Whipped (Peppermint) Body Butter

I have been inspired by my sister's craftiness to look into homemade body/beauty products. I have spent considerable time, as I am prone to do, online researching various reasons, methods, and recipes for making everything from face wash to body butter and shave cream. The reasons to do this are quite compelling. First of all, there is the laundry list of harmful, or potentially harmful ingredients in many of the products we put on our skin daily. The skin is our largest organ, making up about 10 percent of our body mass, and absorbs chemicals not only into the layers of skin, but also into our blood stream and body systems. The CDC has an excellent explanation of skin absorption of toxins on their website, found here: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/skin/. Another reason to make  your own homemade body products is the cost (hubby likes this reason). Organic or low-ingredient cosmetic and beauty products are, contrary to common sense, quite expensive. A single bottle of good face wash costs anywhere from $15 to $30, and an excellent face wash can cost $60 or more (just go to Ulta and check it out). The same few ingredients, however, can make a myriad of products for use in your bathroom, at a cost of <$10, usually <$5 per jar/bottle. So, I've decided to order the ingredients, and give it a shot. My intention is to details of all the stuff I make, but don't hold your breath, in case I get busy & it doesn't happen. After all, this is my first real post in 3 years.

Anyway, here is what I did. It turned out GREAT! And I plan to make a bunch more of this and other things to give as Christmas gifts (further justifying the start-up cost).

Whipped Body Butter:
Recipe obtained from Homemade Mommy's blog, whom I've been following since I started looking into this. Here's the link to the recipe, which was a link she had on her page: http://healthylivinghowto.com/1/post/2013/11/how-to-make-healthy-body-butter.html

There were lots of other recipes, and they may be just as good, or possibly better, but I only ordered Shea Butter, and not Cocoa Butter (well, it's on order, but hasn't arrived yet). So, I decided to start with this one, since I have all the ingredients on hand.

The recipe is quite simple.
1/2 cup Shea Butter (I got raw, organic, unrefined on Amazon)
1/4 cup Coconut Oil (NOT fractionated- this should be the solid-at-room-temperature stuff)
1/4 cup Sweet Almond Oil (the original recipe called for jojoba oil, but I didn't have it, and it's expensive)
Essential oils- I used Peppermint & Rosemary this time, but will probably try a different blend next time.

Steps:
1. Melt the 3 carrier oils in a double boiler (I used a glass dish in my cast iron pan with water)
   Tip: Be sure no water can get into the oils- it might ruin the whole project. Also, be sure the water       never comes to a boil. Just put it on low (I set mine to 2, I think).

2. Refrigerate for 1 hour. No longer! I got busy doing something else, and left mine in there for 10         minutes or so longer, and some of it started to harden. Then I had to wait for it to melt again.
3. Add Essential Oils (I kept adding as I smelled/tried it, so don't worry about starting slow & adding      more later. I used about 15 drops of Peppermint & 10 or so of Rosemary to mine.

(Here I'm adding a final drop or 2 after it's all whipped up)

4. Whip. Using a kitchen mixer (this will NOT harm your kitchen mixer- it's all food-grade stuff),            whip on high (mine has a "whip" setting) for a LONG time- several minutes, at least.  You can see      in the pictures that it starts to thicken up and turn more white. It starts to look like whipped cream        or whipped frosting. Don't stop too early or you won't have the right consistency or as much                product.

 (You can see the difference in texture from the top pic where it's like butter icing to the bottom, where it's more like thick whipped cream)

5. Put it in a pretty jar & "Voila!" You have yummy whipped body butter to use or give as a lovely          handmade gift.

This recipe made enough for me to fill two 8oz jelly jars. I'm going to be looking for fancier containers for the ones I give as gifts.

This smells heavenly, too. I am a big fan of peppermint anything, especially around the holidays, when it just smells like Christmas.

Let me know what you think, and especially if you try it out yourself. :)

And.... I'm back! (I hope)

A LOT has happened in the THREE YEARS(!!!) since I last posted here (hello, Captain Obvious). I've (finally) finished my doctorate (YAY!!), and I am starting to get my house, and other things under control. Well, sort of. I don't think things will ever actually be under control, but I at least feel somewhat free to sit here & post this weekend. Nathan is almost 9, and Warren is a big 4 & 1/2. They're both doing well in homeschooling, and we've gone from an "unschooling" approach to a much more structured one, especially for Nathan. Warren is more interested in "doing school" than Nathan was at his age, so I've bought some curriculum, but it's still kinda hit-or-miss.


As of this post, I am in my 21st week of pregnancy, and Little Bean (as we've named this unborn) is finally starting to make him/herself known. I had the first unsolicited comment about my pregnant status from a lady at Chick-Fil-A last week (she asked when I was due), and this morning, hubby felt LB kicking for the first time! A Daddy-Quickening. I've been feeling the LB kick around since mid-morning, but mostly kicking down, where it can't be felt from the outside. We have decided NOT to find out the gender of this child until LB is born. We're working on a fun way that big brothers can do the reveal after the birth.

I have the big ultrasound scheduled for this Monday, where we'll find out if Little Bean seems to be developing normally, or if there is any concern. They found a Choroid Plexus Cyst at the last U/S (at 18 weeks). The cyst itself is absolutely nothing to think twice about, except that it CAN be a "soft marker" for Trisomy 18. I did have genetic testing done- the accurate one where they take a lot of my blood & analyze it for baby's chromosomes. That test was normal, with a 98% reliability. So, in all likelihood, this U/S will just be a nice chance to see Little Bean kicking around more clearly, and put our minds at ease about development. I hope.

Stay tuned for some upcoming projects I've been working on. Some that I've been doing over the last couple of years, taking pics, but not taking the time to sit down and post, and one that I just did today (Whipped Body Butter!).