Tag: DIY

How to make Aloe Vera Gel (from aloe juice)

Not everybody is so lucky to have a plant of Aloe Vera.
Personally I have one but my heart doesn’t let me chop off a leg or an arm from it. 😀
Nevertheless when you buy “Aloe vera Gel” usually it is maximum 95% made of Aloe vera, remaining 5% (and this is not a little amount!!!) are other things.
So here is a recipe to make 99% Aloe vera gel where the remaining 1% is composed of Xanthan Gum (natural gelling substance) and preservative.

Preservative is an important step. I know many people who want to do “natural cosmetics” don’t want to use preservatives, but preservative doesn’t necessarily mean “bad”. There are many kinds of preservatives right now; you can choose a paraben free and 100% biodegradable (like the Cosgard which i am using).
The importance of preservatives is that they don’t permit the growth of bacteria inside our water-based cream/gel. If you really don’t want to use a preservative then you should save your gel or cream in the fridge and use it up in maximum one week time.

Recipe:
99   gr – 100% Aloe Vera Juice
0.6 gr – Xanthan Gum
0.6 gr Cosgard (I know this doesn’t make 100 grams but 100.2 grams 😀 I can count too, but some preservatives need to be added in smaller amount and anyway 100.2 gr in a bottle of 100 ml doesn’t make a big difference 😀 that’s all)

Lavender and Amber Soap Recipe


180 gr Olive oil
180 gr Coconut oil
150 gr Palm oil
30   gr Castor oil
60   gr Sweet Almond oil

210 gr water
85.46 gr lye

10 ml Lavender essential oil
20 ml Amber and Lavender f.o.

1 tbsp Lavender seeds

I made this soap with cold process 🙂 Now it is going to dry for 6 weeks and I cannot wait to try it!
I love the smell! 🙂

 

 

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Whipped Shea Butter

Shea butter is one of those wonderful butters you can use almost for anything.
It’s good for hair (as long as you don’t have too fine hair: it’s best for thick long dark hair that need discipline), good for under-eye area, great to prevent stretch-marks, wonderful to keep the feet moisturized.

So here we go: I was requested to make a butter for very stressed feet (you know, summer and so on) and I decided to make a whipped shea butter for feet! 🙂

The recipe is terribly easy and the results were great.
Enough words.
Here is the recipe:

100 gr Shea butter (I used refined shea butter, if you have unrefined shea butter it’s even better!)
20 gr Apricot kernel oil (or any light and easily absorbing oil)
40 gr Corn starch (this helps in feeling little bit less oily on the skin, but of course, since this butter is made 100% by butters and oils and there is no water inside, the buttery feeling cannot disappear)
20 drops Lemongrass essential oil
10 drops Rosemary essential oil
(this was my own choice of essential oils: lemongrass to feel fresh and rosemary for the antibacterial properties that, since this butter was meant for foot, were quite needed for a good results)

HOW TO:
– Simply melt the Shea butter in a double boier (not completely, just melt half of it and let the remaining heat melt the rest. This way all the good properties of Shea butter won’t fade away!).
– Add the apricot kernel oil
– Whip the oils, as if you were whipping some cream 🙂
If the oils are too hot you can whip them, put them in the fridge for few minutes, whip them again… until you are satisfied with the consistency.
– When the oils are properly whipped and they have cooled down you can add your essential oils and the corn starch!
– Mix all the ingredients with a spoon
– Put them in a jar

– ENJOY! (this is the best step 😉 eheheh)

EDIT: Please read the comments of this post also: any whipped shea butter tends to harden up after a few days. This was one of my first experiments of cosmetic, so it is perfectly fine if you decide to make it if you want to start a simple approach to “handmade creams”, but bear in mind that this is not a cream 🙂
I have made posts now on how to formulate REAL creams. It is a slightly difficult thing but it gives exponentially more satisfaction 😀
Have a great day! 😀

 

 

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Coconut Bath Fizzies

In summer I still like to take warm baths: they are still refreshing 🙂
These bath melts contain coconut oil, which makes them melt at very low temperatures, so they can be enjoyed also in summer!  Recipe follows:

Coconut Bath Melts:

300 grams bicarbonate of sodium

150 grams citric acid

150 grams corn starch (makes the water very soft and soothing)

60 grams coconut oil (melted)

2 ml Coconut cream fragrance oil

2 table spoons of coconut powder

It is a very easy process:

– mix very well bicarbonate and citric acid.

– add corn starch and mix very well again

– add the coconut fragrance oil

– add the melted coconut oil and mix very fast with your hands (coconut oil melts at very low temperatures so it won’t burn your skin at all)

– now you should have a mixture that looks kinda like a paste. Put it in moulds (they can be silicon trays or plastic moulds precisely created for shaping bath bombs. Here I made some mini bath fizzies cause they are my favorite)

– put the moulds in the freezer or fridge (in the freezer it took very short time) and pop out the Mini Bath Melts! 🙂

– you can keep them in the fridge or in the freezer so to have them keep their shape until use! 🙂 When you want to have bath, just pop a couple of them in the water and ENJOY 🙂

 

 

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Mini Bath Bombs “Sex on the beach” ;)

Yesterday I created quite many Mini Bath Bombs.

What I like of the “Mini-version” is that you can use a few for the bath tub or one for soaking feet. They leave a silky feeling on the skin, perfect for dry summer feet as well! 🙂

Here is what you have to do:

1) Mix very well (very very well! this is the only essential thing you have to do to make this work properly):
200 grams of bicarbonate of sodium
100 grams of citric acid
100 grams of corn starch

2) Add some powder pigment (I used the mineral colors I use for creating my soaps as well!)
*TIP* you could use old eyeshadows as well! Just make them into powder and add them to the mixture!

3) Add 2 ml of an essential oil or a fragrance oil of your choice (for this one I used a fragrance oil called “Sex on the beach” with notes of Vanilla and Cherry). Mix very well.

4) Spray some water gently and mix fast with your hands.
NOTE: water is exactly what makes this mixture react, therefore spray water little by little and mix fast so that the powders won’t react before they actually should.
While you mix, check the consistence of the mixture: if you feel that you can shape it a little bit (like moist sand) then it is time for next step:

5) put the Bath Bombs mixture into a mould! The mould should not be too soft or you won’t be able to press the Bath Bomb enough (the more you press, the better results you will get).
Let the Bath Bombs dry few hours (if you are impatient, like me, you can already try to use one immediately after you created it… it just won’t last very long :D)

6) ENJOY 😀

 

 

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