by Marie | Sep 23, 2019 | Bee Better, Lotion, Recipes 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 | Sep 16, 2019 | Hand & Body Washes, Recipes with Videos
Today we’re re-stocking my handwash inventory with a fresh, zippy Peppermint Foaming Hand Wash. It’s a fast, no-heat project, and I’ve provided two slightly different versions. One version uses peppermint hydrosol for our scent, while the other makes use of a solubilizer so we can incorporate peppermint essential oil for the scent instead. Both are simple and effective, so you can choose which one you want to make based on what you have on hand.
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by Marie | Sep 12, 2019 | Hair Serums, Recipes with Videos
I’ve been having lots of fun with gel-type things recently, and that got me to thinking about hair gels. That led to me wondering why hair gels are almost always focussed on hold. Gels are a great format for delivering mostly hydrous ingredients in an easily steerable manner—we can use them to add lightweight viscosity to products so they aren’t too drooly or runny. So, why not make other hair gel things—like a gelled hair conditioner? A sort of conditioning hair serum in gel form? As you’ve probably guessed, that’s what we’re making today!
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by Marie | Sep 5, 2019 | Facial Cleansers, Recipes with Videos
Today we’re creating a gentle Lavender Facial Cleansing Bar—a solid foaming facial cleanser with a skin-happy pH, creamy lather, and a lovely lavender scent. Several bees have sent in requests for another solid facial cleanser, with references to products from Cerave and Drunk Elephant. I’ve been testing this one for a while now, and I’m really excited to share it with you!
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by Marie | Jul 8, 2019 | Body
Today we’re kicking off a new strawberry rose serum with this beautiful and oh-so-fragrant Strawberry Rose Body Glow Serum formula! This ultra-moisturizing body serum came about as part of my Formula Botanica Diploma in Organic Skincare Formulation coursework. The base formula they provided was a starting point for a simple oil-free lotion sort of concoction, featuring large amounts of vegetable glycerin. I remember the first thing I thought when looking at it was “that’ll be way too sticky”. Once I made it, I was quickly humbled—I loved it. So I started riffing on the idea, and here we are.
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by Marie | Jun 10, 2019 | Hand & Body Washes, Recipes with Videos
Today we’re keeping up the Rosé theme with a shimmery, sudsy Rosé Hand Wash. This lovely bottle of bubbles also uses the Iselux Ultra Mild surfactant blend from Windy Point for ultra-easy making (we used it earlier this month to create a Sweetgrass Facial Cleanser as well). After a bit of a streak of foaming hand washes over the previous months I elected to thicken this one for use in regular pump-top bottles, but if you’d prefer to leave it un-thickened it’ll also work beautifully in a foamer top bottle. Either way, it’s super easy to make with no heating required!
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