We list the maximum usage rate of each oil and butter we carry in our free beginner’s guide, so start there if you’re not sure about oil properties or max usage rates. And remember, just because I (or anyone) says that you should use an oil at a certain % range doesn’t mean you have to stick within those “rules” exactly. All fats will saponify and turn into soap and it’s a matter of personal preference for how you want your soap to lather, feel on the skin and rinse away.There are some general rules of thumb that can make formulating recipes easier. In general:

Liquid oils (those that do not solidify at room temperature) tend to trace more slowly, which means a largely liquid oil recipe tends to be good for doing swirls and intricate designs. They also take longer to harden in the mold and can be more sticky before a full 6 week curing and drying time.

Conversely, solid oils (those that are solid at room temperature) trace more quickly. Keep in mind that solid oils are necessary to help a bar harden and keep shape, which is why Palm Oil is such a staple oil in many recipes. Recipes with a large percentage of solid oils tend to harden up faster in the mold and need to be cut more quickly to prevent shearing.

Though any soap can technically be made with a single oil, the only oil we recommend to use up to 100% is olive oil. The best recipes are generally some combination of hard and soft oils.

We’ve found that lard is an excellent alternative to Palm Oil. Although our Palm Oil is responsibly sourced, we respect that some people may still choose

to not use it in their recipes. Other palm free recipe links are here, here, and here. My favorite one is this one that uses salt water to harden the bar.

Canola Oil  is an excellent substitute for Olive Oil. This is especially useful to know if you’re working with a recipe where color is particularly important. Olive Oil is a darker oil, which can cause lighter colors such as yellows, greens and pinks to have a green-ish hue. Canola Oil does not have this effect on color. Rice Brain is also another good substitute for Olive Oil.

At the end of the day, formulating a recipe is somewhat of a beautiful art that gets better with experience. While we do our best to formulate a recipe so we can predict exactly how it will behave, there are unlimited number of factors and variables that go into soapmaking that can lead to unexpected results. You may have heard of INS numbers and how they can help you formulate, but I’m not a big fan of them and here’s why. As the saying goes, even the best laid plans of mice and men go astray, we’ve given you the basic rules for formulating a cold process recipe, so go forth and experiment!

Many of the recipes below have been formulated and used in our own Soap Queen tutorials within the last three months. We’re sharing them with you now because they were brand new recipes that turned out exceptionally well! Remember that soaping recipes are subjective, and what we prefer may be different from what you prefer. It all comes down to personal preference, and we’re giving you these recipes as a jumping off point to begin formulating your own recipes.

Old Faithful:This recipe is solid and reliable, and the Castor Oil gives it a super luscious lather. This is a great recipe for beginners because it’s simple and produces great results. It is very similar to our Lots of Lather Quick Mix.

32% Coconut32%  Palm32% Olive Oil4% Castor Oil

10″ Silicone Loaf Mold (50 oz.)

9 Bar Birchwood Mold (48 oz.)

18 Bar Birchwood Mold (96 oz.)

5 lb. Wood Log Mold (80 oz.)

Coconut Oil

10.8 oz. 10.5 oz 21.12 oz. 17.2 oz.

Palm Oil 10.8 oz. 10.5 oz. 21.12 oz. 17.2 oz.Olive Oil 10.8 oz. 10.5 oz. 21.12 oz. 17.2ozCastor Oil 1.4 oz. 1.3 oz. 2.6 oz. 2.1 oz.

Old Faithful with a Twist:This is a fairly standard recipe with some fun stuff thrown in: moisturizing Sweet Almond Oil and silky soft Mango Butter. Sub the Mango Butter for Shea Butter at the same rate for a super moisturizing bar!

25% Coconut25% Palm30% Olive15% Sweet Almond5% Mango butter

10″ Silicone Loaf Mold (50 oz.)

9 Bar Birchwood Mold (48 oz.)

18 Bar Birchwood Mold (96 oz.)

5 lb. Wood Log Mold (80 oz.)

Coconut Oil 8.5 oz. 8.2 oz. 16.2 oz. 13.7 oz.Palm Oil 8.5 oz. 8.2 oz. 16.2 oz. 13.7 oz.Olive Oil 10.2 oz. 9.9 oz. 19.5 oz. 16.5 ozSweet Almond 5.1 oz. 4.9 oz. 9.8 oz. 8.2 oz.Mango Butter 1.7oz. 1.6 oz. 3.2 oz. 2.7 oz.

Perfectly Palm Free:If you’re looking for a palm oil free recipe, look no further. This is a wonderfully slow moving recipe that is great for intricate designs.

15% Coconut30% Canola25% Rice Bran15% Shea Butter10% Avocado Oil5% Chia Oil*

*(Don’t have exotic Chia on hand? Hempseed also works great in this recipe)10″ Silicone Loaf Mold (50 oz.)

9 Bar Birchwood Mold (48 oz.)

18 Bar Birchwood Mold (96 oz.)

5 lb. Wood Log Mold (80 oz.)

Coconut Oil 5.2 oz. 4.9 oz. 9.9 oz. 8.2 oz.Canola Oil 10.5 oz. 9.9 oz. 19.8 oz. 16.5 oz.

Rice Bran 8.7 oz. 8.2 oz. 16.5 oz. 13.7 ozShea Butter 5.2 oz. 4.9 oz. 9.9 oz. 8.2 oz.Avocado Oil 3.5 oz. 3.3 oz. 6.6 oz. 5.5 oz.Chia Oil 1.7 oz. 1.6 oz. 3.3 oz. 2.7 oz.

Beautiful Swirls:This recipe, in addition to our Swirl Quick Mix, is great for — you guessed it — swirl designs!

20% Coconut Oil30% Palm Oil20% Canola Oil4% Castor Oil6% Hazelnut Oil10% Rice Bran10% Sunflower Oil

10″ Silicone Loaf Mold (50 oz.)

9 Bar Birchwood Mold (48 oz.)

18 Bar Birchwood Mold (96 oz.)

5 lb. Wood Log Mold (80 oz.)

Coconut Oil 7 oz. 6.6 oz 13.2 oz. 11 oz.Palm Oil 10.5 oz. 9.9 oz. 19.8 oz. 16.5 oz.Canola Oil 7 oz. 6.6 oz. 13.2 oz. 11 ozCastor Oil 1.4 oz. 1.3 oz. 2.6 oz. 2.2 oz.Hazelnut Oil 2.1 oz. 1.9 oz. 3.9 oz. 3.3 oz.Rice Bran Oil 3.5 oz. 3.3 oz. 6.6 oz. 5.5 oz.Sunflower Oil 3.5 oz. 3.3 oz. 6.6 oz. 5.5 oz.

Do you have any tried and true recipes that you’d like to share? We’d love to see them in the comments!

Chocolate-Almond Soap

I’ve been making soap again. I just love to make soap! Every fall as the weather cools I get the urge to pull out my soap-making tools, buy some fragrance oils, and make lots of sweet-smelling, sudsy, cleansing – but gentle homemade soap. And the best part is that I know exactly what’s in it- and what’s not in it. Soap is pretty simple: just oils, water, and lye.

But this isn’t your grandma’s harsh lye soap, this is a kinder gentler version. All soap has lye – it’s something you can’t get around, but once the oils are combined with the lye, the two become a third substance that is neither oil nor lye:  soap.

So a couple weeks ago I made a batch Plain Soap, and over the weekend, I made a batch of Chocolate-Almond, the first time I’ve tried this recipe.

RECIPE:

16 oz. olive oil 25 oz coconut oil 44 oz soybean oil

24 oz cold water 12 oz lye crystals 2 oz almond fragrance oil 2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Yield:  7 pounds or 28 – 4 oz bars

First, I put my gloves and goggles on, and then I measured out the water and lye, combined the two, and then stirred well. Then I measured out my oils, and heated them up on the stove. When the oils and water/lye combo cooled down to between 95 – 100 degrees F, the next step was where the action began. I poured the lye/water into the oils and the mixture began to change immediately.

It became cloudy and began to thicken. After about 10 minutes of stirring with my stick blender,

it was ready for the Almond fragrance oil, which had been warming in a glass of hot water.

After the fragrance oil was stirred in well, I poured about 3/4 of the soap mixture into the mold.

Then I mixed the cocoa powder to the remaining soap,

and then I was ready for the fun part. I very carefully poured the cocoa soap into the mold,

and then streaked it with a butter knife to make pretty chocolate swirls.

I let the soap do it’s thing for 24 hours, and then it was ready to cut into bars. These will have to cure for about 8 weeks before use. I can’t wait to try it!

Kitty wasn’t impressed, which is kinda funny considering how much of a clean freak she is.

But then Kitty is more interested in food than cleaning.

In fact, I had to put a little dab of sour cream on the table in front of her to hold her interest long enough to get this shot.

Sad but true.

TUTORIAL: LUXURY ARGAN & CREAMY AVOCADO SOAP

By Kenna47 Comments

I’ve been destashing lately and had a little over six ounces of argan oil hanging around. So, I decided it was time to whip up a luxurious facial soap by using a little pureed avocado. I complimented the argan oil with avocado oil and the result is this beauty.LUXURY ARGAN & CREAMY AVOCADO SOAP!This formula is sized for the Brambleberry 10″ silicone mold, like most of my formulas here on Modern Soapmaking. And it works out perfect for a small avocado!SOAP FORMULA USED

8 ounces Avocado Oil 8 ounces Babassu Oil 7 ounces Olive Oil 6 ounces Coconut Oil 6 ounces Argan Oil 3 ounces Castor Oil 5.3 ounces Sodium Hydroxide 6.75 ounces Distilled Water 4 ounces Pureed Avocado

ESSENTIAL OIL BLEND USED

14 grams Lime Essential Oil 10 grams Pink Grapefruit Essential Oil 10 grams Lavender Essential Oil 8 grams Sweet Basil Essential Oil 6 grams Litsea Cubeba Essential Oil

COLORANTS USED

1/2 teaspoon Green Oxide Pigment 1/2 teaspoon Yellow Oxide Pigment

PREP WORK: Scrape out a small avocado. Weigh out four ounces, and puree it using a food processor or your stickblender.Weigh out your soaping oils, including your essential oil blend. I like to add my essentials oils to my main soap pot so I can’t possibly forget them later! Make up your lye solution, too!Add 1/2 teaspoon of both green oxide and yellow oxide into a four cup measuring cup. Premix it with a small portion (about a tablespoon) of your soaping oils. Remember, OXIDE start with an “O” so they mix well with Oils.   The equal portions of green and yellow pigments creates a bright and beautiful green.

Scrape out the avocado

Weigh out the avocado

Puree the Avocado for the Soap

Stickblend the avocado puree into the oilsGET STARTED: I like to add additives like fruit and vegetable purees, milks, etc., to my soaping oils. If you want to follow along, add your pureed avocado to your soaping pot and stickblend it well. Add your lye solution to your soaping oils, stick blend until emulsified. Once you have reached an emulsified state, pour about a third of your batch into the measuring cup with your oxides. (If you have not added your fragrance, you need to do that first!)Thoroughly mix your pigment into the split batch. Pour a little bit of your green colored soap into the main pot at four corners and a little in the middle. (If your soaping pot was a clock, it would be 12, 3, 6, and 9 o’clock plus the middle of the face!) You should have about half of your green colored soap left afterwards. No additional mixing or swirling in the pot necessary. This will create a nice in-the-pot swirl (ITPS) when you pour the soap. 

Add the Lye Solution to the Oils & Avocado Mixture

Bring the Argan & Avocado Soap to a Light Trace

Mix the Chromium Oxide Green into the Avocado Soap

Make an In The Pot SwirlSWIRL  IT: Pour half of the ITPS soap into the mold.Next, flood fill the next layer using the rest of the green soap. It’s okay if the flood fill breaks the bottom layer!Pour the rest of the ITPS soap in the mold, pouring from a moderate height (about six to ten inches above the mold) to break through the middle flood fill layer. If your soap has thickened up, pour from higher. If it’s thinner, pour closer to the mold.

Pour the ITPS Layer

Flood Fill the Middle Layer

Pour the Remainder of the ITPSTHE FINISH LINE: Texture the top of the soap nice and pretty! Put the argan & avocado soap to sleep (insulate lightly), and unmold in 12 to 24 hours.If the soap is too soft, leave it for another 12 to 24 hours before attempting to unmold again.Slice it up, cure it out, & enjoy!

Cut Argan & Creamy Avocado Soap

Luxury Argan & Creamy Avocado Soap

The argan & avocado soap formula featured in this tutorial is a Modern Soapmaking original. It is palm-free & vegan friendly. It uses a 7% superfat and a 33% lye solution strength. Feel free to adjust as necessary!

Home Made Liquid Castile Soap RecipeThis entry was posted in Home Made Soap and tagged liquid castile soap recipe on July 9, 2014 by Ally Campbell

Now that I made quite a few cold process soaps, I thought I should give making liquid Castile soap a try.One can buy natural Liquid Castile Soap   and use it to make hand wash, shampoo, face wash, washing up liquid, body washby adding their favorite teas, oils, essential oils and fragrance oils.

However, I didn’t want to miss on all the fun of making it myself for a fraction of the price so I went ahead, found some Liquid Soap recipes on the web, compared them with what I have in my cupboard, and concocted my own Liquid Castile Soap Recipe. It turned out all right and the 36 hours invested in the process were well worth it.I wanted a clear, thick liquid soap, with a rich stable lather that I can use as a base for many washing products in my household, hence I didn’t add too much essential oils, dilution water or super fating oils, So here’re the oils I chose for my home made liquid soap recipe.I used the grams measurements and a digital scales for this recipe as I wanted maximum precision:My Liquid Castile Soap’s INGREDIENTS:For the oil mix:

300 grams Olive Oil – because I have plenty, it’s cheap, creates a gentle soap, comes out clear in liquid soap making

200 grams Sunflower Oil – for the same reasons as above 100 grams Coconut Oil – because adds bubbling action to the soap and comes out

clear in liquid soap making

60 grams Castor Oil – because it is said to create and sustain bubbles, as well as being very nourishing to the skin.

6 grams of - Sweet Almond Oi l; Carrot Oil, Aragan Oil - simply because I have them in my oils collection. I added just a few drops of each.

Total oil content: 666 gramsFor the lye solution: 

Lye: Potassium Hydroxide – 140 grams Distilled water – 400 grams

Towards the end: 

Hot distilled water: 1000 grams or more. Boric Acid: 30 grams (or less) diluted in 200 grams of hot distilled water (optional) Essential oils: lavender, tea tree, oregano, grapefruit, lime, lemongrass (all of which

have antibacterial properties) Color – (optional) Glycerin (may be needed for thickening) Super fating Oils  (optional) EQUIPMENT: Patience, the basic CP soap making equipment, plus a crock pot or a large double boiler and maybe a potato masher.METHOD: 

Set the double boiler on low heat. The water underneath will have to keep simmering for the next 4 hours (if you’re lucky)

Weigh and pour your oils. Start with the brittle ones (if any), when they’re melted, add the hard oils and when these are melted add the soft oils.

Put on the soap making gear

Weigh very cool distilled water into a large heat proof container. Weigh lye into another container Pour lye slowly and gradually into the water and stir until the lye is dissolved.

potassium makes an boiling sound as it’s dissolving. This is normal. The lye solution will heat up somewhat. No need to wait for it to cool.

Add the lye water to the melted oils gradually, stirring carefully with a rubber spatula to avoid splashes.

Blend with a stick blender for 15 minutes. The mixture will become thicker at some point, expect a longer trace time than in CP soap making. When trace is reached, use the stick blender a little bit longer. It will start to struggle. Save its life and continue with a spoon until the mixture becomes too hard to mix.

Stop stirring and put the lid on. Set the crock pot to cook on medium for 6 hours but stir every 30 minutes or so.

During this time the soap will cook. It will transform and go through several “stages” Use stainless steel, wood rubber or plastic mixing tools to stir through these stages. At

some point a potato masher will be the most appropriate tool.

The stages that you may or may not notice are: Thick applesauce - Cooked custard with small bubbles - Mashed potatoes - Chunky/creamy Vaseline - Thick Honey. At some point during this magic transformation, stirring will be tricky however turning

the soap from the bottom of the pan shall be attempted at least)

When the mixture becomes translucent, it’s time to test it to see if it’s ready. BTW, my paste after 7 hours of gentle slow cooking, didn’t get to the thick honey, translucent consistency so I decided to go ahead and test for readiness anyway. It passed the test so I moved on to the next stage.

Take two parts of boiling water and add one part of your soap paste. Stir this sample soap, breaking it up and helping it dissolve in the water.

Once it’s completely dissolved (several minutes) check to see how clear it is.

If it’s just very lightly cloudy, that’s o.k. It may be your combination of oils. Also, the soap will “settle” after it’s finished and get even clearer. But if the dissolved soap mixture is milky or very cloudy, you didn’t cook it long long enough

Turn off the heat and transfer the mixture into a larger stainless steel pot if you think that adding the dilution water will cause the soap to overflow.

Pour hot distilled water into the mixture. Stir gently, wait a bit, stir again with the aim of homogenizing the mix. It will not be

easy. The gloopy paste will look like it may not even be water soluble. Don’t worry. It will dissolve when you’re not looking. Do your best at breaking out the paste in tiny bits and allow it to sit overnight.

In the morning stir again. There may still be some chunks that will melt away in the next step.

Neutralizing the soap. Heat up the soap in your crock pot. Take out a small sample and add a small amount

of the hot boric acid solution, mix and allow it to cool slightly. If your clear soap turns cloudy, you’ve added too much boric acid to the soap sample. Take this into account when mixing the boric acid to your pot of cooking soap. I halved the amount of boric acid required by my original recipe. My soap is still clear.

Now it’s time to add the essential oils, extra fats, glycerin, color, etc.

Remember: whatever you add, test on a small soap sample first. I attempted super fating my soap with carrot oil…. it’s supposed to be good for ya. It

didn’t mix properly. Castor oil made my soap sample cloudy. Glycerin make the sample thicker – which wasn’t needed anyway. The essential oils made my batch of home made liquid soap, fragrant and long lasting.

I poured the warm soap in sterilized jars, put them under the sink and I am now waiting for them to age: one week (out of two) to go.

  Conclusion: It took a lot of patience but I’m now the proud owner of 4 large jars of clear concentrated natural liquid Castile soap with the consistency of honey that can be used to replace many store bought cleaning products. Stay tuned for the upcoming home made shampoo recipe.CASTILE SOAP RECIPIES

The following recipes list ingredients but few procedures. If you need BASIC SOAPMAKING INSTRUCTIONS, you will find those on the main soapmaking page. For more up to date methods, go to the Modern Soapmaking Procedures page.

Take note that I did these Castile recipes with a stick blender. If you are hand stirring a recipe like these with such a high percentage of olive oil, it could take a couple of DAYS to trace, instead of a couple of minutes!

*Favorite Castile (From the Soap Newbies Page)78 oz. olive oil6 oz. coconut oil6 oz. palm oil24 oz. cold water 12 oz. lye crystals

Oils at 140 degrees, Lye Solution at 110 degrees.

This basic castile recipe was taken from the Soap Newbies Member Recipes page and was submitted by Nancy. The original had 140 degrees as the oil temperature and I'd probably go with 110 degrees. I upped the olive oil a bit to accommodate 12 oz. of lye and have increased the water slightly after consulting the MMS Lye Calculator page. I have to say that it is my favorite castile type recipe and the soap is nice, smooth and hard without any excess oil seepage or stickiness. It's also easy as ingredients go (except the palm oil for some, but it doesn't use very much). When using a stick blender, it sets up rather quickly after trace so you need to pour it at the early trace stage and not waste any time. It also heats up after pouring and will become translucent for a bit before it begins to cool back down (this is true if your mold is deeper ...if you cover it right away, you will be blissfully ignorant of this fact!). One of the batches didn't get as hot as the others and I'm thinking that the amount and type of fragrance/essential oils used contributes to the amount of heating up. Another factor may be their high oil temperature. Starting at 110 degrees may buy you more time.

Return to Table of Contents

This is a great base recipe for all kinds of soaps! I loved the "Favorite Castile" recipe posted by Nancy on The Soap Newbies page but wanted more lather in the finished bar and a little less of the slippery quality, so I upped the coconut and palm oils in this version. I keep coming back to this recipe...it's a wonderful hard bar, lathers well but is still mild.

*"Favorite Castile" II Soap (Kathy Miller)24-28 oz. cold water (depending on how firm you want the bars in 24 hours)12 oz. lye crystals55 oz. olive oil16 oz. palm oil16 oz. coconut oil

Temps around 110-115 degreesThis Lemon Verbena batch was scented with 2 oz. Lemon Verbena FO and colored with yellow candle dye and 1 T. dried dill weed for texture.

Return to Table of Contents

This has been altered by the addition of some soybean oil. I've found that soaps with some soybean in them are easier to work with when stick blending... they don't thicken too quickly. The same can NOT be said for shortening with soybean! One minute traces are not my preference! This recipe is better if you want the castile type soap, are using a stick blender and would like to swirl it. See other recipes for the technique on swirling.

*"Favorite Castile" III (Kathy Miller)

40 ounces olive oil16 ounces coconut oil16 ounces palm oil16 ounces soybean oil12 ounces lye crystals24-26 ounces cold water

Temps: 110-115 degrees

For Gardener's Scrub Bar, Add:1.5 oz. Sweet Orange essential oil1/2 oz. Eucalyptus essential oil1/2 oz. Citronella oil1/4 to 1/2 oz. Tea Tree Oil1 T. dried and pulverized orange peel (mine was out of a bottle!)1 T. poppy seeds (some folks don't like these in the shower! ;-)

A Gardener's Scrub bar with orange, eucalyptus, citronella, tea tree, poppy seeds and orange peel.

Return to Table of Contents

Another sudsier version of Castile if you don't have palm. Again...I used a stick blender for quick trace.

*"Favorite Castile"/No Palm Oil74 ounces olive oil14 ounces coconut oil24 ounces cold water12 ounces lye crystals

Temperatures: between 90-100 degrees

This gave a nice firm and smooth texture after 24 hours. The opacity is not as great as with the palm oil in the original, but still good. I made this with 2 ounces (I'm too cheap for four!) of Sweet Rain FO from Sweet Cakes and colored it with four crayons from my daughter's old stash. My first experience this year with crayon as color was using one dark blue one and getting no real color. This time I used 2 teal blue and 2 blue/green ones. It is okay, but much brighter than I'd wanted. For a softer shade, I would say that in general you probably want to use 1 to 3 crayons for a batch of this size...depending on the intensity of the color you have chosen. You can see how dark mine came out if you look at the center bar in the photo next to the "Canolive" Soap recipe, above.

Favorite Castile Soap Variations (can be used with any recipe):

Orange-Eucalyptus Soap -Probably great for bathing your dog OR yourself!

P.S. - This soap seems to be very popular with people!For this batch I added at trace:

1/2 oz. Sweet Orange essential oil (1 1/2 oz. stronger)1/4 oz. Eucalyptus essential oil (1/2 oz. stronger)1/2 oz. Citronella oil1 T. dried and pulverized orange peel (mine was out of a bottle!)

This has been very well received by many people, even though my son was not thrilled. If I make it again, I will up the oils to the numbers in parenthesis.

Return to Table of Contents

"Stress Relief" Soap (HA!)At trace I added:

2 oz. "Stress Relief" fragrance oil (Sweet Cakes)1/2 oz. Peppermint essential oil (if I'd had some, I would have also added .5 to 1 oz. spearmint oil...I guess one could spring for 4 ounces of the Sweet Cakes oil, but I'm cheap!)

I had my first experience after all these years with SEIZING! I've read about soap doing this, but never had it happen. I used the stick blender and it thickened fairly quickly. Shortly after getting the oils blended in, it began to thicken fast so I poured it into the smaller molds first. By the time I got those done, I had to practically pry the rest of the soap out of the pan to get it into the litter pan. It stacked up like a big ugly (the blue crayon was very ineffective for coloring...must buy more blue candle dye) pile of mashed potatoes. I had to mush it down with the spatula, leaving big hills and valleys. Panic was setting in, but I was still determined to have usable bars (with reasonable dimensions!) so I had Robert (who had been standing by audibly chuckling over these proceedings) grab the saran wrap and pastry roller (hand held with smaller rollers). We got the plastic stretched over the top of the rutted soap and I worked it over with the pastry roller until it was as even as I could get it.

Feeling a little relief at this point (no pun intended), we watched in horror as the newly poured soap began to develop dark areas. At first I thought it was just poor lighting or tired eyes, but it became more and more pronounced. It looked like the little bars would surely erupt and spew liquid at any minute. I finally got brave and touched the top of one of these darkening bars of soap and it was still firm. It was heating up like the first batch (which I didn't watch) and in the process, was nearly melting itself. This must be OVERHEATING! Two new experiences for the price of one! I stuck a candy thermometer into the low end of the large pan of soap (where I figured the bar would be too odd for use anyway) and the temperature at this point was just over 150 degrees...more than 20 degrees higher than when I put the ingredients together. Soap will often heat up after blending, but this was actually HOT! Surprisingly, the finished soaps are fine (with an interesting texture on the top from pulling off the Saran after rolling) and I have since made this Castile recipe again and it always heats up like this.

Post Script (14 April 2005): Some years after the above experience, I've learned that certain fragrance oils will do this with a lower water addition rate, but be perfectly fine with a higher one. When using an unknown fragrance oil, it's always better to use more water than the 24 ounces that was suggested in this recipe... anything from 28 to 32 ounces is fine. Also... this batch did overheat, but it was also my first experience of really watching soap go into "gel phase." I know not that is a good thing... but better when it doesn't happen so QUICKLY! ;-)

"Stress Relief" Bars - it was a relief when I actually managed to roll the

soap out reasonably flat after it seized!

"Stress Relief" Soap Molded - Got these poured before it became serious! The pink bars behind are

"Rose Garden." By the way... I got these molds from the Pourette Company. There are also other

companies that carry them.

 

Rose GardenAdd at trace:1/2 oz. Lavender essential oil1 oz. Sweet Grass FO (Sweet Cakes)1/2 oz. Rose FO (Pourette)1 1/2 - 3 tsp. fresh pulverized Rosemary leaves

This gave a nice strong scent. I would not add more, unless you have Rosemary oil on hand and want to add a little of that.

The Rosemary leaves were harvested from the garden and dehydrated for a few hours. Then I stripped the leaves and ran them through the blender (using the smaller jar provided for such purposes).This soap was colored with a couple of small chips of candle dye, which were melted in with the fats at the beginning. I used about 2/3 cerise red to 1/3 purple and the whole thing was not much more than a total of 1 tsp. of dye.

Another nice version of Rose Garden:2 oz. Rose FO (I used "Rose Petals" from Sweet Cakes...it's strong)1 T. (.5 oz.) lavandin or lavender essential oilRosemary leaves if you like, or notMelted in with the base oils: 1 tsp. shaved red and 1/2 tsp. shaved purple wax candle dyes

This batch was made with the "Favorite Castile II" Recipe, above.

 

Citrus BlendI ran out of Olive Oil for the Castile recipe, so substituted 2 ounces of Apricot Kernel Oil for 2 oz. of the Olive

Add at trace:1/2 oz. Ylang Ylang essential oil1 - 1.5 oz. Sweet Orange essential oil1 tsp. Bitter Almond FO (Sweet Cakes)2-3 tsp. pulverized Orange Peel (I used this from a bottle, but making your own would be even better)

The "Citrus Blend" is actually the soap in the back (2 lighter bars). The one in front is the "Oatmeal and Honey" featured on the main page. It had some lard in the recipe.

 

Rosemary-Mint SoapAdd at light trace:3-4 T. dried and pulverized rosemary leaves (I tossed mine in the dehydrator on a medium heat setting for a couple of hours)

1 -2 T. dried and pulverized spearmint leaves1/2 oz. Peppermint oilIf you have some, 1/2 oz. Rosemary oil would be nice also These look a bit better in person! They almost

look diseased here!

Using a small container made for such purposes, I pulverized the dry herbs in the blender. The Rosemary still has some fairly long leaves, but that's okay and makes an interesting appearance in the soap. This soap did not get thick as quickly as the previous ones and I'm not sure if I poured it sooner, or it was because less fragrance oil was added at trace.

Another Variation of Rosemary and Mint(Using "Favorite Castile II" Recipe)

Similar to the one I used before...popular combination! This oil blend is very NICE! :-)At light trace add:1.5 -2 oz. (3 or 4 T.) Peppermint/Rosemary EO from Mint Meadow Country Oils2 T. dried and pulverized fresh rosemary leaves

No scent in this one...just the natural herbs that should be mild to the skin. When I first cut this, it smelled to me like banana.

*Chamomile-Calendula Soap (Using "Favorite Castile II" Recipe, above.)Added at light trace:1/4 cup pulverized chamomile heads1/4 cup shredded calendula petals

Pulverize the dry botanicals one at a time using the smaller jar on your blender, if you have one. The soap is unscented, but had a slight smell of banana bread when cut (from the herbs, I guess). I had used a bit of beta carotene for soft yellow color, but think it would have been better without. You could use less of the botanicals and still have the overall effect in the finished bar...probably could cut back by half. If you leave the calendula petals larger, they would be prettier in the bars, but I'm kind of grossed out by chunks of stuff that are TOO big when they are floating around in the bath! :-)

*"CCCastile" (Kathy Miller)72 ounces Olive Oil12 Ounces Coconut Oil6 ounces Castor Oil24-28 ounces cold water12 ounces lye crystals

Temperatures between 90-100 degrees

The Spicy Lime soap looks a bit greener in person than this...it's in the center. Maybe less whole spices would have

improved its look! The soap on the left is a similar batch scented with Sweet Balsam from A Garden Eastward and

colored with a small jar of baby carrots and paprika. The soap on the right is the Spiced Apple"Canolive" recipe (on All-

Vegetable Page).For this batch I did Spicy Lime:

Add at trace:1.5 ounces lime essential oil (I substituted 1 oz. of FO for part of this because I had it on hand)1/2 oz. Petitgrain Oil1/4 oz. Lavender Essential Oil1 1/2 whole nutmegs, pulverized in the blender (you can substitute ground nutmeg from a jar)1 1/2 tsp. whole allspice, ground in blenderThe two spices above were rather earthy in the final cure...if I did this again, I'd just put in 1/2 oz. ginger ess. oil or 1 T. ground ginger1 bottle baby creamed spinach (for flecked green color)

This soap was a bit off-smelling during cure, but is getting quite nice after a couple of weeks (partly the spinach and castor?). The castor oil really adds a silky different feel to the bars and they seem to lather nicely (had to remelt the shavings and noticed while rinsing out the dish). The bars are getting quite hard after a few weeks of curing.

Return to Table of Contents

This soap has very nice texture when cut and lathers wonderfully! Nice for stick blending...doesn't become thick too quickly.

*Castile with Soybean and Coconut (Kathy Miller)

40 ounces olive oil28 ounces soybean oil18 ounces coconut oil28 ounces cold water12 ounces lye crystals

Temperature: between 90-100 degrees

You can use higher temps. (up to 120) and might want to if you are hand stirring. I used the stick blender and the lower temps allow me more time before trace...which only took a few minutes. Since I found a local source for coconut in big buckets at a local cash and carry, I can use more of it in a recipe than I was willing to do previously (at 3.5 times the cost!). In this recipe, coconut is about 21% of the overall fat content. I don't want to go over 30%, and less if there's also palm oil in a recipe. The soybean oil can be purchased in 35# containers at our local Costco and is a reasonably low cost oil with conditioning qualities.

This batch was scented with 2 ounces of Special Edition Vanilla FO from Sweet

Cakes. At the time of this scan, it had aged for a couple of weeks. I don't know if it will continue to darken or not...but it's

been an interesting process. Smells very nice! I had to tweak this a lot to get it to

look the actual color...scan had lightened it up a lot. How about that great cutting

job! :-)

To the left is the same recipe with no color added. At trace (soft pudding texture) cubes and small chunks of two other fresh batches were stirred in (about 2 cups total). In this case it was the Sweet Rain (aquamarine) and iris (lavender). For the soap chunks to adhere to the base recipe, they should still be fairly fresh and soft enough to cut without breaking...these were two or three weeks old. This batch was scented with Lilac FO. The soap will get thicker when you add cool soap chunks, so be prepared. I will confess, I got a few small air bubbles in this batch...which I retouched in Photoshop so you can see how itshould look! (It was only a few!)

A couple of people on the Latherings Board raved about this basic combination, so I thought I'd post it for those of you who have trouble finding coconut or palm oil. I haven't tried it yet. Let me know if you try it and like it! Because of its high olive oil content, I'm repeating it here from the All-Vegetable page.

All-Vegetable, No Coconut or Palm56 ounces olive oil30 ounces vegetable shortening9 ounces castor oil12 ounces lye crystals28 ounces cold water2 T. salt dissolved in a small amount of hot water and added to lye solution

The salt was felt to be an important part of this recipe, although I imagine you'd have nice, but softer soap without it. I would keep it in unless you try it that way and don't like it as well as soap without the salt.

Orange Eucalyptus Cold-Process SoapOrange Eucalyptus Cold-Process Soap

Ingredients: Coconut Oil (76°) = 10.56 ounces Vegetable Shortening = 10.56 ounces Olive Oil (Pomance*) = 10.88 ounces Lye = 4.53 ounces Water = 10.56 ounces Valencia Orange Essential Oil = 1/4 tsp Eucalyptus E.O. = 1/4 tsp

Lime E.O. = 1/8 tsp

First thing first. (after getting everything out and preparing my molds). Measuring out the oils: Coconut oil & the vegetable shorting are slightly solid and room temp. The olive oil I used was infused with Annatto/Achiote seed this is whats gives in it the Orange color.

Here is some infused oil idea: http://www.lovinsoap.com/2011/07/color-soap-naturally-infusing-oil-with-herbs-and-spices/ I use vegetable oil instead of Palm oil

Measuring out the Lye.

 *Pictures not taken*Added Lye to water in steel pot.Added Oils to Lye mixture.

 Mixing

 Mixing until almost trace

 Adding Valencia Oil, Eucalytus & Lime Essential Oils.

 After mixing. Adding to soap mold. (It’s a bit thicker than I’d prefer here)

Added leftover soap in Silicone Ice tray & yogurt cup (I greased with Vaseline)

The next day I removed from molds & sliced the loaf. 

DIY Perfume Roll-On with Essential OilsBY TRACEY BLACK

Have you ever considered making your own perfume?

Truthfully, I didn’t for a long time. I loved wearing my department-store brand perfume and used it every day. I loved the light floral scent and didn’t think twice about what was actually inside it.But then I started researching chemicals in my beauty products and found hidden chemicals were in many of my beauty care staples, including my perfume. While many perfumes and body sprays claim to be natural with floral, citrus or exotic scents – they are anything but natural. Perfumes aren’t required to disclose ingredients (such as synthetic chemicals and fragrances) because they are considered trade secrets to the manufacturer.

In lab tests commissioned by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) found 38 secret chemicals in 17 name brand fragrances, such as Coco Chanel (18 chemicals not listed), Britney Spears Curious (17 chemicals not listed) and Giorgio Armani Acqua Di Gio (17 chemicals not listed).1

The secret chemicals found in these name brand fragrances include those associated with hormone disruption and allergic reactions. Plus, many of these chemicals were not assessed for safety in personal care products.1

Is this what you want to put on your body or expose to your family? Thankfully, there’s an easy (and inexpensive) solution.

Perfumery 101

Believe it or not, it’s cheap and easy to make your own DIY perfume. It takes just a few base ingredients and essential oils to make the right blend for you.The scents of a perfume can be classified into what’s called notes1,2. There are three types of notes:1. Top Note

The first impression of the perfume, light and evaporates quickly.

Examples include: lemon, orange, grapefruit, lime, tangerine, citronella, bergamot, eucalyptus, lavender, lemongrass, peppermint, spearmint.2. Middle Note

The main scent of the perfume, but also mellow and comes out a couple of minutes after the top note.

Examples include: chamomile, cinnamon, clove, cypress, fennel, geranium, jasmine, juniper, marjoram, neroli, nutmeg, pine, fir, rose, rosemary, spruce, tea tree, thyme, ylang ylang.3. Base Note

The rich and deep scent of the perfume and often a musk scent.

Examples include: cedarwood, frankincense, ginger, helichrysum, myrrh, patchouli, sandalwood, vanilla, vetiver.Types of AromasIn addition, essential oils can be classified by aroma3:

Floral (rose, geranium, lavender, jasmine) Woodsy (cedar, pine) Earthy (vetiver, patchouli) Herbaceous (rosemary, basil) Minty (peppermint) Camphorous (eucalyptus) Spicy (cinnamon, clove, nutmeg) Oriental (ginger) Citrus (orange, lemon)

How to Make Your Own DIY Perfume

To make your own DIY roll-on perfume, simply blend aromas that you like best and mix with a carrier oil. For instance, citrus/exotic or floral/spicy.

Here are a few ideas on blends I really like:Energizing Blend – Grapefruit/Ylang Ylang Mix 7 drops of Grapefruit with 4 drops of Ylang Ylang in a 5 ml roll-on bottle and fill with fractionated coconut oil (it’s odorless and doesn’t solidify when cold) or sweet almond oil.Floral Blend – Jasmine/LimeMix 7 drops of Jasmine with 4 drops of Lime in a 5 ml roll-on bottle and fill with fractionated coconut oil (it’s odorless and doesn’t solidify when cold) or sweet almond oil.Walk in the Woods Blend – Lavender/Lemon/VetiverMix 5 drops of Lavender, 4 drops of Lemon and 3 drops of Vetiver in a 5 ml roll-on bottle and fill with fractionated coconut oil or sweet almond oil.Sexy Musk Blend – Lavender/Lime/CopaibaMix 5 drops of Lavender, 4 drops of Lime and 3 drops of Copaiba in a 5 ml roll-on bottle and fill with fractionated coconut oil or sweet almond oil. You can also get Stress Away from Young Living (where to buy HERE), which is made with lavender, lime, copaiba and other essential oils in a roll-on.

Lavender Soap Recipe

Lavender Soap – 5lbsBy weight unless otherwise stated24 oz Avocado oil8 oz Coconut oil 76°5 oz Palm oil12 oz Sunflower oil12 oz Sweet Almond oil19oz Distilled water, by volume8.25 oz Sodium hydroxide2.5 oz Lavender fragrance or essential oil, by volume½ cup Lavender buds, by volumePurple colorant

Follow cold-process soap safety. Mix the lye water solution and set aside. Mix oils and heat to 110-120 degrees F. Add in lye solution and mix with stick blender. As mixture thickens, add scent and colorant at trace. Pour into mold. Sprinkle lavender buds on top of soap. Allow to set and cure.

Starting a Soap or Cosmetic Business Is Like Being On a Roller Coaster

Starting your own business of any kind is a lot like being on a roller coaster.  Some days you may be excited, while other days you are downright terrified.  Okay, so maybe you are terrified the entire time. While the feelings for the ride fluctuate, the laws of physics still exist. 

If you don't take the time to buckle your seat belt, you could end up flying off the ride.  

Now you are probably thinking that the first part of that analogy made some sense, while the seat belt comment lost you.  The seat belt is a just metaphor for educating yourself on how to run a business to keep it safer.  While that roller coaster ride may end up being your greatest adventure, it could still be a catastrophe, regardless of the seat belt. But without a seat belt (or education) you could very well be doomed. It makes you feel more confident on the ride, too.

There are different methods of educating yourself, including plenty of good business books you can read about starting your own company. Simply check out your favorite book store and be sure to read the reviews.  There are also lots of great free courses by SCORE, which I highly recommend.  The only problems with these books and courses is that they apply to any business of any size and do not address the special needs of the soap or cosmetic maker.

There is only one course specific to soap and cosmetic businesses, and that's the one created by us at Bath Alchemy Lab. 

In our class, you'll gain the know how to start a business, making you feel more confident and keeping you on the path to success.

This course teaches you...

Before you start How to know if owning a business is right for you Determine if you have a business or a hobby The importance of choosing the right name How and why to find a niche

Getting started Business start-up checklist for success How and why to write a basic business plan Start up costs to consider and funding options you might not have thought about  Choosing your business structure for tax purposes Finding the correct registrations, licenses, and permits in your area The differences between trademarks, patents, and copyrights in layman's terms

Money matters Pricing your products for profit Bookkeeping 101 - the basics

Soap and cosmetic considerations Trade association memberships and their benefits Why you need product liability insurance and where to find it A primer on labeling and good manufacturing practices Soapmaker Software to track your business

Selling your products Everything you need to know to start selling at craft and trade shows Getting started in an online web store Important considerations for wholesale and consignment

Marketing 101 Branding your business for success Basic marketing principles Crash course in social media marketing 

It's a little of everything to start a successful soap and cosmetic business.  There's over 8 hours of slideshow videos plus a manual with

added examples and resources.

If you are nervous about starting your own business and want to set yourself up for prosperity, sign up for the online business class.  You can work at your own pace, anywhere in the world at any time.  You have lifetime access to the content and can ask questions throughout the course. 

Top 10 Essential Oils for Soapmakers

While there are many amazing essential oils to use in soapmaking creating endless possibilities, this list was comprised based on the following factors: Price Popularity with consumers Ability to blend well with other EOs Work well in soap

LavenderBy far one of the most popular essential oils. It has a sweet, balsamic, floral aroma which combines well with many oils including citrus, clove, patchouli, rosemary, clary sage and pine. 

Aromatherapy benefits: balancing, soothing, calming, relaxing, healing

Sweet OrangeMore sweet orange oil is produced than any other citrus oil. It has a lively, fruity, sweet aroma. It blends well with patchouli, citruses, clove,

and spearmint.Aromatherapy benefits: cheering, refreshing, uplifting

LemonLemon is refreshing and clean.  Lemon essential oil smells just like the fruit.  It blends well with lavender, citruses, and palmarosa.Aromatherapy benefits: uplifting, refreshing, cheering

SpearmintAromatherapists use spearmint to energize the mind and body. It has a minty refreshing scent.  It is a great anchor and enhancer in fresh blends.Aromtherapy benefits: refreshing, cooling, vitalizing

PeppermintPeppermint has a powerful, sweet, menthol aroma.  Blending with spearmint will cut the strength of the scent down.  Aromatherapy benefits: vitalizing, refreshing, cooling

RosemaryRosemary is known as the herb of remembrance. The plant produces an almost colorless essential oil with a strong, fresh, camphor aroma. It blends nicely with citruses, as well as spruce and amyris.Aromatherapy benefits: clarifying, invigorating

Litsea CubebaThis essential oil has a heavy, sweet citrus scent.  It works as an anchor in citrus blends and works well with rosemary, tea tree, cypress, eucalyptus, and palmarosa.Aromatherapy benefits: refreshing, uplifting, cheering

AmyrisAmyris is also known as West Indian sandalwood, although it is unrelated to the true Indian sandalwood.  It has a woody, slightly sweet, balsamic aroma, very similar to sandalwood and is an excellent, less expensive, more sustainable alternative. Amyris is a great anchor and blends well with cedarwood, jasmine and rose scents. Aromatherapy benefits: strengthening, centering.

PatchouliPatchouli borders on the exotic, and the aroma earthy, rich, sweet, balsamic, woody and spicy. Patchouli oil is one of the few essential oils that improve with age. It is an excellent anchor and can be blended with many scents such as orange, amyris, frankincense and spices, such as clove.

Aromatherapy benefits: romantic, soothing, sensual.

Tea TreeThe leaf of the tea tree has a long history of use in Australia. The aroma is warm, spicy and medicinal. It blends well with lavandin, rosemary and nutmeg oils. Aromatherapy benefits: cleansing, purifying, uplifting.

Blends to TryAmyris PatchouliLavender Litsea CubebaLavender OrangeLavender SpearmintLavender RosemaryLavender Tea TreeLemon LavenderLemon RosemaryLemon Tea TreeOrange AmyrisOrange PatchouliPeppermint SpearmintPeppermint LemonRosemary SpearmintRosemary Tea Tree

What is Virgin Coconut Oil?

When we first entered the U.S. market back in 2001, there were only two other commercially available coconut oils in the edible oil market, both of them refined coconut oils. We imported the first "virgin coconut oil" from the Philippines to the U.S. that year.

Today, consumers desiring to purchase coconut oil have a wide variety of choices. On this page we will break down the various types of coconut oils currently available in the U.S. market, and define how "virgin coconut oil" is being used in the marketplace, as well as what peer-reviewed scientific studies have discovered in recent years about the different methods of producing virgin coconut oil.

How is Commercial Coconut Oil Produced?

A typical sight on the road in the Philippines:a truck carrying refined coconut oil.

Refined Coconut Oil

Most commercial grade coconut oils are made from copra. Copra is basically the dried kernel (meat) of the coconut. It can be made by smoke drying, sun drying, or kiln drying, or derivatives or a combination of these three. If standard copra is used as a starting material, the unrefined coconut oil extracted from copra is not suitable for consumption and must be purified, that is refined. This is because the way most copra is dried is not sanitary.

The standard end product made from copra is RBD coconut oil. RBD stands for refined, bleached, and deodorized. Steam is used to deodorize the oil, and the oil is typically filtered through (bleaching) clays to remove impurities. Sodium hydroxide is generally used to remove free fatty acids and prolong shelf life. This is the most common way to mass-produce coconut oil. The older way of producing refined coconut oil was through physical/mechanical refining (see Tropical Traditions Expeller Pressed Coconut Oil), but more modern methods may also use chemical solvents to extract all the oil from the copra for higher yields.Hydrogenated Coconut Oil

RBD coconut oil is also sometimes hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated. This happens mostly in tropical climates, since the natural melting point of coconut oil is about 76 degrees F, and already naturally a solid in most colder climates. Since coconut oil is mostly saturated, there is little unsaturated oil left to hydrogenate. Hydrogenated oils contain trans fatty acids.

You are unlikely to find hydrogenated coconut oil as an edible oil in the U.S. market today. It would probably only exist as an ingredient in tropical cultures, in such things as candy bars, where they do not want the coconut oil melting. Hydrogenated coconut oil is virtually non-existent in the US market, since the FDA started requiring trans fats to be listed on labels several years ago, and is now

considering banning them altogether, as some European countries have already done.Liquid Coconut Oil, MCT Oil, and Fractionated Coconut Oil

Fractionated "coconut oil", sometimes referred to as "MCT Oil" and more recently marketed as "Liquid Coconut Oil," is a refined product derived from coconut oil. In fractionated coconut oil, lauric acid, the primary component and the most valuable part of coconut oil, has been removed by fractionation. Fractionated "coconut oil" is really only a component of coconut oil, since it does not contain any lauric acid. It remains liquid at a lower temperature. Read more about "Liquid Coconut Oil" here.

Defining Virgin Coconut Oil

There is no industry standard definition for "virgin coconut oil" as there is in the olive oil industry for "virgin" and "extra virgin" olive oil. Today, there are many coconut oils on the market that are labeled as "virgin coconut oil," or "extra virgin coconut oil." Tropical Traditions was the first company to publish standards for the use of "virgin coconut oil" in terms of edible oils 13 years ago.

Today, however, there are many processes used to produce "virgin coconut oil," and no recognized worldwide body that regulates the term or use. There is also no official classification or difference between "virgin coconut oil" and "extra virgin coconut oil" as there is in the olive oil industry, since the two oils are completely different in fatty acid composition, harvesting procedures, and terminology. So when you see the term "extra virgin coconut oil," it is simply a marketing term, and no different from "virgin coconut oil." We will only use the term "virgin coconut oil" throughout this document. This is also the common term used in the peer-reviewed literature.

So what we will do here is describe each of these processes used to manufacture "virgin coconut oil" for products currently found in the U.S. market, realizing of

course that anyone can choose to use the term on a label, even if it is commercially refined coconut oil.

Most all "virgin coconut oils" start out by using fresh coconut meat, or what is called non-copra as we described above in the refined coconut oil section. Chemicals and bleaching clays for filtering are not used, and the deodorization process is also not used in producing virgin coconut oil, since it starts with fresh coconut, and not commercial "copra."How is Virgin Coconut Oil Produced?

There are two main methods of producing virgin coconut oil:

1. Virgin coconut oil derived from expeller-pressing the oil from dried coconut. In this method, the fresh coconut meat is dried first, and then later the oil is pressed out of the coconut. This method allows for easier mass production of virgin coconut oil. Since the dried coconut (desiccated coconut) industry is well established in coconut producing countries, many of these industries have added virgin coconut oil to their product line.

This is the most common type of "virgin" or "extra virgin" coconut oil that you will find online and in stores today. It is mass-produced. (see our Green Label Virgin Coconut Oil)

2. Virgin coconut oil derived through a "wet-milling" process. With this method, the oil is extracted from fresh coconut meat without drying first. "Coconut milk" is expressed first by pressing it out of the wet coconut meat. The oil is then further separated from the water. Methods which can be used to separate the oil from the water include boiling, fermentation, refrigeration, enzymes and mechanical centrifuge (see our Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil).

So which wet-milling process produces the highest quality virgin coconut oil?Wet-milling and Heated vs. Unheated Virgin Coconut Oils

The Fermentation Method

When we first decided to produce and export a truly unrefined virgin coconut oil from the Philippines to the U.S. market, we visited the top agricultural university in the Philippines and discussed the various methods of producing an unrefined coconut oil with their top scientists familiar with coconut oil production. We examined the centrifuge, enzyme extraction, and refrigeration methods.

In the end, however, we decided to stick with the traditional method of producing coconut oil through the fermentation process. This is a wet-milling process that is very low tech, and can be accomplished by small-scale producers.

The wet-milling fermentation method grates the fresh coconut, expresses the coconut milk, and then separates the oil overnight by allowing the heavier water to

fall to the bottom of the container, while the lighter, crystal clear oil, remains on top. Coconut "curds" also form from coconut solids.

The top part containing the coconut oil and coconut solids is then scooped out and put into a large "wok," and the oil is heated for a short time until the curds fall to the bottom. Because the oil is constantly stirred during this time, it does not reach boiling point, but it allows the coconut solids to fall to the bottom. The oil is then filtered and ready to be bottled.

The product was a huge success! There were no other virgin coconut oils in the edible oil market at the time we first brought this product to the U.S. in 2001, and the early success of the product overwhelmed us. We were training more and more people how to produce this wonderful oil, providing jobs to many people.

Unheated and "Cold Pressed" Virgin Coconut Oil

As with any successful new product, soon others began to produce and market "virgin coconut oil" in the Philippines. Most of the products were for the Philippine local market, as the product was gaining popularity in the Philippines also, due to the success in the U.S.

However, these virgin coconut oils were not produced using the fermentation method. The fermentation wet-milling process of producing coconut oil, which anyone could do in their own kitchen, was considered the "poor man's" coconut oil - the coconut oil their grandparents used to make before store-bought commercial coconut oils were available. Therefore, it was considered "inferior." It is also labor intensive to produce large quantities.

Looking to the success of the olive oil industry, soon people began to advertise their virgin coconut oil as "cold pressed," or even "extra virgin coconut oil." While some were wet-milled from fresh coconut, they were mass-produced in a single location, using one of the other methods of wet-milling that requires more technology, such as centrifuge, enzyme extraction, or refrigeration-separation. Each method wanted to claim that their method was superior to all other methods, giving them some distinct advantage.

Some big name raw food advocates from the United States even came to the Philippines and taught people that coconut oil should never be heated, as it would destroy essential enzymes above a certain temperature (although what temperature that would be was disputed.) When some of these "raw" and supposedly unheated coconut oils began to show up in the U.S. market, we asked what the names of these enzymes were that were supposedly in their coconut oils, so we could test for them in a laboratory and verify their claims. We never received a response. (See why one would not want enzymes in their coconut oil anyway here: The Myth of Enzymes and Coconut Oil.)

So in 2005, Professor Vermont P. Dia of the University of the Philippines conducted a study with some of his graduate students to analyze various virgin coconut oils in the Philippine market produced using different methods. Their results were published in December 2005, in The Philippine Agricultural Scientist, Vol. 88 No. 4, pages 462-475. Their goal was to determine a national standard for virgin coconut oil. They tested several brands in the local market, and produced some virgin coconut oil in their laboratory, all with little or no heat. They found that most of the items typically tested for in coconut oil, such as free fatty acids, moisture levels, etc. were about the same in virgin coconut oils, although a few brands were lower in quality.

However, one characteristic they found that was typically higher in virgin coconut oil than refined RBD coconut oil was the amount of antioxidants in virgin coconut oil. Since our product, produced with heat and using the fermentation method, had not been tested, because it was not in the local market but only exported to the U.S., we decided to send some samples to Professor Dia. Much to everyone's surprise, our traditionally produced virgin coconut oil made by small-scale family producers, who by this time were also USDA certified organic, tested much higher than the local brands produced with no heat! We reproduced the test several times to make sure the tests were accurate, and sometimes the results showed more than twice the amount of antioxidants in our simple traditionally-made virgin coconut oil than in the local no-heat cold-pressed virgin coconut oils. (See Professor Dia's statement on Mt. Banahaw Health Products virgin coconut oil, sold under the Tropical Traditions brandname, here.)

Research Proves the Traditional Method of Producing Virgin Coconut Oil is Superior

We are very fortunate that in the last few years, the coconut oil producing countries have begun to wake up and not take for granted that the American view on dietary oils, which states that saturated fats are bad and increase cholesterol levels leading to heart disease, is true. They have come to realize that the campaigns against saturated fats and the tropical oils have been largely a political campaign, not a scientific one, and that American research has favored the newer vegetable oils produced since WWII with expeller-pressed technology that favors the hugely subsidized crops of soybeans and corn. Research over the past several years have shown that their native fats and oils are healthier than the newer expeller-pressed polyunsaturated oils, such as soy and corn oil.

These tropical countries have their own universities, professors, laboratories, and research centers, and they have begun to study various coconut oils, particularly their effects on cholesterol levels, since that has been the main point of attack from Western sources.

So what has this research from countries like India, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka, found in respect to the various methods of producing virgin coconut oils?  Incredibly, several studies published in the past few years have completely

corroborated our original tests with Professor Dia in the Philippines back in 2005, showing that traditional wet-milling processes that employ heat produce the highest levels of antioxidants.

In 2008, a   study done in Malaysia  and published in the International Journal of Food Science Nutrition reported that the wet-milling fermentation method produced the highest amounts of antioxidants. In 2011, studies conducted in Sri Lanka by Professor Kapila Seneviratne of the University of Kelaniya showed that traditionally made virgin coconut oils that use heat in the process, even high levels of heat such as boiling the coconut milk to completely separate the oil (a method we do not use), not only does not harm the oil, but actually promotes the antioxidants to become dispersed in the oil:

More surprises awaited the research team. The general impression is that cooking at high temperatures would degrade the quality of the oil. However, it is not applicable since coconut oil is thermally stable, it is learnt. “Fortunately, most of the phenolic anti-oxidants present in coconut oil are also thermally highly stable,” he pointed out, explaining that the reason for a greater composition of anti-oxidants is that simmering for a long time at a high temperature dissolved more anti-oxidants into the oil. (Published in The Sunday Times of Sri Lanka, October 16, 2011 - "Coconut Oil: It's good for your after all," by Kumudini Hettiarachchi and Shaveen Jeewandara)

In 2013, a study that compared “cold extracted virgin coconut oil” (CEVCO) with “hot extracted virgin coconut oil” (HEVCO) and standard refined coconut oil (CCO) was conducted in India, and published in the journal Food Science and Biotechnology. The title of the study is: Hypocholesterimic effects of cold and hot extracted virgin coconut oil (VCO) in comparison to commercial coconut oil: Evidence from a male wistar albino rat model. This study, like many others, showed that virgin coconut oils actually lower LDL cholesterol, while raising the "good" HDL cholesterol.

This study also confirmed that virgin coconut oil produced with heat produced the highest amounts of antioxidants: "The antioxidant activity in the HEVCO group was 80-87%, 65-70% in CEVCO, and 35-45% in CCO." The researchers went on to comment why heat is necessary to produce the highest amounts of antioxidants in virgin coconut oil:

"The increased polyphenol level in the HEVCO group may be due to increased release of bound polyphenols by heating. Coconut milk is an emulsion of oil and water that is stabilized by protein. To recover the oil from coconut milk, the protein bond has to be broken by heat in a double walled boiler known as a VCO cooker (steam jacket vessel developed by Central Plantation Crops Research Institute) under slow heating to allow the protein to coagulate and release the oil." Hypocholesterimic effects of cold and hot extracted virgin coconut oil (VCO) in comparison to commercial coconut oil: Evidence

from a male wistar albino rat model Food Science and Biotechnology December 2013, Volume 22, Issue 6, pp 1501-1508

So virgin coconut oils produced by wet-milling and being marketed as "no heat" or "raw" or "cold-pressed" are actually virgin coconut oils with lower levels of antioxidants, according to this body of research.

The Gold Label® Standard Virgin Coconut Oil

Tropical Traditions Gold Label standard virgin coconut oil is produced using the traditional wet-milling low-tech method called fermentation, as described above. This is a traditional method of coconut oil extraction that has been used in the Philippines for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Marianita Jader Shilhavy's parents generation made coconut oil this way, but the knowledge was in the process of passing away before the founders of Tropical Traditions revived it, due to the easily obtained refined coconut oils found in the stores in the Philippines. It is a much more labor-intensive method of producing coconut oil, and cannot be replicated by machine through mass-production. Family producers in the rural areas of the Philippines make the Gold Label standard in small batches.

Watch this video to see how Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil is produced!

This oil is not mass produced, but made by hand just as it has been done for hundreds of years. The coconuts are certified organic according to strict USDA standards. In addition, all of the coconuts are hand-picked within 24-48 hours of harvest. Only those nuts that produce the highest quality coconut oil are chosen, while the rest of the crop is sold to copra dealers.

Because of the extremely selective procedure for choosing the coconuts, a higher price is paid to the farmer. Almost all other virgin coconut oils on the market are mass-produced and do not take this kind of attention to detail that begins with choosing the right nuts.

Also, the coconuts used to make our Virgin Coconut Oil are grown in very rural areas, generally far away from metropolitan areas. Since coconut trees grow just about everywhere in the Philippines, most coconut oils on the market are harvested from trees in metropolitan areas, because there is less cost to transport them to the place of manufacture.

In spite of the success and growth worldwide of this unique product, we still produce our Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil by hand in small batches by family micro enterprises. Most of them have been producing Virgin Coconut oil for over 13 years now. They have learned what it takes to produce the highest quality oil, such as how to hand pick the best coconuts from each harvest.

One of their discoveries occurred in 2007 when certain groups in rural areas had problems with water sources. Water is needed to make the coconut milk from which the oil is extracted. Using true Filipino ingenuity, they started collecting and

using the pure nutritious coconut water from inside the organic coconuts instead. They noticed that the water separated from the oil much quicker, and that less filtering was needed. The end result was a higher quality and better tasting Virgin Coconut Oil. Independent laboratory analysis shows that this new method produces even higher levels of antioxidants than first tested in 2006 by Professor Dia! So now all of our virgin coconut oil producers use the pure coconut water from their coconuts instead of boiled or purified tap water. This enhanced virgin coconut oil, with the highest levels of antioxidants, is now our Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil.

Delivering Virgin Coconut Oil to the Philippine warehouse in 5-gallon pails. Many of our producers live in rural areas in coconut-producing communities where no roads exist, and draft animals like the water buffalo are used.

Bringing in young coconuts from the farm and loaded onto a jeepney to be transported to the market.Gentle Coconut Milk Soapby Marie posted on February 17, 2014

Last summer Debbi  mailed me a few beautiful bars of her homemade soap. One was a goats milk bar, and the other was hemp milk, and I loved them both. Smooth, creamy, and gentle. Sadly they are both gone now, so I set out to make something similar. I happened to have coconut milk on hand, so I thought that would be a good place to start. The resulting bars are white and creamy, gentle and unscented. I love them.

Sadly the coconut milk scent doesn’t carry through, but coconut milk is still a lovely thing to have in soap. Coconut milk makes a gentle cleansing soap that’s rich in vitamin E and moisturizing. So, if you have sensitive skin (and if you’re sensitive to scents), this soap is a great choice. I think it’d be a great baby soap, but I don’t have a baby, so I’ll leave that up to the parents out there.

GENTLE COCONUT MILK SOAP

20% olive oil20% soy bean oil (or olive oil)25% coconut oil15% shea butter14% lard5% castor oil1% stearic acid (or round the lard up to 15%)

5% superfat (aka 5% lye discount)

Per 500g oils:

1 tbsp white kaolin clay 1 tbsp coconut milk powder

Calculate your recipe using SoapCalc  to get your final, finite amounts of the fats, lye, and water.

Follow standard soap making procedure . I recommend letting the oils and fats come down to room temperature before combining as it gives you more time to work. At trace add the clay and coconut milk powder. Use an immersion blender to thoroughly blend the powders into the soap (otherwise you will have little clumps).

Pour the soap into your mould.

Let saponify for 24 hours before un-moulding and slicing. Let cure for a minimum of three weeks before using. Enjoy!

If you don’t have powdered coconut milk you can swap coconut milk for the water in this recipe. Start by freezing half a can of coconut milk in an ice cube tray the night before. When you measure out your liquids (by weight!) you should have half coconut milk ice cubes, half liquid coconut milk. Add your lye and stir, being extra sure to work in a well ventilated area and not inhale the fumes. You’ll notice the liquid thicken a little as the lye dissolves—that’s the fats in the coconut milk starting to saponify. No big deal. Let this mixture cool to the same temperature as the oils and go from there.

How to Make Solid Perfume Using Natural IngredientsFEBRUARY 8, 2013 BY ANDREA 50 COMMENTS

Contrary to popular belief…going natural doesn’t mean giving up on smelling good!

I love good smelling lotion, body spray, and perfume just as much as anyone…I just don’t love the ingredients found in many of the major brands.Ultimately, my search for a natural, user-friendly solution led me to create a solid perfume.And today — in the form of a photo tutorial — I’d like to share with you my recipe.

Solid Perfume MakingSupplies-Small Kitchen Scale-Small pot or double boiler-15-20 lip balm tubes or tins

Ingredients*Whenever possible use organic oils and essential oils. 2.5 ounces Sweet Almond Oil 1 ounce Jojoba Oil 0.5 ounce Castor Oil 1 ounce beeswax 1-2 teaspoons essential oils of choice, see “Notes” section below for more

details

Method1. Gather the ingredients. And using a scale, measure the oils in a small pot.

2. Add the beeswax.

3. Set over low heat. Stir frequently until beeswax is completely melted.

4. Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool slightly.

http://frugallysustainable.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/050.jpg

5. Add essential oils.

6. Pour the mixture into your tubes or tins.

http://frugallysustainable.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/051.jpg

7. Allow to cool on counter until hardened.

8. Cap and label.

9. Directions for use…apply the solid perfume directly to your wrists and neck. Don’t be shy…rub it behind your ears and on the back of your knees too. Keep it in your bag and use it throughout the day!

http://frugallysustainable.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/053.jpg

Notes-A couple of my favorite essential oil blends include: Jasmine and Lavender Patchouli, Lemongrass, Cedarwood, Sweet Orange, Clary Sage, Lavender,

and Pine-Get creative! I am also enjoying the additions of different aroma oils and resins…read more here.

SMALL MEASURES: HOMEMADE EAU DE PERFUMESMALL MEASURES

by Ashley

http://www.designsponge.com/2012/05/small-measures-homemade-eau-de-perfume.html/1-78

We all know how powerful scents are in terms of memory. Who among us hasn’t caught a whiff of pumpkin pie and recalled our beloved grandmother, or a Fraser fir tree and thought of happy holidays long passed? The smell of tomato leaves can instantly transport us to the summertime tomato sandwiches of our childhood, while the aroma of freshly baked croissants takes us back to a bakery we once frequented.

For those interested in the science of how smell and memory are in a perpetual dance, check out this link. In short, add a scent to the mix and you’re pretty much guaranteed memories for life.My upbringing was characterized by very specific fragrances. To me, my youth will always smell like my mother’s signature scents, either Nina Ricci’s L’Air du Temps or Calvin Klein’s Eternity, my father’s Chanel for Menand my maternal grandmother’s Youth Dew by Estée Lauder. Those fragrances comfort me beyond description, even though they don’t speak to me for my own personal use. As a woman who is interested in making things and who has a profound love of natural scents (I’m always burning candles and incense and essential oils at home), I thought I’d try creating a signature scent of my own. Today I’m happy to share with you the results of my sleuthing. With a few simple ingredients, you’ll be whipping up bespoke blends of your own, creating enduring olfactory memories for years to come. — Ashley EnglishThe full post continues after the jump . . .

http://www.designsponge.com/2012/05/small-measures-homemade-eau-de-perfume.html/3-70

To build your own fragrance, it’s essential to first understand the way they’re structured. Using either essential oils or fragrance oils (which may be synthetically or naturally derived), distinct scents are created by blending top, middle and base notes. These “notes” are essentially three different levels of scent, each with varying rates of evaporation.

Top notes are those scents you first notice, but they are also the most volatile oils, dispersing and disappearing the fastest. Middle notes are the moderators, linking the top and base notes together, determining which sort of fragrance family a scent becomes — earthy, floral, spicy, woodsy, etc. Lastly, base notes, or fixatives, impart the longest, fullest scent and are sourced from balsams, roots, resins and woods. An ideal ratio to aim for when creating custom blends is one containing 30% top notes, 50% middle notes and 20% base notes. Here are a few examples of scents from each note:

Base: Cedarwood, Cypress, Ginger, Patchouli, Pine, Sandalwood, Vanilla, Vetiver

Middle: Black Pepper, Cardamom, Chamomile, Cinnamon, Clove, Fir Needle, Jasmine, Juniper, Lemongrass, Neroli, Nutmeg, Rose, Rosewood, Ylang-Ylang

Top: Basil, Bergamot, Grapefruit, Lavender, Lemon, Lime, Mint, Neroli, Rosemary, Sweet Orange This list is hardly comprehensive. There are so many scents, each falling into different note categories. To see what note classification a specific scent falls into, check out this helpful link on Aroma Web. If you have a commercially prepared fragrance you particularly love, check out this linkto see what notes are used, and then experiment with re-creating it.

Owing to their different rates of evaporation, it stands to reason that a perfume’s fragrance will change over time. The more it is exposed to light and air, the more quickly it will deteriorate, which is why proper storage is essential. Here are several suggestions for maintaining the integrity and quality of your essential oils and fragrance blends:

Store your fragrances and essential oils in dark-colored bottles out of direct sunlight.

Put the cap back on the oils as soon as you’ve removed the drops needed. Heat, light, oxygen and moisture will compromise their quality and cause them to degrade.

If you are prone to skin sensitivity, test a small amount of your blend on your forearm for allergic reactions before using it liberally.

Essential oils are highly concentrated and some can burn the skin if applied directly, so always use a carrier oil such as jojoba, sweet almond or grape seed.

Always use glass or ceramic vessels when mixing and blending oils. If stored properly, essential oils will retain their integrity for one year

once opened.

Now, let’s get down to brass tacks and start mixing your custom eau de perfume!The Goods

2 Tablespoons carrier oil, such as jojoba, sweet almond or grape seed oil

6 Tablespoons good quality vodka (I like Rain) 2 1/2 Tablespoons distilled or spring water (not tap water, though) coffee filter funnel

essential oils for blending (you’ll need separate oils for base, middle and top notes, totaling around 30 drops)

two dark-colored glass bottles, one for curing, one for storing (you don’t need both right away, though)

decorative perfume bottle, for gifting (optional)

The Deal

1. Begin by cleaning the bottles, either in your hottest setting in the dishwasher or with hot, soapy water.2. Place the bottles on a rimmed baking pan and dry in an oven set to 110ºC. Remove from the oven once they are completely dry. Put a lid on one of the bottles (the one you’ll be using for storing) and set it aside until you’ll need it, which will be anywhere from 48 hours to 6 weeks later.3. Place the carrier oil into one of the bottles.4. Next, add the essential oils in the following order: the base notes, the middle notes and finally the top notes. The number of drops used for each note is up to you, so it’s time to play! Just remember the ideal ratio of 30% top, 50% middle and 20% base notes. Shoot for around 30 drops total given the amount of carrier oil and vodka called for here.5. Add the vodka. Place the lid atop the bottle and shake it vigorously for several minutes.6. Allow the bottle to sit for 48 hours to 6 weeks. The scent will change over time, becoming strongest around 6 weeks.7. Check it regularly, and once you’re happy with it, add 2 tablespoons of spring water to the blend.8. Give the bottle a good shake for one minute. Place a coffee filter into a funnel and transfer the contents from the curing bottle to the other bottle, which will become the storing bottle. Label your blend.9. Your eau de perfume is now ready to wear. If you’d like to gift it, put some in a decorative bottle. Be sure to advise the recipient, however, to keep it out of direct heat or sunlight. Ideally, though, the best place for storing your creation is in a dark-colored bottle.

Here are three blends that I’ve created and just love:Midnight Garden

6 drops cedarwood oil 15 drops clove oil 9 drops lavender oil

 Siren Song

7 drops sandalwood oil 14 drops rose oil 9 drops bergamot oil

 Brighter Day

7 drops pine oil 14 drops lemongrass oil 9 drops orange oil

A Few Blend Ideas to Get You StartedAs you can see, I made a kajillion solid perfumes, and each of them smell different (some of them I like more than others). Here are the ones I particularly liked, but I’ve run out of several essential oils I would have rather used. (Guess what my Christmas presents will be?)Fresh and Kicky (Vetiver, Ginger, Grapefruit)

17 drops grapefruit essential oil 14 drops ginger essential oil 10 drops vetiver essential oil

Romantically Wistful (Rose, Lime, Vetiver) 25 drops rose essential oil 10 drops lime essential oil 10 drops vetiver essential oil

(I’m on a HUGE vetiver kick right now – it’s so fresh and spicy and sort-of grassy and it makes my face smile really, really big)Sensuously Deep (Ylang-Ylang, Sweet Orange, Cedarwood)

20 drops sweet orange essential oil 15 drops ylang-ylang essential oil 10 drops cedarwood (or sandalwood) essential oil

I also created a blend with bergamot, palmarosa, and vanilla. And one with jasmine, nutmeg, and something else. I seriously went crazy, and didn’t document everything I blended (shame!), but my favorite might just be the one where I melted down amber resin and mixed it with ylang-ylang. SO MANY PERFUMES, so little time.

SOLID LAVENDER & LEMON PERFUME

12g sweet almond oil3g beeswax15 drops lavender essential oil5 drop rosemary essential oil3 drops litsea cubeba essential oil (you can also use lemon myrtle or lemongrass)

Melt the sweet almond oil and beeswax together in a small saucepan over low heat.

Remove from the heat and let it cool down for a minute. Add the essential oils and swirl to combine. Decant into little 1/4 oz tins . Fills 2 tins.Make with 2 tablespoons of vodka or water, for larger quantities you may want to add more oils.Forest Fairies Blend 40 drops sweet orange essential oil 20 drops cedarwood oil 10 drops peppermint oil 5 drops rosemary oil

Click here to buy high quality essential oils!Romantic Flower Garden 20 drops sweet orange essential oil 5 drops lavender essential oil 10 drops patchouli essential oil 10 drops cedarwood essential oil

5 drops ylang ylang essential oil 5 drops bergamot essential oil

Or just buy a blended oil from Young Living like Stress Away, Valor, or Peace and Calming. These all smell AMAZING!

Woodland PerfumeI love this blend! It truly smells like the forest. Uplifting, grounding, meditative, and comforting.

4 drops Spruce essential oil 2 drops organic Fir Needle essential oil 2 drops organic Cedarwood essential oil 1 drop organic Vetiver essential oil 1 drop organic Bergamot essential oil 1 tsp organic Jojoba Oil

Drip all essential oils into a glass bottle and roll between palms to evenly mix the oils. Add Jojoba oil, and roll again. Add additional essential oils if you desire a stronger perfume.

Sweet Summer PerfumeA relaxing and warming blend reminiscent of summer, with a lightly floral aroma complemented by hints of spice and cedar. Especially useful during times of stress, anxiety, irritability, or depression.  A great lift-me-up during the cold and dark winter months!

10 drops organic Lavender essential oil 5 drops organic Chamomile essential oil 4 drops organic Cardamom essential oil 1 drop organic Cedarwood essential oil 1 drop organic Geranium (Rose) essential oil 1 tsp organic Jojoba Oil

Drip all essential oils into a glass bottle, and roll between palms to evenly mix the oils. Add Jojoba oil and roll again. Add additional essential oils if you desire a stronger perfume.

Refreshing PerfumeRejuvenating, uplifting, energizing, and stimulating. This blend is good for mental clarity, lack of focus, and fatigue.

13 drops organic Peppermint essential oil 13 drops organic Rosemary essential oil 5 drops organic Lemon essential oil 5 drops organic Sage essential oil 5 drops organic Juniper Berry essential oil 1 tsp organic Jojoba Oil

Drip all essential oils into a glass bottle and roll between palms to evenly mix the oils. Add Jojoba oil and roll again. Add additional essential oils if you desire a stronger perfume.

Homemade Coconut Milk Shampoo And Clarifying Rinse

In my effort to go all natural and mostly organic in terms of food, the next logical step for me seemed to be to go back to making my own beauty products. Prior to getting married and having children, I was making my own soap and many other beauty products.

All that came to a screeching halt when the twins arrived and somehow I never quite got back into it. Don’t get me wrong, we were using the natural and organic stuff, but even those still have many undesirable ingredients.

Since the pregnancy, or since my move to Phoenix, I have had increasingly worse trouble with eczema on my scalp. Oddly enough, my hair remained strong and thick and healthy, but my scalp has been terrible. Itchy, raw, open, and forever flaking.

I’ve tried so many things, even the medicated shampoos which made matters worse really.

Then I went shampoo-less for many years, only using tea tree conditioners to wash my hair. This made things a tad better, but not all that much.

Three weeks ago I decided I had enough and I was going to give my homemade shampoo/hair treatments another go.

I don’t even know why it took me so long to go back to this!

Within just a few washes, my scalp felt significantly more healed of the sores!

Within a week, the flakes were practically gone.

In the two weeks since then, the itching has gone from I-want-to-tear-my-scalp-off-it-itches-so-much-bad to barely moderate!

I still have some residual issues, but it has only been such a short time and I am hopeful that over time, those issues may disappear too!

And my hair has acquired that certain shine and extra luster that I had been missing for a while!

However, having said all of the above, often there will be an adjustment period of two to four weeks when switching from commercial shampoos. Your hair may become frizzy or oily as it adjusts to the no-sulfate and other nasties routine, but eventually everything will level out and you will reap the benefits of the new hair routine!

 

 

Coconut Milk Shampoo

 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of  Dr. Bronners Organic Castile Liquid Soap, Peppermint (or Tea Tree, Lavender or Unscented)

1/3 cup organic coconut milk

2 tsp. Burdock oil (or organic virgin Coconut Oil, or Hemp Seed Oil)

1  tbsp. organic Apple Cider Vinegar

10 drops rosemary essential oil

8 drops lavender essential oil

6 drops sage essential oil (or chamomile essential oil)

 

Preparation:

Mix all the ingredients well and decant into a shower save bottle. If the coconut oil isn’t runny by itself, warm it a little to get it to a liquid state before mixing.

I have not had an issue with the shampoo separating, but if it does, just shake it up before use!

Less is more with this shampoo. I have medium short hair, but it’s thick and I have a lot of it and I have never needed more than about 2 tsp.

 

This shampoo works best if you follow it up with a clarifying rinse.

 

Clarifying Hair Rinse

 

Ingredients:

1/4 cup of organic apple cider vinegar

3  cups or so of water

5-8  drops of essential oil (rosemary, peppermint, chamomile (will lighten blond hair), lavender, sage, lemon balm are all good options) - optional

 

You can also use fresh herbs in place of the essential oils, but steep them in water with a splash of the organic cider vinegar for a few days prior to use.

As you can see above, I currently have a bottle of  rosemary and mint  from my herb garden sitting on my shower shelf and I decant from that and refill right there in the shower. The herbs stay good in there for about a week, imparting their goodness!

 

To Use:

After you rinsed off all shampoo and/or conditioners, pour the vinegar rinse all over your hair. Cold water is best as it allows the cuticles to close, which will decrease frizz and add shine, but warm is ok too.

I use it cold straight out of the bottle, but it’s hot around here, so cold feels quite good!

Wring out your hair out as much as you can.

That’s it, you don’t rinse it out!

 

Then towel dry and proceed as normal.

There will be a faint odor of vinegar, don’t worry about that, it dissipates once your hair is dry! And your hair will be so soft and shiny!

Read more: Birgit's Daily Bytes: Homemade Coconut Milk Shampoo And Clarifying Rinse http://birgitkerr.blogspot.com/2013/05/homemade-coconut-milk-shampoo-and.html#ixzz3XveD68ua

It’s official. I’m entering the world of DIY beauty. It’s a world I have avoided for some time, thinking – I don’t have time to make my own beauty and body care products. That’s why I buy them. Someone else has taken the time to do it, and to figure out what works. But NOW I am seeing how EASY some of the recipes are, and how much CHEAPER it is to make my own. (And trust me, the recipe has to be truly simple for

me to consider spending any time making it on my own!) So – I’m sharing them with you! If you have a favourite recipe for easy diy shampoo or conditioner – link it up at the bottom of my post!

1. DIY Shampoo   from   scentsable-living.com 1/4 cup full-fat coconut milk1/3 cup liquid castile soap1 tsp olive oilessential oil

Put ingredients together in a container and shake well. Shake before using.2. Shampoo for dry hair/scalp   from   simply Essential Oils

1/4 cup distilled water1/4 cup liquid castile soap1/2 teaspoon Jojoba Oil, grapeseed, or other vegetable oil1/4 tsp essential oil

Put ingredients together in a container and shake well. Shake before using. This is pretty much the same recipe as the DIY foaming hand soap I have been using! It’s also the basis for the first DIY shampoo I used.

3. DIY Shampoo   from   CanCan 1/2 cup liquid castile soap1/3-2/3 cup water2 tablespoon baking soda1 teaspoon coconut oil, melted5-15 drops essential oil

Put baking soda & castile soap into a container and shake to combine. Add other ingredients and shake it up.

4. Homemade Shampoo with Essential Oils   from   Shalom Mama 1/2 cup liquid castile soap1/4 cup canned coconut milk1/4 cup honey2 tbsp Fractionated Coconut Oil1 tbsp Vitamin E oil40-50 drops essential oils

Put ingredients together in a container and shake well. Shake before using.5. Rye Flour shampoo   from   Kanelstrand

3-4 tbsp rye flour lukewarm water

Add lukewarm water to rye flour and stir to mix. Add water until you get the consistency of a thicker liquid like shampoo. This one is pH balanced for your hair (Kanelstrand also talked about how baking soda is too alkaline for your hair) so I gave it a go to see how it worked. It left my hair feeling nice and soft when I followed it with an apple cider vinegar conditioner (see below) – however I could not rinse out all the flour no matter what I did. So my hair felt and looked pretty nice except for the flour flakes that people could mistaken for dandruff.

UPDATE: I have found a solution to the flour flakes problem and now am loving using this as a shampoo (recipe here)!

6. No Fuss Conditioner   from   simply Essential Oils 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar1 cup distilled water8 drops essential oil

Put ingredients together in a container and shake well. Shake before using. I love this! It’s what I’m currently using as a conditioner.

7. Hair Conditioner   from   buzzfeed.com 1 can coconut milk1 tablespoon honey1 tablespoon olive oila few drops of essential oil of your choice! (I added this because it

just makes it more awesome)

Put ingredients into a container and shake to mix well. Shake before using.8. Coconut Lavender Conditioner   from   free people

1 cup coconut oil1 teaspoon vitamin E oil1 teaspoon Jojoba Oil5 drops lavender essential oil

Mix all ingredients together for several minutes and transfer to a container. The mixture should stay fresh until the coconut oil’s expiration date. To use – only put a tiny amount starting at ends of hair. Don’t apply too much to top of the head as it can make hair look greasy.9. Coconut Oil Deep Conditioner and Detangler   from   One Good Thing by Jillee

2 tablespoons coconut oil1 tablespoon Jojoba Oil3 drops essential oil

Stir ingredients together (they should all be at room temperature, coconut oil should be rich and thick). Apply to hair from roots to ends. Cover hair with a shower cap, leave on for 15-30 minutes. You can use this same recipe to make a detangler by putting in 1 part of the conditioner and 10 parts of water into a spray bottle.No Fuss DIY Shampoo and ConditionerJune 22, 2014 by SimplyEO Leave a Comment

This is a guest post by Melissa Dargon. Thank you Melissa!You no longer have to buy expensive “natural” products with ingredients you cannot pronounce. In addition to being inexpensive to make, this shampoo and conditioner combination worked wonders on my daughter’s curly ringlet hair.Ingredients for DIY shampoo (dry hair/scalp)

1/4 cup distilled water 1/4 cup liquid castile Soap 1/2 teaspoon jojoba, grapeseed, or other vegetable oil 1/4 tsp essential oil

Ingredients for DIY conditioner

1 tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar 1 cup distilled water 8 drops of essential oil

DirectionsIn reused shampoo and conditioner bottles mix ingredients and shake well. This recipe can be used just like the store bought products. Simply shake each bottle before use and you are set to go. I customized my recipe by using almond castile soap, olive oil, and Peace & Calming essential oil blend.

- See more at: http://simplyeo.com/diy-shampoo-conditioner/#sthash.8PBQr2Zs.kbbxW58t.dpuf

SIMPLE DIY LIQUID HERBAL SHAMPOO

FEBRUARY 3, 2015 BY HEATHER ROBERTSON 29 COMMENTS

http://dontwastethecrumbs.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/DIY-Liquid-Herbal-Shampoo.jpg

Last month I shared how to make your own herbal shampoo bar and wow – they were a hit! it! I am so amazed at the interest in simple, natural hair care!

However, some of you were leery on using lye, and hesitant on the soap making process as a whole.

I totally understand!

It took me quite a while to be confident in my skills of making soap and shampoo bars before I was ready to share with others. Even now I am very particular with my measurements and handling of raw soap.

So for those who still want a simple, natural hair care solution, but aren’t quite ready to dive into soap-making, I have the perfect solution: DIY Liquid Herbal Shampoo!

I will state up front that this particular shampoo does not work very well for my hair type, nor did the previous liquid shampoo  I tried.

You see, I have very oily hair and have gone through quite a process  to figure out what works for me. When it was all said and done, my hair needed a slightly more aggressive soap like these Herbal Shampoo Bars.

But I’m sure you’ve gone through a similar process too with commercial shampoos, right? You try one out, it may or may not do the job, so you try another?

Homemade shampoo isn’t any different. There’s formulas for “normal” hair, “oily” hair and “dry” hair. We are all created differently with a variety of skin and hair types, and that is a beautiful thing!

So regardless of your hair type, it doesn’t hurt giving this recipe a try if you’re trying to go a more natural route. You never know – this shampoo may work really well for you!

For this recipe, your cleansing agent is simply a liquid Castile soap and your nourishing agent is herbal water. That’s it!

The whole process of making your own herbal shampoo takes just a few minutes of hands-on, plus a few minutes of rest in between steps. You’ll have your own homemade shampoo ready in no time!

SIMPLE DIY LIQUID HERBAL SHAMPOO

Supplies

2 Tbsp dried herbs  (see additional recipe tips below) 1 cup hot water 1/8 cup liquid Castile soap 5 drops vitamin e oil  or jojoba oil

Method

Pour gently simmering water over the dried herbs in a jar and cover. Let steep for about an hour.

Strain the herbs out and pour the water into a bottle (an old shampoo bottle would be perfect.) Add the liquid Castile soap and drops of oil.

Note: when you add the Castile soap to the herbal water it will change colors! I used lavender and my water was a beautiful purple color. When I added in the Castile soap it turned green! I’m not sure what the chemical reaction that occurred is all about but it was pretty neat to see the change.

Gently swish to mix.

To use, pour straight on your hair and massage into your scalp. Rinse and you’re done!

5.0 from 1 reviewsSIMPLE DIY LIQUID HERBAL SHAMPOO 

PRINTINGREDIENTS

2 Tbsp dried herbs  (see additional recipe tips below) 1 cup hot water ⅛ cup liquid Castile soap 5 drops vitamin e oil  or jojoba oil

INSTRUCTIONS

1.Pour gently simmering water over the dried herbs in a jar and cover. Let steep for about an hour.

2.Strain the herbs out and pour the water into a bottle (an old shampoo bottle would be perfect.) Add the liquid Castile soap and drops of oil.

3.Gently swish to mix.4.To use, pour straight on your hair and massage into your scalp.

Rinse and you’re done!NOTESWhen you add the Castile soap to the herbal water it will change colors! I used lavender and my water was a beautiful purple color. When I added in the Castile soap it turned green! I’m not sure what the chemical reaction that occurred is all about but it was pretty neat to see the change.

ADDITIONAL RECIPE TIPS

There a quite a variety of herbs that will benefit your hair. Most of them have vitamins and minerals that help to strengthen the hair and nourish the scalp. Here are some of my favorites that would be perfect to use in this DIY Liquid Herbal Shampoo:

Calendula. This flower contains many minerals and anti-oxidants promoting strong healthy hair by increasing the production of collagen and circulation around the hair follicles.

Hibiscus. Full of vitamins and anti-oxidants, this flower will increase scalp and hair health. It may even prevent premature graying and dandruff.

Lavender. This powerful anti-inflammatory, anti-septic, and anti-microbial flower is great for all skin and hair types. It is soothing and nourishing to the scalp which helps balance the natural oils and increase the circulation around the follicles.

Peppermint. This leafy herb will help stimulate follicles, and may heal chemical and environmental damage. It is anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory promoting growth and scalp health.

Rosemary. Rich in vitamins and anti-oxidants, this is one of the most popular herbs for promoting hair health and growth. It is especially helpful in re-growing prematurely thinned hair and may help with prevent graying.

Sage. The anti-septic and antibiotic properties of this herb may help heal skin issues that stunt hair growth. There are many vitamins and minerals contained in the healing herb.

There are a whole lot of other herbs for more specific issues, but these cover basic hair needs. You could also add in essential oils  for additional benefits, especially if you have more severe problems than oily hair or slight dandruff.

If you are already taking good care of your body with whole real foods and drinking plenty of water on a regular basis , then your hair should reflect

the positive impact of those choices. Our bodies are intricate systems that link together from top to bottom!

Although natural hair care can be frustrating at times, (trust me, I’ve been there ) it really is better for you and can be more economic. Reducing toxins and

PURIFYING TALLOW FOR SOAPMAKING

18 March, 2015| farming ethics, food preservation, natural health and beauty, Soap

When I decided to learn to make soap, I knew from the beginning that I wanted to create a basic soap recipe that utilized the often maligned soap making fat, tallow.Tallow has a bad reputation and I don’t believe a word of it! Especially now that I’ve used it on my own skin and have absolutely fallen in love with that soap! It is everything I wanted in a bar of soap… an ultra-moisturizing hard soap with a rich and creamy lather that doesn’t turn into a slimy bar that dissolves away quickly once you start using it.The fact is, the reason tallow has been branded as harsh on skin is because tallow soap used to be harsh on skin. But that’s not because of tallow. It was harsh because of the inconsistency & unpredictability of homemade lye. Not only do we no longer have to worry about that, but we can also utilize other fats in a relationship with the tallow in order to complement it’s benefits both to our skin and to the bar of soap itself.

Here is why I’m not afraid to use tallow in my soaps (and you shouldn’t be either): {TALLOW IS GOOD FOR YOUR SKIN}As is the case with our skin, tallow is mostly a saturated fat. Tallow’s fatty acid profile consists primarily of oleic, palmitic, and stearic acids. Oleic acid a fatty-acid that is also found in our sebum. It gives tallow it’s softening, soothing, moisturizing properties and allows it to be easily absorbed into our

skin. Palmitic acid in tallow works to combat aging and smooth skin. Naturally derived stearic acid will help protect your skin by forming a natural barrier to keep moisture in and contaminants out. When using tallow from grass-fed beef, conjugated linoleic acid is present in higher concentrations (one of the reasons grass-fed beef is so wonderful for our diets). CLA’s in your skin care not only help to retain moisture, but also have anti-aging properties as they work to renew skin cells and repair collagen.

{TALLOW IS A HOMESTEADER FAT}As a homesteader interested in local eating while living in the Middle of Nowhere, America, I am limited to my “self-sufficient”   fat choices. Basically, all I’ve got to choose from are animal fats such as tallow and lard. When we raise our own meat, we are able to respect the whole beast and use as much of it as possible so as not allow any go to waste. Rendering the fat into tallow or lard   for cooking or soap making or candle making allows us to do just that. Unless you’re a vegetarian, there ought to be nothing disgusting about the thought of using tallow in your skin care products, and if you are vegetarian, well some make the case   that you shouldn’t be disgusted with it then either.

{TALLOW IS A RESPONSIBLE, ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY CHOICE}But most folks don’t think in terms of using as much of the animal as possible. Beef & pork fat are a by-product of meat production by most standards. So while many soaps are marketed & touted as being vegetarian, using vegetarian soaps don’t actually save a single animal life. In fact, ironically they are the ones that are taking animal life! The most popular vegetarian soap fat, palm oil, is very economical, in high demand, and is detrimental to the habitat of wild animals living in those areas where it is grown.  Now, please don’t confuse me with being an environmentalist, tree-hugging, greenie. What I am is a Christian stewarding this earth and as such I need to look beyond the view from my barn door and consider the impact of my choices on all of the Lord’s Creation! So I say use the beef fat that was going to find it’s way to filling a landfill instead!{TALLOW IS ECONOMICAL}Because it is a by-product of butchering and because of the low demand, tallow is inexpensive. Some people are able to get it for free just by asking their butcher to set some aside! If you were able to raise your own beef and redeem the fat for tallow, all the better! So not only is the initial purchase of the fat cost effective, BUT using tallow in your soaps hardens them, making them last longer!

HOW TO PURIFY TALLOW FOR SOAPMAKING

1.) Find a Source for Beef Fat-That should be pretty easy if you raise your own beef. If not, start calling around to local butchers and

ask if they have any available. Either freeze it for later or render it within a few days of butchering.

2.) Cut the fat-Beef fat is a lot easier to cut than pork fat. It’s not as greasy and your knife won’t slip as much. Alternately, if there isn’t a lot of sinew, you can run it through your  meat grinder . The grinder is my favorite option because I find that the smaller pieces render down more thoroughly and you have less risk of accidentally burning the fat.

3.) Melt (Render) the Fat-Fill your crockpot   with the cubed or ground fat. Add a cup of water or so and about a tablespoon of salt. I eyeball it. The water will keep it from burning and the salt will help to draw out impurities. Cover it and set the crockpot on low if you’ll be busy & can’t babysit it. Or high if you are in a hurry, will be nearby, and can stir it frequently. Even on low, be sure to stir it every now and again to break up clumps. Clumped up fat won’t render down and while you’re waiting for it to do so, the outside will burn.

4.) Strain the liquid tallow-Using a coffee filter, double layered butter muslin, or a milk filter, strain the – are they called cracklings in tallow too? Strain the leftover bits of fat that won’t render down from the good stuff. You can either do this at the end or strain it as it renders down. I like to do the latter that way if there is an accident and I do burn it, all is not lost.5.) Refrigerate-Once all of the liquid tallow is gathered from this batch, pour the jars out into a bowl or stock pot large enough to hold all of it. Don’t refrigerate it in the jars! We’re not done yet and you can’t do the next step using mason jars.

6.) Un-mold the tallow-Once the tallow has completely chilled and solidified, use a knife to loosen the sides. Invert the bowl over your kitchen sink (the water you added to the fat has separated and will splash all over the place.) Then pop out the tallow. If you used a stockpot, bring the kids over, torture them briefly, and tell them you baked a cake. (What- you’re not so wicked a mother as I am? Well, good for you!)

7.) Scrape off the sediment-What you’ll find on the bottom of your tallow loaf is that all the sediment has settled to the bottom of the pot as the tallow hardened. Now you can easily use your knife to scrape it off and discard it. (If you’d like. Personally I wouldn’t have any problem saving it for cooking any more than I would have a problem saving bacon grease. Have you ever had chicken fried in tallow? No? Then you haven’t had good fried chicken!)

8.) Repeat-Yes, I know. Just when you thought you were done! It’s not nearly as much work this time. Use your knife to chunk it up. Size doesn’t matter too much, it will all liquify this time. Cook it in the slow cooker on low for a couple hours with water and salt again. Strain, refrigerate, un-mold, and scrape. This time you should have less sediment. If there was hardly any, you can stop. You  might want to do it a third time if you find it necessary.

When I’m done scraping for the final time, I chunk it up into cubes once again and then weigh it out into soap-recipe sized portions, label it, and put it in a plastic bag in the fridge until I’m ready to make soap. This is much easier and less time consuming than trying to chisel out the hard tallow from a mason jar!Stay tuned for my tallow soap recipe! I hope to be sharing it later

this week. Of course, if you don’t want to wait or aren’t interested in rendering your own tallow or making your own soap but would like to reap the amazing benefits for your skin, you can buy a bar of nourishing, long-lasting tallow farmstead soap to try for yourself!

Color Soap Naturally – Infusing oil with herbs and spices by Amanda | posted in: Color Soap Naturally Series | 30

Infusing oil is probably my favorite method of using natural colorants. It works for most natural colorants but we’ll talk about the ones that do better using a different method as we go along. When you infuse oil you don’t get the grainy speckled look you get when you add spice or herb powders to traced soap.You want to be sure to use a long shelf life oil for infusing. The top three are fractionated coconut oil, jojoba oil and olive oil. I usually stick with olive oil as all of my soap recipes contain olive oil.

There are two main methods of infusing oils.Cold infusion –Add spices or herbs to the oil in a jar and allow to sit 2-6 weeks to infuse. If I’m infusing powdered spices or herbs I infuse 2 tablespoons in 5 oz oil. If I am using dry whole herbs then I’ll fill the jar with the herb and cover with oil. Never use fresh herbs in cold infusions as they contain water and will cause mold and bacteria to grow.

Heat infusion –Add spices or herbs to the oil and heat gently to kick start the infusion. Some spices and herbs infuse easily using the heat infusion method and you can even use the infusion the same day! You can heat using the crock pot turned to warm for 2-6 hours or low heat on the stove for 2-6 hours. You can use fresh herbs in a heat infusion if you plan on using the oil in soap making the same day. Don’t ever store away an infusion made with fresh herbs as they contain water and your infusion will grow bacteria and mold.

My favorite method is to use a hot water bath to gently heat the infusions. I seal the herbs and spices in heat sealable tea bags so I don’t have to worry about straining the infusion before I use it. I just simply remove the tea bag. Here’s how I do it.

I usually infuse 2 tablespoons of any powdered herb or spice into 5 ounces of olive oil.Step 1 – Measure out 2 tablespoons of your powdered herb into a heat sealable tea bag.

Step 2 – Seal the edge with an iron.  Make sure it is sealed and will not come open.

Step 3 – Place the sealed teabag into the canning jar and cover with 5 oz (weight) of olive oil.

Step 4 – Screw on the lid and secure tightly.  If you’re doing many infusions at once make sure you label them so you don’t forget what they are.  I just use a permanent marker on the lid.

Step 5 – Place your jars into a pan.  Fill the pan with enough water to reach about 1” underneath the lid.  You want the water to stay plenty beneath the bottom of the jar lids.

Step 6 – Turn the heat on low and let heat for about two hours.  You can also do this in a crock pot.  Just set the crock pot on warm.

Step 7 – Remove the jars from the pan and allow them to cool away from cool air or drafts.  You don’t want the jars to break.  I typically put my jars on the counter and cover with a towel to keep out the drafts or air if it kicks on.  Check the color of your infusions.  Some herbs and spices infuse easier than others.  I noticed the alkanet, paprika, indigo, turmeric and annatto all looked nice and dark.  But some of the others looked like they needed a bit more time.  You can either heat for another hour or two or if you aren’t in a hurry to use them…let them sit somewhere out of the way for a week to get a darker infusion.

That’s it!  Wasn’t that easy?  And the best part is that since we used the tea bags to contain the spices and herbs we don’t have to bother with straining which can be a mess!

To use your infused oils simply replace a portion of olive oil in a recipe with infused olive oil.  We’ll go into more detail later on in the series. Happy Soaping!Amanda

How to make Papaya Soap and other Herbal Soaps

Posted by PN T

Herbal soap is now a lucrative business. In fact, there is an existing good market for Likas Papaya, a papaya based bleaching soap. Even

safeguard, a popular bath soap brand in the country has now a papaya brand of soap. Below is a procedure how to make, not just papaya soap, but also other herbal soaps such as Kamias Soap , Calamansi Soap ,  Cucumber Soap ,   Radish Soap , Akapulko Soap, Papaya Soap and Guava Soap. Herbal soap is a kind of soap mixed with natural ingredients, juice or extract and vitamins from medicinal plants.

These types of herbal soap have advantages, and can help treat various skin indications as follows:

Akapulko leaves - anti-fungal soapGuava leaves - antiseptic for wounds soapKamias - fruit extract or juice (bleaching soap)Calamansi - fruit extract or juice (bleaching soap)Cucumber - fruit extract or juice (moisturizer)Papaya - extract from fresh leaves (bleaching/moisturizer)Radish - extract from the stem (moisturizer)

So, how do we make these herbal soaps?

Prepare Utensils:

Plastic pailWooden ladle or bamboo stickGlass or cupMortar and pestleCheese cloth or strainerKnifeChopping boardCooking pot (preferably made of clay, enamel, stainless or glass)StovePlastic molders

How to Make Akapulko Soap and Guava Soap

How to Prepare a Decoction:

1. Wash the leaves thoroughly and chop or cut in small pieces.2. Measure 1 glass of chopped fresh leaves and 2 glasses of water.3. Let it boil for 15 minutes (start timing when the water starts to boil).4. After 15 minutes, remove from fire and strain in a cheesecloth. Set aside and let it cool.

Materials:

1 glass Caustic Soda (NaOH)3 glasses Akapulko or Guava decoction, cooled5 glasses cooking oilcoloring powder (optional)

Procedure:

1. Prepare the materials and the utensils needed.2. Measure 1 glass of caustic soda and 3 glasses of Akapulko or Guava decoction and pour into a plastic pail.3. Mix well by stirring continuously using a wooden ladle or bamboo stick. Use only one direction in mixing the mixture. Stir until the caustic soda is dissolved.4. Pour 5 glasses cooking oil into the mixture.5. Continue stirring until a consistency of a condensed milk is achieved.6. Pour the soap mixture into desired plastic molders. Set aside and let it cool to harden.7. After 4-5 hours, remove the soap from the molder.8. Allow 30 days of ageing before packing. Label the soaps.How to make Kamias Soap, Calamansi Soap, Papaya Soap, Cucumber Soap and Radish Soap

Materials:

1 glass Caustic Soda (NaOH)3 glasses water5 glasses cooking oil1/2 glass juice or extract

Procedure:

1. Prepare the materials and the utensils needed.2. Measure 1 glass of caustic soda and 3 glasses of water and pour into a plastic pail.3. Mix well by stirring continuously using a wooden ladle or bamboo stick. Use only one direction in mixing the mixture. Stir until the caustic soda is dissolved.4. Pour 5 glasses cooking oil into the mixture.5. Continue stirring until a consistency of a condensed milk is achieved and add 1/2 glass of juice or extract.6. Pour the soap mixture into desired plastic molders. Set aside and let it cool to harden.7. After 4-5 hours, remove the soap from the molder.8. Allow 30 days of ageing before packing. Label the soaps.

Reminder:

Caustic Soda can harm the skin upon contact. Wash immediately with vinegar or anything sour and then wash it with soap and water.

Caustic Soda is harmful to health and so, make the necessary precaution. Use mask and gloves to protect your body.

How to Make Natural DIY Perfume

Pretty bottles of perfume may litter our vanities, but do we know what’s actually in them? More often than not, fancy packaging masks the chemicals and synthetic fragrances that cost us big money.

Those essential oils you see lining your health food store shelves are good for something after all! You probably already know your favorite scents, so it’s not hard to play mixologist and concoct your own fragrance oil or eau de parfum. The cherry on top is that your creation will be all-natural and free of chemicals, which are the last things we should be spraying onto our skin.

Any DIY perfume recipe is going to start with the essentials—essential oil that is.

The combinations are endless, but there are a few guidelines you should follow. We’re talking about balancing your base notes, middle (heart) notes, and top notes. Once you’ve got your perfect combination, you just have to choose how you want to apply it. Roller ball, solid perfume, or bottled perfume?

Let’s first address how to even start mixing and matching your essential oils. Thankfully, Julia Zangrilli of NOVA created an easy chart to help:

A simple way to tell if you like the combination of scents is to dip paper scent strips into the essential oils and wave them together under your nose. That will give you a good idea of how they smell together. Top notes fade the quickest while base notes last the longest.

Don’t know where to start? Basenotes.net has catalogued and broken down the scent profile for commercial perfumes on the market. Find a perfume you’ve liked in the past and take inspiration from how that scent is built! For example, Liliana by Tocca is a great go-to scent for summer, and just a peek at its notes reveals bergamot top notes, gardenia middle notes, and sandalwood base notes. Of course, there are multiple notes in each category, but simplifying things makes it easy to add your own spin to it. Don’t like gardenia? Substitute rose!

You’ll also need a carrier oil to mix with your essential oil blend. A great carrier oil is jojoba oil because of its long shelf life and stability. Another option is using fractionated coconut oil, which is not considered to be an all-natural oil because it has been distilled, but it remains a great carrier oil because it is highly stable, odorless and colorless. It also boasts a long shelf life, and unlike all natural, virgin coconut oil, it will not harden into a solid at room temperature. Mixing jojoba oil and fractionated coconut oil is a popular option for DIY fragrance oil roll-ons.

For the following three types of perfumes, use this ratio for a 10 ml bottle (which can be multiplied or divided for other container sizes):

Top, Middle, Bottom note ratios are 15-20-65 or 30-20-50

For example, 30 total drops = 4-6-20 drops or 9-6-15 drops

How to Make a Roll-On Fragrance

To make your roll-on, you’ll need to purchase a glass roll tubes and a dropper along with your carrier oils and essential oils.  

Ingredients

2 teaspoons of carrier oil (about 5 ml per teaspoons). If you’re mixing oils, try 1 1/2 teaspoons of fractionated coconut oil with 1/2 teaspoon of jojoba oil

12-25 drops of essential oils (depending on how strong you want the scent)

Preparation

Snap on the top and shake to combine. Apply throughout the day at pulse points to refresh your fragrance. Your natural body heat will actually activate and spread the scent more.

How to Make a Solid Perfume

Solid perfumes can easily be kept in tins or tubes, making it easy for travel without fear of spilling.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon of carrier oil

1 tablespoon of beeswax

25-45 drops of essential oils (depending on how strong you want the scent)

Use a small stainless steel bowl to melt your wax and carrier oil in a double boiler (as if you’re melting chocolate). Mix the wax and oil thoroughly before adding your essential oils and mixing. Pour your perfume into small containers—quickly before

they set! 

How to Make Bottled Perfume

Making your own requires some patience, but it is well worth it for an all-natural, personalized perfume. 

Ingredients

2 tablespoons of carrier oil

6 tablespoons of high-quality vodka

2.5 tablespoons of distilled or spring water

Coffee filter

Funnel

30 drops (approximately) of essential oils

2 dark-colored glass bottles

Preparation

Clean your bottles in dishwasher on high or in hot, soapy water. Pop them in the oven at 110°C/230°F until dry. Cap one bottle for later, and fill the other with your carrier oil.

Add your essential oils in the order of base notes, middle notes, and then top notes. Top off with the vodka, cap it, and give the whole bottle a good shake (it’s your arm workout for the day). Now comes the wait.

Let the fragrances mingle for anywhere from 48 hours to 6 weeks. More time equals a stronger scent. (It’s like how a wine has to age). Try to avoid the temptation to check too often, added oxygen may change the developing scent.

Once your bottle is done maturing, blend the scent with the spring water. Shake again and filter it into the other glass bottle for storage.

Some tips for keeping your perfume:

Store your fragrances and essential oils in dark-colored bottles (think dark amber and cobalt) and out of direct sunlight.

Make sure to cap your oils tightly to prevent any heat, light, oxygen, and/or moisture from seeping in.

Jojoba oil has shelf life of about two to four years when stored properly. Fractionated coconut oil lasts indefinitely in correct storage, but some oils like argan oil only lasts around six months.

Next time someone asks what scent you’re wearing, you can say it’s an exclusive scent, just for you!

DIY: Essential ColognePosted on June 7, 2013 by doTERRAFather’s Day is coming up and instead of buying an expensive, toxic cologne, put a personal (and healthy) touch to it this year by making your own.

Cologne and perfume making is easy and fun. Make sure to check out our previous blog post for more information on how to get started.

These cologne recipes have been tried and tested by both men and women and have all been unanimously given two thumbs up. Feel free to switch up the oils to make your own personal blend.These cologne recipes are about a 20% oil and 80% carrier oil based. If you want a stronger scent, you can make it up to a 30/70 ratio. The cologne recipes below are for a 1/3 oz. vial (10ml). You will need to adjust your recipe if you use a smaller or larger vial.

What You Need:

This recipe provides an “Earthy Spice” scent.1/3 oz. roll-on vial (10 ml). You can purchase them here.10 drops Clove essential oil20 drops White Fir essential oil40 drops Bergamot essential oil5 drops Lemon essential oil280 drops dōTERRA Fractionated Coconut OilTip: A dropper may be helpful in order for you to get the exact amount.

Directions:

1- Take a glass vial and combine all necessary drops of essential oil and Fractionated Coconut Oil into bottle. Attach the roll-on cap and shake the vial until the mixture is combined.

2- Let mixture sit for at least 24 hours before use. This allows the oils to fully combine.

3- You’re done! Apply cologne to wrists for best results.Tips: To see if you like the scent, make a small sample first. If you like it, make a larger batch. You can always add more oils to the mixture later. Other Cologne Mixtures:Spicy Pick-Me-Up36 drops Cinnamon essential oil12 drops Cassia essential oil12 drops Peppermint essential oil12 drops Grapefruit essential oil280 drops dōTERRA Fractionated Coconut Oil

Fresh Cut Grass:12 drops Basil essential oil6 drops White Fir essential oil13 drops Wild Orange essential oil13 drops Bergamot essential oil26 drops Citrus Bliss essential oil blend280 drops dōTERRA Fractionated Coconut Oil

Woodsy Black Licorice8 drops Fennel essential oil

8 drops Cypress essential oil8 drops Wild Orange essential oil32 drops Sandalwood essential oil8 drops Lime essential oil8 drops Wintergreen essential oil280 drops dōTERRA Fractionated Coconut Oil

Sweet Musk32 drops Lime essential oil24 drops Fennel essential oil16 drops Patchouli essential oil280 drops dōTERRA Fractionated Coconut Oil

Musky Cinnamon28 drops Cinnamon essential oil12 drops Rosemary essential oil12 drops Wild Orange essential oil280 drops dōTERRA Fractionated Coconut OilDo you have any great cologne or perfume blends? Send them to editor@doterra.com.- See more at: http://doterrablog.com/diy-essential-cologne/#sthash.gkpp7W57.dpuf

Homemade Cough Dropsfebruary 5, 2015 by elise 12 commentsI’ve been seriously enjoying making my own home remedies. It’s amazing how much you can do with a few simple ingredients, and after I made my first batch of homemade cough syrup, I knew that I had to follow it up with homemade cough drops. I’m a huge believer in the power of cough drops on those nights when I can’t sleep for coughing so much. Bleh.

Probably the biggest drawback with making home remedies however, is that it can get expensive really fast.I tend to fight that tendency by using the most common ingredients I can.

Would it be better to use coltsfoot and elderberry flowers? Theoretically, yes. But most of us don’t have those things sitting around in our pantries, nor can we pick them up at a local grocery store. And ordering specialty herbs gets expensive fast.Here’s the herbs I’ve included, and why:PeppermintAside from the fact that peppermint tea tastes awesome, it’s a common cold and flu remedy. Studies have shown that it kills bacteria and viruses. It also has a numbing effect. It also dulls the pain of an aching body. The menthol in peppermint effectively thins mucus and breaks up phlegm. It provides relief from coughs and congestion. You will find menthol as a common ingredient in decongestants. (source) ChamomileChamomile contains immune boosting, and antibacterial properties. (source)CinnamonCinnamon contains anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-fungal properties.GingerGinger has been shown to be a powerful natural pain killer, and contains anit-inflammatory properties. (source)

Did you notice anything about that list? All of those herbs have powerful healing properties, and every single one of them is available at almost any grocery store, and are inexpensive to boot. Who says high quality herbal remedies have to be expensive?There are many different ways you can make your hard syrup into cough drops, you could even make them into lollipops with lollipop sticks and molds.

How To Not Make A MessOne common way is to let the syrup cool until it’s just barely cool enough to handle, and then roll them into lozenges with your hands.I found doing that to be awfully sticky though, and decided to do things the easy way and drop the hot syrup onto parchment paper.Maybe they’re not as pretty, but I ended up with zero mess, and yes, the cough drops pop right off the parchment paper. Nothing sticks to that stuff. 

Homemade cough drops 1 Tablespoon (or one teabag) peppermint tea leaves 1 Tablespoon/teabag chamomile tea ½ teaspoon cinnamon ½ teaspoon ginger ¾ cup boiling water ¾ cup honey Optional: Essential Oils such as tea tree, or Thieves (Great for boosting the

immune system!) 1.Steep peppermint, chamomile, cinnamon, and ginger in boiling water for 10

minutes or more.2.Strain off water, and pour into a small saucepan.3.Add honey.4.Heat over medium heat until mixture begins to boil.5.Clip candy thermometer to the side of your pan.6.Continue boiling until mixture reaches 300º.7.Watch carefully, it is really easy to burn when it gets this hot!

8.Let mixture cool for 5-10 minutes, until it starts to get syrupy.9.At this point you can add a few drops of healing/antibacterial essential oils (this

is totally optional!)10. Drop by small spoonfuls onto parchment paper and let cool.11. Dust with slippery elm bark, or at the very least, cornstarch, potato starch, or

tapioca starch to absorb condensation and prevent them from sticking together in storage.

12. Store in an airtight container.Use as needed to sooth sore, itchy throats, and coughing.

Garlic Tincture~ DIY Home RemedyPosted on August 7, 2013 by Jacqueline

Garlic Tincture~ DIY Home Remedy

Up until the early 50s, the home medicine chest was comprised of locally growing herbs and plants. Almost every village or small town had a midwife or herbal healer who had a vast working knowledge of these plants and their use in healing. Common medicinal herbs were certainly a part of a home garden or landscape.One of God’s greatest medicinal gifts that can be found on this earth is garlic or Allium sativum. It has been used as a natural remedy for thousands of years and is one of the easiest herbs to grow. Garlic has antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral properties. It is also an excellent antioxidant, an immune-stimulant, and an anti-inflammatory agent across all body systems. Garlic is clearly able to lower our blood triglycerides and total cholesterol, even though this reduction can be moderate (5-15%).Garlic was successfully used to ward off the plague and anthrax, and when bird-flu was going around in Asia, they found that the country with high diet of garlic, had no incidents whatsoever. This is directly attributed to the sulfur-containing acillins, which are so abundant in this potent herb. It can be used as a natural mosquito repellent and works so well in my Vinegar of the Four Thieves.There are too many other wonderful health benefits to mention here.

Garlic Tincture and Dosage:Chop one cup of garlic and add to a clean glass Ball jar. Add 2 cups vodka (or vinegar) and screw the lid on. Write the contents and date on the jar.

Shake the jar every day or so for 3 weeks. Once 3 weeks are over, strain out the chopped garlic and store the tincture in dark, labeled dropper bottles in a cool, dark area.I take 5 drops a day in a glass of water when I’m not going anywhere and up to 4 times daily if needed.To avoid garlic breath, eat a few leaves of any chlorophyll-rich herb like fresh mint, cilantro, parsley, or basil afterwards.I use 4 oz. amber bottles to store my tinctures. A vodka-based tincture will store for many, many years. I get my bottles on Amazon or at the Bulk Herb Store.

A Note On Garlic Oil for Cooking~Sherilyn, an astute reader, just brought to my attention (in the comments) something we all need to be aware of! I quickly found a good article on this for us all to read if we want to make our own garlic-infused olive oil: Be Aware of the Risks of Botulism With Homemade Garlic-Infused Oil. Mine has been sitting unrefrigerated for 3 days, so for the sake of wisdom, I am throwing mine out!! So now you we know!The FDA recommends that if you want to make your own infused garlic oil, you should prepare it fresh and use it right away. If you are saving any leftovers, you must refrigerate it right away and use within a week.

There are a number of prepared garlic tinctures available in the local health food stores. The ones I found on Amazon start at $15 (plus shipping) on up.I would like to encourage you to grow your own garlic and make your own tincture. We are slowly disabled when we become dependent on others. We lose touch with the Creator’s workmanship ~ the blessings of soil, growing things, working with our hands, fresh air, and good exercise.A working knowledge of medicinal herbs will be essential for anyone trying to stay healthy in these uncertain times. Garlic is a mighty weapon in your medicine chest and right at the top of my list.

 “He causeth the grass to grow for food, and herbs for the

service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth; And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make

his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth a man’s heart.” ~Psalm 104: 14-15

Contraindications, Cautions, and Side Effects of Garlic: Take raw garlic with a few bites of cheese or a glass of water if you

eat it raw on an empty stomach. Excessive amounts of garlic or garlic tincture can result in gastric distress such as heartburn or intestinal gas.

It is best to avoid garlic before surgery because of anti-blood clotting effects.

Garlic tincture is not recommended for those on blood thinning medications such as Warfarin or Heparin.

Garlic is not recommended for those who have blood clotting disorders.

It’s always best to check with your personal health care provider before taking any herbal medications, including garlic tincture.

Amazing Uses for Garlic in Your Home & GardenGarlic Does Lower Cholesterol, Evidence Suggests

And if you are blessed by something you have read here at Deep Roots, consider liking my page on Facebook and subscribing via Feedburner.Disclaimer:  I am not a doctor. I do seek scientific confirmation of the safety and effectiveness of the herbs and remedies I use. Using remedies is a personal decision. Nothing I say on this blog is intended to treat or prevent disease. Do your own research and talk to your doctor if you have a question.How to Extract Woad Dye in 10 easy stages

 1. Harvesting woad leaves 2. Tearing the leaves 3. Steeping the leaves 4. Cooling the leaves 5. Straining the liquid 6. Adding soda ash 7. Aerating the vat 8. Settling out the pigment 9. Concentrating the pigment10. Drying the pigment

How to make woad dye...

Buy woad here

1. Harvesting the woad leavesJuly and August are the best months for harvesting woad in the UK. Cut leaves from first year woad plants with secateurs, near to their base, and fill a supermarket carrier bag full (about 1250 grams). 

Wash them well under the tap. Wash again by dipping and shaking a handful at a time in a bucket full of water. There is almost no blue dye in the stalks and, therefore, you can remove the stalks if you have many leaves.

2. Woad production - Tearing the leavesTear the leaves by hand (much easier than chopping them with a knife), and do not tear them too small otherwise they will go through the colander later on. It is OK to pick woad leaves either in late morning or in mid afternoon and then process it early the following morning. 

If you can't process the woad straight away, keep the leaves in a closed supermarket carrier bag in the shade but not in the fridge.

3. Dye Extraction - Steeping the leavesFill a 10 litre stainless steel saucepan two-thirds full with water. It is best to use soft water, e.g. rain water. Heat the water up to 90°C but do not let it boil inside the saucepan. 

Put the leaves in the saucepan and let them steep for just 10 minutes in water at 80°C. Back to Top

4. Cooling the liquid

Remove the saucepan from the heat and put it in a bowl full of cold or icy water. According to Jenny Balfour-Paul, the liquid must cool down quickly. This appears to be to prevent the woad from breaking down. 

I aim to get the liquid down to 55 degrees C in 5 minutes. I keep stirring the saucepan and changing the water from the bowl. Sometimes I put a tray of ice cubes in the bowl to cool it more quickly.Back to Top

5. Straining the liquidWhen the liquid has reached 55 degrees C, put a colander over a bucket and then strain the liquid through the colander. 

Put on rubber gloves to press the leaves and extract all the liquid. Pour the liquid back into the saucepan leaving the debris behind in the bucket. The spent leaves can then go on the compost.Back to Top

6. Adding soda ashFill a mug-size container with boiling water and add 3 teaspoons of soda ash (it produces less froth than washing soda), dissolve well and let it cool slightly. 

Click to buy soda ash here

When the woad extract liquid in the saucepan has cooled to 50°C, add the soda ash. Do not put soda ash when woad solution is over 50°C, or you will destroy the blue. 

The vat will turn to a greeny-brown colour and the pH should be about 9. Buy pH paper here.

Back to Top

7. Aerating the vatThe woad vat now needs to be aerated to precipitate the pigment. To aerate the vat, whisk with an electric whisk or a manual one. Some people pour the liquid from one saucepan to another. I usually whisk for 10 minutes with an electric whisk until the froth turns blue and then green again. Sometimes the froth remains blue however long you whisk but this does not usually affect the results. Once, in late September, I had almost no blue in the froth but, to my surprise, a large amount of woad pigment settled out.

It takes about two hours for the froth to subside and I found it better to discard the froth using a spoon. After discarding the froth you will end up with a dark green solution with no hint of blue in it.Back to Top

8. Settling out the Woad Pigment

Let the pigment settle undisturbed for 2 to 3 hours. Using a soup ladle, very gently transfer a third of the liquid from the top of the pan into a bucket. Pour the remaining liquid into 4 or 5 large coffee jars with the help of a funnel. Put the jars in the shade and let the sediment settle for a couple of hours. 

Gently tip the liquid from the top of each jar into the bucket, leaving the last 6 cm of liquid in each jar. Using a large pipette (for example, a glass siphon sold as a turkey baster in kitchen shops) to siphon liquid from the top of the jar is even better. The pipette allows me to remove most of the unwanted liquid with little disturbance to the pigment in the bottom of the jar. (Pipettes sold in wine making shops are often not very useful, as they are designed to remove pigment from the bottom of a container, rather than skim liquid from the top).

Consolidate the contents of the jars into one jar.

There is a small amount of pigment in the bucket, which could be used to dye a scarf with the chemical dyeing method, but I usually throw the contents of the bucket away.

Back to Top

9. Concentrating the PigmentLet the liquid in the jar settle for a couple of hours. You may see a blue sludge at the bottom of the jar. Carefully empty 2/3 of the jar or siphon most of liquid away with a glass siphon. Then fill it again with clean water. Repeat two or three times more until there is clear water over blue sediment. This is very exciting!

[I have tried filtering woad using an old gold-plated coffee filter, but the woad went straight through. I have also tried a car pollen filter, supposed to be 100 micron, but the pigment went straight through that as well. The woad pigment does not go through proper filter paper used in chemistry. I put a square of filter paper folded inside a funnel, and the liquid dripped very slowly. It

took me 24 hours to pass all the liquid through the funnel].

We are currently using a piece of Habotai silk to filter the woad pigment. First wet the silk, then place it on the funnel, with plenty of silk overhanging the borders of the funnel. Slowly pour the liquid into the funnel. A very small amount of pigment may go through, but most of the pigment stays on the silk. You let the pigment dry on the silk and gently scrape it away with a blunt knife.

In the past we used Whatman Grade 1 filter paper, which has an 11 micron retention size, but a slightly larger micron size might also work well.

Fill the jar to overflowing one last time, and put lid on tightly. The woad should last for a year or more. It is better to use a glass jar to decant and store the woad pigment. In the past, I have used plastic soda water bottles and the woad pigment stuck permanently to the walls of the bottle.Back to Top

10. Making woad dye - Drying the PigmentThe woad can now be used for dyeing or dried for more permanent storage. To dry the woad pigment, pour or siphon away as much water as possible from the glass jar, and then empty content of the jar into an old Teflon saucepan or frying pan; an old ceramic plate can also be used. 

After a few days the woad dries up and peels easily from the saucepan. It helps if you keep the saucepan somewhere warm, such as near a radiator. I have tried drying on greaseproof paper, but the pigment stuck to the paper.

YieldOne large woad plant weighs about 700 grams. 1 kilo of leaves will produce between 1 gram to 4  grams of pigment. The yield depends on the soil, how well the plants were fed, and how warm the summer was. 1 gram of woad will dye about 20 grams of fibre. So if you only get a very pale blue from your first experiment don’t despair. Try feeding your plants more, and collecting the pigment from several extractions, to get darker colours.

How to Make Homemade Laundry Detergent Powder

By Crystal 142 Comments

I have entertained the idea of making my own homemade laundry detergent powdermany times. I have seen many tutorials that show how to make your own homemade laundry detergent that is powder and HE friendly.

It certainly makes sense from a budget standpoint- it costs less than $27.00 for me to buy the ingredients and this homemade laundry detergent recipe will get me 271 uses! That is $0.10 per load, mama!

I have told you many times that I hate my front load washer. It is only 4 years old and is a nightmare. It gets clogged. It throws errors. It leaks during every single load. I will never buy one again. I am waiting for it to die so I can go back to a top loader. At the rate we’re going it won’t be long.

Well, in the last few months it has been dropping the liquid detergent in clumps onto my clothes and staining them- badly. Ruining many shirts.

This was the perfect opportunity to switch to powder detergent and the tutorials look easy enough. One of my sister-in-laws made her own detergent a few months back and really likes it and she is super picky. (Hi, Alex!)

I am going to show you how easy it is to make your own detergent. And, you can make it a family event. You’ll defiantly want to pin this so that you always have the recipe at your fingertips!

http://crystalandcomp.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/how-to-make-homemade-laundry-detergent.jpg

Ingredients:

o 1 (55 oz)  box of Arm and Hammer Super Washing Sodao 1 (4 lb)  box of Arm and Hammer Baking Sodao 1 (76 oz)  box of Boraxo 2  (400 g) bars of Zote Soap (or 3 bars of Fels Naptha Soap)o 3 (lbs)  OxiCleano 1 (13 oz) container of your favorite Downy Unstopables scent (totally

optional for added fragrance)

You Will Also Need: (for the first time only)

o 1 (5 gallon) bucket for mixing and storingo lid for the 5 gallon bucketo air tight container for displaying your detergent ino 2 T scoop, like a coffee scoopero food processor (with the multipurpose blade and shredding blade)

Take the Borax, OxiClean and Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda and combine them into your 5 gallon bucket.

All of these items are super fine, almost like a powder.

Put the lid on the bucket and shake it up to combine.

Put the shredding blade on your food processor.

Take the two bars of Zote and cut them in half length wise.

Put them through the feed tube of the food processor with the shredding attachment.

You could also use a handheld cheese grater if you want to.

Pour all of the shredded Zote into a bowl.

Change the blade to the multipurpose blade.

Put about 3-4 cups of the shredded Zote back into the processor.

Pour about 1/4th of the box of baking soda over the Zote.

Run the processor on high for about 1 minute or until it is super fine like the batch of  Borax, OxiClean and Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda.

Dump it into the bucket of  Borax, OxiClean and Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda.

Repeat the Zote and Baking Soda process until all of it is processed.

My kids enjoyed mixing the powders by hand as I added more Zote and Baking Soda mixture to the bucket.

(Yes, my four year old draws on himself.)

Add the container of Downy Unstopables to the mixture.

Pop the lid on the 5 gallon bucket and shake, shake, shake until everything is mixed well.

Use a cup to scoop the detergent up into an airtight glass container that you can keep in your laundry room.

Store the remainder of the leftover detergent in the 5 gallon bucket.

Use a 2 T measuring scoop, like a coffee scooper, as your measuring device for your loads of laundry.

For each load add one scoop (2T) of detergent into the drum of your washer.

This will allow you to do 271 loads of clean laundry.

Here is what I am storing my detergent in that is readily accessible.

The rest of the batch is still in the 5 gallon container.

It cost less than $27.00 to buy all of the ingredients at Walmart.

This full recipe makes 271 loads-  that is $0.10 a load! You can’t beat that!

http://crystalandcomp.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/homemade-laundry-detergent-270-loads.jpg

Have you ever made your own laundry detergent?

I was inspired by this recipe.

Handmade Soap ExfoliantsSubmitted by daved on Mon, 05/16/2011 - 14:37

When making natural handmade soap, you can make all types of soaps to fit your desired niche. One of the possibilities is that of including an exfoliant in your soap to help lift away any dead skin or caked on dirt that needs a little extra scrubbing to get clean. One such exfoliant is Sodium Bentonite Powder which can be found at most health-food stores. This exfoliant will not only remove dirt and dead skin but also help to lift away the toxins in your skin. If you don't have access to this clay, you can also start using products you probably have sitting around in your kitchen right now. You can use poppy seeds, blueberry seeds, ground almond meal, ground walnut husk meal or even ground oatmeal. Below you will find a more complete list which you can experiment with.Once you have chosen what exfoliant to use, you will need to add it to your soap recipe. The perfect spot to add exfoliants is right after your soap has reached trace and you are adding your fragrance, superfat or color to the soap batch. With most exfoliants, because of their fine granular nature, you will want to mix them beforehand with a carrier oil so you don't have to worry about lumps in your soap. There is nothing worse than finding huge pockets of exfoliant in your soap when you are using the soap. Once you have added the exfoliant to the soap mixture, you just need to mix it in thoroughly. Some exfoliants may thicken your soap batch while you are stirring it. Don't panic! Your soap will be fine. Just continue to mix the soap but get it into the mold quickly before it thickens beyond your ability to fill the mold. At this point, you would treat this soap as you would any other soap and allow it to saponify for a few days, cut it and then let it dry in bars.

Almonds (ground) Calendula (chopped or ground flower petals) Chamomile Flowers Clays (rhassoul, kaolin, bentonite, pink, red moroccan, french green

etc.)

Coconut Flakes Coffee Grounds Corn Meal Eucalyptus Leaves Fruit Seeds (cranberry, blackberry, blueberry, strawberry, apricot

etc.) Jojoba Beads Kelp (too much can smell fishy though) Lavender Buds Loofah Oatmeal Oatstraw Patchouli Peppermint Poppy Seeds Pumice Rose Hips (not the seeds) (finely ground) Rose Petals Rosemary Sandalwood powder Spearmint Sunflower Petals Tapioca pearls Tea leaves Walnut shells

ELEGANT CREME::

An all-time customer favorite and one of the most requested formulas, Elegant Creme combines the cationic conditioning quats and elegant fluffy feel of BTMS Emulsifying Conditioner with the fabulous stability of LipoWax PA. The antimicrobial and emollient benefits of Shea Butter are coupled with the well-hailed benefits of Virgin Rosehip Seed Oil and Natural Golden Jojoba in this classic. WheatPRO plus nourishes and provides skin miniaturization. This product would make a decadent body creme, or moisturizer for dry facial skin. For acne prone skin, consider using a light emollient in place of the shea. Fractionated Coconut Oil or Hazelnut Oil would be my selections. Simple proceedure give this formula a skill rating of Beginner.

In this very simple formulation, you can add your choice of Organicals Complexes for increased function as well as exotic label appeal. You know, the latest market reports indicate that the two most desirable classes of cosmetic ingredients are now peptides and botanicals. To

add an Organical complex, just use it in place of the Glycerin in this formulation.

This cream is light and fluffy and has a wonderfully elegant feel. The addition of Allantoin makes it very healing and would be fabulous for a facial cream for acne or body cream for eczema or psoriasis. Any boo boos at all would be helped by this formula.

Ingredients:

Phase A

 Make Formula100 g

75.6%

Distilled Water or Purified Water

4% Glycerin

0.5% Allantoin (optional)

1.5% Gluconolactone & Sodium Benzoate   (GSB)

Phase B3% E-Wax NF6% BTMS Emulsifying Conditioner2% Shea Butter4% Golden Jojoba Oil

0.4% Rosehip Oil

Phase C2% WheatProPlus or Hydrolyzed

Protein1% Essential OIl Blend

Directions:Phase A, combine, high shear (stick blender) to dissolve allantoin and GSB.  Begin heating to 170F degrees.Phase B, combine and heat to 170F degrees.Once two phases are at 170F, remove from heat. Begin stirring Phase A, high shear, add Phase B, continuing to mix until emulsion forms (turns white and smooth).

Begin cooling to 110F. Phase C, add to combined Phase A, mixing high shear, until well incorporated.  Bottle as desired.http://www.ingredientstodiefor.com/item/Elegant_Creme/271/

Basic Beginner Lotion::

This is a simple lotion recipe that is easy enough for your first time making your own lotion.  It is also simple enough to test a new oil combo. You won't believe how easy it is to make your own lotions and you'll quickly see how much better they are for your skin, than commercial made products. Changing the oil choices will make the lotion different. Try different combinations to create one that is perfect to your personal preference. You can double it or cut it in half. Basic ingredients, detailed instructions, plus easy procedure gives this formula a skill level of Beginner.

 

Ingredients:

Phase A

 Make Formula100 g

76.5%

Distilled Water or Purified Water

4% Vegetable Glycerin, USP Kosher

3% Stearic Acid4% E-Wax

Phase B9% Rice Bran Oil1% Shea Butter

Phase C1.5% Optiphen Plus

1% Essential Oil Blends

Click on the pencil icon on the right to load a calculator with the recipe to make it easy to modify the ingredients or change the quantity.  To print your personal version, after you've entered your modifications, just click on the "print formula" link at the top left of the table and it will give you a printable version that you can take right to your lab.  To change the amount that you would like to make just change the

amount in the size box.  To change from grams to ounces, or pounds, just change the unit type.  Every time you are finished making changes click on the green "calculate" button and the screen will refresh with your new information.

Weigh everything, don't measure in volume because all safety and efficacy parameters are established using weight, and because as you grow you'll be making larger batches and at some point there will not be a measuring spoon / cup that is large enough and then it will be a lot of work to convert and re-test.  It's best to start off making your products the correct way.

I like grams for lotions and creams because of the small quantities of some of the ingredients but, as you grow you'll want to change the units to pounds.

1. Start by weighing the water1 and putting it in the measuring cup. Never use tap water! 2. Weigh each ingredient separately. I like to use a Styrofoam bowls or Dixie cups for each item.3. Add the Glycerin, Stearic, & E-Wax to the water. 4. Heat all ingredients to 160 f.

5. Add Rice Bran and Shea Butter6. Continue to heat for another 10 minutes at 160f. Need to make sure Shea Butter maintains this temperature for 10 minutes. Otherwise it is possible that once the lotions cools it will feel gritty.7. Use a stick blender to mix2 your lotion together. I like to come back every 10 minutes or so and whip it again and again as it cools to make a light and fluffy lotion. The lotion will be thin as water when it is hot. Don't worry! It will thicken when it cools.

8. When lotion cools below 130f you can add Optiphen Plus.9. You can split this up at this point, color it, fragrance it, and pour into containers. I pour my lotion while still warm enough to be thin. Pour into your bottles and put the lids on. Shake or turn the bottles as they cool to check consistency.

 

1 Always use purified or distilled water. Never use tap water.2 A Stick blender is used to help emulsify the ingredients.  A mixer that just whips will not come out the same.http://www.ingredientstodiefor.com/item/Basic_Lotion/283/

Herbs

This week's recipes

This week, James Wong explores how herbs can be used to help treat a range of minor everyday ailments.Using lemon balm, he creates a lip salve which might help when cold sores strike. He also shows how plantain leaves can be used to make a cream to help soothe insect bites and stings.For those keen to have fresh breath, James shows how to make a spray using thyme. And for a beauty treat, he uses peppermint and other common garden herbs to whip up a fragrant homemade body scrub.These recipes are taken from the book 'Grow Your Own Drugs', published by HarperCollins.

LEMON BALM LIP SALVE FOR COLD SORES21 tbsp (approx. 50 g) fresh lemon balm leaves3 tbsp wheatgerm oil115 ml olive oil1 tbsp honey1 tbsp beeswax5 drops tea tree oil

1. 1. Wash and strip the lemon balm leaves and chop finely. In a pan over a slow heat, stir and crush one third of the lemon balm leaves with the wheatgerm and olive oil for 10 minutes, or until it starts to bubble. Take off the heat and leave to infuse for 10 minutes.

2. 2. Strain the oil through a muslin-lined sieve or colander into a bowl, squeezing the leaves to get out all remaining juice. Throw away the squeezed leaves.

3. 3. Repeat this process twice more with the remaining 2 batches of lemon balm leaves, using the same oil.

4. 4. Place the oil in the pan on a gentle heat and add the honey and beeswax. Stir until melted, then take off the heat and stir in the tea tree oil.

5. 5. Pour the salve into small sterilized jars, where it will set solid within 10 minutes.

USE: Apply to cold sores whenever needed.STORAGE Keeps for up to 1 year.

PLANTAIN CREAM FOR BITES AND STINGS4 tbsp fresh chopped plantain leaves150 ml boiling water2 tbsp olive oil or sunflower oil

2 tbsp almond oil1 tsp beeswax2 tsp emulsifying wax2 tsp glycerine1 tsp vitamin C powder

1. 1. Wash and chop the plantain leaves. Divide into two - put one half in a bowl and the other half in a pan. Cover the plantain in the bowl with the water and leave to infuse for 10 minutes.

2. 2. In the pan, add the olive (or sunflower) and almond oils to the plantain and heat gently to simmering point. Don't allow to boil - if it starts boiling, take off the heat immediately. Once at simmering point, remove from the heat and leave for 10 minutes to cool.

3. 3. Drain the infusion, taking out the plantain leaves. Set the liquid to one side.

4. 4. Drain the infused oil into another pan, extracting the plantain leaves. Heat the oil again. Add the beeswax and emulsifying wax and melt, stirring - you are aiming for a foamy consistency.

5. 5. Add 16 tbsp infused water to the pan and whisk to achieve a consistency like salad dressing. Add the glycerine and vitamin C powder.

6. 6. Pour into sterilized glass pots and seal.

USE: Apply to affected area as often as needed.STORAGE: Keeps for 3 months in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

THYME BREATH SPRAY10 tbsp (approx. 25 g) fresh thyme leaves10 tbsp (approx. 30 g) fresh mint leaves5 fresh eucalyptus leaves3 tsp aniseed3 tsp cloves200 ml vodkaRind of 1 lemon1 tbsp artificial sweetener to taste, if desired4 tbsp glycerine

1. 1. Strip the thyme, mint and eucalypytus leaves from their stems and chop. Place in a blender and whiz. Add the aniseed and cloves to the blender and whiz again.

2. 2. Place in a dark bottle with the vodka, lemon and artificial sweetener (if using) and leave for 10 days to 1 month to macerate.

3. 3. Strain through muslin. Add the glycerine, then stir and pour into a 50 ml spray bottle (with a yield of up to 1 ml per spray).

USE: Spray 1 ml into the mouth when neededNB This contains alcohol, so be careful not to overuse, especially if driving.STORAGE Keeps for up to 1 year.

HERBAL BODY SCRUB

50 g fresh mint leaves, finely chopped50 g fresh eucalyptus leaves, finely chopped50 g fresh rosemary leaves, finely chopped1 tbsp freshly ground black pepperPeel of 2 lemons300 ml olive oil400 g sea salt (fine-grained)4 tsp vitamin C powderExtra eucalyptus leaves and slices of lemon peel, to decorate

1. 1. Place the chopped herbs, black pepper and lemon peel in a pan, then add the olive oil. Place on a medium heat and stir, then leave for 2 minutes with the lid on. Place the paste in a piece of muslin over a sieve and squeeze out all the oil into a bowl below.

2. 2. Mix the sea salt and vitamin C powder in a bowl. Add most of the oil (reserving a little to seal the jar) and stir well. Place the mixture in a sterilized Kilner jar and press down well. Decorate the top with a few eucalyptus leaves and slices of lemon rind. Pour a layer of the remaining oil on top of the salt scrub to keep it airtight.

USE: Apply to wet skin in the bath or shower, when needed. Scrub, then rinse off well with warm water.STORAGE: Keeps for 6 months, or 1 year in the refrigerator.

Flowers

This week's recipes

Find out how to use violas to make a cream for eczema; how a gel for acne can be made with marigold flowers; how to make elderflower lozenges, and how to make a fragrant bath bomb from lavender.These recipes are taken from the book 'Grow Your Own Drugs', published by HarperCollins.

VIOLA CREAM FOR ECZEMAMakes one 150 ml pot

2 tbsp (20 g) viola flowers, stripped from their stems2 tbsp (20 g) Roman or German chamomile, dried1 tsp beeswax2 tbsp almond oil1 tsp vitamin C powder1 tsp glycerine2 tsp emulsifying wax

1. 1. Place the violas and chamomile flowers in a glass bowl. Pour over the water to cover. Leave to infuse for 10 minutes. Put the infusion into a medium-sized pan (this will form the bottom of your double boiler or bain-marie).

2. 2. In another glass bowl, add the beeswax, almond oil, vitamin C powder, glycerine and emulsifying wax. Place on top of the infusion pan, and warm over a gentle heat, stirring until melted. This takes about 10 minutes.

3. 3. Strain the infusion, then slowly whisk it into the oil mixture until incorporated - the texture should be smooth, like mayonnaise.

4. 4. Pour the mixture into a sterilized dark glass ointment pot, then seal.

USE: Apply to affected areas morning and night. Ideally, apply within a few minutes of bathing, to keep moisture in the skin.STORAGE: Keeps for up to 6 months in the refrigerator.

MARIGOLD GEL FOR ACNE

10 rose geranium flowers, with leaves and stems8 marigold (Calendula officinalis) flowers20 lavender flowerheads200 ml water1 sachet vegetable gelatine5 tsp vodka20 drops tea tree oil

1. 1. Roughly chop the flowers, leaves and stems of the rose geranium and place with the marigold flowers and lavender flowerheads in a large glass bowl.

2. 2. Bring the water to the boil and pour it over the flowers to make an infusion. Leave to infuse for 10 minutes, or until the water has taken on the colour of the flowers. Place the infusion, including the plant material, into a blender and whiz. Strain the mixture through a piece of muslin into a clean bowl.

3. 3. Now, in another bowl, dissolve the gelatine in 2 tbsp cold water. Gradually add the flower infusion, stirring to separate lumps. Add the vodka and tea tree oil, stirring until a gel is formed. Using a funnel, pour into a pot with a pump dispenser.

USE: Apply to affected areas 2 times a day, or as frequently as needed.STORAGE: Keeps in the refrigerator for up to 6 weeks.

ELDERFLOWER THROAT LOZENGES

10-15 fresh elderflower heads12 eucalyptus leaves2 tbsp linseed3 tsp dried elderberries1 cup Gum Arabic2 cups icing Sugar4 cups hot water

1. 1. Firstly, put about 10-15 elderflower heads into 3 cups of freshly boiled water to create a basic infusion. Add 2 tbsp of linseed and 12 eucalyptus leaves and leave for about an hour. It's ready when the pure watery liquid starts to have a similar consistency to egg white.

2. 2. Whilst it's infusing, use a pestle and mortar to break up a cup of Gum Arabic into the smallest pieces you can - this is so it dissolves as easily as possible. Into that add 3 tsp of dried elderberries and crush.

3. 3. Next, add the Gum Arabic mixture into a cup of hot water. Stir using a spoon until the granules of gum have turned into a thick, treacly jam-like consistency.

4. 4. Strain the infusion, and add a cup and a half of it to the Gum Arabic mixture. Next, add 2 cups of icing sugar and mix; the sugar acts as a preservative and gives it body.

5. 5. Place it on a low heat and stir continuously for about half an hour until it gets to a really thick, syrup-like consistency and starts to come away from the sides of the pan. You can also test by pouring it with the spoon and touching it; if it doesn't stick to your finger it's ready, but do be careful as it could be hot.

6. 6. Finally pour onto a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper and leave to set. When it's hard it's just a case of bashing it until you get the right size pieces!

STORAGE: Coat the lozenges with icing sugar to stop them sticking together, and to take out some of the moisture.VARIATION: If you want to make a cough syrup instead of lozenges, just add half the amount of sugar.

LAVENDER BATH BOMB

5-6 fresh lavender sprigs1 tbsp citric acid powder3 tbsp bicarbonate of soda10 drops lavender essential oil1 tsp plant-based oil (vegetable or almond oil)

1. 1. Heat the oven to 180C. Once it has reached that temperature, turn it off and place the lavender, hanging upside down, in the oven to dry for about 2 hours. When dry, remove the flowers from the stalks and set aside.

2. 2. For the next stage you need to make sure that the bowl you are using, and your hands, are completely dry - otherwise the bomb will start fizzing. In a glass bowl, mix the citric acid and bicarbonate of soda together. Add a few drops of lavender oil and 1 tsp dried lavender flowers, along with the vegetable or almond oil. Mix everything together with a metal spoon.

3. 3. Place the biscuit cutter on top of a sheet of baking paper. Put the mixture into the biscuit cutter and press down with the back of the spoon. The oil now needs to evaporate so the bomb can set as a dry, hard block - leave for a minimum of 30 minutes and preferably overnight.

STORAGE: Store in tin foil to keep out moisture.VARIATION: If you are making this with kids you can add 1/2 tsp of edible glitter into the mix to create an even more dramatic effect.

Edibles recipes

The second series of Grow Your Own Drugs continues with oats and almonds being mixed up to make a moisturising body cream; if you need a nutritional boost, try the watercress and pear soup; for throat infections, try gargling on a mixture containing onion, red chilli and garlic. Plus, a turmeric teh halia to help soothe the pain of arthritic joints.

OATS & ALMOND MOISTURISING BODY CREAM

300ml water2 tbsp rolled oats2 tsp beeswax6 tsp emulsifying wax40ml almond oil2 tsp honey2 tsp vitamin C powder6-12 drops chamomile essential oil (optional)

1. In a pan, heat the water until boiling and then add the oats. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Strain the oats, reserving the liquid into a measuring jug - you need 200ml. Put in a pan and keep hot.2. Heat the beeswax and emulsifying wax together very gently in another pan with the almond oil until the waxes fully dissolve. Take off the heat and immediately whisk a little of the hot oat liquid into the wax mixture. Keep adding the hot oat liquid, a little at a time, making sure it is well mixed between additions, until you have used up all 200ml.3. Stir in the honey and vitamin C powder and, if desired, add in a few drops of chamomile essential oil - this acts as a preservative, is anti-inflammatory and adds a delicious scent. (Don't worry if you don't have chamomile - you can use any essential oil you have around.) Pour the cream into wide-mouthed pots, and seal at once.USE: After bathing, pat skin gently dry, then apply the cream as needed. On tough areas of dry skin such as knees, elbows and feet, use twice daily, especially before bed.STORAGE: Will keep in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.

RESTORATIVE WATERCRESS & PEAR SOUP

1 large bunch spring onions5 garlic cloves1 thumb-size piece of ginger2 tbsp olive oil2 small potatoes750ml vegetable stock2 pears2 bunches watercressSalt and pepper, to tasteSprinkle of crushed chilli and extra slivers of pear (optional) to garnish1. Chop the spring onions and garlic. Peel and finely grate the ginger (or use a garlic press) to extract the juice.2. In a large sauté pan, heat the olive oil and gently fry the spring onions and garlic for 10 minutes. Slice the potatoes and add to the pan with the stock. Squeeze in the juice from the grated ginger, discarding the fibrous pulp. Simmer for 20 minutes.3. Dice the pear. Wash and chop the watercress. Put the pear and watercress into a blender, add the potato stock mix, and purée.4. Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve the soup garnished with pieces of pear and chilli, plus a dash of olive oil.USE: Good nutrition is all about balance, and I think of this soup as being a nutritional booster - it's a healthy move if you can incorporate it into your diet once or even twice a week. On other days, eat plenty of

dark green leafy vegetables, beans, lentils, cereals and nuts, which are also good sources of iron.STORAGE: This makes about 3 bowls. Best eaten within 2 days.

ONION GARGLE FOR THROAT INFECTIONS

1 onion½ fresh red chilliJuice of 2 lemons1 tsp saltsprig of parsley1. Chop the onion and chilli finely and place in a bowl. Add the lemon juice and salt. Leave to stand for 1 hour in the refrigerator.2. Strain and use as a gargle. After gargling, chew on a sprig of parsley to freshen breath.USE: Gargle daily, as soon as you feel a sore throat coming on, then spit out rather than swallow.STORAGE: Best made and used fresh each day.

TURMERIC 'TEH HALIA' FOR ARTHRITIS

3 sticks fresh turmeric or 4g driedThumb-sized piece fresh ginger rootFew pinches black pepper250ml whole milk250ml water1 tsp black tea leavesPalm sugar, to taste (or maple syrup or brown sugar)1. Peel and chop the fresh turmeric, if using (being careful not to stain surfaces or hands). Peel and grate the ginger. Put into a mortar (with the dried turmeric, if using) and add a few pinches of black pepper, then pound with the pestle until you get a smooth paste.2. Combine the paste with the milk, water and tea leaves in a pan and simmer on a low heat for 10-20 minutes, or until the liquid is reduced by half. Strain. Sweeten with palm sugar to taste, and stir.3. Before drinking, pour the Teh between two containers, holding them the maximum width apart to aerate the tea as much as possible and produce a froth on top. Despite not having too much of a medicinal effect on the remedy, this is more than just a flamboyant whim. Aerating the mix improves its flavour by making it easier for your tongue to perceive the chemicals that give the drink its unique taste.

USE: Make the Teh up as you need it, and drink at once. Take daily to help with arthritis, aches and pains in the joints, psoriasis, Crohn's disease and other inflammatory conditions.STORAGE: The paste keeps for up to 1 month in the refrigerator.

QUICK-FIX TEH HALIA

112g dried turmeric28g dried ginger½ tsp black pepper25g black tea leaves140g brown granulated sugarStir together, then store in a dry, airtight tin. Makes 14 cups - or one a day. To make up into a Teh, place 5-6 teaspoons of the mixture in a pan with 250ml whole milk and 250ml water, then simmer over a low heat for 10-20 minutes, or until reduced by half. Strain and serve. The mixture will keep in an airtight tin for 2 weeks.

Roots

This week's recipes

This week James turns his attention to roots. He shows how marshmallow and liquorice roots can be easily grown in the garden and how they can be combined to make a soothing syrup to relieve the discomfort of a cough.Valerian is used to create a delicious hot chocolate, which could help to relieve stress. A homemade tincture is made from echinacea, which is used to make spicy ice-lollies that could help fight a cold. And ginger is made into some tasty treats, which could help people with travel sickness.These recipes are taken from the book 'Grow Your Own Drugs', published by HarperCollins.

MARSHMALLOW AND LIQUORICE COUGH SYRUP

If using dried marshmallow root:4 tbsp dried marshmallow root, chopped roughly2 dried liquorice roots, broken up into small pieces3 heads/bunches fresh elderberries1 tsp clovesPeel of 1 mandarin1 tsp aniseed seeds1 sprig fresh eucalyptus leaves (about 8)500 ml water

100 ml honeyJuice of 1 lime5 tbsp glycerineIf using fresh marshmallow root:8 tbsp fresh marshmallow root, chopped roughly4 dried liquorice roots, broken up into small piecesOther ingredients as above

1. 1. Put the marshmallow, liquorice, elderberries, cloves, mandarin peel, aniseed and eucalyptus leaves into a pan with the water. Simmer until the liquid is reduced by one-fifth. Remove the liquorice and eucalyptus leaves and discard.

2. 2. Blend the mixture in a liquidizer until smooth. Pour back into the pan and add the honey, lime juice and glycerine, then stir and simmer for 2 minutes.

3. 3. Pour into sterilized, clear 250 ml bottles.

USE: Take 2 tbsp, 3 times a day for no more than 5 days.STORAGE: Keep refrigerated. Use within 2 weeks.

VALERIAN HOT CHOCOLATE FOR ANXIETY

Makes 3 cups:3 tbsp fresh valerian root3 tbsp fresh lemon balm leaves3 tsp fresh lavender flowers6 leaves and 3 heads from fresh passion flowersPeel of 1 1/2 oranges900 ml full-fat milk50 g dark chocolate (minimum 50% cocoa solids)Dash of vanilla extract

1. 1. Chop the top and bottom from the fresh valerian root. Add the valerian, lemon balm, lavender, passion flowers, orange peel, and milk to a pan and gently heat for 5-10 minutes. Strain.

2. 2. Pour the infused milk back into the pan, then add the dark chocolate and vanilla extract and stir until melted. Drink at once.

USE: You can drink up to 3 cups a day for 2 weeks at a time.NB. Valerian can cause drowsiness so check with your doctor if you're taking anti-depressants or sleeping pills.

CRYSTALLIZED GINGER FOR NAUSEA

Makes about 250 g:350 g fresh ginger rootGolden caster sugar, to match weight of cooked ginger, plus extra for sprinkling.

1. 1. Peel the fresh ginger root and thinly slice.2. 2. Put the ginger in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and cover with water,

adding more to allow for evaporation. Bring to the boil and partly cover with a lid. Boil gently for 1 hour, or until the ginger is almost cooked but slightly al dente; the time will vary slightly depending on the freshness of ginger.

3. 3. Drain the ginger and weigh it. Put it back in the saucepan with an equal amount of golden caster sugar. Add 2 tbsp water. Bring to the boil, then simmer over a medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon for 20 minutes, or until it starts to go gloopy and the ginger becomes transparent.

4. 4. Reduce the heat and keep stirring until it starts to crystallize and easily piles up in the middle of the pan.

5. 5. Meanwhile take a large, deep, baking tray and sprinkle caster sugar on it. Tip the ginger into the baking tray and shuffle it round in the caster sugar. Separate any clumps of ginger pieces. Place in a sterilized jar.

USE: Chew on a piece of crystallized ginger when you feel nauseous.STORAGE: Keeps in a cool place for 3-6 months.

ECHINACEA ICE LOLLIES

To make the tincture:20 g fresh echinacea root80 ml vodka

For the ice lollies:2 medium-sized red chillis8 cm root ginger240 ml honey1 sachet animal gelatine800 ml cranberry juiceJuice of 2 large lemons80 ml Echinacea Tincture (see above)

6. 1. Wash and chop the echinacea root, then put in a jar and pour over the vodka to cover completely. Leave for 2-4 weeks.

7. 2. Wash and slice the chillis. Peel and thinly slice the ginger.

8. 3. Combine the chillis, ginger, honey, gelatine and cranberry juice in a saucepan, then stir and simmer for 5 minutes. Take off the heat and leave to cool. Sieve into a bowl.

9. 4. When the drained liquid is cool, stir in the lemon juice and Echinacea Tincture. Pour into ice lolly moulds and freeze.

NB. Contains alcohol so not suitable for children.Use: Take during colds and infection - 1 a day for up to 2 weeks. Each lolly contains one typical dose of Echinacea.STORAGE: The lollies keep in the freezer for 3 months.

Roots

This week's recipes

This week James turns his attention to roots. He shows how marshmallow and liquorice roots can be easily grown in the garden and how they can be combined to make a soothing syrup to relieve the discomfort of a cough.Valerian is used to create a delicious hot chocolate, which could help to relieve stress. A homemade tincture is made from echinacea, which is used to make spicy ice-lollies that could help fight a cold. And ginger is made into some tasty treats, which could help people with travel sickness.These recipes are taken from the book 'Grow Your Own Drugs', published by HarperCollins.

MARSHMALLOW AND LIQUORICE COUGH SYRUP

If using dried marshmallow root:4 tbsp dried marshmallow root, chopped roughly2 dried liquorice roots, broken up into small pieces3 heads/bunches fresh elderberries1 tsp clovesPeel of 1 mandarin1 tsp aniseed seeds1 sprig fresh eucalyptus leaves (about 8)500 ml water100 ml honeyJuice of 1 lime5 tbsp glycerineIf using fresh marshmallow root:8 tbsp fresh marshmallow root, chopped roughly4 dried liquorice roots, broken up into small piecesOther ingredients as above

1. 1. Put the marshmallow, liquorice, elderberries, cloves, mandarin peel, aniseed and eucalyptus leaves into a pan with the water. Simmer until the liquid is reduced by one-fifth. Remove the liquorice and eucalyptus leaves and discard.

2. 2. Blend the mixture in a liquidizer until smooth. Pour back into the pan and add the honey, lime juice and glycerine, then stir and simmer for 2 minutes.

3. 3. Pour into sterilized, clear 250 ml bottles.

USE: Take 2 tbsp, 3 times a day for no more than 5 days.STORAGE: Keep refrigerated. Use within 2 weeks.

VALERIAN HOT CHOCOLATE FOR ANXIETY

Makes 3 cups:3 tbsp fresh valerian root3 tbsp fresh lemon balm leaves3 tsp fresh lavender flowers6 leaves and 3 heads from fresh passion flowersPeel of 1 1/2 oranges900 ml full-fat milk50 g dark chocolate (minimum 50% cocoa solids)Dash of vanilla extract

1. 1. Chop the top and bottom from the fresh valerian root. Add the valerian, lemon balm, lavender, passion flowers, orange peel, and milk to a pan and gently heat for 5-10 minutes. Strain.

2. 2. Pour the infused milk back into the pan, then add the dark chocolate and vanilla extract and stir until melted. Drink at once.

USE: You can drink up to 3 cups a day for 2 weeks at a time.NB. Valerian can cause drowsiness so check with your doctor if you're taking anti-depressants or sleeping pills.

CRYSTALLIZED GINGER FOR NAUSEA

Makes about 250 g:350 g fresh ginger rootGolden caster sugar, to match weight of cooked ginger, plus extra for sprinkling.

1. 1. Peel the fresh ginger root and thinly slice.2. 2. Put the ginger in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and cover with water,

adding more to allow for evaporation. Bring to the boil and partly cover with a lid. Boil gently for 1 hour, or until the ginger is almost cooked but

slightly al dente; the time will vary slightly depending on the freshness of ginger.

3. 3. Drain the ginger and weigh it. Put it back in the saucepan with an equal amount of golden caster sugar. Add 2 tbsp water. Bring to the boil, then simmer over a medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon for 20 minutes, or until it starts to go gloopy and the ginger becomes transparent.

4. 4. Reduce the heat and keep stirring until it starts to crystallize and easily piles up in the middle of the pan.

5. 5. Meanwhile take a large, deep, baking tray and sprinkle caster sugar on it. Tip the ginger into the baking tray and shuffle it round in the caster sugar. Separate any clumps of ginger pieces. Place in a sterilized jar.

USE: Chew on a piece of crystallized ginger when you feel nauseous.STORAGE: Keeps in a cool place for 3-6 months.

ECHINACEA ICE LOLLIES

To make the tincture:20 g fresh echinacea root80 ml vodka

For the ice lollies:2 medium-sized red chillis8 cm root ginger240 ml honey1 sachet animal gelatine800 ml cranberry juiceJuice of 2 large lemons80 ml Echinacea Tincture (see above)

6. 1. Wash and chop the echinacea root, then put in a jar and pour over the vodka to cover completely. Leave for 2-4 weeks.

7. 2. Wash and slice the chillis. Peel and thinly slice the ginger.8. 3. Combine the chillis, ginger, honey, gelatine and cranberry juice in a

saucepan, then stir and simmer for 5 minutes. Take off the heat and leave to cool. Sieve into a bowl.

9. 4. When the drained liquid is cool, stir in the lemon juice and Echinacea Tincture. Pour into ice lolly moulds and freeze.

NB. Contains alcohol so not suitable for children.Use: Take during colds and infection - 1 a day for up to 2 weeks. Each lolly contains one typical dose of Echinacea.STORAGE: The lollies keep in the freezer for 3 months.

Emulsions by Sharon Kinnier of Botanical Skin Works

     In keeping with the all natural path I have chosen I am constantly questioned on how I can make creamy lotions and rich creams that are light and easily absorbed.

     Ingredients are important but the emulsifier is actually the key. An emulsion is a mixture of water and oil. It’s the glue that holds it all together.

     There are 2 basic types of emulsions:

Water in Oil W/O - in this emulsion the oil surrounds the water and the oil touches the skin first. The level of greasiness depends on the formula - all of which will be absorbed into the skin. The emulsion is usually made with your choice of oil, beeswax, borax and water. If done correctly you will have little to no greasiness.

Oil in Water O/W - this emulsion has the oil being surrounded by water. This method creates cream and lotions that feel moist, less greasy. When absorbed into the skin there is very little to no oily residue. You must use an EMULISFYING WAX for this emulsion.

     There is only one truly undisputed natural emulsifier. It is a beeswax/borax combination and it takes some lab time to figure out the percentages. Too much borax and you get grit in your lotion and/or cream. Too much beeswax and you get this glob that is only good for your notes on what not to do.

     Some of the emulsifiers used by handcrafters range from vegan all natural to 100% synthetic. It takes some investigative work to determine the source and extraction methods. If you ask what is this made of; you will almost always find that it is at least partially plant based. As the handcrafter you must then ask how was this extracted?

     For instance Stearic Acid is derived from plants; however, the method used to extract the substance leaves little left that offers any benefit to the skin. If

you are making products to benefit the skin why would you use something that doesn’t offer a benefit?

     Listed below are some of the common emulsifiers that are in use today. There are many more that are reaching the market everyday such as Ultramaize, and others. If you have questions on emulsifiers try www.theherbarie.com. Angie is a sweetheart full of information and will answer all of your questions. She will also let you know what is a synthetic as well as what is natural.

     Borax or sodium borate is a naturally occurring alkaline mineral first discovered over 4000 years ago. It is found in large quantities in the Western United States as well as in the Tibet area of China. Borax alone will not emulsify. It must be used in conjunction with Beeswax. Together the electricity from the friction of the two causes the reaction and yields an emulsion.

Beeswax - The honey bee, Apis Mellifera, secretes beeswax to build the walls of the honeycomb and when secreted the wax is a transparent colorless liquid, which turns into a semi-solid substance on contact with the atmosphere.

Beeswax (also known as Cera alba and Cera flava) is used in cosmetic and skincare products as a thickening agent, emulsifier, and humectant and has emollient, soothing and softening properties and helps the skin retain moisture.

Only when used incorrectly in cosmetic formulations can beeswax cause a problem with clogging of pores, but used the way that our scientists have included it in the products used, it only brings the positive properties of healing, antiseptic, emollient and softening to the

formulations.

Beeswax is purified from its raw state by freeing it of solid impurities by melting and centrifugation. Typically contains 10-15 percent paraffin carbohydrates, 35-37 percent esters of C16 to C36 fatty acids and about 15 percent cerotic acid, melissic acid and their homologues.

Even after technological processing it still remains a biologically active product retaining some anti-bacterial properties and also contains some vitamin A which is necessary for normal cell development.

Primitive people knew and used it as an antiseptic and for wound healing. Hippocrates even recommended that a layer of beeswax be placed on the neck for quinsy.

Typically, beeswax has a melting point of 62 - 65 degrees Celsius and has an acid value of 17 - 24 and a saponification value of 89 - 103 and an ester value of 72 - 79.

There is no doubt that the Beeswax/Borax combination is somewhat difficult to master. However, it offers benefits to the skin because the beeswax still has active ingredients.

Carbomer - The function of a carbomer is to act as an emulsion stabilizer and to adjust viscosity and can therefore also be classed as a thickening agent.

Although it can be used in any type of cosmetic product, it is very often found in gel-like formulas.

Carbomer is a synthetic compound comprised of a cross-linked polymer of acrylic acid with a high molecular weight.

Emulsifying Wax NF (Ingredients: Cetearyl Alcohol, Polysorbate 60, PEG-150 Stearate & Steareth-20). It is used to bind oil and water together in creams, lotions etc. It is a white waxy solid with a low fatty alcohol odor. It has the characteristics of cetyl alcohol combined with the viscosity building effect of stearyl alcohol as an effective thickener and helps form extremely stable emulsions in either w/o or o/w preparations.

Cetaryl Alcohol is a blend of high quality cetyl alcohol and stearyl alcohol meeting NF specifications.

PEG-20 Stearate - This synthetic compound is a family of the PEG group - which stands for polyethylene glycol and it is made from ethylene oxide and when the polymers are mixed with various other molecules produce a wide variety of products - each with unique qualities. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is a water-soluble lubricant from petroleum and/or mineral sources

Cetyl Alcohol is not really an "alcohol" such as ethyl or rubbing alcohol, which would dry the skin, but is an emulsifying wax made by combining fatty alcohols derived from vegetable sources. Cetyl alcohol may be naturally derived from coconut fatty alcohol or made artificially. It is used in many cosmetics as an emollient, thickening agent, moisturizer, emulsifier, stabilizer, opacifier as well as a carrying agent for other ingredients. Cetyl alcohol is used as an emollient, emulsifier, thickener, and carrying agent for other ingredients. It can be derived naturally as in coconut fatty alcohol or synthetically. This is one of those ingredients where you will have to ask the supplier or go to the source to find out how its’ extracted and what agent is used for extraction.

Propylene Glycol - This much talked about product, together with all other glycols and glycerol, is a humectant or humidifying agent, solvent and delivery ingredient used in cosmetics.

Since it can penetrate the outermost layer of the skin and carry the active ingredients into deeper layers of the epidermis it is an extremely common ingredient in cosmetics and is found in a variety of products.

In the cosmetic industry propylene glycol is used in very small amounts to keep products from melting or freezing in extreme temperatures and assists the active ingredients in a product to penetrate the skin. It can also be used as anti-freeze and anti-rust inhibitors for cars.

Propylene glycol further enhances the performance of Sodium PCA in absorbing and retaining moisture in the skin.

It is a synthetic compound and some individuals may find that it irritates the skin if used in high concentrations

Stearyl Alcohol NF is a high purity stearyl alcohol meeting NF specifications and is useful in cosmetic formulations for thickening, opacity and emollience

Polysorbate 80 - a nonionic surfactant and emulsifier derived from sorbitol which comes from fruit and berries. Polysorbate 80 is a highly viscose water-soluble yellowish liquid used as a dispersing agent -mixes oil and water, stabilizer and lubricates.

Lecithin is a mixture containing phospholipid as the major component and widely found in animals and plants. It has long been used as a natural emulsifier.Lecithin is classified into

· Plant lecithin derived from soybeans, corn, rapeseed, etc.

· fractionated lecithin isolated from special components of the raw materials

· yolk lecithin made by excluding the phospholipid, which occupies about 30% of an egg yolk

     Lecithin as an emulsifier makes a creamy lotion or very dense cream. It takes some practice to get it to perform to meet your specifications but it holds emulsions together well. It also works well in beeswax/borax combinations. It should be kept to no more than 3% of the formula for ease of use.

     It is so important that we be accurate in our labeling and packaging. We should be able to tell our customers wholesale or retail enough information to put their mind at ease without either overstating or understating the product ingredients.

You may visit Sharon Kinnier and find her products at her web site:

  Botanical Skin Works

How to Make Emulsifying Wax

By Rachel TerryeHow Contributor

Make your own emulsifying wax for creating lotions and creams.Lotions, soaps and creams are made from a mixture of water and oils, but water and oils separate when combined. To keep the water and oils together, you must add an emulsifying wax. At the molecular level, emulsifying wax attracts both water and oil at the same time, so it binds them together and keeps them from separating. You can buy emulsifying wax from craft and beauty supply stores, or you can make your own with beeswax, sodium borate and soy lecithin.Other People Are Reading

How to Use Lecithin as an Emulsifier

Recipe for a Non-Greasy Lotion With BeeswaxThings You'll Need

Beeswax Sodium borate Liquid soy lecithin Water 2 pots 2 spoons Hand mixer with beaters

Instructions

o 1Combine 8 parts beeswax with 1 part liquid soy lecithin in a pot on the stove. Turn the burner onto medium-low, and allow the wax to melt. As it melts, stir occasionally to mix the lecithin in with the beeswax.

o 2Heat 6 parts water with 1 part sodium borate in a separate pot on the stove. Stir the water and sodium borate mixture with a different spoon than you were using to stir the beeswax/soy lecithin mixture. Keep the

burner's temperature slightly below medium so the water mixture gets hot but doesn't boil. Continue heating and stirring until the sodium borate has completely dissolved in the water.

o 3Turn off the burners, and remove both pots from the stove. Plug a hand mixer with clean beaters into an outlet near your work space. Begin whipping the water mixture with the hand mixer to aerate it.

o 4Pour the beeswax and soy lecithin mixture into the water and sodium borate mixture as you beat it with the hand mixer. Don't pour the beeswax mixture in all at once; instead, add it in a small stream as you continue to beat it. It may be helpful to have a friend pour while you hold onto the hand mixer.

o 5Continue to beat the mixture with the hand mixer for at least 5 minutes after the two mixtures are combined. As you continue to mix, the emulsifier should become opaque and thick. Write down your exact formula so you can experiment with different formulations in the future if you prefer a thicker or thinner emulsifying wax.

Read more : http://www.ehow.com/how_12033748_make-emulsifying-wax.html

How to Make Homemade Perfume

February 28, 2015 Business Ideas   No comments   

People love using perfumes because it makes them smell great and feel better. Not only does smelling great make a person feel good, but it will make a person feel attractive also.

Here are ways on how to make your own perfume so that you can produce a scent which is particular to you, and unlike any of those that you can buy either in store or over the internet.

Tip 1. It is better that you use measuring devices that allow you to exactly measure out the amounts of oils and solvents required. If you do not, the perfume you make may not be what you wanted.

Provided below, are a few easy recipes that you should be able to produce at home without too much hassle.

To start, you will need the following laboratory equipments: a 10kg weighing scale or kitchen scale, plastic cups, a stirring rod, a small beaker and a 1,000ml beaker, and a volumetric flask with cover.

The raw materials for this project are as follows:* 70g triple deodorized alcohol (TDOH)* 15g fragrance* 5g muscol (MCL)* 5g moisturizer (propylene glycol or PPG)* 5g distilled water

For packaging, you may use either an atomizer bottle (spray) with a net content of 5 ml (P15 per bottle) or roll-on glass bottles with a net content of 10 ml (P16 per bottle). These are available at the Divisoria Market in Manila.

Procedures:Step 1: To start, put all the raw materials-except the alcohol-in small plastic containers or beakers for weighing. The alcohol needs to be weighed last because it easily evaporates when exposed to air.For accuracy, all of the ingredients must be weighed in grams, this is to ensure you are making quality scents.

First, weigh the beaker or the plastic cups on the weighing scale. Make sure to adjust the scale to zero before taking your measurements. While on top of the scale, fill the beaker or the plastic cups with the ingredients and weigh.

Step 2: When the materials are ready, pour the MCL into the beaker containing the alcohol. To make sure that the container of the MCL is thoroughly emptied of the MCL, rinse it with the weighed alcohol, mix the resulting solution with a stirring rod, then add the thoroughly mixed solution to the MCL in the beaker. Stir the contents of the beaker until the MCL is fully dispersed in the alcohol

Step 3: Add the PPG to the mixture and stir. Always stir each time you add another ingredient, and make sure to completely disperse the substance before adding another ingredient to the mixture.

Step 4: Finally, add the distilled water. To completely clean the empty container of the remainder of its contents, rinse it with water and add the resulting solution to the mixture in the beaker.

Step 5: Thoroughly mix all the ingredients in the beaker until the perfume solution becomes homogeneous, then get your bottles and fill

them with the perfume. Label and package your perfumes as desired, based on where you intend to sell them.

This formulation for 100 grams of perfume yields 12 to 13 roll-on bottles.Your fragrances and perfumes must be kept in dry, cool, and dark places because light can adversely affect their chemical properties. As much as possible, use dark-color bottles for storage and packaging.

Each time you need to get some of your raw fragrances, transfer them into smaller bottles. This is to minimize their contact with air, which may adversely interact with them. By using a volumetric flask with cover, you can keep your perfume intact and well-sealed until you are ready to package it.

Other Perfume Recipes1. Basic RecipeAll you need for this recipe is some water, chopped flower blossoms (use lilac or lavender if blossoms unavailable).

Place the flower blossoms in a bowl, add the water and then cover them and leave them overnight. The next day, the solution can be put into small bottles and sprayed either into the air or on to your skin.

2. AmazeFor this, you will need some distilled water, vodka, hypericum perforatum, cypress and rosemary (all of which are essential oils). They should then be mixed together and stored overnight.

After a period of 12 hours or more, the solution produced can be put into a dark spray bottle to be used. Using a dark colored bottle will help the solution to remain fresh, which will be felt by the person using it when they apply it to their skin.

3. Whispering RainThis is another recipe that may be worth trying out. Again, you will need distilled water, some vodka, Sandalwood, Bergamot and Cassis essential oils (which can also be purchased as fragrance oils).

For this recipe, you will need fragrance oils such as Sandalwood, Cedar Wood, Bergamot, Vodka and a little touch of Vanilla. All these ingredients should be put into a jar and then shaken. It should then be put in a cool place and left for a week. After this time, you can then transfer the mixture into small perfume bottles.

These ingredients should be stirred together and then stored overnight in a covered container. Then, the next day, it can be transferred to a dark colored bottle. This perfume must be kept in a cool place so that it does not dry up.

The three perfumes above normally last for about a month before they lose their scent.

Tip 2. Put your perfume in a dark- colored bottle and must be kept in a cool dry place to make its shelf life much longer.

French Perfume Oil

Ingredients1. 1/2 ounce (7 grams) sweet almond oil2. 15 drops lavender essential oil3. 10 drops sandalwood essential oil

Instructions1. Sterilize a small dark glass perfume bottle. Add all ingredients and mix.This perfume will be good for six months. Store it inside the bathroom cabinet-out of sunlight.

Citrus SplashIngredients1. 2 cups distilled water2. 3 tablespoons vodka3. 15 drops sweet orange essential oil4. 10 drops Bergamot essential oil (extracted from orange trees)5. zest of one lemon

Instructions

1. Sterilize a canning jar in boiling water. Allow to dry or dry carefully without touching inside of jar.2. Put lemon zest in the jar. Pour water and vodka over zest.3. Stir with a stainless steel spoon. Add essential oils, seal and put in cool, dark place for one week.4. Swirl contents every other day. strain liquid through cheese cloth or coffee filter. Put perfume water into dark (blue or amber) decorative bottle.This perfume will be good for a year.

How to make Aromatherapy Perfume

First, you need a base. It can either be alcohol or a carrier oil (but the best is a mixture of the two together). The best type of alcohol to use is one which is odorless (say vodka) and mix this with Jojoba. Jojoba is particularly good, as it has a long shelf life, and once it is put on the skin, it tends to dry out and leave a wonderful scent behind.

However, jojoba is one of the more expensive carrier oils, and I would suggest you experiment with one of the cheaper ones (such as almond or apricot kernel oil) instead. Then, once you are happy with the product you are producing, you can produce the same product but with jojoba oil instead.

The equipment you will need for making aromatherapy perfume is as follows:-1. Measuring Spoons (Any good kitchen store will have these)2. Small Funnel (Can be purchased at any good DIY or hardware store)3. Small Colored Bottles (Look around your local stores or carry out a search on the internet)4. Dropper (not all essential oil bottles have one of these included with them).Now we will provide you with the instructions for producing your first batch of aromatherapy perfume.1. 1 teaspoon of carrier oil (Jojoba, Almond or Apricot Kernel) and 1 teaspoon ofalcohol (Vodka), and with the small funnel, place these in the bottle.2. Next, add the essential oils from your chosen recipe (below you will see a number of different recipes, with the quantities of essential oils you require for them). You may need to get a dropper, as not all essential oil bottles come with one, and add a drop at a time.3. After adding each drop of essential oil to the rest of the mixture, the bottle should be shaken (remember to put the lid on first before shaking).4. Once you have finished adding the last drops of essential oil and shaken, makesure the lid is on tightly, and store in a cool dark place for 12 days or more. However, each day you should remember to give the bottles a shake at least 3 times.5. After 12 days you can begin to enjoy the aromatherapy perfume that you have made.The first recipe below is specifically for those women who may suffer from nerves on their wedding day, and will help to feel much more relaxed and calm on their big day.

All you need to make this recipe is:-a. 4 drops Jasmineb. 2 drops Lemonc. 1 drop Patchouli

The following recipes have been designed to help produce a much more calming effect to the person using them. These perfumes will help to focus you on your inner self, and provide you with a feeling of security, which will promote a feeling of total relaxation.

Tranquility4 drops of Cedarwood2 drops of Clary Sage1 drop of Grapefruit2 drops of Mandarin

Chill Out2 drops of Grapefruit2 drops of Patchouli1 drop of Rose3 drops of Vetivert2 drops of Ylang-Ylang

Sleep Tight2 drops of Bergamot3 drops of Chamomile2 drops of Marjoram4 drops of Lavender

Silence3 drops of lavender3 drops of Neroli2 drops of Spearmint

The next recipes we are looking at will enhance a person’s mood and feelings of well-being. These perfumes will help to relax and surround you with warmth, as well as a feeling of pure luxury for those special nights out or at home with your loved one.

Ardour3 drops of Jasmine3 drops of Neroli4 drops of OrangeDevotion1 drop of Clary Sage3 drops of Patchouli

2 drops of Rose4 drops of Rosewood

Tenderness2 drops of Linden Blossom3 drops of Lime2 drops of Neroli3 drops of Sandalwood

Zeal4 drops of Melissa2 drops of Rose2 drops of Ylang-Ylang

The Smell of the OrientIngredients1. 4 drops of Sandalwood2. 4 drops of Musk3. 3 drops of Frankincense4. 2 teaspoons of Jojoba oil (carrier oil to be used when using essential or fragrance oils in perfume making).

Directions1. Mix all of the ingredients together in a bottle and shake well.2. Place them in a dark colored bottle, and then allow the perfume to settle for atleast 12 hours.3. Once it has been stood for 12 hours or more, you should now store it in a cool dry area.The next recipe we are looking at is in fact not a perfume, but a cologne, and contains lemon as the main ingredient.

CologneIngredients1. 1 cup of distilled water2. 1 cup of Vodka3. 3 drops of Lemongrass4. 10 drops of Lavender5. 10 drops of Lime

Directions1. Combine the essential oils with the vodka in a bottle and shake well.2. Now set this aside for 3 weeks.3. After 3 weeks, you will need to add the distilled water and then let it stand for a further week.4. It is important that you shake the bottle once a day while it is

standing over the 4 week period.5. After 4 weeks, you can transfer the mixture to dark bottles for storage, or keep the mixture in the bottle it is in, in a dark cool place.The final recipe provided below is one which will produce a body splash, rather than a perfume, and has a citrus aroma to it.

Body SpashIngredients1. 2 cups of distilled water2. 3 tablespoons of vodka3. 1 tablespoon each of lemon and orange peel (which must have been finely chopped)4. 5 drops of Lemon Verbena5. 10 drops of Mandarin6. 10 drops of OrangeDirections1. Mix the fruit peels with the vodka in a jar, cover and let it stand for 1 week.2. After the week, strain the liquid and add the essential oils and distilled water toit.3. Now let the mixture stand for a further 2 weeks, and make sure you shake the jar well once a day during this time.4. Place the final solution after the 2 weeks in a dark bottle(s), or keep it in a cooldark area.Tip 3. Put your homemade perfume in a nice vintage perfume bottles, they will certainly provide you with an individual look that cannot be found when buying perfumes that have been mass produced.One of the best ways of selling your own perfume is through your friends, families and co-workers; you may also use them as giveaways for weddings and other special occasions. If you are marketing the products to teenagers, it’s better to put your perfume in spray bottles. If you are targeting office workers, however, putting the perfume in roll-on bottles would be a better option. Avoid using plastic as packaging material; they have dioxins that may mix or interact with your perfume.As you can see making your own perfumes, colognes or body sprays is simple, and once you’ve made your first lot and tried it yourself, you will soon want to be making more.Source: entrepreneur.com.ph

Read more at BusinessDiary.com.ph: http://businessdiary.com.ph/696/how-to-make-homemade-perfume/#ixzz3Z9O034gp

Herbal Soap Making Business

December 10, 2014 Business Ideas   No comments   

Herbal soap is a kind of soap mixed with natural ingredients, juice or extract and vitamins from medicinal plants, fruits and vegetables. If you’re looking for all-natural herbal soap, try making these homemade herbal soaps using akapulko, guava, papaya, calamansi, cucumber, radish, and other medicinal plants. You already have most of the ingredients in your kitchen or garden. Herbal soaps contain many of the nutrients and essential oils our skin and body needs to nourish and help strengthen the skin’s natural defenses. Making your own herbal soaps can also be a profitable business idea. Below are some herbal soap recipes:

How to make Herbal Soap:Utensils:* Plastic pail* Wooden ladle or bamboo stick* Glass or cup* Mortar and pestle* Cheese cloth or strainer* Knife* Chopping board* Cooking pot (preferably made of clay, enamel, stainless or glass)* Stove* Plastic molders

Akapulko and Guava Herbal SoapHow to Prepare a Decoction:1. Wash the leaves thoroughly and chop or cut in small pieces.2. Measure 1 glass of chopped fresh leaves and 2 glasses of water.3. Let it boil for 15 minutes (start timing when the water starts to boil).4. After 15 minutes, remove from fire and strain in a cheesecloth. Set aside and let it cool.Materials:* 1 glass Caustic Soda (NaOH)* 3 glasses Akapulko or Guava decoction, cooled

* 5 glasses cooking oil* coloring powder (optional)Procedure:1. Prepare the materials and the utensils needed.2. Measure 1 glass of caustic soda and 3 glasses of Akapulko or Guava decoction and pour into a plastic pail.3. Mix well by stirring continuously using a wooden ladle or bamboo stick. Use only one direction in mixing the mixture. Stir until the caustic soda is dissolved.4. Pour 5 glasses cooking oil into the mixture.5. Continue stirring until a consistency of a condensed milk is achieved.6. Pour the soap mixture into desired plastic molders. Set aside and let it cool to harden.7. After 4-5 hours, remove the soap from the molder.8. Allow 30 days of ageing before packing. Label the soaps.

Indications:* Akapulko leaves – anti-fungal* Guava leaves – antiseptic for wounds

Kamias, Calamansi, Papaya, Cucumber and Radish Herbal SoapsMaterials:* 1 glass Caustic Soda (NaOH)* 3 glasses water* 5 glasses cooking oil* 1/2 glass juice or extract

Procedure:1. Prepare the materials and the utensils needed.2. Measure 1 glass of caustic soda and 3 glasses of water and pour into a plastic pail.3. Mix well by stirring continuously using a wooden ladle or bamboo stick. Use only one direction in mixing the mixture. Stir until the caustic soda is dissolved.4. Pour 5 glasses cooking oil into the mixture.5. Continue stirring until a consistency of a condensed milk is achieved and add 1/2 glass of juice or extract.6. Pour the soap mixture into desired plastic molders. Set aside and let it cool to harden.7. After 4-5 hours, remove the soap from the molder.8. Allow 30 days of ageing before packing. Label the soaps.

Indications:* Kamias – fruit extract or juice (bleaching soap)* Calamansi – fruit extract or juice (bleaching soap)* Cucumber – fruit extract or juice (moisturizer)

* Papaya – extract from fresh leaves (bleaching/moisturizer)* Radish – extract from the stem (moisturizer)

Reminder:* Caustic Soda can harm the skin upon contact. Wash immediately with vinegar or anything sour and then wash it with soap and water.* Caustic Soda is harmful to health and so, make the necessary precaution. Use mask and gloves to protect your body.

Carrot Castile Herbal SoapThe Beta Carotene in carrots makes it very good for your skin, the lather is lovely and creamy, and the orange colour of the soap itself is beautiful.

Ingredients:1 cup carrot juice;5 tablespoons lye;2 cups olive oil 1/2 cup canola oil;(optional) tiny dried dice of carrot. Cut it as small as possible. When dry it should be like sand grains. Ann Beck’s Castile Carrot Soap

NOTES:It’s very important to use rubber gloves and eye protection when using lye. One can hand mix the soap, but it’s far simpler to use a food processor. The word “trace” means if you drip some soap from a spoon onto the surface of the batch, it leaves a faint mark. Tracing is less critical if the soap is made in the processor. With processor soap, the batch should be the consistency of whipping cream.Hand mixed soap can separate and take up to two hours or even more of stirring to achieve trace. Soap must be poured as soon as it has traced. it sets up very quickly.Never use aluminum utensils or molds. Lye reacts badly with it. stainless steel is fine, as is plastic. Take care not to allow lye grains to touch Formica countertops (worktops). It will discolor it. It’s best to measure the lye with the container in the sink.

Method:1.) measure the carrot juice and place it into a Pyrex cup, of at least two cups capacity. Place the cup into a sink.2.) mix the two oils together and barely heat them to 110 degrees F.3.) Carefully measure the lye and set aside in a glass.4.) Pour the lye into the carrot juice and stir with a wooden utensil, like a chopstick or a bamboo skewer, until the lye dissolves. THE liquid/lye combination will have a chemical reaction and will heat up to about 180 degrees F. EVENTUALLY the juice/lye combination needs to cool to 110 degrees F, which is just barely discernible to your wrist. YOU can use a

thermometer, of course.5.) when the oil and the lye mixture are both at about 110, pour the oils into the food processor and add the lye mixture. Process until trace has occurred.6.) have your molds arranged on a newspaper covered cookie sheet. Pour the soap into the molds. Cover the molds with lids or with plastic wrap, taking care not to have the lids or wrap touch the soap.7.) Put the soap batch in a draftless spot and cover it with a towel to protect the heat that will occur as the saponification process (the chemical change that creates soap) proceeds. Allow the batch to remain covered until it has cooled, usually overnight.At this point, you’ll do your clean up. always protect your eyes and hands during this phase. it’s best to wash everything in the sink and again in the dishwasher. raw soap would take the hide off of a rhinoceros.8.) Uncover the soap, remove the plastic or the lids, and allow the soap to remain in the molds for (about) 2 days, or until it looks like it is pulling away from the sides of the molds.9.) unmold the soap, lay it on pencils or chopsticks so that the air can circulate around it. It must cure for a month before use.

Twenty-Two Carrot SoapIngredients:4 cups carrot juice distilled water;5 tablespoons lye;1 1 /4 pounds lard (or 2 cups olive oil, plus 1 /2. cup canola oil)1.) Place the carrot juice into a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Using a coffee filter, strain the liquid away from the bright orange “foam”. Reserve the foam and add it to distilled water to make one cup of liquid.2.) Follow the rest of the instructions in the above Castile recipe.Sources: doh.gov.ph, carrotmuseum.co.uk

Read more at BusinessDiary.com.ph: http://businessdiary.com.ph/864/herbal-soap-making-business/#ixzz3Z9OFvY5x

Homemade Liquid Detergent

March 20, 2015 Business Ideas   No comments   

Liquid detergent is a cleansing agent in liquid form. Making a liquid detergent is easy for home or commercial use. This is an efficient way to save you from expensive commercial laundry and liquid detergents and most of all it’s very effective. Most of the available ingredients can be easily bought in supermarkets or from chemical stores.

In making your own homemade liquid detergent, you will need the following materials:Sodium lauryl ether sulfate, or SLESSodium chloride or iodized saltCocodiethanolamide or CDEAEthyl alcoholWater-soluble dyeBenzalkonium chlorideDegreaserFragranceDistilled or de-ionized water(All available from chemical stores)Wooden or plastic ladleMedium-sized basinKitchen scaleMeasuring spoons and cupsGas stovePot330 ml. PET bottles, P5.50/pc. Available at Cachetrade in Cubao, Quezon City.

Procedure in making a Liquid Detergent:1. Put 1.4 liter of distilled water in a pot and boil the water for 15

minutes. You have to use distilled water or de-ionized to avoid contaminating the liquid detergent mixture. Tap water has substances that can cause the mixture to eventually emit a bad odor.

2. While waiting for the mixture to boil, put the SLES (150 grams) and iodized salt (80 g) into the basin. Mix them thoroughly with the ladle until the iodized salt is completely dissolved.

3. Once the water has boiled enough and the salt has completely dissolved, gradually pour the water into the liquid detergent mixture.Stir. Keep on stirring until the SLES mixture is dissolved. The liquid detergent mixture becomes foamy when stirred, which means that the SLES is being dissolved.

4. Now add to the mixture the CDEA (60 ml), benzalkonium chloride (0.01 ml), degreaser (40 ml), and the fragrance (10 ml). Don’t add the water-soluble dye and the ethyl alcohol as yet. The water-soluble dye (10 g) should first be dissolved in ethyl alcohol (60 ml) before being added to the mixture. And make sure that the fragrance and dye are properly matched.

5. After putting in all the chemicals, mix until everything is dissolved. Let the mixture cool until the bubbles subside. Then add another liter of cool distilled water. Once the mixture has sufficiently cooled down, the liquid detergent becomes clear. You can now pour the finished product into the PET bottles. Cap the PET bottles containing the liquid detergent and set them aside. The yield of the liquid detergent mixture is 2.77 liters. Using 330-ml bottles, you can produce eight bottles of liquid detergent from it.

Source: entrepreneur.com.ph

Read more at BusinessDiary.com.ph: http://businessdiary.com.ph/692/homemade-liquid-detergent/#ixzz3Z9Oa0h7z

How to Make Homemade Car Shampoo

January 11, 2015 Home Business   2 Comments   

To get started in car-shampoo making, you will need roughly P3,000 in initial capital. You will need it to purchase the ingredients, utensils, and equipment listed below.

Car ShampooIngredients:80g Needle-type coconut fatty alcohol sulfate (CFAS)840g De-ionized water or distilled water30g Coco diethanolamide (CDEA)1g Phenoxy ethanol2g Ethyl alcohol10g Emulsified carnauba wax4g Fragrance20g Industrial salt

Utensils and equipment:

Mixing bowl, P500Plastic ladle, P35 to P50Funnel, P13Plastic jiggerWeighing scale, P2004 pcs. 250 ml-opaque bottles for packaging, P10 per piece

PROCEDURESSTEP 1: Pour the de-ionized water in the mixing bowl and heat on medium fire until it becomes steaming hot. With the use of a ladle, add and mix the CFAS into the steaming water. Using the needle-type CFAS rather than the powder type is preferred to give the end-product a clearer texture. Powder CFAS is usually used in making powder detergent; if used in liquid wash or shampoo, on the other hand, it would give the shampoo a cloudy texture.

When mixing the CFAS into the steaming hot water, stir slowly so the mixture does not bubble up. The appearance of a few bubbles is acceptable, though.

STEP 2: With the CFAS thoroughly mixed in and with the mixture still steaming hot, turn off the fire and remove the mixing bowl from the stove. Make sure that the CFAS is dissolved completely, then add to the mixture the CDEA, phenoxy ethanol, ethyl alcohol, emulsified carnauba wax, and the fragrance—in that order. Before adding another ingredient into the mix, make sure to mix each ingredient thoroughly into the mixture. (Because very few chemical shops sell emulsified carnauba wax, you may use plain carnauba wax instead; it sells for P500 per 1/2 kg.)Set the mixture aside.

STEP 3: In a separate jigger, dissolve the water-soluble dye in water. The darker you want the shampoo to be, the more dye you should use. Once the dye is completely dissolved, add and mix it into the mixture you were working on.STEP 4: Add the industrial salt gradually. The industrial salt serves as a thickener. The consistency of the mixture must be slimy or a bit thick. When suds start to form, it means that the thickening effect of the salt is taking place. Some 20 grams of industrial salt is enough to produce the right consistency for this process. However, before pouring in the rest of the salt into the bowl, it is advisable that you dissolve first a little portion of the salt—perhaps a pinch—into a small container holding the mixture. You have to dissolve a little portion of the salt into the mixture at a time, and check the consistency. Dissolve another portion until you atain the right consistency.

Excessive salt will make the mixture thick for a while, but the consistency would eventually revert to its original state. If this happens, do not throw away your mixture. Instead, make another bowl of mixture with the right consistency—slimy or a bit thick but not totally thick—using using the right amount of industrial salt, then just gradually add some of the inaccurately measured mixtures.

Once you are through mixing all of the ingredients, let the car shampoo cool down. When it gets cool, pour the mixture—it is now a shampoo—into the opaque bottles using a funnel. This recipe will fill four 250-ml bottles or two 500-ml bottles. The shelf-life of this product is two years.

What each ingredient does to your product:CDEA – foaming or suds boosterIndustrial salt – thickening agent, to make the product viscousCFAS – surfactant, the main cleaning agentPhenoxy ethanol – a preservative that is also used in cosmeticsCarnauba wax – comes from the leaves of the carnauba palm. It is also use in cosmetics, polishing products, and baking.Dos and don’t s:• Use the utensils exclusively for producing car shampoo. Never use the same utensils for cooking.• Keep the materials out of children’s reach.• Store both the raw materials and the finish products in dry cool place.• Measure the materials precisely and accurately.

WHERE TO LOOK FOR SUPPLIES:Everlight Chemiecolor Enterprise461 Clavel St., Brgy. Santo Cristo, Binondo, ManilaTelephones: (02) 241-0076; (02) 242-6934Fax: (02) 241-0096E-mail: chemielight@yahoo.comWebsite: everlightchemiecolor.comSource: Mishell Malabaguio – entrepreneur.com.ph

Read more at BusinessDiary.com.ph: http://businessdiary.com.ph/5694/how-to-make-homemade-car-shampoo/#ixzz3Z9OiOwMj

The Chemical and Fragrances Suppliers Directory is a listing of businesses supplying business owners of raw materials and supplies for making perfume,

soaps, candles and waxes, cosmetics, skin care, fragrances for candles, oils, pet bottles and glass and many more.

Crosswind International Specialty Products Inc.Products: Exfoliants, emulsifier, solubilizer, natural oils, Lipo aps 40/60, Lipovol G (grape seed oil), Lipi GMS 450, Lipomulse 165, Lipowax D, Cetearyl AlcoholTerms: COD; nationwide distributionContact: Adory dela Cruz, administrative assistant; Rod Simon, account specialist; 2903-A West Tower Philippine Stock Exchange Center, Exchange Road, Ortigas Center, Pasig City; (02) 637-5742 to 44; dorydcruz@crosswindintl.com; www.crosswindintl.com

Everlight Chemiecolor EnterpriseProducts: Antibac, borax powder, caustic soda, CDEA, CFAS needle/powder, chlorine, CMC, fixatives, glycerine, LABS, Lanoline, NP 10, salt, SLES, SLS, soda, ash, sodium compounds (benzoate, metasilicate, perborate, silicate, sulfate, and sulphite) softener flakes and gel, speckles (blue/green), STPP, TEA, and zeolites; preservatives and additives for food, ingredients for making perfume and handicraftsTerms: COD; nationwide distributionContact: Ronald Tan, manager; (02) 241-0076; (02) 242-6934; 461 Clavel St., Brgy. Santo Cristo, Divisoria, Manila; ridyechem@yahoo.com; www.everlightchemiecolor.com

Godywax CenterProducts: Paraffin wax and other physically or chemically converted waxes, oil coloring, oil perfumes, candles, candle wicks, candle holders (glass, ceramics, resins, etc.), candle molds, artificial flowers, foliage and plants, Christmas decorsTerms: CODContact: 740 Juan Luna St., Binondo, Manila; (02) 242-1840 to 42; 818 C.M Recto Ave. Binondo, Manila; (02) 244-1372, (02) 244-3727

The Grasse Fragrance CompanyProducts: Fine fragrances application, fragrances for candles, toiletries, cosmetics, skin care, industrial products and jars, glass, pet bottles, tutorialsTerms: Cash, nationwide distributionContact: Angel Navia, admin sales; GF Saville Bldg. 8728 Paseo de Roxas Ave., corner Gil Puyat Ave., Makati City; (02) 890-8269; (02) 751-0629; (02) 232-4071; grassefragrance@gmail.com; www.grassefragrance.com

Read more at BusinessDiary.com.ph: http://businessdiary.com.ph/2534/chemical-and-fragrances-supplies/#ixzz3Z9Or0OdQ

Homemade Mouthwash Recipe for Whitening and Remineralizing

by Elizabeth Walling, 147 Comments

For better or worse, I require a lot out of my homemade mouthwash. All the artificial sweeteners and chemical additives in conventional mouthwash are a no-no in my book, but often “natural” mouthwash brands fall short for me too. Either they aren’t so natural, not really effective, or insanely expensive. So for a couple of years, I’ve been perfecting my own homemade mouthwash recipe and I wanted to share it with you.

What I Look for in a Homemade Mouthwash1. It must be minty. I never went for the whole citrus mouthwash

fad–and the herbal ones that taste like a snake oil remedy from 1894 aren’t my cup of tea either.

2. It must be (a little) sweet. No sickeningly sweet flavor is necessary, of course, but a touch of sweetness makes the whole mouthwash experience a little more pleasant.

3. It should remineralize. Ideally, our saliva “bathes” our teeth in minerals to restore what might be lost through eating, drinking, and everyday life. Imbalances can interfere with the process (which is discussed in the book Cure Tooth Decay), so I feel like it doesn’t hurt to use a mouthwash that serves as a sort of backup.

4. It should whiten. Hey, I admit I like a nice bright smile. But I don’t like to use icky whitening kits that burn my gums and contain who-knows-what. I also prefer something that does a little

whitening every day, instead of having to worry about something I need to do on a weekly or monthly basis. Because, let’s face it, I’ll just forget!

5. It should protect from cavities. Again, this is just a protective measure. As Weston A. Price reported so thoroughly in his book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, diet has a tremendous impact on our dental health. But I still don’t mind having a mouthwash that works in my favor, if that makes sense.

So with these five requirements in mind, I fiddled with ingredients until I found a recipe that tastes good and does what I want it to do. Here’s what I’ve come up with:

How to Make Homemade Mouthwash that Whitens and RemineralizesIngredients:

2 teaspoons calcium carbonate powder 1 teaspoon xylitol crystals 10 drops concentrated trace minerals liquid 10 drops peppermint essential oil (where to buy essential oils online) 5 drops lemon essential oil (where to buy essential oils online) 5 drops spearmint essential oil (where to buy essential oils online) 2 cups of filtered water

Learn where I shop for high quality therapeutic essential oils online.

Directions:1. In a large glass mixing cup, stir together the calcium powder and xylitol

crystals.2. Add liquid minerals and essential oils.3. Add water and stir.4. Pour mixture into a glass bottle (I reused an old apple cider vinegar

bottle).5. Close the lid tightly and shake ingredients together for about 30-60

seconds so the xylitol dissolves.6. Shake well before using.7. Store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Why These Ingredients?Calcium carbonate powder: for remineralizing teethXylitol crystals: for sweetness and cavity protectionConcentrated trace minerals liquid: for remineralizing teethPeppermint essential oil: for flavor and fresh breathLemon essential oil: for whiter, brighter teethSpearmint essential oil: for flavor and fresh breathLove It? Hate It? Need Some Help?

Have you tried this recipe? Do you have your own tips for making homemade mouthwash? If you have a question or comment, I’d love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments section below this post.Want to learn more about essential oils and how to use them? Join my essential oil Facebook group HERE.

How to Make Your Own Homemade Soap

Making your own soap at home is easy, frugal, creative and fulfilling. There's something really marvelous about taking a bar of your own homemade soap into the bath or shower with you.

Whether you are looking for a more natural alternative to commercial soap, or are just a crafty person looking for a new creative adventure, making soap is fun, and more than a little addictive!

There are several different methods to making your own soap, and once you understand the basics of how to make soap, you can get started right away.This overview, and all of the Soap Making pages here on About, will teach you basic techniques of how to make your own homemade soap, guide you step-by-step through some interesting soap projects, and give you the knowledge and resources to start developing your own soapy creations.

Why Make My Own Soap?One of the pioneers of today’s natural hand made soap making community, Ann Bramson, in her book “Soap”, says, “Where the hard pastel-colored bars sold at the drugstore are anonymous and indifferent, homemade soap has character. It charms…it smells good…feels good…is comforting in ways which manufactured soap can neverbe.” She is so right! If you’ve never tried a bar of real natural hand made soap, you’re in for a real treat. If you have tried one, and know just how wonderful it is, you’ll be surprised that making your own fantastic soaps is not as difficult as you think. 

Making Soap is a Basic Chemical ReactionSoap is the result of a basic chemical reaction between fats or oils and lye.That’s it. The difference between Grandma’s harsh, greasy, “lye soap,” and your luxurious hand made soap, is the choice of ingredients and the accuracy of the measurements. Think of it this way: With just some flour and water, you can make primitive bread. Not very exciting or tasty, but still bread. But when your recipe is made with your favorite whole-grain flour, fresh eggs, sea salt, yeast, and honey, simple bread becomes a remarkable home made delight.It’s the same with soap.

By carefully choosing a combination of quality oils, adding your favorite fragrance or essential oils, and swirling in a lively colorant, your soap suddenly takes on that charming “character” that commercially manufactured soap can’t even begin to compete with.

Four Methods of Making SoapThere are four basic methods for making soap at home:

1. Melt and Pour  - melt pre-made blocks of soap and add your own fragrance2. Cold Process  - the most common - making soap from scratch with oils and lye3. Hot Process  - a variation of cold process where the soap is actually cooked in a

crock pot or oven4. Rebatching  - grinding up bars of soap, adding milk or water, and re-blending them

Each method has pros, and cons, and variations.To start with, we’ll discuss the two most popular methods of soap making, Melt and Pour and Cold Process Soap Making.

Miller's Homemade Soap Pages:

Easy Recipes Using Liquid Measures

For those who don't have a scale

NEW! May 2002 - Glenn Murray, a soaper who likes working with spreadsheets, added a liquid measures feature to the Chris Mathes Spreadsheet that is available for download on another page of this site. To download the spreadsheet that has been edited by Glenn to include fluid measures...

NEW! Click Here - SoapsheetGM(Glenn Murray).xlt NEW!

In Zip Format: SoapsheetTemplate(Glenn Murray).ZIP

Rachael said to just take her information down and put up his spreadsheet (the numbers are a bit different)... but I'm leaving them both for now and you can compare. Her recipes below are still helpful for those without a scale.

If you can't download the Glenn Murray spreadsheet for some reason... email me and I'll attach it to an email for you. Please tell me what operating system you use (Windows or Mac) so I can send it with the right encoding... and be sure to specify that it's the "GM Spreadsheet".

A HELPFUL TIP FOR MAC USERS! ...Date: 11/04 1:07 PMFrom: Scott Rothstein

Hi. Just wanted to mention that there shouldn't be a problem downloading the Excel file for the Mac. Just control-click on the link, and there will be a popup window with the option to "Download link to disk." This should transfer the file without any problem. It will likely not have the type/creator codes associated with it, so the file will need to be dropped onto the Excel application icon.

I have a Mac running OS 9, and it worked seamlessly for me.

Contextual menus were introduced with OS 8. With MS Internet Explorer, clicking and holding the button down should also pop up the menu, and, I think, will work on pre-8 systems (i.e., not needing the control key). This trick will work anytime a file doesn't download properly--that is, when you get the screenful of gibberish.

Here's another:Date: 06/21 9:34 AMFrom: JoEllen Nahra I do not have Excel on my Mac but I was able to open the GM spreadsheet by use of MacLink. I downloaded the zip file and opened it with Stuffit. Then opened that with AppleWorks with MacLink Plus Translator. Worked like a charm. Thanks!

 

These were generously sent to me by Rachael L. for those of you who want to make soap but have trouble with weighing ingredients or don't have a scale.

-Kathy Miller-

From Rachael L.:

Liquid Conversion Chart

To use the following chart, take the ounce measurement from your recipe for the fat you are using (such as what you'd print out from Majestic Mountain Sage) and divide it by the number provided for that fat below. This will provide you with the number of fluid ounces you will need of that fat, using a liquid measuring cup. With solid fats, it is better to have them in a melted state before measuring them.

For example: If my recipe called for 16 ounces of palm oil, I would divide 16 oz. ÷ .9386 = 17.047 (thank goodness for calculators!). This I would round off to the nearest ounce (or half ounce if using a smaller recipe), which would mean 17 ounces of melted palm oil, measured in a liquid measuring cup. Does that makes sense?

Rachael is still working on some numbers for a few animal fats and they will be added when she gets them.castor 1.0010

cocoa butter .9280

coconut .9594

corn .9446

olive .9488

palm .9386

soybean .9647

sunflower .9573

sweet almond .9488

 

Recipes Using Fluid Measurements:

All of these are liquid measurements (measure in your liquid measuring cup, like a pyrex one with a spout), except the ones marked "BW." Those are by weight and come in containers in that weight... just look for them.

Here are a few simple combinations to choose from:

 Temperatures for ALL recipes:Lye water: warm (feel side of container)Fats at 110 degrees.

If you have coconut:48 Crisco (or generic soybean cottonseed or canola, usually in 3# cans) BW16 lard (box in oils aisle, 1# box any brand) BW20 coconut oil (melt and measure)4 oz. soybean oil12 oz. lye BW21 oz. cold water

 

Have no coconut yet? Some high olive and some high in castor:4 oz. castor oil (one 4 oz. bottle from pharmacy or drugstore)32 oz. lard BW (2 one-pound packages)34 oz. soybean oil24 oz. olive oil12 oz. lye BW23 oz. cold water

48 oz. Crisco shortening (a 3 pound can) BW8 oz. castor oil (2 4-oz. bottles)32 oz. lard (2 one-pound packages) BW6 oz. soybean oil12 oz. lye BW23 oz. cold water

 

For 14oz. jars of coconut oil (such as Spectrum Oils) in health food stores:14 oz. jar coconut oil30 oz. sunflower oil12 oz.corn oil32 oz. lard (2 one-pound packages) BW12 oz. lye (1 can Lewis) BW22 oz. cold water

14 oz. jar coconut oil12 oz. olive oil48 oz. Crisco shortening (a 3 pound can) BW16 oz. soybean oil12 oz. lye BW22 oz. cold water

Soap Gallery

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--5kuGjr8RfA/Uay70F-o1EI/AAAAAAAALeI/Wf7xgDLhzjk/s1600/PB133988+(Medium).jpg

saving money? Win!

Soap Cutters