by Marie | Sep 10, 2018 | Bar Soap, Very Crunchy
I had so much fun creating these sunny, speckled bars. The idea was to create a swirl using texture—as opposed to colour—to differentiate the swirl from the rest of the soap. When I set out to make these bars it had been positively ages since I’d made soap. Who else gets sucked into those strange inertia loops where you haven’t done something in a long time, so you keep not doing it, and then BAM… it’s been months? That’s me and… so many things. Anyhow—as I brought the lye water and fats to trace and starting working with the batter I wondered why it had been so long. Soap making is far too fun to fall victim to the do-nothing inertia loop!
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by Marie | Jul 12, 2018 | Body
Massage lovers everywhere: prepare to fall in love. This silky, glide-y Coconut Massage Butter gives you eons of working time on the skin for a luxurious, satiny massage. It isn’t oily or greasy, but you’ll find your hands gliding over skin with a wonderful, soft slip. When you’re done the massage, this butter settles down to a soft, velvety finish that’s light and luxurious—the sort of thing you’re happy to leave on your skin. Swoon.
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by Marie | Jul 5, 2018 | Conditioner
I’ve had loads of requests for a cleansing conditioner, and I’m really excited to finally have one to share! This one is decadently creamy and works through the hair with no lather. It rinses out beautifully, leaving the hair clean and wonderfully manageable (I couldn’t believe how easily I could finger comb through my hair after the first use!). If you’ve ever made lotion you’ll find this wonderfully easy to make, and if you’re a fan of CO washing, I think this Cream of Earl Grey Cleansing Conditioner is right up your alley 😊
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by Marie | Jun 18, 2018 | Conditioner, Recipes with Videos, Updated Recipes
One of the first recipes I ever shared on Humblebee & Me was for a “Super Nourishing Hair Balm“, all the way back in October of 2011. I’d actually made the balm months earlier, before I’d launched the blog, and had been testing it all summer and fall before I suddenly had a platform to share it on. Over the years many people have made it, and many more have asked about substitutions for items in the rather lengthy ingredient list. I thought it was high time I revisited this idea to improve on it—after all, I’ve learned a lot since 2011!
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by Marie | Dec 14, 2017 | Body
When giving a massage you want an oil that adds slip for an extended period of time, but isn’t unpleasantly greasy. It’s also nice if it’s easily malleable in the hands (I’ve seen pure coconut oil used for this purpose, but never liked how you have to scoop a hunk of it out of the tub before using it) and has a satiny finish on the skin, leaving it soft and hydrated and happy (though really, how could anything not be happy post-massage?!). This massage oil came about as a result of my experiments with olive wax, after noticing how much play time many of the various experiments had on the skin, and I’m really happy with how it turned out.
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by Marie | Nov 13, 2017 | Lip Balm, Vanilla Spice
Most of the vegan lip balms I’ve tried share the characteristic of being quite glassy and thin—they lack that rich creaminess of beeswax lip balms. With a beeswax lip balm you can really schmear it on and it’ll stay there and lock in moisture for ages (especially this recipe). Vegan lip balms made with candelilla and carnauba wax are pretty much the opposite of that, though; they tend to “slick” on quite thinly, leaving a thin, glassy coating. Now, this isn’t a straight-up bad thing (it can be great in the summer!), but in the midst of a dry winter I find glassy vegan balms are pretty much useless. That’s the problem I wanted to tackle with this Vanilla Spice Vegan Lip Balm recipe.
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