Being a Mother now myself, I do know that Mom really did mean it when she said the only thing she wanted was for me to be good and be the best person I could be! But if you want something you can wrap..... stick around! ;)
How about we start with recipe. I make this recipe as soon as I run out of the last batch!
It's wonderful.
I adapted the recipe from the book, Rosemary Gladstar's Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health
.....which would make a nice gift itself by the way! You can put them in any little jar make it cute. And don't worry the recipe will make enough for you to keep some for yourself too!
Nature's Perfect Skin Cream
1/3 cup aloe vera gel
Essential oils of choice
3/4 cup sweet almond oil
1/3 cup coconut oil
1 ounce beeswax (about 4 Tablespoons of the pastilles)
Combine the water, aloe and essential oils in a glass measuring cup, let sit until room temperature. In a double boiler over low heat melt the beeswax, coconut and almond oil together, mix well. Pour oils into blender jar, let sit until about room temperature. When oils are about room temperature, turn on blender and slowly start to pour in the water mixture. Speed up blender and be sure it mixes well. You may have to stop the blender and stir with a spoon and then pulse the blender a few times. It should blend and incorporate well. Water and oil can sometimes be tricky to mix but if you follow these instructions and have a fairly high speed blender it should work really good! Mine whipped up perfect the first try! There are a few pictures below to help you out too!
The cream would be a wonderful gift by itself or you could add some of these other things a make a very fun gift basket or box!
Fizzy Bath Bombs
Herbal Infused Oil and/or Lip Balm
Hard Lotion Bars
Labels? You betcha!
You are so great. Thank you for this great idea and for letting us print one for our Mom's. Do Mother in laws count?;) I think she would be more interested in it then my own mom. I am so impressed with all you do, and you are so down to earth about it all. Thanks for your inspiration.
ReplyDeleteOh of course Mother-in-laws count! Sorry I guess I should have mentioned it I kind of figured it would be assumed!
ReplyDeleteHi Tammie,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great ideas!! I also have a question about the blendtec. I just recently got a blendtec (for my anniversary presen from my hubby :) I was just wondering if you ever have any problems with it leaving some chunks of fruit in it when making smoothies?? Thanks!!!!
If I'm using lots of frozen fruit and I just press the smoothie button once there usually is some chunks of fruit. I usually just go through the cycle 3-4 times especially since I have the large container and am making 3 quarts of it. I usually don't have any problem getting everything smooth as long as I go through more then one smoothie cycle.
ReplyDeletethanks so much! I just bought me and my mom the main dishes and the sweets cookbook. It will be nice to have it handy in our kitchens!
ReplyDeleteDo you think I could use fresh aloe vera pulp? I don't have the gel but lots of aloe vera plants!! Also do you think I could add a cocoa butter or other type of butter that is good for your skin instead of the almond oil? Thanks for the recipe, it looks wondeful!
ReplyDeleteLucyH: I'm not sure how the fresh aloe would work. I would try it though probably blending it with water for a total of 1 cup liquid. And use it for your water, aloe mix. The cocoa butter will work in place of the hard at room temp oil, so in place of the coconut. Any type of healthy hard oil in place of the coconut oil will work, ie. shea butter, mango butter, cocoa butter etc. To replace the almond oil you will want a liquid at room temperature healthy oil. So like avocado oil, even olive oil but I find olive oil is more "oily." But both oils are excellent for the skin!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much!! I can't wait to try it and I will let you know how it works out!
ReplyDeleteSo, how much lotion did this yield? The recipe looks great and other people asked some of the questions I came up with I might try my hand at lotion bars too :)
ReplyDeleteMelanie: I'd say it makes about a pint. Which is lots for skin cream. Those 40 dollar bottles you see of all natural skin cream in the stores is usually only 4-6 ounces (less then a cup)or less. ;)
ReplyDeleteHi Tammie,
ReplyDeleteI am really interested in making this lotion. I have made lots of things from your blog and have loved all of them. I'm curious if you have any trouble with this lotion separating or molding? Thanks so much.
Wendy: I have never had it separate or mold. Of course I do use it! I love it! It probably takes me 3-6 months to use up depending on if my daughter is using it too. I think if you follow the instructions and get it well blended you shouldn't have a problem. I don't think it would keep years and years but you don't want to store you want to use it. ;)
ReplyDeleteCan i just use the coconut oil in place of almond oil?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous: Olive oil would be better to replace the almond oil with. More coconut oil will give you more of a salve then a cream. Almond, apricot kernel, or avocado oil are probably the best options but olive oil will work too.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the best way to store it? Can it sit on a vanity at room temperature or does it need refrigerated? Thank you!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous: I keep it on my vanity. I use it up pretty quickly like within 6-8 months. It will eventually go bad but I have not had it go bad before using it up.
ReplyDeleteThis recipe is fantastic! My skin has been so dry lately so I decided to make this. All I can say is wow!I really appreciate you posting this!
ReplyDeleteTo add extra umph I put 2 drops of jojoba oil along with 30 drops Helichrysum, 2 drops Rose, 10 drops Frankincense, and 4 drops Tea Tree essential oils. Doesn't smell fabulous but it does wonders for my skin!
Dear Tammie, what is the texture of this lotion- is it oily? Does it absorb well?
ReplyDeleteCan u use it on your face?
I am looking for a not- greasy, light as a feather lotion for body and face..
Thank you! Jane
Jane: It is a thick cream.....I use it on my face and I love it but I tend toward dry skin. I would say it's on the heavy side I find that it absorbs well but I wouldn't call it light as a feather.
ReplyDeleteI've been making your recipe for over a year and I LOVE it, can't live without it! My question is about the blender. How do you clean all the cream out of your blender? On the last batch I made I got a film in my blender canister and I can't get it off. It's Blendtec wild side . I've never had it leave a film like this. The only thing I did different was add more essential oils. Would that be the problem?
ReplyDeleteHi Lori: I have found that wiping it out really good with paper towels after scraping as much cream as possible out works best for me. If there is still a film I rinse it with hot water and wipe it out with paper towels again. That usually works for me. I know that just with regular use your jar can get cloudy instead of the nice new shiny look. I don't usually worry about it but it seems like the blentec site talks about how to shine it up again.
ReplyDelete