Someone asked me yesterday where I get the base for my lotion because she's allergic to certain chemicals. I replied that all of my products were hand made and she replied, asking again where I get my mix from.
This made me realize I have not done a very good job of explaining By Hand, For Hands!
Everything I make is made from scratch, that is, there is no base, mix, etc. Let me explain the process to give you a better idea.
One of my favourite products is the hand cream I've been using every night. I don't have a name for it yet, but it was one of the first things I formulated and it's something I created specifically for me, a little luxury.
I wanted something emollient and rich to wear at night, something that lasted and yet something not sticky. One of my pet peeves are lotions that 'stick' and this is usually because of their glycerin content or because they are made with things that will evaporate off your skin rather than nourish them. The evaporation takes time and leaves yuck.
What I do first is research the oils and butters I want to use. Each oil (like argan and safflower) and butter (like shea and cocoa) is made up of a complex chain of fatty acids. The way these bonds are formed create different properties in the oil making it either light or heavy and giving it all sort of different nutrients like vitamins, ceramides, and beneficial acids like gamma linolenic. Some oils are anti inflammatory, or anti acne, and some can actually help regenerate damaged or aging cells. These are facts proven by science, not some fear-mongering consumer site.
I figure out what my goal is for the product I'm making and pick oils and butter that fit that need or 'fix' the issues I'm blending for, like a little Rx. For this cream I went with cocoa which is occlusive, which means it forms a barrier to your skin to keep it hydrated. I also used olive oil with is really rich in amazing things to hydrate and heal.
Sometimes I will even go so far as to infuse those oils with herbs to go one step further and add even more nutrients and benefits.
Then I'll chose the liquid portion of the cream. Most often big companies fill theirs with fillers like chemicals or alcohols. I use either pure distilled water but most often, herb infused teas and hydrosols to jam even more healthy things into the lotion. I often add things to keep your skin moisturized like humectants. In my night cream I used chamomile tea as well and lavender hydrosol and glycerin.
Each 'phase' of the lotion must be blended and it's usually a combination of things, never just 'an oil' and 'water'. Once blended you heat and hold these phases in order to be able to combine them and to ensure that they are contaminate free.
From there you add a couple of naturally derived fatty acids or fatty alcohols to get things to emulsify, that is for the water and oil to combine, and you whip it like heck while it's still warm and as it cools it becomes a luxurious cream that you can add even more things to like essential oils or skin loving allantoin and panthenol. Of course you need to consider the over all make up of the blend to make sure there is enough going on to keep it thin enough to use and to keep it combined and not separate or to ensure it stays fresh and doesn't mold or go rancid. The night cream is formulated to be thicker than a day cream might be.
I use as many locally sourced products as I can whenever I use things like goat's milk, lanolin, and olive oils and I never use soy. My oils are organic and non-gmo. I never fill my products with chemicals. I never dump some base into a jar and add a scent, in fact, I don't use any artificial scents in my body products, just eos or herbs. For my night cream I used lavender eo.
I do use some amazing scents in my soaps and scrubs, but I will also make a separate soap line that is still all natural. I never use palm or animal products in my soaps.
In the end, the night cream I formulated is rich, hydrating, and soothing via it's herbal and eo additives.
Every time I sit to formulate a new product I do so with a need in mind create my own 'prescriptive' remedy, by hand.
