What have you done for yourself today?

[willow]

Self administered pedi/mani. Black glitter polish on the toes of my super pampered and polished feet and clear on fingers of my, slightly drier than I'd like, hands. Having my hands in water 50 times a day and the bitter cold, biting winter winds don't help with that. Got to get myself some better kitchen gloves..... (or wear the ones I have ALL THE TIME instead of when I take those extra few seconds...)


*After thought* probably more than 50 times a day and I am not a clean freak.

Originally Posted by willow

Self administered pedi/mani. Black glitter polish on the toes of my super pampered and polished feet and clear on fingers of my, slightly drier than I'd like, hands. Having my hands in water 50 times a day and the bitter cold, biting winter winds don't help with that. Got to get myself some better kitchen gloves..... (or wear the ones I have ALL THE TIME instead of when I take those extra few seconds...)


*After thought* probably more than 50 times a day and I am not a clean freak.

A home-made mix of something like cocoa butter, jojoba oil/wax and argan oil will fix those drier than you would like hands.

[willow]

Originally Posted by Daktari

A home-made mix of something like cocoa butter, jojoba oil/wax and argan oil will fix those drier than you would like hands.

In what proportions? Do you have a 'recipe'? Should I use Raw Natural Deodourised Cocoa Butter? (I've been googling)

I'd like to make a batch in time for my upcoming spa weekend 2nd/3rd March and gift jars of homemade hand cream to my two roomies.

Originally Posted by willow

In what proportions? Do you have a 'recipe'?

Proportions are according to preference. Experimentation is the key. I personally currently use a mix with the greater proportion being jojoba, then argan, then evening primrose, with meadowfoam oil as the least. I use this on my face and hands.

Another good method is to whisk a little of the oils into melted cocoa butter and allow it to set to get a 'hand bar' that you can carry in a suitable size tiny 'tupperware'.

The cocoa butter would be a great barrier when used regularly/frequently if you have your hands in water a lot.

Add a little blissful ylang ylang and yer cookin' wit' gas!!

Ebay is your friend of cocoa butter. I don't think I've necessarily bothered with the deoderised stuff before. Food grade cocoa butter is what you're looking for.

In UK this the website I've recently discovered and can highly recommend their products and service.
http://www.naturallythinking.com/

[willow]

Thank you for the link! At a quick glance and I can see they sell pretty much everything I could possibly need to make my hand cream. And, reasonably priced too.

Better dust off my cauldron.

Originally Posted by willow

Thank you for the link! At a quick glance and I can see they sell pretty much everything I could possibly need to make my hand cream. And, reasonably priced too.

Better dust off my cauldron.

Yup they do have it all. I buy their packaging too.

Can I recommend that you have utensils dedicated to making such products.

If you want a creamy texture for hands then look at shea butter or possibly mango butter.
I've always had a bit of a problem with mixing oils and butters. Sometimes they seem to granulate but I'm not sure why. One day I'll work it out. It's why I tend to work solely with oils nowadays and just have the odd pure cocoa butter 'muffins' for hands (yup, I really do set them in a mini muffin tin).

ps. with the link. Unless you're paying for next day delivery or some such I recommend choosing the cheapest of the postage options, it doesn't seem to make a difference to how quickly it arrives unless you pay scads more. Also found that orders made later in the working week seem to arrive more quickly for some reason...that's my experience anyway.