Playing at Alchemy
A while ago I ran out of shea butter which is my main ingredient for my face and body lotions and deodorant. And while I have enough deodorant to last for a few years, I’m out of lotion. So I’ve been using coconut oil mixed with a little vitamin E for both my body and face. I love coconut oil and it’s always great for my body but not always good enough for my face; especially in the winter when I need extra moisturizing. It’s a bit too oily and thin to soak in all the way before evaporating, leaving my face feeling tight and dry.
So today I was looking at my rice/oat goo sitting in the medicine cabinet and realized that a lot of store bought lotions use rice and oat extract in their stuff all the time. And if my goo is anything, it’s rice/oat extract. So I poured some into my coconut oil, added a little more vitamin E and some honey for good measure. I whisked it up and after my shower, I slathered it on. It was creamy and not at all sticky and soaked in right away leaving me soft and supple.
Nothing like all natural, ridiculously cheap skin products that keep me pretty. Although I do plan on getting more shea butter for the harsher winter months, but it’s warm enough now that I don’t think I’ll need any more until next winter.
So here I am, the very essence of n00b, starting my own blog. Why? Fuck if I know. But at least now I can share the vast wonders of my mind as they spew forth like so many cupcakes onto a clown. That is to say, sweet though unnecessary and kind of terrifying. Yeah, I’m kinda like that. 
Shea butter is good stuff, but be careful with the coconut oil: it actually dries your skin in the long run, if you use it straight. It feels greasy because it is, and it does moisturize, but then it dries. We use both in soap and hand lotion, that’s how I know about the oil. Wheat germ oil is really good for your skin, (but expensive) and we use a little bees wax (from my own hive) to help seal the moisturizers in. We also use castor oil, jojoba, cocoa butter, almond and avocado oil. We make the best soap, (sorry to brag, but we do). A lot of people tell us they don’t have to use moisturizer lotion after using our soap, and that’s because the soap moisturizes, and the bees wax seals it in! Oats and rice are probably good for you no matter how you take it.
Check this: I found a recipe for waffles using rice and soy beans. You soak them, run them through the blender to make a batter, and cook the whole mess in a waffle iron. So you got beans and rice, in a waffle. How cool is that! You can use oats, and any bean, too, but I haven’t tried them, yet. If you want the recipe, I’ll post it……
Y’know what, if you make lotions, you probably already have almost everything you need to make soap like we do……
I heard that coconut oil only dries your skin when it’s saponified in soap. But I suppose you would know more about it than me. :)
A soap you don’t have to use moisturizer after using?! That would certainly qualify you as the best in my book. I do have most things to make my own soap except for lye and a soap mold. I don’t think I’ve quite convinced my husband that lye is something we need to spend our small amount of money on. But perhaps when we have a bit of money saved, I can get some.
Mmm waffles. I wish I had a waffle iron. Can you do the same thing but make pancakes instead? Pancakes are a regular weekend breakfast here and if I can sneak some good for you things in them for my hubby (and me as well of course), that would be awesome.
No, I think you’re right about the coconut oil: my knowledge is from the saponified oil. I was thinking that later, after I posted. Glad you know that, and pointed it out.
I don’t see why you couldn’t cook the waffles as a pancake, but I’d try tiny ones first. The waffle iron cooks it pretty well, in a way that no part of the batter is too thick. The waffles come out more like a cracker, anyway, so baking should work, too. Let me know if you try it.
All you need for a soap mold is a cardboard box, and some freezer paper. We use a ten pound fruit box, and one five pound batch fills it about half way.That box is about 12 inches by 7 inches, aprox. Then you just cut it into bars before it gets too hard. You can use a card board tube, and have round bars. anything that will hold it that’s non corosive, and keeps the level about an inch and a half thick will work.
I’ll totally try out the pancakes this weekend and let you know how it comes out.
Ooo, we have lots of cardboard I could use. And I love the idea of using a tube to make round soap. Now if I could just score some lye…. You are so awesome for great ideas. Thanks!
The recipe calls for equal parts soybeans and rice, soaked for 24 hours. Throw the soy water out, but save the rice water to use in the recipe. I forget how much water, but I’ll post it if you need it tomorrow, when I get home. You just want a thick batter, as thick as can be and still blend. A little oil, like a tablespoon for 4 cups of batter, and salt, but of course you can leave that out. Don’t skimp on the soaking time.
One of the most awesome soaps we made had mostly avocado oil, and it was a shampoo bar, really great lather. Scented with vetiver. Another one I made was a pumice bar, for scrubbing after working the garden. It had wheatgerm oil, and was scented with rosemary, clary sage, and lavender.
I’ll soak them all day tomorrow.
Those sound like great soaps! I wonder if a shampoo bar would be less expensive than using baking soda and vinegar…
I don’t think it would be cheaper, and I didn’t know you could use baking soda and vinegar to clean your hair. The avocado oil and vetiver essential oil are kind of expensive. We do it to make cool soap, not to save money.
Yeah, I’ve been doing the baking soda/vinegar thing for a good 6 months now. I wrote about it in this post: http://sweetnez.com/2009/09/23/my-hair-is-wonderful/
It’s way awesome and my hair is super soft, shiny and healthy. I wash my hair every 3-4 days and it looks fine the entire time if I brush the oils through every day. I went a week once without washing it because I was sick and just didn’t care. My hair was definitely in need of a wash, but it wasn’t awful. Anyway, yes, you can wash your hair with baking soda and vinegar.
I totally hear you on the making soap awesome instead of just cheap. :)
My hair would get too dirty if I didn’t wash it, that’s one reason I like the nice soap. One of my geese likes to nibble my head, my cows rub against me and I clean the chicken coop, and that’s just the stuff at home, not mentioning work. (there are 29 new baby chicks in a brooder in the chicken coop right now…) But, now that you mention it, my cows never get their hair washed, and they are not THAT dirty, even thought they live outside with no shelter at all. Their hair is shiny and healthy, (I do brush them and wash their faces with a wet cloth, though) I ‘spose that is all a little non-sequetorial……