Wednesday 4 December 2013

natural body oil


A few weekends ago I participated in an Herbal Infusions workshop put on by the good people of Kinfolk and it was hosted by Julie Clark of Province Apothecary. I'm not exactly sure what prompted the desire to take this workshop because I don't ever remember being so interested in aromatherapy before. I think the main draw was that it was a hands-on, mini crash course of sorts and I can't resist a good DIY workshop. At the end of the 3 hour info-packed session, I came away with quite a few handmade products and the confidence to make some more on my own at home. Of the items that the group was taught to make, I was most excited about the body oil. We had also tried our hands at an herbal infused steam inhalation mixture, a sugar scrub, bath salts and an apple cider vinegar hair rinse. AH-mazing. After letting the body oil that I made in the workshop rest for a day, I used it after a (body sugar scrub) bath and loved it. I had infused the oil with geranium, pine, peppermint and lime for an uplifting and awakening scent to help me get moving in the mornings (Marcus still doesn't sleep through the night!).

Because I loved the body oil so much, I couldn't wait to try to make another, specifically for Marcus (my 23 month old). He's got a couple of dry patches on his legs and I wanted something natural and organic to put on his skin to relieve any discomfort he may have. I sought out some ingredients and started with something gentle for him. In his mixture, I used grapeseed, safflower and apricot kernel oil as the carrier oils. I had some chamomile tea leaves and found some useful sources on the net on how to infuse that in the oil. Of the options given, I decided on putting the oil mixture in a glass and put it inside a water bath in a mini slow cooker and left it on low for 48 hours. Once that was done, I strained the leaves and added some lavender essential oil for a soothing scent and bottled it. So easy and so lovely. 

I named it the Lullaby Oil and made a little label for the bottle in the hopes that Marcus would be able to recognize it as his own and make it a part of his bedtime routine.

After his bath that night, I used it on him and I think he liked it. He certainly didn't object to the leg massage that went with it :)

*If you want to make your own body oil, please do find some resources and how-to's online. I took some information from these helpful posts - here and here. If you can, I would also highly recommend taking one of Julie's workshops!

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