Handmade for Health

While I'm not the strictest of earthly beings, I take pride in buying organic whenever possible, supporting my local farmers market and buying local, carrying my reusable bags and using biodegradable and sustainable items whenever possible.  I'm not a fanatic, but I do my best to reuse or recycle what I can't reuse (I've been known to wash and reuse ziploc baggies multiple times, and will do so until they no longer function).  I'm in the process of making the greatest produce bags, out of flour sack towels.  One more step and then they will be ready for prime time (darn work gets in the way of the crafting!).

Today I received all of my supplies for handmade chapstick from Mountain Rose Herbs.  I found a ton of recipes on tipnut.  Tonight was time to whip it all up.

I was amazed at how easy it was!  A little beeswax, cocoa butter and sweet almond oil.

Melt it all together and pour into tubes and let cool.  Amazing!

It smells like cocoa and feels amazing on the lips. Love it!  After the success with the lip stuff I moved on to lotion...

This was the coolest thing.  Like a fun science experiment.  Emulsifying wax, hot water, olive oil and essential oils for fragrance.  Easy peasy!  Melt the wax and olive oil together.  Add your essential oils (I used a fab mix of lemongrass and lavender).  Pour the hot water into the oil/wax mixture and watch it turn into a milky white liquid.  I then poured into a wide-mouth mason jar.  It sets up to lotion consistency when it cools.  I couldn't wait to try it!  I have horrible eczema on my hands, and very few lotions penetrate my lizard skin.  I instantly noticed a difference, without any greasiness.  I'm excited to try this for a few days and see if it helps calm the irritation.  Check out my handiwork:

Next up....deodorant and laundry soap! :)