Wax and Bubbles

Tis the season to over indulge on peppermint. From the candy canes on the tree to teas, but what about over indulgence without all that guilt later during this time of year. There are ways you can get the wonderful benefits of peppermint when it’s just peppermint you gotta have. And the best part is, you can use them on your lips and your tips, or wherever else you want a bit of peppermint to tide you over during the holiday season. Here’s how.

• Peppermint Lip Balm
Makes 1/2 ounce

1 1/2 tsp. grated cocoa butter
1/2 tsp. coconut oil
2-3 drops peppermint essential oil
1 1/2 tsp. beeswax

Combine all ingredients listed above in a microwave-safe dish or in a double boiler over the stovetop. Bring the ingredients to a liquid form and combine till the mixture is smooth. Add the peppermint essential oil and stir to combine. Pour your mixture into a small jar or a lip balm tube you can pick up at the local market or health food store. Allow to cool at room temperature and if the top of the lip balm creates a dip, add a bit more lip balm to cover the dip in the balm. You can also add any combination of essential oils if you prefer a different scent to peppermint.

• Peppermint Cuticle Cream
Makes 1 ounce

1 tsp. cocoa butter, grated
2 tbs. coconut oil
4 drops peppermint essential oil

Heat the cocoa butter and coconut oil in s small pot or in a microwave safe dish until melted thoroughly. Stir well until the mixture is a smooth liquid. Add the essential oil and combine till smooth once again. Pour into a clean jar with a tight fitting lid and allow to cool completely. You can use this mixture on your cuticles or even on very dry parts of the skin. It’s a great salve with over worked hands and you can replace the peppermint essential oil with any other oils or other essential oils you prefer the smell of over peppermint.

When shopping for lip balm to take with you where ever you go always look for natural kip balms and lipsticks containing beeswax, iron oxides, jojoba, or other plant oils, and even ones with vitamin E.

It’s been reported that many women and even some men (that use lip balm) consume roughly 4 to 9 lbs of lipstick in there lifetime. So the more natural products in your lip stick or lip balm the better it is for your body in the long run.

Select lip colors containing emollients like shea butter and castor oil rather than matte formulas, which tend to dry out the lips eventually and you will keep applying the lip balm or lip stick.

The biggest threat among lip stick companies and your lips is lead. It has been linked to numerous health problems and is in more than half of the 33 top brand of lipstick on the market currently. One third of the lipsticks exceeded the 0.1 parts per million (PPM) FDA lead limit for even candy-a standard established to protect the children the eat the candy from directly ingesting lead.

Since natural lip balms and lip sticks don’t rely on chemical waxes, they are softer than drugstore and department store regular carried brand. They also have a tendency to melt at lower heat temperatures so don’t leave them in direct sunlight or low heat. Because the lips contain no oil glands, always keep lip balm handy with you with one that contain natural occlusive’s like beeswax, and candelilla wax. These ingredients act as barriers to trap the moisture in the lips so less applying of the lip balm or lip stick is needed.

Another FYI: If you drink at least the recommended eight, eight ounces glasses of water daily and regularity eat moisture-rich foods such as deep-water ocean fish help keep lips naturally moist overall.

• What you will need:

-A double boiler or microwave oven
-Crushed or grated beeswax
-Extra virgin olive oil
-12 to 25 drops of your choice essential oil blend
-Plastic, metal or glass lip balm tubes or containers

In a double boiler or a microwave, melt, on low heat, 1 ounce of the crushed or gates beeswax. You can find beeswax pellets in the health food store and those will work just fine as well. Add in 3 ounces of the extra-virgin olive oil until the wax has softened and begins to melt completely. Combine the olive oil with the beeswax, but do not stir to hard or fast and allow air bubbles to get inside the mixture. This will turn you lip balm into more of a salve than a solid stick of lip balm.

Remove the mixture from the heat and mix in 12 to 25 drops of your choice of essential oils. Essential oils are very intense so if you are adding, say peppermint always start small and work your way up with the drops. You don’t want to over power your lips with the peppermint oil, it will burn if you get too much.

Pour the lip balm mixture into 1/4 ounce plastic lip balm tubes, containers or even metal salve containers will work. You can find all of these at a crafts store or a health food store world wide. Let the tubes sit in room temperature to cool completely before applying the lids. If you place them in a cooler or refrigerator they will harden to quickly and begin to crack. When you go to use the lip balm it won’t hold it’s shape and will break apart.

Making Peppermint Soap:

40 oz Olive oil
20 oz Palm Kernel oil
20 oz Pam oil
20 oz Coconut oil
5 oz Jojoba oil (added at trace)
4 oz Lavender EO (added at trace)
2 oz Peppermint EO (added at trace)
6 oz Alcanet diffused in 8 oz olive oil (added at trace)
34 oz filtered water
14.5 oz lanolin
Combined oils and lanolin at 100 degrees F. Mixed with stick blender. Poured into loaf mold and covered with plastic wrap. Wrapped in blankets for 24 hrs and then cut into thick strips of soap and wrap in cloth or plastic wrap. Store in a cool, dry location.

Making Peppermint Lip Balm:

1½ oz beeswax pellets
1 oz cocoa butter
1½ oz shea butter
2 ozs. sweet almond oil
1-2 teaspoons peppermint essential oil
1 teaspoon vitamin E liquid

In a very small pan, add the beeswax and melt over the lowest setting.
Once melted add the cocoa butter chunks and shea butter, let melt, and
then add the sweet almond oil. Heat through. Add the Vitamin E oil.
Remove from stove and pour into a glass measuring cup for easy pouring
into lip balm containers.

Add the peppermint oil. Stir peppermint oil in
and pour into lip balm containers. If the mixture starts to harden, place in
the microwave for a few seconds to re-melt and then pour. Makes 6 oz.

Making Peppermint Lotion:

3 tbsp paraffin
1/2 cup shea butter
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp glycerin
10-15 drops peppermint essential oil

Slowly heat paraffin with the oils in a double boiler. Stir until blended. Add in the glycerin and remove from heat. Let cool before using.

Making Peppermint Scented Candles:

1/2 teaspoon peppermint essential oil
Wicks
Wick holder
1/2 pound beeswax
1/2 pound soy wax
Small paintbrush

1. In a double boiler, heat beeswax and soy wax until melted, about 180 degrees. Check temperature with a candy thermometer. Turn off the heat and add peppermint oil.

2. Cut 3 inches of wick; tie a knot at one end. Thread the loose end through a wick holder, and pull so the knot is secure under the holder.

3. Dip the wick and holder with wax until coated; this will stiffen and straighten the wick. Press the wick holder into the bottom of your candle holder to affix. Let the wick dry.

4. Pour the wax into the candle, and fill to the edge. Let the candle dry for about 4 hours.

To help soothe sore muscles you have to at least get down into the muscle and not just the top layer of skin. People with arthritis could also benefit from this muscle soak when dealing with painful flare-ups. Here’s how to make it:

1 tsp. dried juniper (Juniperus communis) berries
2 tbs. fresh or dried peppermint (Mentha xpiperita)
2 tbs. fresh or dried spearmint (Mentha spicata)
2 tbs. fresh or dried lavender (Lavandula augustifolia)
5-7 drops of peppermint essential oil (Mentha xpiperita)
5-7 drops lavender essential oil (Lavandula augustifolia)

Place all dried or fresh ingredients in a muslin drawstring bag or a disposable bath tea bag. If both are unable to get ahold of, cheese-cloth will work as well. Just double or the cheese-cloth to make sure the dried or fresh leaves don’t slip out the side of the cheese-cloth.

Add the bag to your bathtub and fill the tub with hot water. Add the essential oil drops. Relax and soak for 20 minutes. When you get out of the tub some of the essential oils will be on your skin. Rub the oil in the places where the muscles hurt the most. Pat yourself dry and dress for bed. The next best thing for sore muscles is to lay flat on either a hard surface or a soft surface, such as your bed, given whatever feels more comfortable to your back.

**Sandra Williams over at Globally Green Living wishes everyone a happy new year 2008. Right back at you Sandra. Head over to her blog and wish we a happy new year as well.**
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WAX AND BUBBLES PRODUCT SHOWCASE:

Burt’s Bees Natural Products.(Earth Friendly Natural Personal Care For: The Greater Good!)

This winter, thou shalt not chap.

If you hate chapped winter, dry lips then instead of piling on the store bought brand, make your own and make several to pass out to others that have chapped lips. You can add as many ingredients and take as many ingredients away as you want. It’s your recipe. Improvise this recipe and make it your own.

Peppermint Eucalyptus: Thou-Shalt not chap soothing lip balm®™BeeSpa Naturals

6 drops peppermint essential oil
4 drops eucalyptus essential oil
4 drops rosemary essential oil
1 tablespoon soy wax
1 tablespoon beeswax pearls
1 tablespoon pure shea butter
2 tablespoons sweet almond oil

Mix essential oils and almond oil together in a small glass bowl. Heat in microwave for about 30 seconds. Remove from the microwave and add soy wax. Heat for another 30 seconds. Mix in beeswax pearls with a whisk. Heat for another 30 seconds. Whisk in shea butter. Mixture will become very hot, as well as the bowl. Use care when handling. Heat for 1 minute or until shea butter is melted. whisk ingredients together till mixture begins to cool. You have to continue to mix so the oils can become incorporated into the mixture completely. If you have to stick the bowl in the refrigerator till the bowl becomes cooled down enough to handles without a pot-holder or tea towel. After the mixture is whisked enough to be incorporated, but not fully set, pour into a very shallow container with a lid. Make sure the container is shallow enough to put your finger in or a lip brush. Use whenever your lips feel dry and chapped.

This recipe is great for skiiers or snowboarders. Because of the products in this lip balm, be sure and not use this chap-stick before tanning in a tanning bed or staying in the sun for too long.

Always label your products made. You don’t want to spend the time making something and throw it in your purse or bag and forget what it is later on.

**Dorrington Williams over at Motor Musings here at 451 Press has done many postings on Autos A-Z. Day was the posting on “B”, bearings. Read how important it is to keep up on your cars bearings maintenance by clicking here.**

FUTURE POST LOOK-ON:

• Sore Muscle Soak

• Candles Made From Soy

• Cucumber Facial Mask

• Making Room Scents For Your Home

• Herbal Massage Oil

Lots of soap and candle makers also dabble in other products. Lip balms use some of the same ingredients as cold or hot processed soap, and seem like a natural addition to the product line. Other items you can include in your offerings are lotions and lotion or butter bars, shower gels, and liquid soap. I’m sure there are others - I’ve made potpourri and air freshening gels too, both of which are a lot of fun.

Lip balm is really easy to make, and you can add whatever sort of flavour and colour you like. I’ve heard of people using food colouring in lip balm, but I prefer the cosmetic grade colourants that are especially made for this type of thing. They last a lot longer and the colours are generally brighter.

Packaging lip balm is the only tricky part, and that’s because of the price and availability of the containers. You can get push up tubes or little pots (among other things) at a number of internet shops, like Majestic Mountain Sage, at fairly reasonable prices. Keep in mind though that if you’re selling these, you’ll have to figure out the cost per balm and set your retail price accordingly. You’ll also have to label your lip balms, with the name, flavour, and ingredients.

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