InThe Complete Guide to Natural Homemade Beauty Products and Treatments: 175 Recipes from Scrubs and Masks to Moisturizers and ShampooAmelia Ruiz shows readers how to pamper yourself naturally. With 175 soothing homemade beauty products, readers with learn to bring out their beauty naturally from head to toe. The following excerpt is from Chapter 9, “Scents and Sun-Care Products.”
Skin can get dry when exposed to the sun, and a hydrating after-sun cream is a terrific solution. This one contains a number of natural emollients that protect the skin.
Supplies:
- Fine-mesh sieve
- Hand mixer
- Small glass jar with lid
Ingredients:
- 1 tsp dried horsetail (see Tips)
- 2 tbsp boiling water
- 1/4 oz raw beeswax, grated
- 1/4 oz cocoa butter (see Tips)
- 1/8 oz stearic acid (see Tips)
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
- 2 tsp walnut oil
- 3 drops orange essential oil
Note: Always measure accurately when you’re making homemade beauty products.
Instructions:
- Place horsetail in a small heatproof bowl; pour boiling water over top. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Place fine-mesh sieve over a small glass measuring cup; strain infusion into cup, discarding solids. Let cool to room temperature.
- In another small heatproof bowl, combine beeswax, cocoa butter, stearic acid, avocado oil and walnut oil. Set aside.
- Pour enough water into a small saucepan to come about 2 inches up the side; bring to a simmer. Set bowl with beeswax mixture on saucepan so that bottom of bowl is not touching simmering water; stir until beeswax mixture is melted and smooth. Remove bowl from heat.
- Add horsetail infusion to beeswax mixture. Using hand mixer, beat for 2 minutes or until beeswax mixture has a milky consistency.
- Add orange essential oil and beat for 2 minutes or until mixture is thickened and cooled.
- Pour into jar. Gently massage cream over skin after sun exposure. Store jar in a cool, dark place for up to 1 month.
Tips:
- Choose 100 percent natural cocoa butter for homemade creams like this. You can buy chunks of this creamy, yellowish substance made from cocoa beans at cosmetic-supply stores and online. It is also sold in uniform-size wafers. Either form will work fine in this recipe.
- Stearic acid crystals are commonly added to mixtures that contain beeswax, to help boost the wax’s emulsifying powers. Look for them at cosmetic-supply stores or online.
- You can buy dried witch hazel leaves (Hamamelis virginiana) and horsetail (Equisetum arvense) at many online herb stores.
More from The Complete Guide to Natural Homemade Beauty Products and Treatments:
Courtesy ofThe Complete Guide to Natural Homemade Beauty Products and Treatmentsby Amelia Ruiz © 2016 www.robertrose.ca. Reprinted with publisher permission. Available where books are sold.
