It seems everybody around me is having babies. Most of my friends and coworkers are older than I am, so I’m chalking it up to that. Anyhow, I figure if my assorted DIY hobbies are good for anything, they’re good for helping the lovely mums-to-be in my life soothe their stretched out bellies. So I made these peppermint belly bars, and according to the ladies, they’re working like a charm.
The bars are mostly cocoa butter and coconut oil, with calendula infused olive oil and beeswax—all said to help with stretch marks and skin regeneration. The bars are scented with peppermint and a hint of cassia. They’re lightly scented to avoid setting off a lady’s potentially overly sensitive scent department, and peppermint is said to help with nausea. A wee bit of cassia essential oil helps stimulate a bit of circulation, and an extra dose of vitamin E oil helps prevent stretch marks.
Sarah wrote to me a week or two after getting the bar with this feedback: “The smell is lovely—and not overbearing—which is great for pregnant women whose senses tend to go superwoman-ish during the 9 months. I like the feel of it and it feels like it continues to moisturize over a few hours—it almost coasts the belly vs soaks in. I love it for my elbows and knees too, and one thing about the belly is it gets itchy and I find this helps with it—not completely but it definitely decreases the itching.”
Peppermint Belly Bars
30g | 1.06oz cocoa butter
28g | 0.99oz beeswax
15g | 0.53oz virgin coconut oil
15g | 0.53oz calendula olive oil
2g | 0.07oz vitamin E oil10 drops peppermint essential oil (use with caution as there is conflicting evidence on benefits for pregnancy—ask your GP or just leave it out)
3 drops cassia essential oil
Melt the cocoa butter (I used some white and some dark for fun, but you can feel free to whichever variety you like), beeswax, coconut oil, and calendula oil together in a small sauce pot. Once melted, remove from the heat, and stir in the vitamin E oil and essential oils. Pour into two small measuring cups to let set. If you have a hard time getting them out, dip the measuring cups in a bit of warm water for a second or two before tipping them out.
What a great gift idea! The calendula infused oil do you make it or buy it like that? Also do you get all your eos from new directions! Thank you
I make the calendula oil, it’s very easy 🙂 And yes, I tend to buy all my EOs from NDA, though I do sometimes buy from Saffire Blue—their prices can be better.
Hi Marie, great gift idea! Please be aware that peppermint essential oil can decrease milk production so use with caution after birth! I have a friend who used peppermint EO on her baby for colic and she nearly lost her milk. Fennel essential oil will help increase milk. X
Thanks for the heads-up, Nadja—I’ve added a note in the recipe 🙂
I too was going to warn of peppermint with pregnancy. It is quite controversial as it can stimulate the uterus to contract, nor should it be used on small children, which seems like a double no no to rub on the belly just over both. The amount in this recipe is not a large quantity, but it still deserves a fair warning of not advised in pg.
Thanks for the heads-up, Amanda—I’ve added a note in the recipe 🙂
Hi Marie,
Looks like you have a very knowledgeable blog following wrt the peppermint additive. Maybe it is wise to err on the side of caution and seek some qualified medical info. I think this is a good response (being a slightly biased great grandfather). None of my grand- daughters are pregnant at the moment :0)
best regards
George
Agreed—I’ve added a note in the recipe 🙂
You could sub out the peppermint for lemon, which is similarly soothing for nauseous mommy-to-bes. However, by the time the belly begins to grow, the majority of women are past the morning sickness phase. So, it’s a nice touch but definitely unnecessary.
Thanks for the suggestion, Kiki!
Hi,
I love your blog really enjoyable to read.
How does your belly bar get that silver glimmer?
Thanks
Nicola
Hi Nicola! Thanks for reading 🙂 The silver glimmer is really just a trick of the light from the bars being so smooth. Think of how nice, expensive chocolates shine—it’s basically that (just don’t eat these, haha).
Hi, not sure if my reply worked. Do you know how to get colour in massage bars? Just looking at making differ colour ones.
You can colour massage bars with oxides and oil-soluble liquid dyes, however both will colour the skin as well, even in relatively small quantities. Avoid anything that is water soluble as it will be grainy. You can probably get away with some of the finer clays as well, but they will remain on the skin sort of like make-up. You may wish to impart different colours with the packaging—ribbons & what not. I made leg lipstick once and it was not a hit haha!
I was wondering where do you buy your lovely moulds from? I love the shape of these and the one you use for your ‘perfect body butter bars’.
I actually just used a set of oblong measuring cups I have to get that shape—I find I use measuring cups more often than not for my moulds 🙂 They look sort of like these ones, but they definitely weren’t $50!
I was reading a more recent article you wrote on the “Herb Infused Belly Bar” when a related article popped up. The “title” of this related article grabbed my attention when I saw the word “peppermint” and “belly bar” in the same field.
And while I see that you have added a “note” in your formula ingredients to address concerns previously made by others, you have not quite effectively relayed the overwhelming cautionary message.
Rather than noting “conflicting evidence on benefits for pregnancy”, I think it would be better stated as “conflicting evidence on cautions for use on pregnant or nursing women and children under the age of 10.”
I, personally, think it should be stated as “overwhelming evidence on cautions” but I leave that to your discretion. I have refused to sell pregnant women any peppermint products and tell them I’ll be happy to sell to them once they are no longer pregnant or nursing.
Hi Marlene! The bar is suggested for pregnant bellies, hence the warning targeted at the owners of pregnant bellies. You’ll notice I don’t include a warning for pregnant & nursing women and young children on all of my recipes that contain peppermint (or any other essential oil, for that matter). There is some discussion of this in my FAQ here and here, but I would also hope people do their own research and chat with their physician.
In this study researchers gave pregnant women peppermint essential oil purpose to see if it helped with nausea, and here’s another where they gave pregnant women peppermint tea to see if it helped with GERD. Neither study reported adverse side effects from the use of peppermint during pregnancy. Even sources who say that neat peppermint essential oil should not be used in pregnancy (and, honestly, I would never use peppermint EO neat anywhere as it’s really unpleasant!) concede that diluted applications for topical application are likely fine for pregnant women, lactating women, and young children (source). Dilution level is important with many things, like chlorine (which is in our drinking water). The concentration makes the poison, as the saying goes.
Also… peppermint candies are usually flavoured with food grade peppermint essential oil, and people eat those and there are no warnings telling pregnant women and children to avoid them. In the grand scheme of things, if I was pregnant or had a child I’d be significantly more concerned about exposure to known carcinogens like car exhaust than essential oils.
So, yeah. I’m not hugely convinced. But the beauty of DIY is that you can do whatever you want!
I can’t wait to try these bars. I’m not “expecting” but they just sound wonderful. Maybe it is this cold temperature we have outside this week. Also I noticed you are giving measurements in ounces and that is very nice of you to do the conversion. I appreciate you and your amazing recipes.
Thanks, Danni! Enjoy 🙂
I’m definitely going to try making this for some baby-bearing friends in my life! Just wondering approx how many bars this will make and what size?
Hey Kim! This makes 90g of “batter”, which you can divide into as many bars of whatever size you want. It’s sort of like a cookie recipe… you could make one cookie the size of a sofa cushion or 300 cookies the size of dimes if you wanted 😉
Thank you Marie! Do you have a body butter version of this belly bar? I love the texture of “the white chocolate body frosting”, but am interested in making a belly butter for my preggo friends. Any suggestions is appreciated!
I don’t, sorry, but I’m sure you can figure out a hybrid of the two that you’ll love 🙂