DIY Bath Products – part six – Body Butters

December 13, 2016December 21, 2016 ~ Spence's Girl ~ Leave a comment

Over the weekend, inspired by my recent Girl’s Day of making bath products, I got out ingredients to make body butters. Using Pinterest as a resource, I decided the two recipes below. The Creamy Body Butter is a lighter consistency, the Whipped Body Butter is thicker and richer. Both are very moisturizing which is great for dry skin, especially in the winter. I did add essential oils to each of these for fragrance, only to find that the cocoa and shea butters seem to be the prominent scent. You can always take a scoop and use a couple drops of your favorite essential oil before applying to your skin.

Creamy Body Butter

1/4 c coconut oil
1/2 c shea butter
1/4 extra virgin olive oil

Using a double boiler, melt the coconut oil and shea butter until liquified. Remove from heat and stir in olive oil. Place in the freezer for 20 minutes until partially firm. Using a hand mixer, whip until it is the consistency of soft whipped cream. Scoop into jars and store in a cool place.

Whipped Body Butter

1 c cocoa butter
1/2 c coconut oil
1/2 c almond oil

Using a double boiler, gently melt cocoa butter and coconut oil until liquified. Remove from heat and stir in the almond oil. Place in the freezer for 20 minutes until partially firm. Using a hand mixer, whip until it forms white peaks. Scoop into jars and store in a cool place. (I added a drop of red gel food coloring to this one so that I could tell them apart plus it looks pretty)

DIY Bath Products – part five – Homemade Shower Disks

December 21, 2015December 13, 2016 ~ Spence's Girl ~ 5 Comments

Let me start by saying I’ve never been particularly crafty. My creative outlets have been cooking, gardening and photography.

Retired and with an addiction to Pinterest, I’ve started to look for “recipes” in which I could make things using my essential oils.

For this project, I made these amazing shower disks. These can be placed on the bottom of the tub while showering, releasing the scent of the oils in the steam.

I plan to also drop them into baths. I love a good soak in the tub while reading, meditating or enjoying a glass or wine – or sipping a shot of liqueur.

Homemade Shower Disks – makes 6

1 cup baking soda

1/3 cup water to start, be prepared to add more

essential oils – I choose eucalyptus, lavender and wintergreen

Mix baking soda and water until it’s thick like a paste. I used a silicone muffin pan (spritzed with olive oil) Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Turn the oven off. Remove and add your essential oils to each disk; I chose 3 drops eucalyptus, 2-3 drops lavender, 1-2 drops wintergreen onto each disk – it absorbs quickly. Put the pan back in the oven to let them “cure” or dry a bit longer from the residual heat.

Store in a glass jar or in a ziplock bag.

DIY Bath Products – part four – Orange Honey Lotion Bars

December 20, 2015December 13, 2016 ~ Spence's Girl ~ 3 Comments

The Michigan winter and forced air heat is drying and hard on our skin. I started using coconut oil on my skin and recently to condition my hair but always wished it smelled a bit better. I’d been given solid lotion bars as gifts before – solid until they melt against your skin. I’ve always wondered about making my own.

Fast forward to Pinterest where I discovered this “recipe”(courtesy of Thank Your Body). It’s bitterly cold in Michigan so today’s the day. I’d purchased organic beeswax, shea butter, coconut oil and sweet orange essential oil as well as a silicone mold recently. Today, I dug out my trusty double boiler and am ready to roll – or melt.

Not pictured here, the honey and olive oil.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 Tablespoons of raw honey
2 ounces organic beeswax
2 ounces organic shea butter
2 ounces organic coconut oil
1 tablespoon olive oil
6 drops of organic sweet orange essential oil

Directions:
1. In a double boiler, melt together the beeswax, shea butter, and coconut oil until they become liquid.

2. Turn the heat off and add the olive oil, honey, and essential oil drops. I warmed my honey first – make sure that it’s fully melted into the mix as it is the thickest component.

3. Pour liquified mixture into the molds.

4. Allow to set in a cool place for 7 to 8 hours, or pop in the fridge to speed up the process.

The bars are set, simply flip onto a plate - easy to do with silicone mold! — The bars are set, simply flip onto a plate – easy to do with silicone mold!

Not feeling 100% confident as to how these will turn out, I cut the recipe in half except I did use the full amount of essential oil. It made 4 bars in the mold shown above, though I didn’t fill the molds to the very top. The orange fragrance is very subtle even though I used the amount for a full – not half recipe. Want a more scented bar? Simply increase the amount of essential oil.

To store these, keep them in little plastic containers in a cool place. When you’re ready to use, rub a bar between your palms to soften with body heat then massage into your skin.

DIY Bath Products – part three – Bubbling Bath Salts

December 19, 2015December 13, 2016 ~ Spence's Girl ~ 3 Comments

This is my latest bath product creation – Ocean Breeze Bubbling Bath Salts. Not only do they smell fabulous but they are the prettiest color.

It is my favorite creation to date. I’ve added the recipe below!

Spread onto a parchment lined cookie sheet for 48 hours

Recipe:

6 cups Epsom Salt
3/4 cup Suave Ocean Breeze Body Wash
1 T Almond Oil
5 drops each of lemon, sweet orange and grapefruit essential oils

Stir together, spread onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and allow to partially dry over 48 hours. Stir again and spoon into wide mouth 4 oz mason jars. Makes 8 jars.

This has a fresh scent and leaves your skin soft after bathing.

DIY Bath Products – part two

December 16, 2015December 13, 2016 ~ Spence's Girl ~ 7 Comments

Today’s project involved Bath Salts, Fizzing Bath Salts and my second and seemingly better attempt at Bath Bombs.

Breathe Detox bath, Patchouli-Amber & Vanilla Fizz & Citrus Fizz salts

Warm Vanilla (yellow) and Lavender Bath Bombs

DYI Bath Products – part one

December 10, 2015December 13, 2016 ~ Spence's Girl ~ 6 Comments

This morning after a good night’s sleep and several cups of tea, I was on a mission – to make bath salts.

Admittedly, I’ve been acquiring the supplies to do this project for some time and then got sidetracked in the summer with my gardening, traveling….. and having fun.

I gathered all my empty glass containers, essential oils, epsom and sea salts, almond oil and gel color. It was an easy project and the house smells lovely!

As a result, I ended up with sixteen containers and have bedecked them with ribbon.

Purple – Lavender
Green – Moon Tide
Pink – “Breathe Deeply” (Tea Tree, Rosemary, Lavender, Eucalyptus & Peppermint)
Orange – Grapefruit & Sweet Orange

So enthused was I with the bath salt success, that I got out the recipes and supplies for bath bombs (think LUSH) which I love. Like a mad scientist or a woman possessed, I went to work.

Initially they looked great – perfect size, round “balls” I was feeling confident and crafty.

However, as they’re drying, they’ve grown into something much larger than anticipated. Spence is calling them “bath muffins”. Apparently I should have made them much smaller but hey, it was my first attempt!

If they turn out to be gift worthy….I’ll post photos tomorrow. For right now, they look like this: