Tag Archives: Lemon

L’Occitane and the scent of Lemon Verbena

Posted in Health & Wellness, Perfume, Skincare by

L'Occitane Verbena perfume

L’Occitane’s Vervine Verbena is a sparkling scent that always lifts my spirits.

It’s especially refreshing in the summer, I love its lemon zesty aroma first thing in the morning as it wakes me up the moment a spritz of the perfume hits my skin. It’s like a kick of caffeine without the side effects.

Of course layering the scent with the delicious range available means that the scent lasts all day.

The little tube of hand gel is handy for travel and feels instantly refreshing when rubbed into your hands. I was a little worried that the gel formulation might not be as good to keep my hands moisturised, but it keeps both the scent and moisture. Better still, just a little of the gel goes a very long way and the gorgeous scent has a way of surrounding my desk just after I put some on to make me smile and lift my mood.

It really does feel as if I’m bringing a walk in a lemon grove into the office every time I wear this scent.

In fact, the scent of lemons can have a positive effect on productivity at work. Research findings found that the citrus scent of lemons improved moods and raised levels of a brain chemical linked to executive decision-making and motivation. And whilst it is a little luxury, it is a

great reason for me to use this scent every day.

Lemony Ginger Nuts

Posted in At home, baking, Food, Uncategorized by

 

These lemony ginger nuts are the perfect way to counter gloomy weather. When the weather gets cold, our oven gets busy with lots of baking to fill the air with the delicious scent of home-baked biscuits.

This recipe is adapted from Delia Online and has been a favourite, since my eldest made them for one of her homework assignments for school.

As we had plenty of Golden Syrup, ginger and lemons, I decided that the lemons would bring a lovely citrusy tang to the ginger nuts.

Ingredients:

Zest of one lemon and about a dessert spoon  of lemon juice

110grams of Self Raising Flour

1 slightly rounded teaspoon of ground ginger

1 level teaspoon of biocarb of soda

40g soft brown sugar

50g butter

2 tablespoon of golden syrup

Preheat oven to 190degree c or Gas mark 5

 

To make:

Sieve the flour, biocarbonate, ground ginger into a bowl, add the lemon zest and combine. With your hands, rub the softened butter into the mixture until it resembles rubble.

Add the lemon juice, and the golden syrup, combine this into a dough. (You may need to add a little flour at this stage if the dough feels too wet or sticky. The consistency you are aiming for is something resembling short crust pastry. Form the dough into a ball and divide in half, then half again and cut into four. This should make 16 small pieces of dough.Lemon and ginger nuts - dough

Rub plenty of butter onto a non stick baking tray. Next place the small pieces of dough on to the baking tray and flatten them slightly. Leave plenty of room between each and put into the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes.

When they come out of the oven they will be soft. Leave them to cool a little before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

All that remains is to enjoy with a lovely cup of tea. They took all of half an hour to make and bake. Even better was that the lingering scent of ginger and lemons was in our house for the rest of the afternoon.

 

Banana Loaf with Sour Cherries and a Cinnamon Crunch topping

Posted in At home, baking, Food, inspiration, Kitchen, lifestyle by

Banana Loaf with Sour Cherries and a crunchy topping

I’ve been clearing out our grocery cupboard. Every few months, I make an effort to purge our groceries to make sure there is nothing lurking in the back of the cupboard that is going out of sell-by date.

It sometimes reveals some interesting finds.

Today, I found these dried sour cherries. I don’t remember buying these, so it must have been my hubby. At any rate they are about to reach the end of their shelf life. Rather than waste them, I decided to put them to use in a cake.Sour Cherries, bananas, dried apricots

Since I also had some bananas which were going very brown, they were now not so great looking in the fruit bowl but would be perfect for this Banana Loaf.

Ingredients:

75g Dried apricots (dried squishy fruit such as apricots if you have them)

75g Sour Cherries

Zest of 1 lemon

100g Unsalted Butter (softened but not melted)

125g soft brown sugar

2 large eggs (free range if possible)

2-3 large ripe bananas

200g self raising flour

Loaf tin (13x23x7cm)

Loaf tin paper case (optional)

For the crunchy topping: (this is optional)

1 tablespoon soft brown sugar

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon of Rolled Oats

1 teaspoon of Ground Cinnamon

To make the cake:

In a bowl, mix together the Sugar, Butter and eggs. Combine them until it is a soft batter. Add the chopped fruit (apricots and sour cherries) along with the zest of 1 lemon.

Mash the bananas until they are gloopy and runny and add these into the bowl and stir gently.

Add sifted self-raising flour gently, I tend to put the sieve over the bowl and gently tap in the flour, folding in the flour into the mixture. It should look a little lumpy, (making sure that there are no pockets of flour in the mix).

Spoon into the loaf tin as evenly as possible (it will spread out as it cooks).

My eldest made the crunchy topping at school during one of the cookery lessons and she showed my how to make this delicious topping.

To make the crunchy cinnamon topping:

In a Saucepan, gently melt the soft butter and soft brown sugar, add in rolled oats and ground cinnamon, making sure you coat all the oats with the cinnamon and buttery sugar. Once golden brown take off the stove and add small dollops of the mixture over the top of the cake mix that is in the loaf tin. As it cooks the small dollops of oats mixed into the butter and sugar will turn cook with the loaf and give a wonderfully fragrant cinnamony crunchy texture to the cake.

In the pre-heated oven, bake on 160c for about an hour (check around 50 mins to see if the cake is ready). It’s ready when you can put a skewer into the cake and pull it out clean.

This cake can be eaten hot from the oven but can be stored for a couple of days in an air-tight container to keep it moist.

Banana Loaf with sour cherries
Crunchy rolled oat cinnamon topping
Melted butter, oats and brown sugar with cinnamon
Cake mix in loaf tin
cake mix with mashed bananas
lemon zest
dried fruit added to cake mix
Chopped soft dried apricots with sour cherries
brown sugar and butter creamed
Loaf tin cake cases
Over ripe bananas, apricots and sour cherries

Sunday Spa Feature – Rice and Lemon Skin tone brightening face mask

Posted in At home, beauty, face mask, inspiration, Skin Care, Skincare by

You can be gorgeous at thirty, charming at forty, and irresistible for the rest of your life.” Gabrielle Chanel

Rice Powder facemask with honey and lemon

Skin Brightening Rice Powder facemask with honey and lemon

My skin is what can only be described as mature, I am fortunate in that I have Chinese skin which doesn’t wrinkle so much, but the signs of age are starting to show. Since Chinese skin is more prone to pigmentation and age spots, I have always used a sunscreen and kept out of direct sunlight as much as possible.

Yesterday, though, in spite of all the sun protection, the little dark marks on my skin seemed more noticeable and there were a few more freckles which must have appeared while we were on holiday. Even though I have been using Clinique’s dark spot corrector and day cream, it looks as if my skin needs more help.

Whilst I like the idea of aging gracefully, with the signs of age acting as markers that define who you are, I think it’s equally important to do as much as possible to maintain healthy looking skin,

Thinking back to a time when I was at home with my mum, she would use rice in many of the beauty treatments she made at home. I think history must be repeating itself, my daughter calls me a hippie because of my enthusiasm for all things home made. I used to think the same of my mum.

So back to the ingredients for the skin tone brightening face mask – Rice is the staple food in Chinese cooking. It is also an ingredient that features in many beauty products. My mother used to keep the rice water (soaking the rice removes the starch to help improve the texture as it cooks), rather than throwing away the starchy water, she would save this and use it as a toner.

Use Hand Blender to make Rice Powder

It contains PABA, (Para Aminobenzoic Acid) an ingredient you find in expensive skincare products, as well as ferulic acid, (an antioxidant), allantoin (anti-inflamatory) as well as vitamins C and E. In recent studies, it has been proven that rice and ricewater can improve and brighten skin. Some have even reported it can give skin a translucent glow.

As I want to use Rice in a facial, the best way to do this is a face mask using the rice in a powder form, so that all the goodness in the rice can soak into my skin.

I have simply put a small handful of Jasmine white rice into a hand blender pot and whizzed this until the rice has become a fine powder.

Once the powder is ready, add a teaspoon of honey, this is great for skin as well. I like to use this in masks because it will bind and hold the rice powder in place on my skin and act as a moisturiser.

I’ve included a very small amount of lemon juice and grated the skin of the lemon peel, both of which will also have a lightening effect on skin. But on their own, I think would be too harsh on mature skin, so just a teaspoon of lemon juice.

I’ve included some rosewater to make the paste the right consistency (You can add more if the paste is too thick),

Spread the facemask on your face and leave for 15-20 minutes. I love using a face mask on a Sunday morning soaking in a bath whilst the kids are still asleep – there’s just enough me time before the house awakes.

Once you’ve finished with the facemask, wipe away with a warm towel and follow with a facial toner and moisturiser as usual. There’s just one last thing, if you’d like to make your own  Rosewater cleanser and toner in one, click on the link for the recipe.

Home detox

Posted in At home, Bathroom, Clean Home, Kitchen by

Home made all purpose cleaning sprayCleaning the house is not something I enjoy. I try to avoid it until it becomes unavoidable.

It takes up so much of precious time at weekends that I am left grumpy at the thought that the endless cycle of cleaning has eaten away at the precious time I’d like to spend doing other things with the family.

In an effort to find ways to cut down, simplify and find short cuts, I’ve been looking at a number of blogs.

There are so many hints and tips to help you get through the household chores and I’m beginning to learn by doing.

I came across a number of blogs that recommend using Vinegar and Bicarbonate of Soda and adding essential oils for their antiviral and antibacterial properties and also to remove the smell of the vinegar.

home detox (2)We’ve been using this distilled vinegar from a Chinese Supermarket. It was in the local Chinese Supermarket in Mitcham that we sometimes go to stock up on Chinese ingredients.

The place caters for both those in the catering business as well as for people who are looking for Chinese specialist food and ingredients.

I love the smell of the supermarket and walking round, there are so many interesting things to look at, most of which I have no idea what they are or how to cook with them.

Compared to other distilled vinegar you can get, it is a little different and as it was the one white vinegar we had in the cupboard, I decided to use it, rather than go and buy another one, which I think would defeat the purpose of trying to simplify and cut down on the number of cleaning products around the house.

We bought it to remove limescale from our kettle, and it works really well at this job. I am sure that there are Thai recipes, with lovely sauces to try with this Vinegar, so will look them up for another time.

Since reading a the blogs about how to clean and organise a home, I decided to try making the bathroom all-purpose cleaner from Clean Mamas post – you can read it here. It seemed simple enough, water, vinegar and alcohol. I wasn’t sure though whether it would work without some kind of soap in the mix.

home detox (3)Since I had some fragrance free washing up liquid that had been under the sink, I thought this could be a good option to try. I hadn’t liked it for dishes because I like the smell of citrus when washing dishes, It was pretty good at cleaning though, I just prefer ones with a lemony scent.

With the washing up liquid and the distilled vinegar, I made up the following mix:

1/4 cup of distilled vinegar

1/4 cup of vodka

1/4 cup of washing up liquid

3/4 cup of water

Lemon , Tea Tree and Mitcham Peppermint essential oil

Lemon, Tea Tree and Mitcham Peppermint essential oil

(If you want to make more than this just use the same proportions as above in larger quantity, or follow Clean Mama’s recipe)

As the blog post recommended adding essential oils, I chose lemon for its lovely citrus fragrance. It has antibacterial properties and has an uplifting scent.

Tea Tree Oil is sold in most pharmacies for its anti bacterial qualities.

Since I like the smell of Mitcham Peppermint essential oil, known for it’s antiviral properties, I used this as well.

A cleaning detox that means no more harsh chemicals around the house and a simpler way to clean.

I put equal amounts : 10 drops of lemon, 10 drops of Tea Tree and 10 drops of Peppermint oil in with the vinegar, water and alcohol.

As I’ve just finished an Ecover multi purpose cleaner in a spray bottle, I decided to recycle it for this home-made cleaner.

I rinsed it out with some water, put some bicarbonate of soda in and left it over night, rinsed it out to remove as much of the chemicals as possible. With all the ingredients added into the bottle, I put the top on and shook it up to make sure all the essential oils were combined into the other ingredients.

I’ve been using this home-made cleaner for about a month, it’s good on kitchen counters, sinks, baths and the loo.

Because the spray is homemade, I’ve not thought of cleaning so much of a chore now. In fact as I clean, I look and inspect to see whether the spray is cleaning as well as the shop bought cleaners available.

I think it does a better job. The sink and bath are shiny and there isn’t any streaking on the shiny chrome surfaces.

home detox

The air doesn’t have the heavy artificial fragrance of commercially bought cleaner and now that all the scents have had a chance to combine, I can smell the sweet uplifting scent of Peppermint and lemons. The bathrooms just seems fresher and the surfaces of the ceramic sinks look just as shiny.

Using the spray with a little Biocarb gets the grime lifted away far better than the commercial cleaners I’ve tried, so that’s reduced the number of cleaner products I use around the house and saved on storage and my wallet – Brilliant!

Do let me know if you have a cleaning tip / idea to try.

Soothing Hot Lemon & Honey drink remedy for colds and flu

Posted in At home, Drink, Family, Health & Wellness, lifestyle, Uncategorized by

Hot Lemon & Honey drink remedy for cold

I came down with a cold not long after returning from our holiday. I have a feeling that it was probably caught whilst on holiday, but the symptoms only started to show once we got home.

By last Monday, my head felt as if it was caught in a vice and a sore throat was making me feel as if it was on fire.

My first thoughts was to turn to the usual remedy in our medicine cupboard, which is a hot mug of Lemsip. After two days however, I didn’t feel much better, in fact I was counting down the hours to my next fix of Lemsip.

It was at this point that I decided to stop using Lemsip and try something more natural as my stomach wasn’t feeling too great with all the chemicals and my head was feeling fuzzy as if it was wrapped in cotton wool.

Lemon and Honey as a hot drink was easy to make and since when you look at the ingredients on a pack of Lemsip, it contains for the most part lemon and paracetamol, plus a decongestants.

I decided that all natural ingredients would be better and hopefully it would also act as a detox and help cleanse my digestive system.

For blocked nose, instead of the chemical decongestants in the Lemsip, I have been inhaling steam from boiling hot water and adding a few drops of Olbas Oil (If you don’t have this, eucalyptus or any type of oil that has menthol/mint essential will have a similar effect) in a large bowl with a towel over my head.

Adding a few drops of lemon essential oil to the water as well, means that the steam is also acting as a facial, opening pores and giving my skin a deep clean.

As a parent, I’ve never been keen on using over the counter medicines on my kids. In fact my youngest doesn’t like Calpol (a liquid suspension of paracetamol in syrup) that I used to give them when they were very young. She too prefers the hot drink of Lemon and Honey when ever she feels a sore throat beginning to take hold.

For coughs, on my last visit to the GP with my daughter when she had a bad cough, he advised that a simple linctus of honey and lemon or glycerine would be just as effective as an over the counter medicine to help soothe a cough.

In fact in the UK, the National Health Service has information about simple treatments for colds and coughs, which advises against over the counter medicines for coughs as there isn’t enough evidence that they are effective.

 

Sunday Spa feature – Luxury Shea Butter St Clements Hand Cream

Posted in beauty, Health & Wellness, inspiration, lifestyle, Scent, Skin Care, Skincare by

ST CLEMENTS HAND CREAM (7)

Orange Blossom Water mixed together with Shea Butter, with Acetic Acid and Emlusifying wax
Jar of St Clements Hand Cream
Jar of St Clements Hand Cream
Jar of St Clements Hand Cream
Jar of St Clements Hand Cream

This is a simple way to enjoy the enriching benefits of Shea Butter in a hand cream, with a lovely light non-greasy mousse like texture.

Making this hand cream couldn’t be easier.

Shea Butter comes from the Shea Tree and is helpful for many skin conditions, especially dry skin. It contains vitamins A and E as well as fatty acids, plant sterols that are good for you. You can read more about it’s amazing qualities at the American Shea Butter institute.unrefined raw organic Shea Butter

I discovered the benefits of Shea Butter in a hand cream made by L’Occitane, it was given to me as a gift which I used every time I washed my hands after every nappy change, and because there were quite a few of these, my hands became very dry. The L’Occitane handcream was the only hand cream that helped. I love this cream and have the smaller sized version in my desk at work, and in my bag to use everywhere I go.

But since, I also like to make my own skincare, I’ve been experimenting to see if I can create one that has all natural ingredients without any commercial chemical preservatives that are necessary to extend the shelf life of the products.

I’ve chosen to use orange blossom water to use with the Shea Butter, as this too is great for skin, it is a mild astringent with antiseptic properties, it can be used as a toner for combination, oily and skin that’s prone to break-outs. (I’ve switched to using it as a facial toner during the summer) It’s also great because it helps regenerate skin and has relaxing and calming properties, mostly though I love the lovely floral citrus scent it leaves on the skin.

As I’ve added Lemon and Bergamot essential oils, to intensify the scent, I’ve called this mixture a St Clements Hand Cream.

The mixture is very light and is instantly absorbed into the skin and leaves a wonderfully fragrant orange and lemon scent (please note that since citrus can be photosensitive, it’s best not to use this if going out in direct sunlight. If you are trying this for the first time, do a patch test first).

Making the mixture, is very simple, it forms a creamy texture, so best to put it into a glass jar, than in a pump bottle as it turns into a lovely light mousse like texture.

To make the hand cream, simply put the shea butter, along with the emulsifying wax into a glass jug (it needs to be heat proof), in a pan of water that’s simmering, to melt the shea butter and wax together, once this has been melted, add the orange blossom water along with the acetic acid. Sift in Corn flour (I’ve added this to lighten the texture.

Don’t worry if it looks very runny at this stage, as it will solidify when it cools down to room temperature.

At this stage, whisk  (use an electric whisk for this part) to get air into the mix, you can carry on doing this until the mixture has cooled down, watch it turn into a white mouse like texture and then transfer into the glass jar of your choice.

Since this mixture is all natural, it contains no artificial preservatives, so I have kept the mix small and should last about 2-3 weeks.

Ingredients:

1/4 teaspoon stearic acid*

1 teaspoon of Emulsifying wax*

1 teaspoon of Beeswax*

7 tablespoons of Orange Blossom Water

2 heaped tablespoon of Shea butter*

10 drops Lemon Essential Oil

5 drops Bergamot Essential Oil

2 drops Ylang Ylang Essential Oil

1 teaspoon of corn flour

1x 100-150 ml glass Jar

Hmm I think I’m going to enjoy this as part of the Spa experience with the Indulgent Orange Blossom Hand Mask.

*I have included the product links here to where you can order the ingredients which you may find useful:

Stearic Acid for UK, Stearic Acid for the US

Emulsifying Wax for UK, Emulsifying Wax for the US

Beeswax Beads  for UK, Bees Wax Beads for the US

Organic Shea Butter Unrefined for UK

Organic Shea Butter Unrefined for US.

* Affliate links

Home Made Cuticle Oil

Posted in beauty, Skin Care, Skincare, Uncategorized, Wellbeing by

Sweet Almond Oil for home made Cuticle Oil

This week, I took the opportunity of doing some gardening with my kids and planted some lovely herbs. The combination of this and the broken dishwasher has meant my hands have taken a battering.

Since I have all the ingredients to make a home-made Cuticle Oil, I thought I would share this with readers of this blog.

Lavender and Lemon Essential OilIt’s so simple that it really requires very little effort and saves a great deal since I no longer purchase commercial cuticle creams or oils to condition my nails.

If you have some Sweet Almond Oil* or Olive Oil, these can be used as the base, both are perfect oils for conditioning and softening nails. Other oils to try are Coconut, Grape Seed, Jojoba oils.

The oils will nourish, add moisture and soften the cuticles.

I’ve used an empty essential oil bottle which I’ve washed out – but really you don’t need to do this if you are pressed for time as the one I’m using contained Tea Tree Oil,  any residue in the bottle will simply mix with the carrier oil.

Into this 10ml bottle, I have added just one drop of Lavender Essential Oil, along with Lemon Essential Oil. Sweet Almond Oil for making Cuticle Oil

Both the essential oils have been chosen for their cleansing, rejuvenating and healing properties. (Lemon is also antibacterial, used along with Tea Tree Oil, will combat against the threat of any infections.)

Mixed thoroughly, I have then applied this mixture using a cotton wool bud all over my nails covering the cuticles as well.

Left on overnight, my nails and cuticles feel stronger and the rough cuticles have been smoothed out. I didn’t even need to use a cuticle stick to push them back which I normally resort to.

Simple!

 

*If you would like to order the Sweet Almond Oil in the UK, the link will take you through to the product page on Amazon.

*If you would like to order the Sweet Almond Oil in  the US, the link will take you through to the product page on Amazon.

*These are affiliate links, which if you order through, a small commission is earned. Thanks in advance for using the links – any money earned will go towards maintaining the blog.

St Clements with Orange Blossom Water

Posted in At home, Drink by

St Clements & Orange Blossom Water

St Clements is the quintessential  English drink for the summer, made with equal parts of oranges and lemons.

I love squeezing the fresh oranges into a jug with a wooden Citrus Reamer.* There is something therapeutic about using this wooden utensil. Since all the juice gets squeezed through the pulp, I think the oils from the fruit are released with the juices as you squeeze, so that the air is filled with the smell of oranges and lemons and is just the best way to cheer up a dull rainy day.

It’s like sunshine in a drink.

I hold a sieve over the jug so that it catches the pulp bits to keep the juice clear.

The recipe couldn’t be any simpler – Oranges and Lemons in equal amounts, squeezed into a jug – about 3 large oranges and 3 un-waxed lemons.

Once you have squeezed the juice into the jug, add ice and water.

If the oranges are very sweet, then there’s really no need to add sugar. But if you are using the bitter variety or just want some sweetness, I think it goes really well with Honey.

For a Mediterranean feel, a splash of Orange Blossom Water will lift this drink. It’s difficult to describe, but if you like the scent of orange blossoms combined with citrus notes, then this is the perfect combination . It’s delicious with just a hint splashed in at the end with some fresh mint.

Of course, this is one of the many ways that Orange Blossom water can be used at home. It is a hydrolat, collected from the making of essential oil.

Bitter-orange blossoms are collected, washed and then crushed to release their scent into distilled water, gently steamed, so that the essential oil can be collected, what’s left is the scented water which is the hydrolat that can be used both in food and in  skin care and can also be used as a room scent, or even as a linen water.

In Morocco, Orange Blossom Water in a bowl of water is presented to guests so that they can refresh their hands when they enter the host’s home. I think this is such a lovely tradition, which has given me an idea for making an Orange Blossom Water hand wash and lotion.

But first, back to that St Clements….

*affiliate link

Hand made Calamine & Coconut After Sun lotion to the rescue

Posted in beauty, Skincare, Wellbeing by
Home Made After Sun Lotion

Home Made After Sun Lotion

It is nearly the end of term and with it the annual tradition of the School sports day. This year, my eldest had opted out of taking part. (Apparently it’s optional at her school) Instead she watched the event with some of her friends.

When I returned home that evening, both she and my husband were glowing bright red from where they had been sitting in the sun.

When they were much younger, I would run around after both of my kids with a bottle of sun-lotion, smearing them from head to foot to keep their delicate skins protected from the sun.

Unfortunately, I was at work when they caught the sun.

In previous years, my go to remedy for sun stressed skin is Calamine lotion or cream from the pharmacy. The pink liquid is by far the fastest way of cooling down hot skin. It is also good for sensitive skins, the zinc in the lotion reduces any rash faster than anything else I’ve tried.

My daughter now considers herself to be way too cool to be using a lotion that she thinks is for kiddies. She turned her nose up at it declaring “it stinks”. I must admit it’s got quite a chalky medical aroma to it.

This is an argument that I’m unlikely to win.

I have therefore created a lotion that still has the cooling properties of the calamine, but, with all natural healing properties that will look and smell great.

So here’s how I made it:

6 Tablespoons of Calamine lotion (the type you get from the Pharmacy)

4 Tablespoons of Cold Pressed Organic Coconut Oil

2 Tablespoons of Sweet Almond Oil

1 teaspoon of Stearic Acid (orderd online from natural Heath & Beauty store)

Home Made After Sun Lotion

Ingredients for Home Made After Sun Lotion

For the scent, I added the following essential oils: 7 Drops of Lavender essential oil (Great healing and skin soothing properties) 5 drops of Lemon essential oil (good antiviral and antiseptic properties and a refreshing scent), 1 drop of Citronella (just one drop, as it can overpower everything else, it’s a good bug repellent during the summer months).

As this was the first time I made this lotion, I tried out a very small amount first to see if it would work.

The Calamine lotion is water based, mixing it with the oils would need something to bind them together to stop them from separating.

I used Stearic Acid as this is a natural ingredient and works to act as an emulsifier, I simply added this to the mix in quarter teaspoon amounts.

This meant it was easier to whisk into a creamy consistency, switching to Sweet Almond Oil once I’d gotten to the bottom of the jar of Coconut oil.

I continued to alternate between the Calamine and the oils, adding the stearic acid whenever I felt the mix started to look too thin. I kept going until It was the consistency of a soft cake batter, in a pretty pink colour.

Essential oils were added at the end,  which was whisked into the mix.

As there are no chemical preservatives, I’ve kept the quantity small, enough to last a couple of weeks for the whole family to use.

The mix was poured into an empty clean recycled bottle that used to contain a hand wash. I designed and added a lable and some clear vinyl to make the label waterproof.

I think the finished result wouldn’t look out of place in a beauty store. My husband was first to try the lotion, no adverse reaction from my Hub, no adverse reaction from me or from my kids.

The texture and smell is a lot better than the original lotion.

Do let me know if you’ve made your own  sun lotion, or can recommend one to try.

Ingredients for Home Made After Sun Lotion
Calamine and Coconut lable – Teal
Whisk Calamine Lotion, Coconut oil, Sweet Almond Oil and Stearic Acid together
Calamine and Coconut lable for the lotion bottle
Ingredients lable
Lables for the Home Made After Sun Lotion
Calamine & Coconut Sun Lotion Ingredients lable – Teal
Stearic Acid in Pouch
Home Made Calamine and Coconut After Sun Lotion