Today I’m sharing my first Bee Better 3.0 project; a soft and creamy Shealoe Emulsified Body Butter that’s an evolution on a shea butter and aloe vera heavy formulation I first shared in 2014, and then revised in 2019. This updated 2021 version uses a new emulsifier to create a product that is lighter, softer, smoother, and easier to apply. It’s definitely better, and you should make it 😄
Today we’re creating a Rich Lavender Shower Cleansing Cream—a luxuriously creamy body wash that still kicks off some lovely bubbles. It’s part lotion, part body wash, and all-around lovely. I’ve scented it with lavender essential oil, but you could easily customize the scent to something you love. Let’s dive in!
This rich Creamy Almond Lip Balm has a gorgeous ointment-gel consistency, and it’s an evolution of the Almond & Olive Creamy Lip Balm I shared last autumn. A combination of a pseudo wax and a true wax gives us an end product that’s a bit reminiscent of petrolatum (or Vaseline), minus the petrolatum, and I think that’s pretty neat!
Over the years I have received a lot of requests for a Sol de Janeiro Brazillian Bum Bum Cream DIY. I found a 2018 request from Nichole and a 2020 request from Leslie in my records, and I’m pretty darn sure there have been others that have been lost in the shuffle of email accounts and computers over the years. This DIY version doesn’t strive to be a straight dupe, but it does smell the same (yum!) and is very much in the spirit of the store-bought product. I hope you like it!
Last year I positively devoured Kerry Greenwood’s Phryne Fisher Mystery series. Set in Melbourne in the late 1920s, the novels star the glamourous and clever Miss Phryne Fisher, who solves all kinds of mysteries in style. I first discovered Phyrne in the TV show based on the books (I streamed it on Amazon Prime a few years ago), and after a 1920’s Gatsby-themed event I was set to attend last spring was cancelled, I rekindled my relationship with the Honourable Miss Fisher in book form. That rekindling is what inspired this formulation for Phryne’s Milk of Roses 🌹
Today’s formulation was inspired by Glossier’s “Body Hero Dry-Touch Oil Mist”—I saw it on their website and loved the idea of an oil mist, remembering reading on Lotion Crafter that fractionated coconut oil is “light enough to spray through a pump sprayer”. That got the formulation wheels in my brain turning 😊 There are almost no overlapping ingredients between this formulation and the Glossier product, save for the fractionated coconut oil (or caprylic/capric triglycerides) and the tocopherol, so it’s definitely more “inspired by” than “duping”, but I love it. It’s an ultra-light, softly fragrant oil that mists beautifully over the skin. Massage it in after towelling dry post-shower or bath, and you’ll be rewarded with soft, moisturized, lightly perfumed skin without any greasiness. Perfection!
Make it Up: The Essential Guide to DIY Makeup and Skin Care is now available at booksellers all over the world!