Making my own body mist, room scent and scented body oil. As you may know from reading my hair cutting post, I like fruity and yummy scents, something subtle, don't like strong fragrances. I'm strongly allergic to scents like lilies and musk (hay fever), therefore I try not to apply for jobs involving food and involves high hygiene standards, as I really have to wipe my nose a lot. When buying deodorants in the past, some of them I really don't like the smell of, my mother has purchased me five bottles of the stuff when had asked her buy me one, going to have to use it up over my lifetime by mixing it with another scent.
Don't actually use a lot of scents in the mornings, as prefer sleep over grooming, so it is purely for my days off. However, will leave it by my hairdryer and use it when there's time before work, I'm sure that my colleagues will be bursting with vicious remarks.
The thing with us creative people, we like to show we are creative by our clothes, hair or makeup, accessories, it's the way we express ourselves and usually market the products we make (think self advertising, no one is going to buy a dress from you if they've never seen it or viewed your skills). And satisfies the restrictions of a job surrounded by closed minded colleagues or people in general, it has nothing to do with flirting! Most woman wear makeup etcetera for themselves, not for others. I always get people second guessing what I'm wearing, in particular makeup, they always get it wrong. I'm a creative person, I don't do the norm, I always think out the box.
I had a couple of really rude bank assistants in the North End branch back around 4 years ago, talking about my lip colour due to the stalking bald guy living next door spreading lies. There were only two customers in there including myself, once the other customer had left; the female said "she's wearing pink lipstick", male replied "yeah". Of course I was not wearing pink, because I generally hate wearing pink (pink is associated with girly types and in colour psychology it represents people who need looking after), it wasn't even lipstick but other products and colour. The bald guy even had two b*tchy female visitors yesterday 22 November 2020 (yes, in national lockdown), still saying this is "confidence" and "showing off", oh and "sly" for tying the harassing neighbours up to the druggies across the road. The only reason why woman or even men have a go at other people's dressing and styling is jealousy and hate. Didn't think nothing of that remark until I heard the bald guy next day talking where I was, people walking past me in the street and my b*tchy store trainer Karen (I think she now works in the hospital up in Cosham) at the time saying "show off, she's wearing pink lipstick".
Scents and colour are good for mental health and lifting up spirits. So this is another project for my second lockdown of Coronavirus. So far just using myself as a guinea pig to check for allergic reactions before giving it to my friends or even selling a few lip balms and glosses online, and check for staining on fabrics.
One of my friends every year gifts me lip balm a lot which is shared with family as I have too much, once I send her some, she'll probably get the hint. I like giving things I make to friends and work colleagues I LIKE, there's a good self satisfaction when you've spend a lot of time and hard work on something you've made personally being appreciated. I've been wanting to try this for a while, back when the Superdrug lady was wondering why I was buying so much Vaseline petroleum jelly which I accidently used for my own skin care and had to buy a new pot so that it is not contaminated. There's a lot of people watching me shop, due to the infamous slander circling around me; but they don't even realise it is stalking, slanderous behaviour and it is actually being very nosy.
*Update; after spraying the body/room spray on white cotton, particularly sweet orange which is yellowish in tint, I can confirm that it does not leave any staining on clothing or textile furnishings. However if you are trying different brand of oils or wearing any special clothing, I'd advise patch testing the spray first on some scrap fabric or old tee shirt.
Terminology & Safety
This is from a lot of research online as no one explains it all at once for the newbie. It is important not to use oils pure from concentrate as it can cause allergic reactions on the skin. Some people develop sensitivity particularly in sunlight, or develop life long allergic reactions such as rashes and blisters when coming into contact with any oil. The general rule is up to 50 drops of essential or fragrance oil to 100ml of oil or water, you can do the math.
Essential oil = Extracted oil from plant or seed
Fragrance oil = Artificial man-made oil
Carrier oil = Skin friendly oil for dilution
Neat = 100% concentrated oil
Phototoxic / Photosensitivity = Negative reaction to light / ultraviolet light
Sensitisation = Skin reaction; redness, rash, itching, blistering
Tools
Empty lip balm containers, lip gloss containers, 100ml spray bottles, 10ml roller bottles.
Mini serving pans and gas flame / microwavable pan or jug
Pipettes with measurement in millilitres
Teaspoon
Small wood stirring stick
Measuring jug in millilitres
Ingredients
Water
Essential oil / Fragrance oil (Must be skin friendly cosmetic grade, using Fresh Skin brand)
Polysorbate 20 (emulsifier for mixing together oil and water, for vegans you will need to check with supplier if it is derived from plant matter over animal)
Grapeseed oil (I'm using Fresh Skin brand from eBay)
Castor oil (moisturising nontoxic vegetable oil, acts as waterproof film)
Petroleum jelly (Using Vaseline brand as it is most reputable with surrounding safety concerns, this may not or may be vegan friendly depending on the vegan's viewpoint)
Carnauba wax flakes (Vegan friendly plant wax, works as a binder for oil and waxes, hardens soft ingredients).
Food colouring paste (optional, using Sugar Flair brand, it is vegan friendly which is a bonus)
Food flavouring liquid or artificial sweetener (optional)
*Most of these ingredients can be kept for years in cool, dark storage.
Scented Body Oil Tutorial
1. Drop in 4 drops of essential oil or fragrance oil into your roller bottle. (If you are vegan, check oil supplier for animal friendly oil).
2. Using your pipette, drop in 10ml of grapeseed oil. (Grapeseed oil is light and easily absorbed into skin than other carrier oils).
3. Body oil or body scent is complete.
Scented Body Spray Tutorial
1. Drop in 20 drops of essential oil or fragrance oil into your spray bottle.
2. Add 20 drops of polysorbate 20 using a pipette into the spray bottle and give it a swirl. (Polysorbate 20 is an emulsifier to mix together water and oil).
3. Pour in 100ml of water into the spray bottle. (I'm just using normal cold Brita filtered boiled tap water).
4. Body mist or room spray is complete. (I think 20 drops is about right, it is subtle and the scent does linger in a room for around 2 days). There will be bubbles on the surface when the bottle is still, as polysorbate 20 is a surfactant, it will also turn cloudy, so you will have to shake before use.
Lip Gloss Tutorial (I will upload pictures later)
1. In your serving pan or microwavable container, heat one level teaspoon of carnauba wax flakes until melted. If using the pan over gas, you may want to hover the pan slightly above flame, as to not over heat the mixture to hot to produce smoke.
2. Take off heat and add 7 teaspoons of castor oil.
3. Add about 1cm of a cocktail stick of food colouring (what the cocktail stick can hold on 1cm), if not using food colouring leave it out. This will only tint the mixture lightly, if you want a heavier tint, add 1cm of a teaspoon handle on the flat side or lolly stick. You can also add food glitters and edible colour powders.
4. Add your optional food flavouring, use around half to one teaspoon of liquid flavouring. I've used mango in mine and smells delicious. You can also add a bit of artificial sugar or honey for a sweet flavour, but I leave this out as it shortens the best before date.
5. Re-heat mixture, to re-melt all ingredients.
6. Take off heat and sit in cold bowl of water, when it is half solidified, stir the mixture thoroughly with a wooden stick, this will mix the contents well especially the food colouring paste.
7. Re-heat mixture and stir well.
8. Take off heat and fill your empty lip gloss bottle or lip gloss tube, there is more than enough for a 10ml bottle. I just use a steady hand and pour into the tube opening, so it is useful to have a sharp spout on your melting pan or container.
9. Let it cool, before use. I think the mixture is as good as shop brought glosses. Most of the ingredients will last forever providing they are stored in a cool dark place, unless sharing glosses with friend or if used, as this will contaminate the glosses with bacteria.
Lip Balm Tutorial (I will add photos later)
1. In your serving pan or microwavable container, add half level teaspoon of carnauba wax, heat wax to melt.
2. Add 3 rounded teaspoons of petroleum jelly, heat to melt. As with gloss, if using gas, hover pan slightly over flame to reduce smoking.
3. Add food colouring paste, as dark as you wish, it is purely optional. Don't add liquid food flavouring as this will separate from the jelly and wax. Artificial sweetener should be fine as it is a powder.
4. Re-heat mixture to melt all ingredients.
5. Put pan in cold water bath to semi solidify ingredients to stir colour or ingredients well.
6. Re-heat mixture to melt all and stir well.
7. Pour into lip balm tubes, let it cool before use.
Lip Tint
(Still experimenting, still trying to master this one, may not upload if I fail)
*To clean the pans, reheat mixture to liquid and wipe off mixture with tissue. Wipe down teaspoon or pipettes with tissue, otherwise it will be evil to wash off. I just store mine in resealable food bags for next time.
*If you are buying Jasmine scent, buying 2.5ml or 5ml of Jasmine Absolute will cost you around £25. It is expensive as 7.5 million flowers are needed to produce 1kg of oil. If it is cheaper than this price, it is not 100% pure and likely to be mixed with other ingredients. 2.5ml will be around 50 drops.
