I’ve done a cosmetics workshop with my wonderful friend Jaga at CCC Camp 2015.

We had about 11 or 12 participants (we planned in for 6, 10 max.) and we only had 3 scales but managed to get everyone home with a cream and a lip balm nevertheless.

I am happy to announce about that the workshop did cover our expenses completely.

Skin Cream

We did my previously tested recipe for the skin cream. I remember getting a few questions about it, which I want to answer for everybody:

Can the lavender oil be exchanged?

Yes. Leave it out, replace with one or more essential oils if you like. I personally like a light scent of lavender a lot. Some people don’t. Be experimental on what you like or not!

I’ve accidentally put too much glycerin in

The participant asking did put in 5g instead of 1,5g. This causes the cream to be sticky. I recommended to put the cream onto wet skin if you don’t want to throw it away. You can make a lotion too by adding more water

I have put in too much oils / water

The cream will be getting more runny, but it is not a big problem if you are within let’s say 10% of the desired amount

It started to get flaky after adding the water

The temperature has gotten too low. Put it into the water bath and stir until it completely liquifies.

The emulsion doesn’t mix

Okay, this can have a number of problems. First one could be that there is too little of emulsifier in it. The emulsifier and/or the beeswax could be too cold. Heat it up, but not higher than about 65°C. Try again. If stirring doesn’t work, try using an electric tool (which we didn’t have) or use a container where you can shake it.

Water from the water bath came into the mixture

I remember having two or three people having this problem. I remember having one pot completely submerged, which I cleaned up and let the participant start over. Also I remember a small girl getting a bit of water into the cream at a later point. I recommended to add less of destilled water and it worked.

Lip Balm

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Me and Jaga have tried out this recipe the evening before the workshop. The recipe is very simple:

4g Beeswax

4g Shea Butter

2g Apricot Oil

Heat up Beeswax after liquid, add Shea Butter. After liquid add Apricot Oil. Fill into lip balm containers.

The recipe is for about two of those containers. The Oil can be exchanged with many other oils

I will answer your questions!

If you have any questions about those recipes, the workshop or if you want me to give further workshops, feel free to contact me