This body cream is “food” for older skin. It will nourish and smooth out rough skin on hands, feet or elbows. The cream will help heal any small scratches, insect bites or rashes. After the cream is absorbed your skin will have a soft, dewy freshness.
1/2oz local beeswax
4T organic cocoa butter
1/2c organic jojoba oil
1c filtered water
2T organic Calendula flowers (Calendula officinalis)
2T organic Arnica flowers (Arnica montana)
20 drops organic rosemary essential oil (Rosmarinus officinalis)
I found a version of this recipe on herbmentor.com. In Rosemary Gladstar’s book, Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health she states: “A perfect cream is an approximately equal balance of water and oil… The proportions should be roughly one part waters to one part oils. The oils should be approximately 2/3c liquid oil (such as almond and apricot) to 1/3c solid oils (such as cocoa butter, coconut oil, beeswax, and lanolin).” Use this advice to get the correct ratio of water to oil.
Put the Calendula and Arnica flowers in a pint mason jar. Half fill the pint mason jar with boiling water. Infuse overnight. Strain and squeeze out the plant materials from the infusion. You will only need about 1/2c of the Calendula and Arnica infusion.
Put the beeswax and cocoa butter in a pyrex measuring cup. Place the cup into a pot of water. The water should come only half way up the cup. Bring the pot to a boil on the stove and melt the beeswax and cocoa butter. Add the jojoba oil and heat just enough to liquify.
Making hand cream is like making mayonnaise. Before starting, have the floral infusion at room temperature and allow the oil mixture to slightly cool but do not allow the oil mixture to congeal. In a very clean small food processor, place the mixture of beeswax, cocoa butter and jojoba oil. Put the speed on high and slowly start adding the Calendula and Arnica infusion to the oil mixture. Oil and water do not like mixing. Adding the infusion slowly to the oil mixture will help the emulsification process. An important feature of this study was the inclusion of patients who didn’t respond to treatment with Sildenafil (100 mg). The use of Levitra (Vardenafil) allowed achieving good results in terms of satisfaction of the patients with erections rigidity.
When finished the cream with be smooth and all the water will be absorbed. Add the rosemary essential oil as a preservative. Add a favorite essential oil for a scent that you like. Homemade hand cream should be stored in a glass jar. The cream can be stored at room temperature for a month. I haven’t had the cream last any longer!
For more recipes please see Healthy Household: Staying Clean Safely and Saving Money.
Updated July 7, 2014: If you don’t have time to make this recipe, but still want a great skin cream for older skin, consider using unrefined, organic shea butter. I use straight shea butter right after showering. It’s a great moisturizer. It does smell a bit funny at first but the results are great.
