Karolyn_Matau

I loved making these balms. Watching the butters melt (Shea butter, cocoa butter & mango butter) and mixing in the oils (jojoba, sunflower, moringa, Argan, pumpkin). The best part about it was the scent from the cocoa butter & orange essential oil, then catching the last of the evening sun in time to get a shoot of them. Can’t wait to send them off on Monday 💛🧡🤎

As it gets warmer these days, a lighter face oil is ideal for locking in moisture and feeding skin minerals and nutrients it craves to keep it radiant and nourished. I like to keep things simple, but luxurious…

🌱Argan oil
🌱Rosehip
🌱Baobab
🌱Watermelon
🌱Vitamin A
🌱Vitamin E
🌱24k gold flakes

Here’s some benefits of using gold on the skin:

- reduces wrinkles and fine lines

- more youthful looking skin

- improves blood circulation

- helps with oily and dry skin

- brightens up your face and helps with dullness

- it’s antibacterial so it helps with acne

- combats damage from the sun

🧡💛🤎

Looking forward to spring, I was inspired by daffodils this morning. As the weather gets warmer and less harsh on the skin, it’s a perfect time to wean off the much heavier body butters that nourished and protected the skin through winter. I made this water-in-oil serum with Rosehip oil, Pomegranate & Raspberry seed oils. It also contains vitamin C & B3, green tea, melon and strawberry extracts to condition, tone, regenerate and restore radiance to dull looking skin 💛🧡🤎

I’ve made a deep conditioning hair mask to use after shampooing today. I love the deep pink colour from the hibiscus 🌺 rose 🌹 & green tea 🍃infusion. This one is a multi-purpose wonder:

🔅 improves hair texture and shine
🔅 hydrates & restores dry & damaged hair
🔅 prevents split ends, supports hair elasticity

What’s a hair mask?

It’s a more intense and powerful conditioner that deeply nourishes and strengthens hair. Formulated with oils, butters and plant extracts they give softer, stronger and shinier looking hair.

Ingredients I’ve used include:

Hibiscus, rose & green tea infusion, sea w**d, Shea butter, Argan oil, baobab oil and lavender essential oil

*My hair dislikes protein so I’ve excluded it from this formulation

With Valentine’s Day coming up soon, I thought I’d share a simple but effective formulation for body butter which you could make at home. Body butters are excellent for softening skin. If applied after a shower or bath, they help to lock in moisture. You could use it everyday for a week and see the difference it makes by Valentine’s Day.

If you live a warmer climate, the butter melts and can lose its whipped fluffy consistency fairly quickly. To avoid this, you could keep it refrigerated.

70% Shea butter
20% coconut oil
10% olive oil

Place all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk at low speed until you have a beautiful light fluffy mixture . Store in a jar to keep water out and avoid using wet fingers to scoop out some.

This body butter is an easy remedy for extremely dry areas on your skin and, most of all, is affordable and easy to make 💛🧡🤎

What makes you feel confident about your skin?

We often see images in the media of ‘perfect’ skin. It’s flawless – all one tone, all one texture, with a smooth pore-free surface. But the reality is that everyone’s ideal skin is different...

Being confident about your skin means loving how your skin looks and feels, not because it’s perfect but because it’s yours, and it reflects who you are.

What makes you feel skin confident? I’d love to hear 💛🧡🤎

Natural plant oils vs petroleum & highly processed fats

🌱 Natural oils contain antioxidants, polyphenols, catechins, flavonoids, and fat soluble vitamins that are absent in silicones and mineral/petroleum oils. Skin makes the same fatty acids found in natural fats and oils. This creates a compatible and self-supporting system which restores skin.

🛢 Synthetic oils, mineral oils, silicones, hydrogenated oils and fats aren’t compatible with the body. They don’t share the fatty acids our skin makes. They coat the skin’s surface, clog pores and prevent skin breathing naturally. The body doesn’t recognize these non-living compounds, they can be harmful and contribute nothing to skin health. It’s best to avoid using these.

When formulating, I only use natural plant oils and butters to protect, moisturise and nourish my skin & hair with the much needed nutrients they offer 💛🧡🤎

What are the best natural oils for skincare? It depends on your skin, your climate, your age and lifestyle.

✅ Oils for dry skin – baobab oil, kalahari melon oil and argan oil

✅ Oils for oily skin – camellia, hazelnut and grapeseed oil

✅ Oils for mature skin – avocado, argan oil and macadamia nut oil

✅ Oils for normal skin – almond, apricot kernel and plum kernel

Pic: Body butter made with shea butter, cocoa butter, coconut oil, argan oil, vitamin A &E

My skin prefers body butter to lotion and body creams. Body butter mostly contains plant seed butter such as cocoa butter, Shea butter, mango butter etc and oil. This body butter I’ve made is fast absorbed, protects against the dry weather and it has transformed my skin texture; applied twice daily to cleansed skin.

These are the star ingredients

💛 Argan oil is high in vitamin E and fatty acids that give skin a youthful glow

🧡 Vitamin A promotes collagen and elastin, increases smoothness and reduces hyperpigmentation

🤎 Cocoa butter gives its naturally pleasant chocolate scent and forms a protective barrier over skin to hold in moisture

What works for you?

Body butter or lotion?

Oats and calendula soap… 💛🧡🤎

I made this soap with colloidal oatmeal (oats) and calendula (also known as Marigold), shea butter and cocoa butter. It’s naturally scented with lavender essential oil which is used in aromatherapy for its calming properties.

Most soap I’ve used in the past left my skin feeling tight and dry. The oatmeal and calendula gently exfoliate while the rich creamy lather from the Shea butter and cocoa butter leave my skin soft and moisturised. Such a big difference!

A few reasons why I love colloidal oatmeal as a natural ingredient for my skincare:

🔅Oats contain proteins, vitamins and minerals that are beneficial for the skin.

🔅They bring moisture to the surface layers and aid the protective performance of the skin’s outer layer.

🔅Oats are soothing to the skin and balance the skin’s microbiome (the ecosystem of bacteria that keeps your skin healthy and glowing).

🔅Oats can be used in masks, lotions or placed in a bath to soak and relieve dry and itchy skin conditions.

Have you used oats in your skincare? I’d love to hear about it ☺️😇

Blank canvas… 🎨

What’s your blank canvas? Perhaps a clean sheet of paper because you’re a writer or you love to draw? An interior designer who loves to start with an empty room? Or a cleansed face whose features you like to bring out with makeup?

Shea butter is mine. It’s so versatile I use it in soap making, whipped and sometimes poured body butter, hair care products and moisturising creams.

Have you tried Shea butter? I’d love to hear what it did for you…

💛 It contains vitamins A, E, and F. These are antioxidant vitamins that promote circulation and healthy skin cell growth. It’s a natural collagen booster that helps firm skin. The linoleic, palmitic, stearic, and oleic fatty acids in Shea butter balance oils on the skin.

🧡 It’s anti inflammatory and may soothe skin conditions such as eczema, dermatitis, psoriasis including burns, insect bites and it promotes wound healing.

🤎 It contains cetyl esters and triglycerides that condition, nourish and lock in moisture, preventing dry skin and hair breakage. It’s also fast absorbing, making it ideal for body butters and it’s collagen boosting properties help firm skin.

Feeling inspired by these flowers I cut this morning 🥰🥰Yes, I love roses I care not about the thorns!

Formulating my own skin care allows me the flexibility to work with ingredients I trust and know are safe for my sensitive skin. So far, it’s been most rewarding. I’ve learnt how to make cold pressed soaps, facial and body serums, moisturisers and body scrubs. I hardly shop for skincare now!

My favourite is this Vitamin E Soap which I use on a daily basis. Inspired by autumn, it’s made of mostly liquid oils so takes a bit longer to cure: Sunflower seed oil, Pumpkin seed oil, Vitamin E oil, Olive oil and Coconut oil. It’s creamy, rich and cleanses really well. I have a history of eczema and the body cleansers I’ve used in the past aggravated the skin condition but I’ve only had positive results with this soap! My skin loves the oils, the plant extracts and essential oils I’ve used!

Do you use soap?
Or maybe you have sensitive skin too?
What works for you?

I’d love to hear 💛🧡🤎