The DIY Gift Guide
The holiday season is around the corner, and with it comes a scramble for gifts for loved ones. This year, we are going 100% natural and as waste- and plastic free as we can, with thoughtful DIY handmade gifts. This is the first in a series of natural and waste-less gifting ideas - look out for the others coming soon!
Lip Scrubs
Lip scrubs are easy to make and a natural way to exfoliate delicate lip skin, improve circulation and plump up. It's also a fun activity to do with kids during holidays, and only a few ingredients are required!
Customisable Lip Scrub
Organic coconut sugar (you could also use brown sugar or white sugar or if you prefer)
A hard oil/butter of choice (hard meaning it is solid at room temperature) - coconut oil, avocado butter, cocoa butter, shea butter, etc
A soft oil of choice such as olive, jojoba, hazelnut, pomegranate, castor, sesame, sunflower, argan, sweet almond, you choose your favorite!
Essential oil of choice - some nice ones are sweet orange, peppermint, cinnamon, geranium, lime or coffee, but there are many others so get creative.
Small glass jar
Firstly, choose which butters, oils and essential oils you want to use. Go for combinations that complement each other. Here are some ideas:
- Avocado butter - sweet almond - lime
- Cocoa butter - hazelnut - coffee
- Coconut oil - jojoba - sweet orange
- Shea butter - olive oil - cinnamon
Once you know which oils and butters you are working with, gently melt the hard oil and soft oil together (leave the essential oil for last). Add the melted oils to the sugar and mix until combined. Lastly, add a few drops of essential oil and mix. Store in a pretty glass jar and use once a week to exfoliate your lips.
Lip Scrub Stick
Ingredients:
- 5g beeswax
- 6g coconut oil
- 3g cocoa butter
- 10g avocado oil
- 1 g vitamin E oil
- 2 tsp white sugar or organic coconut sugar
- 6 drops peppermint essential oil
Storage:
- Reused lip balm tubes
Method:
- Melt all the oils and beeswax together (not the essential oil).
- Stir in the sugar.
- Add the peppermint essential oil.
- Stir together.
- Decant into a reused lip balm tube or a glass container.
Lip Balms
Lip balms are another easy and fun holiday activity, and they make great little gifts. They are easily customisable with different 'flavours' of essential oils and can be tinted with iron oxides and micas.
Vanilla Cocoa Lip Conditioner
Ingredients:- 7g beeswax or a vegan alternative such as kahlwax, carnauba wax or soy wax.
- 15g cocoa butter
- 30g sweet almond oil
- 10 drops vanilla blend (optional)
- 8 drops of vitamin E oil
- 4 aluminium tins (optional)
Method:
- Melt the beeswax, cocoa butter and almond oil. You may want to melt the beeswax first as it will take the longest to liquify.
- Once the oils have melted, add the vanilla oil and vitamin E oil.
- Pour into little tins and leave to set.
Creamy-licious Lip Balm
Ingredients:
- 20g castor oil
- 10g cetyl alcohol
- 2.5g xanthan gum
- 2.5g stearic acid
- 5g coconut oil (can substitute with sweet almond)
- 8g beeswax (can substitute with soy wax. for a vegan alternative)
- 1.5g kahlwax
- 0.25g vitamin E oil
Storage:
- 4 aluminium tins (optional)
- 3 glass jars (optional)
Method:
- Weigh out all the ingredients except the vitamin E oil, and melt together.
- Remove from the heat then stir in the vitamin E.
- Pour into reused lip balm tubes or glass jars/aluminium tins.
2 comments
Hi Faye, a preservative is not necessary in anhydrous products such as these, but if you would like to add one I would go for the Euxyl 940 here: https://essentiallynatural.co.za/products/euxyl-940-pe9010?pos=1&_sid=0843c1ca7&ss=r
Which preservative do i add to lip scrubs and body scrubs to have a shelve life of 6months