Category: Essential Oils

Evolution of My Healing Salve Recipe

The recipe for my healing salve started as an experimental product for my greyhound friends…almost 3 years ago! I was asked to try to make a salve to soothe the greyhound paws…their feet were very sensitive to walking on gravel, ice and salted sidewalks. They also were prone to developing corns on their paws.

There were quite a few salves on the market, from the simplest DIY recipe from the American Kennel Club to very expensive salves with Hemp oil in them and everything in between. I’d like to think we would have choices to find the one that works for our dogs and is affordable.

In general, ingredients in these salves include Oils (like olive oil, coconut oil and almond oil), Shea Butter, and Waxes (like beeswax, carnauba wax and paraffin wax). In addition, Vitamin E oil helps healing and serves as a preservative for the mixture. Essential oils like Lavender or Rosemary can also help with healing. I’m not sure the dogs care about the smell one way or the other but it can’t hurt.

My first recipe was similar to the American Kennel Club one. You can read more about it at https://marykisner.com/make-your-own-dog-balm-and-protection-wax/.

About the same time, I was experimenting with Calendula-infused oil as a base for some salves, so naturally the dog paw salve started with that. If you’d like to learn more about making calendula-infused oil for topical salves, check out https://marykisner.com/making-calendula-infused-oil-for-topical-salves/ and about making calendula salve at https://marykisner.com/calendula-salve-for-summer-itches/.

Testing the Dog Paw Balm and Protection Wax

Samples of the first batch of Dog Paw Salve were sent out to some folks in the greyhound community to give it a try. We had positive feedback that the salve seemed to help the paws that were cracked and made corns softer and easier to remove. It even helped a few sore noses!

Enriching the Salve

To enrich the ingredients in the salve, I explored adding some essential oils that could help in healing the skin. While Tea Tree Essential Oil is often suggested for its anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties, I had just been researching using Manuka Honey as a topical salve. That led me to learn more about Manuka Essential Oil. This essential oil has been shown to be more effective than Tea Tree Essential Oil and is easier on the skin.

You can read more about Manuka Essential Oil at https://marykisner.com/manuka-essential-oil-fact-sheet/.

For the last year or two the recipe for my Calendula Healing Salve (also called the Dog Paw Balm and Protection Wax) has started with Calendula-infused oil and included Manuka and Lavender Essential Oils. The salve continues to help the paws of the greyhounds. Here is the recipe:

Necessary Changes Over Time

Of course, the side effect of folks rubbing the salve on their dog’s paws has been requests for the salve for their hands! I’ve also had requests to replace the calendula base with something else (a few folks are allergic to calendula and can’t use the products based on them) and some additional essential oils for a better scent.

Making the Lavender Healing Salve

First, I made a big batch of the salve based on Calendula-infused oil to replenish my stash. Then I started over to make a batch of Lavender-infused oil. The rest of the ingredients will be the same as the recipe above. At the end, I added the essential oils of Rose Geranium and Vanilla to enhance the scent. This made a more pleasant salve for the rest of us! Here’s the new recipe:

Step 1: Make Lavender-infused Oil

I had a jar of dried lavender buds…some came from my garden last summer. I poured olive oil and almond oil into the jar until the buds were covered. I set the jar in a pot of hot water on the stove. I brought the water up to not quite boiling and let it simmer for about 6 hours. I did have to add water to the pot several times, but all I had to do was stir it every now and then.

Step 2: The oil/lavender mixture had to be strained several times through cheesecloth. I was left with over 1 cup of lovely lavender-infused oil. I stored the jar in the refrigerator until I was ready to make this new salve.

Step 3: To make the salve, collect the ingredients, a two-cup glass measuring cup and your scales. Measure everything into the measuring cup.

Step 4: Set the measuring cup into a saucepan with water on the stove. Bring the water just to boiling and let it simmer. The waxes, shea butter, and oil will gradually melt to a liquid.

Step 5: When all ingredients are melted, remove measuring cup from the pan. Add the liquid Vitamin E and Essential oils, stirring after each addition.

Step 6: Fill the containers by either pouring or using a disposable pipette. Let cool until firm.

Step 7: When cool and firm, label each container. I make a point to make a card with ingredients and instructions so folks know what is in the product.

You can see my Dog Paw Balm and Protection Wax has evolved into my Calendula Healing Salve for dogs and people; while the Lavender Healing Salve is safe for dogs and people who have allergies to Calendula…it also smells pretty good! Try it yourself!

Making Bruise Balm to Share

Last year I made a salve with arnica-infused olive oil. Arnica is an ingredient that is added to salves to help relieve aches and pains, bumps and bruises! Look for it in your over-the-counter salves. You can read about making the oil here: https://marykisner.com/making-arnica-infused-oil-for-tropical-salves/.

I shared the salve with just a few people because I didn’t know how effective it was; I wanted to give it a try first. I’ve used it for the last 6 months with some success in reducing small bruises, if used right after they appear.

About Arnica

Arnica is not as well-known as lavender and calendula and is sometimes included in over-the-counter ointments and creams sold to soothe occasional aching knees, joints and muscles. It is often used in homeopathic remedies, which means the products contain very small amounts of the active ingredients. Making infused oil with dried arnica plant material is a great way to incorporate these ingredients into body care products. I purchased a bag of the dried flowers on Amazon.

The dried flowers aren’t as pretty as the fresh ones!

Arnica comes from the perennial herb Arnica Montana. It is a yellow-orangish flower that grows in the mountains of Europe and Siberia and the mountains of northwestern North America. It is sometimes called the “mountain daisy,” because its color and petals look like the familiar flower. It yields an essential oil that is appreciated for its ability to reduce pain in osteoarthritis joints and reduce bruise discoloration.

NOTE: This plant does have some drawbacks or cautions for people that are allergic to certain plants of the Asteraceae family…like ragweed, marigolds, chrysanthemums and daisies, or are using blood thinning medications.

Please do your own research about any plant material you might work with, but this process of infusing oil with any plant material would be the same.

I still had some infused oil left from my first project; it kept well in the back of the refrigerator.

The ingredients in this Bruise Balm

I scooped out 1 cup of infused oil and weighed out 32 gm of beeswax into my 4-cup heat-safe measuring cup. The cup is placed in a saucepan of water. I brought the water just to a boil and turned the burner down so the water stayed simmering.

When melted and removed from the stove, I stirred in 1/4 tsp of Vitamin E Oil and 20 drops each of Vanilla and Manuka Essential Oil.

Using a disposable pipette, I filled 36 small tubes and 6 larger ones.

I decided to just hand write the label…nothing fancy. I don’t want folks to get them mixed up with lip balm!
I try to label everything I make so the ingredients are clear.

I hope to share these with my high school friends at our monthly luncheon… built in guinea pigs! Try it yourself! Enjoy!

Quiet Birthday Fun for Grandma

I had a wonder birthday surprise this weekend! My daughter and my grandkids decided to come for a short visit to help me celebrate my birthday! Their school activities have kept them close to home this fall, but luckily, many of those activities were finishing up and they had time to come visit us!

I had not had an actual birthday cake for the last several years, since I had to restrict eggs and dairy. But I could have coconut milk ice cream and thanks to frozen cakes from Sara Lee I was able to pick up an assortment to satisfy everyone.

This was my compromise to putting 76 candles on the cake. Best I could do!

My 15 yr old grandson texted me before they came asking if I would help him make some lip balm…apparently he uses a lot of it because he plays trumpet in the high school marching band he really needs it between performances.

In addition, would Grandma help him and is sister make some soap too! Now this was starting to sound like a fun birthday activity!

So last night we had cake and ice cream.

Say cheese!

This morning after breakfast we got busy. Ben chose the recipe for lip balm that had cocoa butter in it. With the addition of Peppermint essential oil, he felt like he was having a peppermint patty candy bar!

Here is the recipe:

When finished, he had 11 tubes of lip balm. He’ll be able to put one in every pocket! I was ready to help him label them and he said to not bother…he usually just peels off labels! So, I guess one good whiff will remind him these are the peppermint lip balms.

The we started in on the soap. Ben wanted clear glycerin soap and swirled in purple soap tint with a stick. Not my cup of tea…but he loved them!

Kind of looked like a science experiment in the making!

My granddaughter wanted a different mold with orange scent and light orange color.

I think I’ll use this mold another time. They turned out very nice.

While they were waiting for the soap to set up. Ben had to play the pump organ and Anna took a break after shopping at Trader Joe’s with her mother.

This pump organ was built in 1900. Bert’s mother got it around 1960 and Bert rebuilt the inside (he was 14). My grandson (age 15) really enjoys playing it.
Anna just got braces (age 10) so her smile was nice and shiny!

They had to be on the road by 3 p.m. today, so I was glad we were able to get all these projects done today. It was a great birthday for Grandma! Quiet, low key and fun! The hugs were the best! Enjoy!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

Experimenting With a New Manuka Honey Soap Base

Melt and pour soap bases have made it fun to create lovely soaps for many occasions. These soap bases take the stress out of making soap the old fashioned way…with lye! I’m sure somebody somewhere had to do it, but I appreciate not having to deal with caustic chemical processes here at home. I seem to have selected a few of my favorites…like Aloe Vera and Shea Butter soap bases. I like the clear glycerin soap because it’s simple and can show off hidden objects embedded inside. It’s also great when I need to make an unscented soap for folks that prefer no scent.

My favorite aloe vera soap begins with a glycerin soap that has been enhanced with aloe vera gel. Then I combine it with a shea butter soap base, more aloe vera gel, essential oils and soap tint. The shea butter helps the finished make a better lather.

I have tried to incorporate Manuka Honey into melt and pour soap and was unsuccessful…the honey would no disperse into the melted soap and when I poured the mixture into molds, the glob of honey just ended up in one big pile at the end of the pour. Very disappointing!

When I last did a search on Amazon for melt and pour soap bases, this new Manuka Honey Soap base had recently been listed:

I had never seen this offered before. I quickly ordered a 2 lb. block to try. It cost $15, which was similar to other soap bases I had used before.

Here are the ingredients for this soap base:

The process to make bars of soap from a 2 lb. block is pretty much the same each time.

First, I cut the base up into smaller cubes and put half (1 lb. each) in a 4-cup heat-proof glass measuring cup. I set these into saucepans, added water to the pan and set them on the stove. Heating the water just to boiling and then turning down to simmer, the cubes of soap will slowly melt.

This soap was very firm and took a long time to melt.

When melted, I added Lavender essential oil, Manuka essential oil, Citrus Bliss blend essential oil and a few drops of yellow soap tint.

Then I poured it into molds.

When firm, I popped the bars out of the molds and gave one a try to wash my hands. I was very disappointed! The soap was so firm hat I couldn’t make any suds at all.

So…back to the kitchen!

I pulled out a pound of Goat’s Milk Soap base, chopped it into cubes and split it between the two measuring cups. Goat’s Milk soap should enhance the suds-making-ability of the Manuka Honey soap.

Then I cut up the original bars I had made and split them into the two measuring sups.

When melted I used different molds…figured I could use the small heart shaped soaps for Christmas gifts if they actually made a good lather!

So, now the test…could I actually wash my hands with the soap and get some suds?

Yes…adding a small portion of goat’s milk soap base enhanced it’s lather-making abilities!

Now, I just need to package the soaps…maybe 3 or 4 to a gift bag…and I’ve got my gifts ready for those “gift exchanges” that seem to come up each year! Enjoy!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

Making an Eye Cream for Dark Circles and Puffy Eyes

Not enough sleep? Allergies making you look like you didn’t get enough sleep? For a while I’ve wanted to try this recipe for an eye cream. I had seen various brands of specialty eye cream for sale but somehow the cost seemed extreme. when I stumbled upon this recipe on one of my favorite websites, I thought I’d give it a try (https://joybileefarm.com/diy-eye-cream/). This author has many DIY recipes that are easy to follow and she provides good supporting research on the ingredients used. Many of the products I make started with one of her recipes. Check it out.

For this eye cream, the cost of the ingredients made a good case for just ordering something already made. However, where would be the fun in that! I’m always trying to find and use products that have the least amount of chemicals and artificial ingredients. The older I get, the more sensitive I am to various products I use. Plus, if I can make it myself, I’ll be able to make more if I need to. That makes me smile!

This eye cream begins by making a coffee-infused oil, similar to the infused oils I’ve made with calendula and lavender flower buds, except it took longer because I couldn’t simmer it on the stove and be done in one day. This recipe required me to soak coffee grounds in rosehip seed oil for a week, shaking the jar every day.

I put the jar on my desk so I could keep an eye on it and finally today I strained out the grounds. No small task! The grounds had made a thick sludge on the bottom that I could barely scrape out. Next time I’ll use more oil (and possibly substitute Sunflower oil, which is less expensive) so I can keep it loose…maybe even open the jar and stir it up with a long-handled spoon.

After pouring out as much as I could to strain out the oil, I ended up scraping the grounds, filling the jar with soap water and dumping the slurry outside. I didn’t want that oily mess going down the drain.

Pretty disgusting!

I lined my strainer with cheesecloth and poured the oil through it. When it finished draining, I picked up the cheesecloth mess and threw it in the garbage.

Then, I strained it twice more, finally using four layers of cheesecloth to filter out the last of the grounds.

Finally, the grounds are gone!

Now, I was ready to use this coffee-infused oil in the recipe for the Eye Cream. Here is the recipe:

The beeswax, rosehip seed oil and coffee-infused oil melted together first.

It didn’t take long to melt the beeswax. Then, I added these oils and stirred them in:

Using a disposable pipette I filled the lip balm tubes (sorry, forgot to take a picture!)

When they were cool, I labeled them and made the ingredient cards to go with them. I’ll have to figure out how much information to put on the back of the card. I’d like to include the last two paragraphs of the recipe on the card:

Hopefully, I’ll find some willing friends to test the cream with me to see if it actually works!

All the ingredients are available on Amazon…I did pick up the ground coffee at the grocery store. Give it a try! Enjoy!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

Solid Perfume Experiment

If you have been following my various activities, you know that not all of my projects are successful. Some of the recipes for baking sound yummy on paper, but end up being boring, tasteless, etc. A few of my body care formulations seem easy to follow but I end up with a product that just isn’t something I’d ever use or share. That doesn’t stop me from trying to make something new!

Spray perfumes are one of those products that have been sort of successful; roller ball perfumes have been more successful, but solid perfumes have been a bust. You can see my previous attempts at https://marykisner.com/diy-perfume/ and https://marykisner.com/maple-perfume-experiment/.

I came across a new recipe for a solid perfume that sounded like it might work. For one thing, it had way more essential oil incorporated into the mix. For another, the procedure was a little different so I thought I’d give it one more try!

Here is the recipe:

I first needed to order two of the essential oils that are listed but I did not have…Vetiver and Cinnamon Bark essential oils. Since I can’t rely on my nose to tell me what this combination would smell like, I just followed the recipe.

Once I had all the essential oils, I began with the beeswax and Jojoba oil. I measured them into a heat-safe glass cup and set the cup in a pan of water on the stove.

Heating the pan of water on the stove did not take long.

When melted, I removed the cup from the boiling water and started stirring. Let me tell you…I very quickly decided I would be there for a very long time waiting for it to get to room temperature!

I stirred for a while but then decided to just start adding the various oils. I stirred well between each addition. I did not see it turn into a “soft butter” consistency. I was too impatient!

Then I poured the mixture into my tiny containers.

It took less than 30 minutes to cool and set up.

It looks like it was successful! It is not a flowery scent…more subtle and woodsy. I smell the sandalwood first but I suspect over time, the other scents will be noticeable. We’ll see how it is in a few days. This will need to be applied over a larger area, but I think I’ll enjoy it!

So, don’t be afraid to experiment…sometimes you discover something new! Enjoy!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

Soothe Those Bug Bites

Hot summer days bring to mind how annoying mosquito bites can be. Preventing them is the first line of defense. The bug deterrent I made for dogs (and people) can help (see https://marykisner.com/natural-bug-repellent-for-dogs/); or any bug repellent you are comfortable using. However, the itching from a bite can prolong the agony for days.

I found a simple recipe on a website I read frequently and thought I’d give it a try (https://joybileefarm.com/lavender-tea-tree-roll-on-stick/). My plan is to make a bunch and share it to see if it actually works. Here is my modified recipe:

While I was collecting the supplies I thought about the ingredients. I had grapeseed oil and lavender essential oil on hand. I also have tea tree essential oil available, but after all my research about manuka essential oil, I thought I would try substituting it for the tea tree oil.

What’s the Difference Between Tea Tree and Manuka Essential Oils?

Tea tree oil has been considered the industry standard since World War II for many topical and household applications due to its antifungal and antibacterial properties. It is considered safe and effective to be used as an insect repellent, household cleaner and dandruff shampoo. It has been used to soothe bug bites, sunburns and rashes. However, it has a strong scent and can be irritating to some people, including children.

Manuka essential oil, while new on the market, has also been shown to have powerful antibacterial and antifungal properties. It is great for soothing sore muscles and itching from bug bites and sunburns. Manuka oil also had 20-30 times the antibacterial activity as Tea Tree oil. It is less irritating to sensitive adults, is safe for children AND it smells good!

Therefore, I substituted Manuka essential oil for the Tea Tree oil in this recipe.

Here are the ingredients for this mixture:

I knew that the little cup I saved from when I had kids had the 10 ml mark on the side and would be perfect to measure out the grapeseed oil. I just filled it to below the 10 ml line. It was much easier to dispense than the big bottle of oil.

I discovered after the first few I made that the 2 tsp. of grapeseed oil needed to be little less. The roller ball holds 10 ml (which is 2 tsp.). When I added the full 2 tsp. of grapeseed oil plus the 10 drops of essential oil it was so full I couldn’t get the roller ball snapped in. I ended up adding only 9 ml instead.

I set out 18 roller balls and filled 6 at a time, capped them and set them upside down along the back of the tray to help the oils mix.

I made 18 because I wanted to share them with some friends. I will need their feedback to see if rolling on some of this oil mixture really helps soothe the itch of a bug bite. We’ll see!

Of course, everything I make and give away needs information about what is in the product. I want folks to know before they put anything on their skin. Give this recipe a try yourself! Enjoy!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

Learning About Hydrosols

I’m getting ready to make another batch of natural bug repellent and remembered my recipe calls for Lavender Hydrosol. When I wrote my original article about this recipe last Spring I just followed the recipe. You can see the article here: https://marykisner.com/natural-bug-repellent-for-dogs/.

Here is the final recipe for this repellent:

This recipe is only approved for dogs (and is actually safe for humans too!). Cats are very sensitive to several of the essential oils in this mix and when they lick their fur, they ingest them. Not safe!

I ordered Lavender Hydrosol from Amazon…starting with a small bottle and then went to this quart jug so I could mix up enough for Nittany Greyhounds:

I did a little research that reminded me that this is basically lavender water…that is a byproduct from the distillation process of extracting lavender essential oil…and it is water soluble. Since my recipe called for lavender hydrosol and essential oils they would not stay mixed. I had to add an emulsifier to help them disperse. Polysorbate20 was recommended in the recipe.

Here are the ingredients in this natural bug repellent.
It was packaged in a bottle that worked better for shipping…with an empty spray bottle provided. If I make only one for myself, I mix it directly in the spray bottle.

Learning More About Hydrosols

This year I wanted to know more about Hydrosols. I found this book that was very helpful:

This book, Hydrosols: The Next Aromatherapy by Suzanne Catty, has a wealth of information about how hydrosols are made, how the field of aromatherapy is maturing and how the production of hydrosols is becoming more consistent around the world. The author’s research provides many recipes to use hydrosols, from skin care products to using them in cooking to enhance flavors. While few essential oils are safe for babies (and even cats), hydrosols could be just the right product for many of those products.

Next, I did a search online for sources of hydrosols. Many companies that sell essential oils also offer hydrosols of those same plants. One company had a great article about hydrosols with the following illustration:

(From: https://www.rockymountainoils.com/learn/all-about-hydrosols/)

On another site, www.edenbotanicals.com I was able to order a set of 8 tiny spray bottles that would let me try them. So…these are very tiny samples, but might give me some ideas for future products.

These include Chamomile, Cucumber, Geranium Rose, Lavender, Rose, Tulsi (Holy Basil) and Tumeric Hydrosols.

I can see there is so much more to learn about Hydrosols; I’ve barely scratched the surface! Look for Hydrosols to appear in some of my future products! Enjoy!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

Making Arnica-Infused Oil for Topical Salves

Now that we’re heading into the more active summer season, I wanted to share what I’ve recently learned about the herb Arnica. It is not as well-known as lavender and calendula and it is sometimes included in over-the-counter ointments and creams sold to soothe occasional aching knees, joints and muscles. It is often used in homeopathic remedies, which means the products contain very small amounts of the active ingredients. Making infused oil with dried arnica plant material is a great way to incorporate these ingredients into body care products.

About Arnica

Arnica is a perennial herb Arnica montana. It is a yellow-orangish flower that grows in the mountains of Europe, Siberia and the mountains of northwestern North America. It is sometimes called the “mountain daisy,” because its color and petals look like the familiar flower. It yields an essential oil that is appreciated for its ability to reduce pain in osteoarthritis joints and reduce bruise discoloration.

Note: This plant does have some drawbacks or cautions for people that are allergic to certain plants of the Asteraceae family–like ragweed, marigolds, chrysanthemums and daisies, or are using blood thinning medications. I wanted to have some of this infused oil on hand to make a salve if needed this summer. Because of these cautions, I do not plan to share any salve I make with others, since I have no way to know who might be sensitive to the plant.

Please do your own research about any plant material you might work with, but this process of infusing oil with any plant material would be the same process.

Making Infused Oil in General

I’ve previously shared how to do this with Calendula plant material at https://marykisner.com/making-calendula-nfused-oil-for-topical salves/. Dried lavender works the same way. I usually use olive oil, but you can substitute sweet almond oil, jojoba oil, or even grapeseed oil.

Arnica-Infused Olive Oil

Here are the basic instructions to make this oil:

First, I filled a quart jar with dried Arnica flowers. I ordered this bag of dried flowers from Amazon. This 8 oz. bag will probably last me the rest of my life!

Starting with a quart jar, I filled the jar loosely with dried flowers and poured about 2 1/2 cups of olive oil over them.

This filled the jar about 3/4 full. I used a long-handled spoon to gently poke the flowers to distribute the oil. I put the filled jar in a deep pan of water and brought the water up to a boil and lowered the temperature so it would just simmer for about 6 hours. I did have to add water to the saucepan every hour or so as it evaporated and poked the flowers down now and then just to make sure they stayed submerged.

Then, I poured the oil/flower mixture through the strainer and pressed flowers to squeeze out as much oil as possible.

After straining, there were still some small pieces of plant material in the oil.

After disposing of the plant material, I strained the oil again by lining the strainer with cheesecloth to make sure I didn’t have any crumbs left from the dried flowers.

After straining out all the Arnica plant material, first with a large strainer and again with cheesecloth, I had about 1 3/4 cups of lovely arnica-infused olive oil. Before pouring it back into the washed and dried quart jar, I added about a teaspoon of Vitamin E oil to help as a preservative.

This jar of oil will be stored in the refrigerator until I need it.

Making Arnica Salve

This recipe will make a small batch of salve. Since I don’t plan to share it yet, I’ll keep the batch small.

Combine 3 1/2 Tbsp. of Arnica-Infused oil with 2 tsp. beeswax (about 8 gms).

Place the cup into a pan of water and bring the water to boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer.

Simmer until the beeswax is melted. Remove from heat.

Add 10-20 drops of your preferred essential oil. (I chose Vanilla for the scent and Manuka for its healing properties).

Pour into small containers or lip balm tubes. Cap tightly and label.

My first pour was into these small containers, however it was pretty firm when cool. I could hardly apply it with my finger tip.
So, I scooped the salve out of the round containers, melted it down again and poured the oil into these wide dispensers. Worked much better!

So now I have a simple salve ready for my aches and pains, bumps and bruises! I’ll keep you posted on how it works this summer!

If I find it works really well, I’ll have cards ready to go with the samples.

Look for Arnica in your over-the-counter creams and salves! It might be the magic ingredient. Enjoy!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

Making Aromatherapy Soap Dough

I recently came across an article about making aromatherapy soap dough. This project sounded like such a neat idea! The article was written by Jan Berry who has written my favorite book about working with melt and pour soap:

The focus of this aromatherapy project had to do with the various scents and how working with dough that had a specific scent could, for example, calm the child (lavender), brighten their mood (lemon), or even soothe overexcitement (Himalayan cedarwood). Therefore, the amount of scent in each batch was quite strong. The recipe called for 1/8 plus 1/16 tsp. of essential oil. Since most essential oils are measured by the drop, 1/4 tsp. of essential oil represents 20-30+ drops in 5 oz. of soap.

For this project, you melt the soap of your choice, add soap tint and essential oils, and then stir in 3-4 tablespoons of cornstarch until it makes a soft dough. The pictures in the article showed a small ball of tinted play-dough-type clay that kids could roll out and cut out shapes, let them dry and then use them to wash their hands.

After giving this recipe a try my final recommendation is…this project was more trouble than it was worth. I can’t imagine trying to make enough of this dough for kids to play with. You might have a better result than I did, but I don’t plan to spend any more time trying to get it right!

Making the Soap Dough

Step 1: Melt the Soap

I started with 1 lb. of Goats Milk melt & pour soap base. I divided the pound into 3 glass measuring cups by chunking it up and weighing each cup. I needed 5 oz. in each cup.

I put two of the cups into saucepans with water on the stove and started them melting.

I decided to work with one cup at a time.

Optimistically, I had three sets of tint and essential oils ready for three colors/scents of soap dough.

Step 2: Add tint and scent

When the first cup of soap was melted, I added the purple tint (directions said to mix the tint with twice as much rubbing alcohol). I’m not sure why that was important, but I mixed a few drops of tint in a metal measuring cup with a teaspoon of Everclear alcohol and then added it to the soap.

I use Everclear in my perfumes so I had it on hand.

Then I added about 20 drops of Lavender essential oil. I would never use that much in such a small portion of soap but I did in this first batch.

Step 3: Add cornstarch.

Next, the recipe said to begin adding 3 to 4 tablespoons of cornstarch a little at a time.

The cornstarch stayed in lumps…kind of like lumpy gravy! Don’t you hate that!

I was to keep stirring as the soap cooled. By the time I had added 4 tablespoons of cornstarch the soap was making a sticky ball in the cup.

I dumped it out onto parchment paper and tried to make it into a ball of dough. It stayed lumpy with the cornstarch that didn’t mix in. I finally pressed it flat and tried to use a cookie cutter to make a heart. It sure didn’t look pretty!

The final chunk I just patted into a circle and called it quits! Now they are supposed to dry for a few days. Then they can be used to wash hands.

So much for a cool project! NOT!

At this point, I decided to just melt down the soap in the other two cups, add tint and essential oils, and pour them into my heart molds. These heart soaps, scented with Lemon and Rose essential oils can be used in a few hours. Much simpler!

In a few days I’ll see if the “aromatherapy soap dough” hearts work well for hand washing. However, I think the small molded hearts have enough scent to be useful as good smelling soap.

If I really want to calm down a child with lavender scent, I think an essential oil diffuser in the room where they are playing might be more effective and much less messy! Even a small pillow stuffed with dried lavender buds would work well. Give it a try! Enjoy!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.