Reply To: Medicine Making | External Preparations
Okay- here it is! As I mentioned, a dear friend of mine who has very delicate and sensitive skin, is a nurse working on the front lines of the COVID-19 epidemic. As such, she and her colleagues wear masks all day. They’ve been getting rashes on their cheeks and they wonder if it’s related to a chemical in the masks themselves. I was going to make a simple salve, but wanted something to moisturize and provide a barrier and that would hold up well in a lotion tube (one of those giant lip balm style, screw-up tubes), so I added mango butter. I always have calendula infusing in one oil or another, so this time, it was in the avocado oil. When I make more, I’ll do a warm infuse in the apricot seed oil as well. This recipe makes approx. 12 of the 0.5 oz lotion bar tubes + one small tin (good for testing the texture/firmness before pouring all of the tubes!).
80 grams beeswax
4 TBSP. Calendula-infused avocado oil
4 TBSP. Apricot seed oil (can also infuse together with the avocado oil)
4 TBSP Mango Butter
1 TBSP. Meadowfoam seed oil (worth ordering if you don’t have on-hand! Wonderful nutritive and barrier action but won’t clog pores!)
8.5 mL Lavender Essential oil (added at the very end, before pouring)
To make substitutions, I would suggest a bit of research (ideally, experience!), especially having to do with the viscosity and qualities of each oil. For example, avocado oil is one of my go-to oils because it’s not quite as viscous as jojoba (which I love for my own skin and hair but is too thick for many) but it’s more viscous than something like sweet almond oil (for me, this oil ruins a recipe, but that’s because my skin and hair like much more viscous oils. Some people love almond oil!). Avocado is right in the middle and is very close to our skin’s natural sebum so I’ve found that it works for a wide range of people! Apricot seed is just a smidge lighter than avocado, so it makes the final product a bit less “heavy”.
If you don’t have mango butter, I would suggest shea butter. Cocoa butter is much harder, so you’d need to play with the recipe and lessen the butter a bit (subbing in a bit more liquid oil) to get the right firmness. The tubes allow folks to swipe the formula on their cheeks without dipping their fingers into anything and can be carried easily (I make little keychain pouches for them as well), so the firmness is important, especially down here in the South (USA). Don’t want them melting accidentally!