I’ve got lots of ingredients, but I’ve got no problems playing favourites. Here are the ingredients I’m loving right now—stay tuned for them in upcoming recipes 🙂
Olive squalane
I’ve been hearing wonderful things about olive sqaulane for ages, and Saffire Blue finally sells it, so I scooped up a bottle as soon as I could. The lipid composition of squalane is very close to that of human skin, making it a highly compatible moisturizer that’s great for fighting damage, softening, boosting healing, and assorted anti-aging applications. It’s thin, silky smooth, and absorbs into the skin quickly and easily. I can’t wait to start playing with it!
Allantoin
This rather unassuming white powder has weaseled its way into a lot of my projects this summer due to being awesome. Allantoin can be derived from a variety of natural things like comfrey, but is usually chemically synthesized (I am ok with this as it can also be derived from urine, and I’d prefer that not to be one of many possible “natural sources”). It’s a wonderful healer—it promotes cellular replication, encouraging the healing of burns and other booboos. Common in everything from lipstick to diaper creme to anti-acne products, it’s safe (o/10 on Skin Deep) and awesome.
Petitgrain essential oil
Petitgrain essential oil is extracted from the leaves and twigs of the bitter orange tree—the same tree that gives us the far more expensive neroli essential oil. Petitgrain smells bright and citrussy, but it is also dry and intriguing—I can’t quite put my finger on it. I love a drop or two of it with floral scents or other citrus essential oils to tone down their sweetness and add an herbaceous note. It’s also great for adding a citrussy note to body products without the photosensitizing effects of citrus peel essential oils.
Rose floral wax
When this wonderful wax arrived in my latest Saffire Blue order, it was the first thing I smelled when I opened the box. If you love the smell of roses, you’ll be in heaven with this soft floral wax. It smells exactly like roses, and is a fairly affordable way to get natural rose scent in your products at about $5 for 10g (which goes pretty far).
Cade essential oil
I know, my love of smokey things is getting a bit cliché, but hear me out here. I have a few different smokey essential oils, but this one smells just like a campfire. When Sarah and I were devising Canadian scent blends we huffed the wee bottle of cade a lot, dreaming of campgrounds and s’mores. A little goes a long way, though—a mere drop in your diffuser will leave your room smelling like a campfire for days.
Michelia Alba Leaf essential oil
This intriguing, exotic essential oil is sweet with a hunt of sour, green undertones. It’s bright and uplifting, and is a fantastic addition to woodsy and citrussy scent blends in small amounts.
Saje Aroma Cloud diffuser
This wonderful little ultrasonic nebulizer has a permanent home on the windowsill near my bed. It burbles out cool mist laced with essential oils, fills my room with calming and cleansing negative ions, and looks like the cutest little egg. I love falling asleep listening to it babble away like a wee brook.
Coffee Essential Oil
This essential oil smells like the purest coffee, and is perfect for adding hints of coffee to anything and everything. I’m loving it paired with cocoa butter (USA / Canada) for mocha-scented body goodies 🙂
Silk Peptides
Silk peptides aren’t a new ingredient for me, but I’m loving them more than ever these days. Silk is a great natural protein that is quite close in composition to hair and skin. It helps strengthen hair and skin and add a silky sheen, and is a great at regulating moisture, making it a fantastic addition to hair and body products.
Bandits Oil
I’ve been finding my Bandits Oil is my go-to essential oil blend for any and all cleaning applications (and more). As a potent antibacterial/antiviral/antifungal blend that smells great to boot, it’s got a permanent spot on my shelf. From a batch of extra-stinky laundry to salves, balms, and deodorizing powers, it’s wonderfully versatile and great to have on hand.
Oh, why I live here, where it is so difficult to get those wonderful ingredients…it’s not fair…;) Wow, I didn’t even know that there is rose wax, I would definitely needed that today when I was making several rose products! 😀
I know the feeling—just over the border in the USA there are hundreds of ingredients I can’t get here. Darn you, international shipping!
My wallet won’t support this but if love to have all of these ingredients ::sigh:: I really would love to try the cade eo and silk peptides, but I’ve noticed that American suppliers aren’t really stocking these ingredients :/
Try New Directions Aromatics—they have an American store, and I got both the silk and the cade from their Canadian store 🙂 In my experience there’s generally nothing I can get in Canada that can’t be bought in the USA, it’s usually the other way around 😛
Coffee essential oil….. I see some peppermint mocha lip balm in your future 😀
Get out of my head! Hahaha 😛
Another awesome post 🙂 Can’t wait to see the recipes you come up with!
Thanks, Colleen!
Could the rose wax be used in CP soaps? If so, how much?
I LOVE your site!
Hi Celina! From what I’ve read you can use rose wax in CP soaps—here’s a handy blog post on it 🙂 Thanks for reading!
Thanks for sharing these! (Of course, it’s right after I placed a big order with NDA…)
Is there a reason you prefer Silk Peptides over their other Silk options? I just ordered Silk Amino Acid, and I had a hard time deciding which one to get.
Hi Elizabeth! I chose the peptides because they’re the middle of the road option, and I haven’t had a chance to try any of the other options yet as 100g of silk lasts forever 🙂
Marie,
I have tried many of your recipes now, and love them. I use a natural vitamin E cream as a simple moisturizer that I get from Sprouts market, but I have to pay $15 for 4 oz. of what I consider to be a simple cream. How can I make one DIY? It is the second thing I use to moisturize my face, the first being the lovely argan serum for mature skin. Gotta try that cade oil, we love camping and campfires! Slowly (as funds will allow) amassing all I need to make most things! I have half a cabinet full now and still going! I’m hooked.
Hi Lin! You can try adding some straight vitamin E to a homemade cream, but I’d recommend doing some research into vitamin E rich oils as well 🙂 Thanks so much for reading & DIYing with me!
Hi,
I just received my order from Saffire Blue, finally! I ordered pretty much everything on your list, and then some. I love the floral wax! I also bought the Olive squalane. I can’t wait to use it. Any suggestions?
Thank you, Heather
Hi Heather! I could have sworn I’d made something with olive squalane that I loved and was going to recommend to you, but my records and my memory seem to conflict on this one and I can’t seem to find whatever it was. Are you a fan of argan oil for the face, or oil for moisturizing your face in general? A blend of olive squalane with your favourite facial oil is always a good way to get to know a new oil 🙂