Li's crafting thoughts 5-13-07

Though I've done some crafting, the last few days I've been focusing more on aromatherapy/herbal research. To better understand ingredients, I've been choosing topics, and then pouring through my library and writing down every natural ingredient that works for that skin/health ailment or condition, or everything about that one ingredient that I can. I had actually started this some time ago (a year or so ago?) but never did it on a regular basis. Things I've learned are this is no easy task (especially since I have like sixty to seventy books to pour through), it's been very time consuming, and that I am probably still missing some information since many indexes of books could be better! (And some like Tisserand's awesome classic, don't even have one and I can't reread all seventy books to make sure I'm not missing anything!). I think this will definitely help my crafting, since in the end I will have a master list of all things that work for any particular topic (instead of just what I can remember off the top of my head at the moment), and then I can use those ingredients in crafting a fantastic and very effective product for it!

So list of things I've actually crafted these last few days: body oils, eye shadow, serums, herbal tinctures, herbal infused oil, clay masks

Body oils:Been making them for years, but have recently been making single scent oils made with new essential oils and carrier oils, so I can become familiar with the scents, and also the properties of the oils (how fast absorbing it is, how effective a moisture barrier, for essential oils: whether it is a relaxing oil or stimulating etc)

Eye shadows: Started to make new shades, haven't done this in a while (though I've made lippie shades/glosses in the last few weeks). I need to work on making mattes sometime in the next few months, since all I've been making are shimmers, sparkly sheens, and sheens!

Serums: working on oil based serums for particular skin types. Starting with my own skin type of course (dehydrated which is water dry but produces enough oily, occasionally with blemishes). Though I won't be using the serums for other skin types on my face, I will be using them on my body, so I can really see how they work.

Tinctures/herbal extracts: I made green tea tincture (made with a blend of six kinds of green tea. Thanks E.K. for the tea!) and also red rooibos tincture. I intend to use these in making water based serums (the only water based serums I've made so far are those with aloe, but trying to learn to make different kinds). I may use them in creams too.

Herbal infused oils: I made calendula oil, which is a great skin care ingredient. Like the tinctures, this has to infuse for several weeks until ready. So I won't get to play for a while :( (I could've made it the fast way by applying heat but I prefer to make it the slow way so I don't have to heat up the oil any more than neccesary so all the vitamins don't get destroyed!)

Clay masks: just playing around with different ingredients. I need to post those recipes on all natural beauty portal website that I promised a while back :)


I am glad I am taking this time for all this research, since I want to craft products that actually work! (Instead of just using whatever herb is popular at the moment like many companies)