Make Homemade Herbal Beauty Treatments

Have you ever thought about making your own herbal beauty treatments? It’s not that difficult to get started making a few basic beauty products at home. If you are interested in making your own homemade beauty treatments try to find a location in your home where you can focus on your herb craft without too many disturbances. If you are lucky enough to have a pantry located near your kitchen this would be ideal. I’ve used the coffee table in my home office, which is out of the main traffic pattern of my home, as a makeshift location to make a few simple beauty treatments.

Glass, Plastic & Metal Storage Containers

I like to use 4 ounce dark amber, glass bottles with rubber stoppers to store liquid cosmetics and herbal medicines such as toners, tonics, and tinctures. For more solid beauty creations, such as lotions and salves, you can use a wide-mouthed 4 ounce clear glass jar with a screw on lid. I like to use small, round metal tins to store my homemade lip balm, but you should be able to find plastic lip balm tubes for sale at most bottle suppliers. Make sure to label each bottle and jar as your beauty potions all look very similar once they are placed into their various containers.

Businesses such as the Dollar Store or the 99 Cent Stuff store have a multitude of unique plastic and glass containers which can be used to store your homemade herbal beauty treatments. I’ve even found decorative, small glass jars at my local Big Lots store. Here are a few online options for purchasing storage containers:

Burch Bottle & Packaging
Website: www.burchbottle.com

Container & Packaging Supply
Website: www.containerandpackaging.com

SKS Bottle & Packaging
Website: www.sks-bottle.com

Specialty Bottle LLC
Website: www.specialtybottle.com

Sunburst Bottle Company
Website: www.sunburstbottle.com

Making Creams and Lotions

Creams have the consistency of thick cold cream and are applied externally to your body by rubbing them into your skin. Creams are usually an emulsion made of a blend of ingredients such as oil, beeswax, lanolin, glycerin, and essential oils.

If you want to make your own creams but don’t have the time or inclination to make them from scratch you can purchase aqueous cream from your local pharmacist. Aqueous cream is fragrance and dye free. To make your own cream add 6-8 drops of essential oil to 1/2 cup of the aqueous cream.

My local craft store (Crafts & Stuff) sells 16 ounce bottles of a shea butter based lotion to which essential oils and/or coloring can be added to make your own unique lotion blends. The same craft store also sells empty two ounce plastic bottles for decanting your lotions into which can then be given away as gifts to friends and family.

Here are a few suggestions for making your own shea butter/essential oil lotion blends. Use approximately 8-10 drops total of whatever essential oils you decide to use to every two ounces of lotion.

Essential Oil – Quality
lavender is calming
lemon with clove is invigorating
peppermint is refreshing
rosemary with patchouli is sensual

I have tried making herbal creams from scratch on two separate occasions. It was an interesting experiment to say the least. My kitchen looked like it was attacked by the mad scientist after I was done with my creations. They ended up in the trash as they resembled something from outer space! But I have friends that make herbal creams and lotions for all their family and friends to give away during the holidays with great success. I guess I am just all thumbs! So I cheat and use the shea butter lotion mixed with essential oil method mentioned above with fantastic results!

Basic Lip Balm Recipe

Here is a recipe for a basic lip balm that’s not too difficult to make at home.

Honey Lip Balm
1 cup sweet almond oil
2 ounces grated beeswax
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon essential oil

I looked in my herb closet and found a quart size glass canning jar. I placed this in a pan half filled with water and turned the heat to medium high. I placed the sweet almond oil and beeswax into the canning jar and used a pot holder to hold the top of the canning jar to swirl around the oil/wax mixture as it was melting. After the oil/wax mixture was completely melted I removed it from the pan of hot water (don’t forget to turn your stove off!) then I stirred in the honey before carefully adding in the essential oil.

When you have finished making the lip balm, pour it into small containers and let cool before covering with lids. This recipe will make approximately 8 ounces of lip balm which is quite a lot. Since I’m not planning on opening my own herbal beauty business, I cut the ingredients in half then poured the finished lip balm into two, two ounce wide mouth plastic storage jars with screw on lids. I keep a jar of the lip balm in my purse and the other one in my bathroom’s medicine cabinet to use anytime my lips feel dry. I used rose geranium as my essential oil but other essential oils, such as peppermint or orange, can be used depending upon your own personal preference. If you like a creamier consistency for your lip balm use a little bit less beeswax or add a bit more almond oil.

Take care,
Lynn Smythe of The Creative Cottage

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