It’s time for our second Christmas soap (and Christmas theme) of 2021: Candlelight Christmas Soap. It’s a warm, rich soap that I designed to look like a glowing candle and smell like cozy, fireside cuddles. Let’s get started!
Welcome to the first 2021 Humblebee & Me holiday project—Frosted Cranberry Christmas Soap! Every year I select two wintery, Christmassy themes and create a collection of highly giftable DIYs around those themes. This year, Frosted Cranberry is one of those themes 😄 I was inspired by the idea of cheery red cranberries coated in a sparkling layer of frost—rich reds, eye-catching shimmers, fresh and juicy scents, and some beautiful cranberry ingredients to boot (I found out after I’d planned out tons of formulations and made this soap that Bath & Body Works has a line of Frosted Cranberry products 😝). As always, we’re starting with the soaps so you’ve got plenty of time to make ’em and let them age before gifting time is upon us!
This creamy Almond Oat Soap came with a rather baffling (and completely unexpected!) mystery! When I sliced it after leaving it to saponify for a day I was delighted to find it was a completely different colour than I expected. Not just a bit darker or lighter (or grey-er, as can happen with saponification), but a totally different colour! One of my awesome patrons solved the mystery—keep reading to find out what happened, and why!
Today I’m sharing a formulation for an all-natural Rose & Tea Ultra-Light Conditioning Hair Balm. This hair balm was one of my final projects for my Formula Botanica Diploma in Organic Haircare Formulation (I shared the other one back in January; you can check it out here!). It’s a creamy, silky balm that’s surprisingly lightweight and smells softly of roses and vanilla. It’s a brilliant way to add a bit of conditioning richness to your hair care routine!
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!
Today I’m sharing my last formulation of 2020—a Midwinter Conditioning Beard Balm. Beard balms are usually made up of carrier oils thickened with some sort of wax to create a firm balm. This formulation features argan oil, jojoba oil, and a small amount of beeswax—plus something a bit different for extra softness and all-around loveliness. The finished beard balm has an indulgently rich, almost ointment-y consistency and leaves beards feeling softer and more manageable. Let’s dive in!
Make it Up: The Essential Guide to DIY Makeup and Skin Care is now available at booksellers all over the world!