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Writer's pictureJanette Tibbs

Not just a lip gloss



Before I began making my own formulations for skincare I really believed that you could only use a product for what it was promoted as. A lip balm went on your lips. A body moisturiser went on your body. A face moisturiser went on your face, etc. But then! as I began to make my own balms, butters, lotions and potions, I discovered that when it came to purely natural formulations, it's the ratio of ingredients that make it 'work' as one application or another. For example:

  • Applying a small amount of body butter to wet skin turns it into quite a lovely soapfree cleanser. You just need a soft wet flannel to remove any residue and you're left with clean, soft, moisturised skin.

  • Adding oil to a blob of 'lip balm' makes it into a darn good salve for breaking up callused skin. Wear some thin socks over the top of that for a few hours and afterwards you'll find the calluses will just slough off easily with a flannel or loofah.

  • Adding a bit of botanical powder or cosmetic clay to a face cream/lotion/salve gifts a luxurious face masque home-spa treatment to-die-for! Leave it on for around 10minutes then wash off with tepid water. Because you have used a moisturising 'base' instead of plain water the mask won't become itchy or irritating.


So here we are at why this post is titled 'not just a lip gloss', because it was with the recipe for Au Naturel All Purpose Balm where I fell in love with the versatility of natural, synthetic free products. Originally this was Coco Loco Lip Balm (ah, all those years ago...) which underwent different formulations and versions to finally become the rock solid recipe that is Au Naturel. This recipe went on a magnificent journey. It became the base for many of my balms and solid aromatherapy blends. Because it was made with botanical butters and waxes it was also a beautifully vegan-compatible product.


But Au Naturel on its own is magnificent too. It's a lipgloss, skin boo-boo balm, eyebrow tamer, heel crack soother-remover and it has even been employed as a beard balm and short hair styling wax (albeit a very soft one suited for keeping stray hairs in place).


In the range now you can find the 'prodigy' of Coco Loco as the lip balms, lip glosses, body velvets (yep! these have their roots in the initial blending of wax, oils and butters), salves and solid aromatherapy balms. It is also the basis for the 'foolproof' lip balm recipe in the DIY kit. So if you're feeling fairly magical, you can experiment with that kit by adding in another oil, softening it further with more oil to make a salve, adding more botanical butter in to that and whipping it to create a body butter, ... or adding in any kind of essential oil you love to create your own scented balms to use or give as gifts.



I added some clay and or botanical powder and made the tinted lipglosses 'Mocha', 'Rose Petal' and 'Pink Lemonade'. Because of the way I blend and the care I take with cleanliness, these products use their self-preserving qualities to avoid having to use a separate preservative. Always pay attention to the use by date of each ingredient, how it's been stored and the quality of the product. This all helps you produce the highest quality balm, salve or gloss.


I wonder what you could come up with if left to concoct your own blends? This is a wonderful project to do before the end of year. Children can easily follow the instructions with supervision (hot wax is no fun on skin) and make their teachers or family members a special lip balm or salve. The cardboard tubes can be decorated with felt pens, the little tins will need a permanent marker to decorate them (or just use the adhesive labels included in the kit) and they can really stamp their creativity on the gift they're giving.


Every order of any of the perfumes now receives a sample of Au Naturel. It makes the best perfume primer so that your skin doesn't just drink in the perfume oil. All botanical perfumery oil blends have the tendency to be absorbed frighteningly fast by anyone with dry skin, leaving them soft and nourished, but with hardly any scent. That's where a primer balm comes in! Swipe a little Au Naturel on before applying your perfume oil (or Eau de Parfum) and you'll enjoy a lot more scent time. These tiny envelopes are completely biodegradable, and let's face it, incredibly cute.



All the best for the end of 2020 everyone...it's been a trial, but we're still standing. Keep on looking after yourself well, so you can be your best, and help those who need you.


Blessings

Nette

xx


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