by Marie | Jan 6, 2020 | Lotion, Projects with Videos
Welcome to our first formulation of 2020—a beautiful Moisturizing Repair Cream! I am so excited about this rich, nourishing hand cream. It’s positively perfect for this time of year, helping protect skin against the winter dry and cold. Our two power ingredients are deeply moisturizing and inexpensive vegetable glycerin and niacinamide, AKA vitamin B3, which helps reduce transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and boost ceramide production. The finished cream has a rich, decadent texture and delivers a long-lasting immediate hydration boost. Booyah!
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by Marie | Oct 24, 2019 | Lotion, Projects with Videos
Last month I shared a Creamy Autumn Grounding Salve, starring an intoxicating blend of essential oils—patchouli, lavender, benzoin, and ylang-ylang. I’d intended for the salve to be a one-off, but after sniffing away at it for a few weeks I knew I needed to use that essential oil blend again! Hence, today’s project. This lotion is the perfect companion to last month’s salve, starring the same essential oil blend, but in a fast-absorbing lotion format that’s perfect for drier fall days.
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by Marie | Sep 23, 2019 | Bee Better, Best of 2019, Lotion, Other 2019 Favourites, Projects with Videos, Updated Recipes
This decadent Rich Shealoe Butter Cream is the first project I’m tackling in my Bee Better series; it’s an update of the Homemade Shealoe Butter Cream I shared back in February 2014. The idea was to create my own shealoe butter type product, inspired by the plethora of shea/aloe butters for sale from DIY suppliers. I’d like to thank Rhonda for inspiring me to update this project—she shared some of the changes she’s made to it over the years in the comments section on the 2014 version and they sounded divine! I’ve adopted a couple of her improvements and added a few of mine as well.
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by Marie | Mar 28, 2019 | Body Butter, Projects with Videos, Very Crunchy
This rich, creamy Soothing Hand Butter is an absolute delight to massage into hands that could use a bit of pampering. It stars some ultra-creamy emollients and beautiful botanical-infused oils to create a stunning, sumptuous skin treat. I’ve used a slightly unorthodox thickening method to ensure the end product isn’t at all a typical salve or balm—it’s a true butter infused with all kinds of goodness, and I think you’ll love it!
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by Marie | Jan 3, 2019 | Best of 2019, Body Butter, Facial Serums & Balms, Other 2019 Favourites, Projects with Videos, Very Crunchy
This rich blue balm is a DIY version of a very popular and very expensive shop-bought balm. This particular balm is known for its striking dark blue hue that comes from a hefty dose of expensive blue tansy essential oil. I’ve created a more budget friendly version you can make at home with some lovely butters, silky oils, and gorgeous essential oils. It smells divine, has a delightful melty consistency, and can be easily tweaked to suit what you’ve got at home.
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by Marie | Dec 20, 2018 | Best of 2018, Facial Cleansers, Projects with Videos
After the annual colourful craziness of Christmas DIYs I’ve really been enjoying dreaming up something solstice-inspired these last few years. We’ve got a face cream, a soap, and a mask, and now we’ve got a star-studded charcoal-infused facial polish. This facial polish offers some mild physical exfoliation merged with some oil cleansing and great low-lather rinse-off. A titch of activated charcoal makes for a striking presentation, but without the disastrously messy sink activated charcoal can leave behind. It smells fresh and wintery, with notes of spice and intrigue. The making is a simple melt and stir deal, and the end product is intriguingly inky and star-speckled.
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