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Botanical Skin Care Course Review (Plus A Vanilla Whipped Body Butter Recipe)

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September 18, 2019 By Rebecca D. Dillon 4 Comments

This post is sponsored by The Herbal Academy. All opinions are my own.

Expand your knowledge of herbal skin care and discover the relation between nutrition and your skin with the Botanical Skin Care Course from The Herbal Academy. Keep reading to learn why I recommend this in depth course, plus how to make a vanilla whipped body butter recipe for dry skin.

When we think of back to school, our thoughts instantly go to school buses, packed lunches and hopefully a little bit of peace and quiet. That’s not always the case however. I have several acquaintances, also in their forties, who have gone back to school recently in order to start new careers. While my sister-in-law recently finished her teaching degree and just started teaching pre-k students in low income areas – something she’s always wanted to do.

Unfortunately, not all of us have the luxury or the means to head back to college later in life. That doesn’t mean we don’t want to further our education. In fact, I love learning! It’s one of the reasons I became a blogger. Being a blogger encourages me to research new ingredients on a regular basis and explore new techniques in my field. While the internet offers a wealth of information online through an unguided quest, not everything is readily available with a keystroke. So how do I gather further insight and the knowledge I need to go further my craft? The answer is an easy one. It’s The Herbal Academy.

Botanical Skin Care Course Review

I didn’t realize how much more there was to learn about natural skin care and whole body wellness until I enrolled in The Herbal Academy’s Botanical Skin Care Course. This online course offered so much more than I expected. I can honestly say that I learned way more than I’d expected. As it was thoughtfully and well presented, I found myself wanting to learn even more after I completed the course. The Botanical Skin Care Course not only offered in depth information on the natural ingredients used in skin care, it also taught me the biology behind our skin and how its makeup relates to herbal skin care.

Why I Love (& Recommend) The Botanical Skin Care Course

There are number of things I really loved about this course.

For those new to The Herbal Academy, a video tutorial was available to make the process of navigating the course even easier.
There were notable facts about the history of cosmetics and skin care that were especially intriguing and found throughout the course lessons.
As this course offered in depth information on skin biology and whole body health, I felt this was definitely a college level course.
The information was broken up into different lessons and sections, so it was easy to stop at any time and pick it back up later.
There was no endless reading. The informational sections of each lesson were broken up with instructional videos and recipes, as well as graphics and herbal knowledge.
All of the information provided can be printed or viewed as a PDF. So everything is printable including the lessons, graphics and charts.
The Herbal Academy also provides printable pdf transcripts of video lessons to refer back to later.
The course is much more affordable than taking a college course and can be completed at your own pace.
Once you start the course, you have full access to that course for a full year from the day you begin.
There’s a private facebook group for additional help as well as to share tips and recipes. (I checked it out and signed up. It’s pretty awesome – plus zero drama.)
The course offers a brief overview of terminology on how to share the benefits of herbal skin care products without making medical claims.
If you want to further expand your knowledge on a topic covered in the Botanical Skin Care Course, there are additional resources provided at the end of each lesson.

Some of My Favorite Information from The Course

There’s so much information to soak up through the Botanical Skin Care Course. Therefore, it’s really hard to share a full overview of everything it entails. However, some of my favorite things were learning how to use herbal allies to care for skin – as well as how skin care connects to whole body wellness. (ie. Gut-Brain-Skin Axis.) I also like that this course covers herbs that address acute and chronic skin ailments with special consideration for anti-aging skin care. And there aren’t just skin care recipes to accompany the lessons. There are also herbal remedies AND food recipes that offer nutritional support for skin. You’ll also love their chart on skin-friendly dietary guidelines!

I loved learning about the basic energetic categories of Western herbalism—hot, cold, damp, and dry—to provide a more nuanced view of skin health. It was highly enlightening as were the sections on Ayurveda skin care and skin care in Chinese medicine. One of the more important lessons, however, covered the commercial ingredients we should be avoiding and why they are harmful. I was most surprised to learn that retinol, which is practically a staple in anti-aging skin care products, should be avoided due to its numerous negative side effects.

In contrast, the Botanical Skin Care Course from The Herbal Academy, also educates you on the carrier oils and butters that you SHOULD be using in your natural skin care products. Fatty acid content, comedogenic ratings, properties, shelf life and absorption rate are covered for each ingredient. There’s also a printable chart so you can keep this information handy when referring back to it later. Additionally there is information on salts, waxes and emulsifiers, clays and natural skin safe pigments, humectants, natural preservatives and essential oils.

For those of you just getting started with essential oils, you’ll find the chart for essential oil dilution guidelines especially helpful along with the properties and aroma of common essential oils used in skin care. I also learned the right way to make herbal vinegars, while expanding my knowledge on hydrosols, salves and oil infusions. There are a number of great recipes in the lesson on making botanical body care products. This section also offers video tutorials, troubleshooting information, additional graphics and printable charts as well as information on storing your products.

Botanical Body Care Recipes Within the Course

In fact, you’ll discover video instruction, printable property charts, troubleshooting tips, preservatives needed and recipes for making a number of botanical skin care products. These herbal skin care recipes include:

Natural bath care product recipes.
Recipes for creams, lotions & body butters.
Instructions for crafting herbal gels.
How to make herbal soaps with recipes.
Hair care recipes.
Cosmetic recipes.
Recipes for herbal vinegars.
Information on making herbal hydrosols.
Herbal salves and balm recipes.
How to make oil infusions & recipes.

The sheer volume of information provided throughout this course is priceless. I know that I will personally be referring back to this course throughout the year.

Botanical Skin Care Recipe Book

You also have the option to add on the Botanical Skin Care Recipe Book with this course. It’s filled with 194 favorite tried and true herbal skin care recipes. Inside are recipes for pretty much everything you can imagine – eye shadows, toners, face masks, deodorant, foot scrubs and baths, body butters, facial serums, homemade soaps and more. (You can also purchase this book separately here.) I really love this book and would definitely recommend it as an addition to your collection.

Now that you’ve decided to sign up for the Botanical Skin Care Course, be sure to also check out the recipe for making a daily moisturizer for acne prone skin. You can find this natural skin care recipe both within unit 4 of the course (for support for chronic conditions) as well as inside the Botanical Skin Care Recipe Book.

Vanilla Whipped Body Butter Recipe

The great thing about body butters is that they don’t contain any water-based ingredients. This means there’s less potential for microbial contamination (such as bacteria) which gives body butters a longer shelf life than lotions and creams. Because the ingredients used can be damaged by exposure to air, light or excess heat – causing the oils to go rancid, vitamin E or rosemary extract can be used to help prevent oxidation.

This vanilla whipped body butter recipe is adapted from Plant-Powered Beauty by Amy Galper and Christina Daigneault. The finished whipped body butter is both fluffy and decadent with a fragrance reminiscent of an orange creamsicle.

Ingredients:

¼ cup (2 fl oz) coconut oil
¼ cup shea butter
¼ cup cocoa butter
¼ cup (2 fl oz) jojoba oil infused with vanilla (Vanilla planifolia) bean
35 drops sweet orange (Citrus x sinensis) essential oil and 5 drops ylang ylang (Cananga odorata) essential oil (optional)

Instructions:

Make the vanilla-infused jojoba oil using the instructions in the herb-infused oil tutorial (found in the Botanical Skin Care Course) using ¼ vanilla bean and ¼ cup jojoba oil. Note that ¼ cup is the amount of finished herbal oil to include in the recipe—you may need to start with more oil when making the herb-infused oil, as the herbs will soak up some of the oil (if you forget to do this, just top off with some plain oil as needed for this recipe).

Gently heat coconut oil, shea butter, and cocoa butter in a double boiler over low heat (or a glass or ceramic bowl or canning jar over a small saucepan of simmering water) until melted.

Add the vanilla-infused jojoba oil, stir until mixture is melted and consistent, and turn off the heat.

Let cool for approximately 10 minutes, and once it is still warm, but not hot to the touch, cover and transfer to the refrigerator for approximately 1 hour, or until there is no longer a semi-liquid center.

Using an immersion blender or electric mixer, whip the mixture on high for 5 minutes or until it changes color and looks fluffy. You may need to periodically scrape the mixture from the sides of the bowl.

Add essential oil, if desired, and mix.

Label, and store in a cool, dark place. This vanilla whipped body butter recipe will keep for up to 1 year.

Not quite ready to commit to the Botanical Skin Care Course? Then be sure to pin this post for later! Otherwise, you can sign up for the Botanical Skin Care Course here.

For more botanical skin care recipes like the vanilla whipped body butter recipe from the Botanical Skin Care Course, be sure to follow my boards on pinterest. You can also find and follow me on your favorite social media platforms, including Blog Lovin‘, facebook, twitter and instagram. Or sign up to receive my newsletter to stay in the loop.

Filed Under: Bath & Beauty Recipes, Health & Wellness, Lifestyle Tagged With: bath and beauty, bath and body, body butter, body butter recipe, botanicals, health and wellness, herbal infusion, herbal skin care, herbalism, herbs, homemade soap, natural beauty, natural living, natural remedy, natural skin care, non-toxic, online course, review, salves, skin care recipes, whipped body butter

Magnesium Body Butter Recipe (A Natural Moisturizer & Home Remedy)

April 27, 2019 By Rebecca D. Dillon 5 Comments

My homemade magnesium body butter recipe is perfect for those wanting to make more advanced beauty and skin care recipes at home. A more professional recipe for dabblers wanting to take that next step up or artisans looking for products to make and sell, this natural magnesium body butter recipe is a must for your to do list! Learn about the benefits of magnesium along with how magnesium body butter can offer relief from restless leg syndrome, nerve pain, sore muscles and more.

Now that spring is here I’ve been trying to get active again. While the fibromyalgia does present some challenge in the exercise arena, walking on our local greenway is an activity that’s easy for me tackle. I also find it rather enjoyable. Right now honeysuckle is in bloom. So much of my trip is quite fragrant. It’s also filled with lots of activity. From bees gathering pollen to families and children fishing, there’s so much to keep my mind occupied while I work on getting my body back in shape.

After those walks however, my leg muscles are incredibly tight. Because of the fibromyalgia, I feel that muscle tightness more so than someone without fibromyalgia. So I use magnesium body butter as a natural way to relax those muscles and ease pain. It’s also great at relieving tightness and pain across my back from the tension that builds up from being at a desk all day. And it works wonders on my wrists when I’ve pushed myself too hard and done nothing but type for days on end.

The natural benefits of this body butter aside, I also love the way my homemade magnesium body butter recipe smells. I made with with roasted cocoa butter for a rich chocolate like fragrance and then added essential oils to compliment that scent. It’s always a plus when pain relief doesn’t smell medicinal! In addition, this product is naturally hydrating. So it’s perfect for dry skin or simply as an after sun moisturizer.

Why Do Our Bodies Need Magnesium?

According to Medical News Today, magnesium offers a number of health benefits to our bodies. As it plays a role in over 300 enzymatic reactions within the body, it’s a vital mineral that we can’t live without. One of seven natural macrominerals, magnesium is necessary for bone formation, calcium absorption, carbohydrate and glucose metabolism and heart health. Additionally, magnesium can help reduce the symptoms of PMS as well as relieve anxiety.

Not getting enough magnesium in your diet can have a variety of negative consequences on the human body. Side effects resulting from a magnesium deficiency include fatigue and weakness, nausea or vomiting and a loss of appetite. For more extreme cases, magnesium deficiency can lead to muscle cramps, numbness or tingling, seizures, personality changes and spasms or changes in heart rhythm.

Unfortunately, experts contend that many of do not get enough of this valuable mineral in our daily diet. Therefore magnesium supplements are recommended especially as we age. One easy way to increase your magnesium intake is to use a topical skin care product or bath soak that contains magnesium. Epsom salt baths as well as magnesium oil and magnesium body butter are several easy ways to topically increase magnesium intake without swallowing a pill.

(As magnesium can affect certain medications, always check with your doctor before taking any supplements.)

What is Magnesium Body Butter Used For?

Magnesium body butter offers a number of natural health benefits. Not only does this luxurious body butter moisturize skin, it also aids in relaxation and can promote a restful night’s sleep. Additionally, this mineral enhanced body butter also helps relieve muscle cramps, backaches, growing pains and restless leg syndrome. As someone living with fibromyalgia, I use magnesium body butter to naturally soothe nerve pain and to aid in relaxing muscles after a workout.

Formulating A Magnesium Body Butter

I’ve seen a lot of duplicate magnesium body butter recipes on the internet. This homemade magnesium body butter recipe, however, is different. It’s specifically formulated to be optimal for both massage and natural skin care. Not only does it easily glide onto skin, it’s also a safer option. Because magnesium body butters require water for magnesium flakes (or magnesium chloride) to dissolve, it needs a preservative to prevent creepy crawlies from growing in your body butter. While the magnesium oil you purchase – or even make yourself – doesn’t need a preservative, it does when incorporated into a body butter formulation.

Case in point is this recent article from Fast Company. It outlines a recall that was issued for Herbivore Botanicals recently at Sephora due to mold contamination. Herbivore Botanicals, who prides itself on not using chemicals or synthetic preservatives, unfortunately found out the hard way, that yes, you do need preservatives in skin care products containing water. So please, even if your product is for personal use, I recommend you play it safe. Even in the refrigerator mold and bacteria can grow in your homemade products. While the temperature of a refrigerator slows this growth, it doesn’t prevent it.

If you aren’t sure what products need preservatives and which ones don’t, there are several reputable websites that can help you make sense of them. Brambleberry has an informational article about preservatives here as well as a preservatives quick guide. While Wholesale Supplies Plus also offers an informative guide to choosing a preservative. I recommend using Germall Plus for my magnesium body butter recipe. However, there are other alternatives you could try as well.

The preservative, of course, is just a small part of my magnesium body butter recipe. In place of the water to dissolve the magnesium flakes, I actually used rosewater. (I did try just dissolving the magnesium flakes in oil first. Unfortunately, that does NOT work.) I also included several moisturizing body butters, a blend of essential oils, two waxes and arnica herbal oil.

Arnica oil specifically, has traditionally been used topically to relieve muscular aches, joint pain and arthritis. While the addition of ginger essential oil warms skin to naturally relax muscles. Finally I used a combination of two waxes, each serving a unique purpose. I added an emulsifying wax to bind the oils, butters and water together. While cera bellina wax gives the final formulation additional slip for massage purposes.

If you’d like to craft a natural magnesium body butter recipe but aren’t comfortable with using preservatives, there is an alternate option. My arnica & magnesium body butter recipe, which can be found here, is made with magnesium hydroxide rather than magnesium flakes. As the magnesium hydroxide powder does not need water to dissolve, this recipe does not need a preservative. Scented with a delightful lavender and orange fragrance, derived from natural essential oils, this magnesium body butter recipe is also great for everyday aches, pains and bruises. You can find this alternate recipe here.

Magnesium Body Butter Recipe

Ingredients:

2 oz. cupuacu butter
1 oz. refined (high melt point) shea butter
1 oz. roasted cocoa butter
1.5 oz. babassu oil
.5 oz. emulsifying wax
.5 oz. arnica herbal oil
.2 oz. cera bellina wax
1 oz. magnesium flakes
.5 oz. rosewater
5-10 drops vitamin E oil
30 drops ginger essential oil
40 drops blood orange essential oil
6 drops amyris essential oil (Learn more.)
broad spectrum preservative, of choice

Instructions:

You will need a digital scale to weigh out the ingredients for my magnesium body butter recipe along with an immersion blender. A thermometer is also highly recommended.

Begin by weighing out the butters, babassu oil and waxes. Combine in a heat safe container and gently melt using the double boiler method. Once melted, remove from heat.

Weigh out the arnica herbal oil and stir into the magnesium body butter mixture. Then add the vitamin E oil and essential oils. Mix well to combine.

In a separate heat safe container, weigh out the rosewater and magnesium flakes. Gently heat the mixture until the magnesium flakes have completely dissolved. Remove from heat once the temperature of the rose water is the same as that of the melted butters, oils and waxes.

Now combine the magnesium oil you just made with the melted butter, oil and wax mixture. Mix using an immersion blender for about two minutes. Then add a preservative of your choice according to manufacturer guidelines. (Typically this is both a percentage of your total recipe in addition to a set temperature. Most preservatives must be added below a certain temperature to maintain effectiveness.)

Mix the preservative into the magnesium body butter using the immersion blender for another minute.

Now pour your body butter into a container (or containers) of your choice. (I used an 8 oz. thick walled PET amber jar.) Allow the magnesium body butter to cool completely, then screw on the lid and label as desired for personal use or gifting.

Alternately, if you plan to sell the body butter you produce from my magnesium body butter recipe, you’ll need to follow FDA guidelines for labeling your product. If you’re unsure about the rules and regulations regarding labeling cosmetics, I highly recommend the book, Soap and Cosmetic Labeling: How to Follow the Rules and Regs Explained in Plain English, by Marie Gale. I’d also encourage you to check out her other book, Good Manufacturing Practices for Soap and Cosmetic Handcrafters.

More Home Remedies for Pain Relief

If you’re looking for more natural skin care recipes that are suitable for massage, then be sure to check out my post for quick and easy massage melts. There are two scent options – one with essential oils and one with fragrance oils – as well as 11 natural pain relief recipes for homemade salves, sprays and body butters. You can find them all here. Or learn how to make a natural CBD oil salve recipe here.

Love my homemade magnesium body butter recipe? Then don’t forget to pin it for later! You can repin it here.

Discover more of my natural skin care recipes by following me across your favorite social media platforms. You can find and follow me on Pinterest. Or check me out on Blog Lovin‘, facebook, twitter and instagram. You can also sign up for my semi-weekly newsletter to stay updated on new bath and beauty recipes.

Filed Under: Bath & Beauty Recipes, Health & Wellness, Lifestyle Tagged With: bath and body, body butter, body butter recipe, diy, health and wellness, healthy living, home remedies, home remedy, magnesium, natural alternative, natural remedy, natural skin care, pain relief, pain remedy, self care, skin care products

Mosquito Repellent Body Butter Recipe with Essential oils

April 17, 2017 By Rebecca D. Dillon

Don’t let bugs ruin your summer fun! Repel mosquitoes and deer ticks with this non-greasy mosquito repellent body butter recipe made with natural essential oils! This mosquito repellent body butter is crafted with a blend of natural essential oils, including lemon eucalyptus essential oil which has been shown to not only repel mosquitoes and other biting insects, but deer ticks as well.

With incidents of Lyme disease becoming more common, protection against ticks in wooded and rural areas where ticks prosper is super important. The Lyme disease bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi, is spread through the bite of infected deer ticks, also known as blacklegged ticks, causing the spread of the disease in the northeastern, mid-Atlantic, and north-central United States. The western blacklegged tick spreads the disease on the Pacific Coast. (Find more information on the CDC website here.)

Lemon eucalyptus essential oil has been shown to be effective in preventing mosquito bites and is a common ingredient in some commercial mosquito repellents. According to WebMD, when applying a specific 30% lemon eucalyptus oil extract called Citriodiol three times daily you can also significantly decrease the number of tick attachments if you live in tick-infested area. (Learn what Citriodiol is here.) This extract is used in commercial products such as Mosi-guard and Repel Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus.

For my mosquito repellent body butter recipe, I use lemon eucalyptus essential oil at just under 5% – the maximum for a skin safe application.

Mosquito Repellent Body Butter Recipe

Ingredients:

.25 oz. emulsifying wax
2 oz. babassu oil
1 oz. refined shea butter
.25 oz. cocoa butter
.25 oz. camellia (tea seed) oil
.1 oz. 100% neem oil
.1 oz. fractionated coconut oil
.15 oz. lemon eucalyptus essential oil
6 drops peppermint essential oil
6 drops lavender essential oil
6 drops tea tree essential oil

Instructions:

You will need a digital scale to weigh the ingredients for my mosquito repellent body butter recipe. Additionally, substitutions can be made for this recipe. While I have not tested substitutions for this formula, these are my closest approximations that I believe would work.

Babassu oil and camellia oil were chosen not only for their benefits to skin, but also because they don’t feel oily or greasy when used in cosmetic applications. Babassu oil has a slightly higher melt point than regular coconut oil, however refined coconut oil can be substituted if desired. You will need to increase the amount of wax used, however, to compensate for the difference in the melt point. Fractionated coconut oil also can be used in place of the camellia oil.

In addition, the shea butter can be subbed with sal butter or mango butter and the cocoa butter with another hard butter like kokum butter. The fractionated coconut oil can be substituted with Cyclomethicone. Both of these products keep the end product from feeling greasy. Alternately, it can be omitted entirely.

This is a soft butter and may not remain in solid form in hot areas or outside of a temperature controlled environment. In this case I recommend increasing the emulsifying wax as needed – I chose to use emulsifying wax as it also keeps the insect repellent body butter from feeling greasy on skin as well – or substitute it with beeswax for an end product closer to a salve. You can also try 1/2 the amount of wax called for in the recipe with carnauba wax, which is vegan. In addition you can also keep my insect repellent body butter recipe as is and try adding .05 oz. of arrowroot powder.

To make this mosquito repellent body butter, begin by weighing out the emulsifying wax, babassu oil, shea butter and cocoa butter. Heat in the microwave at 40-50% power until melted or melt in a double boiler.

Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Weigh out the carrier oils and stir into the melted wax and butters.

Next weigh out the fractionated coconut oil and stir into the mosquito repellent body butter mixture.

Now weigh out the lemon eucalyptus essential oil and mix into your melted product. Using a dropper, follow with the remaining essential oils. Mix well.

Evenly pour the body butter into two 2.3 oz. clear glass thick wall cosmetic jars with black lined caps. (I got my jars from SKS Bottle & Packaging here.)

Allow to cool completely, then screw on the lids. You can place your mosquito repellent body butter in the fridge to speed up the cooling process. As this recipe yields a soft, velvety butter it may take 24-48 hours to fully solidify and reach its final consistency.

To use apply the mosquito repellent body butter to exposed areas of skin and massage in. This body butter smells really strong at first, but the scent will mellow after about 5-10 minutes. Reapply every few hours as needed to aid in repelling mosquitoes and other biting insects.

To learn more about babassu oil and camellia oil and for more recipes you can use these ingredients in, be sure to check out my Leave In Coffee Hair Conditioner & Shine Spray Recipes. You can also follow my boards on Pinterest for even more great skincare recipes and beauty DIY’s.

If you’re looking to buy a natural insect repellent you may like this organic lemongrass citronella insect repellent spray from Pure Palette. This natural insect and mosquito repellent spray contains a blend of lemongrass, lavender, cedarwood, eucalyptus, citronella, patchouli and catnip essential oils. It is 100% natural, hand blended in a small batches, DEET Free and has a wonderful fresh, clean scent. It repels mosquitoes and many other bugs including No See Um. You can buy it online here.

Pure Palette also sells hand poured citronella outdoor candles to help deter mosquitoes and other biting insects when you’re enjoying time outdoors on your patio or deck. I just bought three of these for an upcoming cookout I’m hosting in May. You can purchase them here.

You may also be interested in the organic insect repellent stick with lemon eucalyptus essential oil from SunnyBrae Buzz. It’s formulated with essential oils that are known to repel mosquitoes, ticks, gnats, and flies and also comes in three formulations – for babies 6 months to 23 months, for kids 2 years to 15 years and for ages 16 to adult. You can buy it online here.

Additionally, Turtle Moon Health also sells a non-greasy, natural mosquito repellent spray with lemon eucalyptus essential oil called Nature’s Cloak Mosquito & Tick Repellent. It’s non-staining and kid friendly! You can buy it online here.

Want more? You can find and follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Blog Lovin’ and Instagram. Or sign up to receive new posts to your email via FeedBurner so you never miss a post.

Filed Under: Bath & Beauty Recipes Tagged With: babassu oil, body butter, bug repellent, camellia seed oil, diy, essential oils, insect repellent, lemon eucalyptus, natural, skin care, summer

Truffle Buff Recipe for the Softest Skin Ever

September 2, 2016 By Rebecca D. Dillon

Learn how to DIY this homemade truffle buff recipe for an exfoliating in the shower body butter scrub that leaves your skin extraordinarily soft!

This truffle buff recipe was created by Nadia Mansour, the former owner of a successful small business called, Ouish®, for which she created high end and all natural skincare products. Since then, however, Nadia has decided to take a break from the small business world and share her homemade skincare recipes instead on her new Facebook blog, The Nadia Effect. The Nadia Effect includes not only skincare recipes, but also DIY videos for making your own natural skincare products and even dessert recipes for baking up treats like her Hazelnut Mocha Cookies. I absolutely LOVE her page and my hope is that you’ll become a fan of hers as well.

You’ll find Nadia’s truffle buff recipe below. It is, of course, re-printed with her permission.

Homemade Truffle Buff Recipe

Ingredients:

15 oz. kokum butter
15 oz. shea butter
3 oz. rice, ground
3 oz. almonds, ground
3 oz. adzuki beans, ground
.78 oz. (2%) skin safe fragrance, of choice

Instructions:

You’ll need a digital scale to weigh all of your ingredients.

Begin by weighing out the kokum and shea butter. Combine in a double boiler and melt the butters over low heat.

Once the butters have melted, remove from heat and pour into a clean bowl. Set aside.

Next, weigh out the dry ingredients separately.

Using a food processor grind the rice, almonds and adzuki beans, one at a time, to a medium/fine texture. Don’t over process these ingredients as they will act as your exfoliants.

Weigh out the fragrance oil you’ve chosen to use for this truffle buff recipe. (Need fragrance oil suggestions? One of the best selling fragrance oils Nadia used in her products was the Chicks Dig It Fragrance Oil from Just Scent.)

Now add the ground dry ingredients and fragrance oil to the melted butter mixture. Stir the mixture thoroughly to combine then place in your refrigerator.

Every 5-10 minutes, take the bowl out of the fridge and give it a stir. Then pop the mixture back into the fridge and repeat the process. Be patient.

Keep repeating this process until the mixture starts to look opaque and most of the exfoliants start to suspend in the mixture. Once you get to that stage, work quickly and immediately pour the truffle buff mixture into the cavities of a silicone mold of your choosing. (I recommend placing the mold on a cutting board before your fill them so they are easier to transport.)

Don’t worry if you waited too long to pour your truffle buff into the molds. If you realize it’s gone past the stage where it starts to turn opaque and the mixture has hardened, simply it into the microwave and melt it slightly. Re-mix and try again.

Once you’ve poured the melted truffle buff mixture into your mold, place the mold into your refrigerator until your bars have hardened.

Once hardened, simply remove your truffle buffs from the mold. Decorate the tops if desired. You can use regular dark chocolate to add an icing drizzle or even dark cocoa butter wafers.

Wrap your truffle buff bars in foodservice film and label as desired for gifting or until use.

Side Notes:

Nadia does not recommend adding colorants to her truffle buff recipe. Her experience has shown that they do not color the mixture well and are likely to leave color on your skin when used.

In addition, as this truffle buff recipe does not contain a preservative, it is essential that you follow proper storage guidelines. When the bar is not in use, keep it out of the shower and away from steam on an elevated plate, such as a soap dish, that will allow air to flow above and below the product. It needs to be kept dry between uses. However, if you’d like to use a preservative, be sure to follow the manufacturer’s guidelines for the preservative you choose. Even with a preservative, however, it is highly recommend that you still follow the previously mentioned storage guidelines.

How to Use:

Use your truffle buff in the shower with warm-hot water running on your skin by massaging the truffle buff bar over your body in circular motions. The warm-hot water, along with your body temperature, will help to melt the truffle buff bar as you use it. Once completed, gently wash off any residue and pat skin dry with a towel to reveal your softest ever skin.

If you like Nadia’s Truffle Buff Recipe, then you may also like my Lush inspired Massage Bar Recipe inspired by Lush’s Wiccy Magic Muscles Massage Bar. This massage bar is made using a base of shea and cocoa butters, this Lush inspired massage bar recipe also includes massaging organic adzuki beans and a combination of cinnamon leaf and peppermint essential oils for a warm, tingly sensation that helps to ease and soothe sore muscles.

To discover even more homemade bath and body recipes as well as to keep up with all of my new blog posts, you can find and follow Soap Deli News on Pinterest, Google Plus, Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, Blog Lovin’, and Instagram. Or sign up to receive new posts to your email via FeedBurner so you never miss a post.

Filed Under: Bath & Beauty Recipes, Homemade Gift Ideas Tagged With: bath truffle, beauty, beauty recipe, body butter, crafts, diy, exfoliating, gift idea, gifts for women, massage bar, moisturizing, skin care, truffle buff

Homemade Lanolin Skin Care Recipes

January 23, 2016 By Rebecca D. Dillon

Learn about the benefits of lanolin and discover sixteen fantastic homemade lanolin skin care recipes that can help to protect and moisturize skin all winter long!

What is lanolin and what benefits can be gained from lanolin in skin care applications?

So, what is lanolin? Lanolin is a naturally occurring wax that is secreted by the glands of sheep and other wool bearing animals that helps them shed water from their coats. When sheep are sheared in order to use their wool for textiles such as yarn or felt, the wool is first run through rollers in order to extract the lanolin. Because lanolin is very similar in composition to the oils secreted by our own skin it’s able to provide a protective moisture barrier when used in skin care products. It acts as an excellent moisturizer and skin smoother as it’s capable of not only penetrating the outer layers of our own skin while still allowing it to breathe, but it is also a humectant able to attract and absorb up to 300% water.

According to Wikipedia lanolin is superior to both petroleum and glycerin with its emollient effects lasting for an eight hour period after the first application and up to 72 hours after a fifth day of consecutive use. Therefore this natural skin salve is perfect for severely dry and cracked skin, eczema and psoriasis. Convinced? Then check out my collection of sixteen homemade lanolin skin care recipes below to discover what are sure to become a few of your new favorites!

Homemade lanolin skin care recipes to nurture and nourish skin through winter.

1. Healing Winter Body Balm Recipe (plus a snowflake label tutorial!)
2. Homemade Chocolate Orange Body Butter Recipe and Sugar Scrub Recipe
3. Cinnamon Sugar Homemade Non-Greasy Body Butter Recipe
4. Vanilla & Fig Non-Greasy Body Butter Recipe
5. Natural Rosemary & Neem Oil Foot Salve Recipe
6. Natural Lanolin & Neem Salve Recipe
7. Natural Lanolin Shaving Soap Recipe
8. Handmade Natural Lanolin Salve Recipe

9. Dr. Lipp Original Nipple Balm for Lips Dupe
10. Merlot Tinted Lip Balm Recipe with Lanolin
11. Bee Pollen Soap Recipe with Lanolin
12. Heal and Protect Winter Lip Balm Recipe with Lanolin
13. Neem Oil and Bee Pollen Skin Cream Recipe with Lanolin
14. Lemon Verbena Body Butter Recipe with Lanolin
15. Non-greasy Lavender Body Butter Recipe with Lanolin
16. Vanilla & Fig Homemade Shaving Soap Recipe with Lanolin

If you like these homemade lanolin skin care recipes, then you’ll also love my natural neem oil skin care recipes. (Found here.) Also be sure to follow me on Pinterest for even more fabulous natural homemade skin care recipes including homemade soap recipes, homemade salves, body butter and sugar scrub recipes! You can also find and follow me on Blog Lovin’, Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, G+ and Instagram.

Filed Under: Bath & Beauty Recipes Tagged With: body butter, healing balm recipe, lanolin, natural, salve recipe, skin care, soap recipe, sugar scrub recipe, winter