Deodorant, Lotion Bars and Lip Gloss

Today I decided to try a few of the recipes from Wellness Mama’s blog. I decided to start with a small batch of deodorant and then move on to lotion bars and lip gloss.

This is kind of messy, so I love her suggestion to use a mason jar. I designated one for deodorant/lotion bars and one for lip gloss. I will keep these with my supplies and reuse them, saving my kitchen containers and the sink from the residue. I used a double boiler, putting water in the bottom and top pans. This worked well to melt the butters and beeswax slowly without overheating. Yes, that is a chopstick I am using to stir. Again, thanks to the occasional lazy takeout night.

This lady bug was all set to help,
until he smelled the insect repellent
essential oil blend I planned to
put in one of the lotion bars.

Here is the basic setup I used
for each recipe. Double boiler with
water and a mason jar.

I started with deodorant and modified the recipe so that I was just making enough for one tube, since I only had one empty tube.

Adapted recipe (from Wellness Mama) for one tube:

2 Tbs coconut oil

2 Tbs butter (shea, cocoa, or mango) I used 1 Tbs shea and 1 Tbs cocoa

2 Tbs beeswax

1/4 tsp vitamin E oil

1 Tbs baking soda

2 Tbs arrowroot powder

5 drop essential oil (patchouli, as requested by Steve)

My cooled to peanut butter consistency
quickly, because it was such a small batch.
It was the perfect amount!

I got some on my fingers while filling the tube using a spoon, so I tried it out. I’ve smelled like a dirty hippie all day, but I definitely don’t smell like BO. I set the tube someplace safe to cool for about 24 hours before I try using it that way.

I continued on, making lotion bars. Again I made these in small batches, so I could experiment with the different butters (shea and cocoa) and essential oils (bugoff and relax). I also made an unscented lotion bar which smells like cocoa butter.

Waiting for the deodorant and lotion bars to set up.

I made lipgloss last, and in tiny quantities to fill the little lip gloss containers. I bought a glass dropper at Amber Waves (local health food store) to fill the containers. You can get containers at Mountain Rose or Brambleberry, but I found these at the convenience store in an airport travel set.

I didn’t have any essential oils that were edible, so I tried adding almond extract. That was silly because it isn’t an oil and it won’t mix, but I was able to save the batch. The next tiny batch I tried adding honey, but this also wouldn’t stay mixed in. It might be easier to add it after it cools and just whip it up. Mine ended up in a little puddle on the bottom of the container under the cooled lip gloss, so maybe I can whip it up now. For future projects I’d like to get some edible essential oils, I can get these locally.