Whenever I or hubby are shopping for anything, it's become second nature to read the label. There are very few products out there that don't have any parabens or any chemical additives. I have stopped buying lotions and cremes as of 2 months ago.
Anyone can find detailed information about the parabens, sodium lauryl sulfates and all the other chemicals in these products on the internet. Most of them are carcinogens when the duration of the exposure is long. Though we use small quantities daily, over time we are exposed for a long time. The amazing thing is that our baby products also have these dangerous ingredients!
I wanted to use all natural oils for my family and wean them from the store bought lotions, lip balms etc....
I decided on Organic coconut oil, Olive oil and Almond oil. I also used organic beeswax to harden it so my kids could used it without being messy.
The proportions I used were 1:1:1 coconut oil, olive oil and beeswax.
Coconut is good for the skin but I really cannot stand the smell! I spent a lot of time in the essential oils section of our local Wholefoods trying out various fragrances.
After my first batch of lip balms turned out a bit too strong (used too much Lemon Eucalyptus oil), I tried Lavendar and Gardenia oils for a more gentle aroma.
I warmed up the coconut oil first to melt it to liquid then added the olive oil and beeswax stirring on very low flame till the wax melted. I allowed it to cool and before it started solidifying, I added the essential oils. For 1/4 cup of coconut oil, I used about 40-50 dros of lavendar oil and about 20 drops of gardenia oil.
I poured it into small cupcake papers and allowed to cool. For the lipbalms, you can use an empty chap stick container. I ordered some online since I knew there would be a lot of experiments with different essential oils :).
My kids love this form of lotion. No mess! They even liked the lip balm!
The best part as a friend pointed out - when travelling by air, these lotion bars can be carried in your purse because they are not liquid!
My next project is to experiment with natural pigments to add to the lip balm to make natural lipstick! (hello - cinnamon, beetroot, raspberry....).
Anyone can find detailed information about the parabens, sodium lauryl sulfates and all the other chemicals in these products on the internet. Most of them are carcinogens when the duration of the exposure is long. Though we use small quantities daily, over time we are exposed for a long time. The amazing thing is that our baby products also have these dangerous ingredients!
I wanted to use all natural oils for my family and wean them from the store bought lotions, lip balms etc....
I decided on Organic coconut oil, Olive oil and Almond oil. I also used organic beeswax to harden it so my kids could used it without being messy.
The proportions I used were 1:1:1 coconut oil, olive oil and beeswax.
Coconut is good for the skin but I really cannot stand the smell! I spent a lot of time in the essential oils section of our local Wholefoods trying out various fragrances.
After my first batch of lip balms turned out a bit too strong (used too much Lemon Eucalyptus oil), I tried Lavendar and Gardenia oils for a more gentle aroma.
I warmed up the coconut oil first to melt it to liquid then added the olive oil and beeswax stirring on very low flame till the wax melted. I allowed it to cool and before it started solidifying, I added the essential oils. For 1/4 cup of coconut oil, I used about 40-50 dros of lavendar oil and about 20 drops of gardenia oil.
I poured it into small cupcake papers and allowed to cool. For the lipbalms, you can use an empty chap stick container. I ordered some online since I knew there would be a lot of experiments with different essential oils :).
My kids love this form of lotion. No mess! They even liked the lip balm!
The best part as a friend pointed out - when travelling by air, these lotion bars can be carried in your purse because they are not liquid!
My next project is to experiment with natural pigments to add to the lip balm to make natural lipstick! (hello - cinnamon, beetroot, raspberry....).