Basic Body Cream Recipe by Tamalu Watkins
All measurements are by weight. You will need a food scale for this recipe.
Ingredients
Hard oils: 2 1/2 oz Virgin Coconut Oil 1/2 oz Cocoa Butter 1 oz Bees Wax, grated
Soft oils: 4 oz Grapeseed or Almond Oil 2 oz Extra Virgin Olive Oil
9 oz of Distilled Water 45 drops of Essential Oils (optional)
Tools
Food scale (2) 16 oz heat-proof glass measuring cups Chop Stick or Fork
Hand held stick blender Spatula (1) 32 oz heat-proof glass measuring cup
Clean dry containers with lids
Place coconut oil in a 16 oz glass measuring cup. Add cocoa butter and bees wax. Put the glass cup containing the oil, butter and bees wax into a pot partially filled with water (about half way up the glass cup), place over low to medium heat and stir with a chop stick or fork until all ingredients have melted and completely dissolved, becoming one liquid.
Meanwhile, measure the soft oils into the other 16 oz glass measuring cup. Measure the 9 oz of distilled water into the 32 oz glass measuring cup.
Remove the hard oil mixture from heat and add the soft oils. Allow to cool to body temperature. As it cools, the mixture will thicken and become opaque. Stir it as it cools to keep the consistency smooth. If it cools to much or becomes lumply, simply reheat it.
While the oil mixture is cooling heat the distilled water in the pot of hot water used to melt the hard oils to body temperature. If you decide to add water-soluble ingredients, do it now. Test the distilled water for body temperature with a clean finger.
When the oil mixture and the water have both reached body temperature insert stick blender into the 32 oz measuring cup of water and begin mixing at high speed. (If you decide to use a high-power blender like a Blendtec, transfer the oil mixture and water to the blender and mix on low.) Slowly add the oil mixture by pouring a thin drizzle into the whirling water. It will begin to sputter and thicken. Continue to mix until the oil and water have blended together into a thick creamy liquid with no water floating or beading at the top of the mixture. This may take 10 - 15 minutes with a stick blender. If using a high-power blender this may take 20 - 30 seconds. This process, called emulsification, is the secret to all creams.
If you are adding essential oils to the entire batch, do it at this point, making sure to stir them in well. Otherwise, immediatly pour the lotion into very clean dry jars. Fill the jars to the top leaving as little air space as possible. Cap with tight fitting lids and let them sit overnight to allow the lotion to set. Use a clean popsicle stick to dip out your lotion if it is in a wide mouth jar to prevent the introduction of bacteria or germs.
Variations on the use of oils in the recipe is easy. As long as the amount of hard oils (solid when cool) totals 4 oz and the soft oils (liquid when cool) totals 6 oz, you can change the oils to create creams for different puposes. Also for a thick cream use more cocoa butter and less coconut oil. For a thinner cream like a lotion use less cocoa butter and more coconut oil.
Vegetable Oils and Their Uses:
Almond Oil, sweet: light to medium weight base oil, useful for most applications. Penetrates well. Recommended for all skin types, especially irritated and dry skin.
Apricot Kernel Oil: slightly lighter than almond oil, odorless. Penetrates well, slightly astringent. Recommended for eye creams and facial treatments.
Avocado Oil: heavy oil rich in A, B1, B2, D and E. Takes longer to penetrate. Recommended for outdoor creams and after bath massage oils. Leaves a barrier on the skin.
Beeswax: thickens and adds a sweet honey like fragrance to your creams. Great for skin.
Castor Oil: great for lip glosses, softening rough elbows and patches of eczema and psoriasis. Watch what it will do for your nails.
Cocoa Butter: chocolate scented hard butter is great for thickening lotions, creams and salves. Excellent for use on the whole body, including hair and sunburn treatments.
Virgin Coconut Oil: solid at temperatures below 76 degrees, excellent for use on the whole body. Penetrates and softens the skin. (If you are allergic to coconut oil you can use palm oil as a substitute.)
Vegetable Glycerine: much lighter than vegetable oil. Clear, slippery, draws moisture from the air to the skin. A special additive to specifically rehydrate the skin.
Hazelnut Oil: identical to Apricot Kernel Oil. Penetrates well.
Jojoba Oil: chemically similar to our own natural oils, leaves no oily residue, does not turn rancid. A nice all purpose oil that penetrates well.
Macadamia Nut Oil: high in fatty acids, closely resembles our own natural oils. Great for mature or damaged skin, softening scar tissue.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil: moderately heavy base oil high in vitamins and minerals. Can be blended with lighter oils for lotions and creams.
Rose Hip Seed Oil: medium to heavy oil high in essential fatty acids. Excellent for mature skin and for repairing damaged, scarred, burned or weathered skin.
Seasame Seed Oil: light to medium base oil, high in protein and vitamins A and E. Its low natural SPF makes it great for sunscreens. Penetrating. Recommneded for normal to dry skin.
Shea Butter: hard oil, recommended for all skin types and in all applications.
Organic Soy Bean Oil: light and smoothing, perfect for a light moisturizer or facial cream, or as a massage oil base. Often used as the base for natural insect repellents due to its repellent properties. (You can combine this with Terrashield essential oil blend to create your own natural insect repellent.)
Sunflower Seed Oil: light to medium base oil, high in lecithin, essential fatty acids, vitamins A, D and E. A nice all purpose oil, similar to our own natural oils, perfect for all skin types except oily.
Vitamin E Oil: antioxidant which acts as a preservative to your lotion creations. Assists with scar tissue, stretch marks, wounds, burns, and surgical incissions.
Key Notes:
We use distilled water to prevent the introduction of pathogens and parasites which would cause spoilage to the lotion.
We heat the oils in a double boiler or a glass jar in a pot to prevent them from being scorched. Overheated oil can make a batch of lotion smell like old french fries.
Heating the water helps to keep the oil mixture from cooling to quickly, which can create a curdled appearance or hard spots in the cream and can cause seperation later.
If the lotion seperates into a layer of cream and a layer of water; simply reheat the mixture until warm and reblend with a hand blender to recombine the cream.
Vitamin C acts as a natural preservative and is water soluble.
Where to find this items:
You can find these essential oils at http://www.mydoterra.com/mistyroses/
You can find lotion making ingredients at www.mountainroseherbs.com
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