Choices, Choices

I was hard at work this weekend perfecting some of our hand creams and balms… I thought I’d share some of the process with you.

In making our creams, balms and body butters, we have so many wonderful ingredient choices! We begin to create our recipes by choosing oils and butters that provide the particular properties we want each product to have- a light and moisturizing hand cream, a thick and luxurious body butter, a protective and healing balm.

Here are some of our favorite oils to work with:

Sweet Almond Oil- Sweet almond oil is extracted from the almond seed. It’s a very versatile oil, good for all skin types. It gives complexions a healthy glow, and is moisturizing and lubricating (so it makes for a great massage oil!) We use sweet almond oil in products such as our sugar scrubs.

Jojoba Oil- Jojoba oil is very unique- it’s actually a liquid wax! It’s expeller pressed from the jojoba seed and is a deep, clear yellow color. It behaves much like the oil our skin naturally produces, so it absorbs readily into and moisturizes our skin. Jojoba oil can also be used in shampoos, improving your hair’s smoothness and shine. Jojoba is one of my favorite oils, and we use it in our hand creams and body oils.

Avocado Oil- Avocado oil is made from the fruit (the yummy part!) of the avocado. It’s a thicker, waxier oil, rich in Vitamins A, D & E. We use avocado oil in our balms and creams.

Apricot Kernel Oil- As the name implies, this oil is extracted from the kernal of the apricot. High in Vitamin A, this oil is lighter in weight and texture than some of the other oils such as sweet almond oil, and is excellent for oily to normal and mature skin.

Coconut Oil- Coconut oil is refined from the meat of the coconut palm, and retains some of that sweet, tropical flavor. It’s very useful in body butters and lip balms.

Later on this week, we’ll talk about some of our favorite butters, and I’ll show you some of the finished products!