Hair Butter

2.5 cups Shea Butter (this just makes it)
.5 cup Olive Oil infused with Rosemary, Lavender, and lemon (all around good oil)
.25 cup Coconut Oil (penetrates the hair)
.25 cup Avocado Oil (penetrates the hair)
.25 cup Almond Oil (seals the hair)

Essential oils of Rosemary, Lavender, and Lemon. These particular EOs are not corrosive when they come into contact with the skin (some EOs are). You can use 10 drops of an essential oil per ounce of product. Plus these are not very expensive. I think Rosemary EO costs the most. I use between 20-30 drops of each.

You can use whatever oils you want the main thing is the Shea Butter. I have made it where I melted  the shea butter and where I did not. There really isn't a discernible difference between the two. The result will be grainy and I do not know how to combat this.

Recipes

What is the ratio of emulsifying wax in creams I read somewhere that you should use 2-5%. I found a site with some basic recipes essential 7. The other good thing about this site is the way the recipes are organized.

Salves

I copied the copy below directly from Muller Lane Farm's website

Just what is a salve and why would I want to make it?

A salve is simply an ointment for your skin. Have chapped lips? You can smear yourself with a petroleum based product like Vaseline or chap-stick or you can very easily make your own lip salve by combining 5 parts olive oil with 1 part melted beeswax. Yes it can be that simple! You can adjust how hard your salve is by adding more oil to make it softer or adding more melted beeswax to make it firmer.

Basic Lip Salve

5 teaspoons warm Olive Oil
1 teaspoon beeswax, melted

Melt beeswax in double boiler, never over direct heat. Add olive oil to melted beeswax. Stir until incorporated, remove from heat and pour into containers.

Soap Making

If you want to make bar soap this is a link to a calculator for your oil, water, and lye ingredients. I do not know more than that at this time. You are on your own.

Soap Calculator

International Unit (IU)

a unit used to measure the activity (that is, the effect) of many vitamins and drugs. For each substance to which this unit applies, there is an international agreement specifying the biological effect expected with a dose of 1 IU. Other quantities of the substance are then expressed as multiples of this standard. Examples: 1 IU represents 45.5 micrograms of a standard preparation of insulin or 0.6 microgram of a standard preparation of penicillin. Consumers most often see IU's on the labels of vitamin packages: in standard preparations the equivalent of 1 IU is 0.3 microgram (0.0003 mg) for vitamin A, 50 micrograms (0.05 mg) for vitamin C, 25 nanograms (0.000 025 mg) for vitamin D, and 2/3 milligram for (natural) vitamin E. Please note: for many substances there is no definite conversion between international units and mass units (such as milligrams). This is because preparations of those substances vary in activity, so that the effect per milligram of one preparation is different from that of another.

found here: University of North Chapel Hill Compiled by Russ Rowlett

For Example: If a person needs 3 apples to get a benefit from it and the international community agrees on this number then 3 apples is 1 IU.

Something New

I just feel the need to start a new blog. I have no idea of the direction I will take this blog. Cest la vie!