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14 March 2010

Manuka Honey Hand Crème

Following on from yesterdays post about Nerys Purchon and the lessons she taught me, I started thinking about some of those other Wonderful Wild Women who have influenced my life and lead me on parts of my journey .. Susan Weed, Jacki French, Valerie Ann Worwood, to name just a few ..

So I decided to make something inspired by their generous natures; their love of the land, plants, natures healing gifts; their examples of looking close to home to find what you need .. And most importantly, the beauty in keeping things simple ..

I'm super happy with the result which is this gorgeous, unscented, uncoloured Emulsified Body Butter .. Rich with local Manuka Honey & Olive Oil, a new Emulisfying wax I'm testing (Emulsifier E: cetearyl glucoside & cetearyl alcohol), UNrefined Cocoa Butter (smells sooo good), & NZ Spring water ..

I kid you not it looks, smells, feels, and absorbs into the skin LOVELY!
Oh alright, I admit it, I even know for a fact that it tastes good *blushes*

- of course I don't recommend anyone try that as I seriously doubt ewax and Liquid Germal Plus are safe to consume, but it was just a dab on my finger because I was curious and seriously couldn't resit .. Did I mention it smells fantastic?!

Honey & Chocolate Body Butter

But as you know, no matter how good a formula is, or that the goal was to stay simple, I tweak .. So the first round of tests went something like this:

HCBBT(a)

  • Base + Natrasorb Bath
  • Base + Cyclomethicone
  • Base + Lactic Acid
  • Base + Liquid Silk
  • Base + Hydrolysed Wheat Protein

With somewhat surprising results .. I also have Cornflour, Dimethicone, Combo's of the above, and a bunch of extracts to try ..

And carrying on the theme of supporting locally made, I packaged it in another recycled container .. I've been buying this NZ Lavender hand cream for myself and as gifts for gardening friends for years - at $17 a pop ..

MHHC(b)

Is mine Crème better? Honestly, yes I think it is!

9 comments:

  1. Looks totally gorgeous and decadent Clear!

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  2. Thanks Tanya - wow you're quick today, I hadn't even finished editing :)

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  3. Lovely! It sounds very soothing.

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  4. Gorgeous and very creamy looking! Looks like it will just melt right on your skin. Great experiments too!

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  5. Lol Clear! I think your post said *3 minutes ago* when I logged in ;)

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  6. The cream looks fantastic, so rich and creamy. What was your favourite tweak Clare? Also, what did you think about the new emulsifier? The formulation (Emulsifier E: cetearyl glucoside & cetearyl alcohol)seems like it would have awesome glide. Thanks for another wonderful experiment Clare!

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  7. I really don't have a favourite tweak yet uki - think I need to do some blind testing with my guinea pigs before I make that call ;)

    I can tell you that I am LOVING this new emulsifier though!! I'll be trying it in all my regular formulas and if I get similar results will be switching to this exclusively ..

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  8. That looks amazing! I want some!

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  9. Wow that looks sooooooo luxurious makes me want to put my finger into the screen and dip it into the cream :-) Beautilicious!!!!!

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