DIY Cocoa Butter Body Balm

Winter is here and so is dry, patched, scaly skin. Urgh!!!

Sticking to my desire to stay away from chemicals as much as possible (click for post on Natural/Organic Fever), I decided to make my own body cream balm.  I followed Naptural85's shea butter creme recipe for hair but instead of using shea butter, I used cocoa butter. It smells good and leaves the skin moisturized, soft, and supple.

Next time I will skip directly to step 6 and 7. But since I wasn't sure how the process would work with cocoa butter, I will share with you what I did.

Step 1: Gather all the ingredients. 
Note: See end of the post for the list of places where I purchased my oils

You can mix the cocoa butter with whatever oils you like to use. Below is what I use in my hair/body mix during the warmer months (excluding the cocoa butter). 

Unrefined organic Cocoa butter

Extra virgin olive oil

Organic Jojoba oil

Organic Avocado oil

Castor oil

Organic Grapeseed oil

Vitamin E

Tea tree oil (not in picture)

Step 2: Portion the amount of cocoa butter you want to use and place it a blender. I used a knife to break up the cocoa butter.

Unrefined organic coca butter

Using knife to break up cocoa butter

Step 3: Mix the rest of the oils together in a separate container/bottle. You can use whatever oils you like.

Step 4: Blend the cocoa butter and oils together until it is somewhat smooth. You may need to add a good amount of the mixed oil to get the mixture going.

Keep blending. You are almost there....

Step 5: Scrape your mixture into a clean container. I reused my cocoa butter container.

Lumpy cream

You can leave the cream balm lumpy if you like as your body heat will melt away the lumps as you apply the cream. For those who want a smoother texture, proceed to step 6.

Step 6: Pour some hot (not boiling) water in a bowl and place the container with your cocoa butter in it. The water should be enough so that the container is not floating in the water. We don't want to lose all that precious cocoa butter now do we?

Stir the mixture as the lumps melt. Keep stirring and don't let the butter melt too much. The same process is used to melt chocolate so think chocolate, don't burn, chocolate, don't burn :)

Step 7: The cream will solidify once it cools making a balm but it is still soft enough to use. Your body heat will melt the balm as you apply it.

Enjoy your homemade cocoa butter body balm. Your body will thank you. 


UPDATE: Mix the oil with shea butter for a smoother creme/butter. 

My Purchase List (click on links if available)

Unrefined organic Cocoa butter - Moutain Rose Herbs

Extra virgin olive oil - any grocery store

Organic Jojoba oil - Jojoba Company

Organic Avocado oil - Whole Foods (also check GNC or Vitacost)

Castor oil - Vitacost

Organic Grapeseed oil - Whole Foods (also check GNC or Vitacost)

Vitamin E - Trader Joes (also check GNC or Vitacost)

Tea tree oil - Trader Joes (also check GNC or Vitacost)

Worry Stories

I don't know about you, but it is awesome to have that one friend who can give it to you straight whether you like what they have to say or not. Well my friend Catho falls into this category. She is full of wisdom beyond her years, has amazing discernment, and is not afraid to ask those difficult questions that get you thinking, praying, and fasting. Below is one of her moments. Enjoy!!!

----------------------------------------

So last night I woke up to what I thought were sounds of a little animal in my room. I was petrified at the thought of dueling with the said rodent. I imagined that it might a squirrel with rabies or a snake that had crawled into my room. I wondered if I should call my brother to come and tackle it(it was 3am and my brother lives 30 minutes away). After a long period of frozen silence,I dared to unplug the light and go back to sleep assuming "the thing" was gone. Well,the next thing I heard a loud rustle next to my bed and I let out a small scream, Lord Jesus Come! It had moved to the side of my bed!  Well, turned out that it was the light plug that had fallen on a plastic bag that was next to my bed and made the rustling noise. After calming my nerves and realizing that really there was no rodent,snake or funny little animal in my room, I started thinking of worry. How we worry about non-existent issues. How we build mountains out of mole hills. Did he mean this or the other when he said this? Am I fired because of what that email said? And on and on the list goes. We write this worry stories, we give them life and space in our minds. In the process we inflict ulcers and stress to our bodies and by the time the non-existent never happens, we are a mess. I pray that if there is any worry story that you are writing, you cease. That you realize that not a single minute of worry will change any of your circumstances, but God can. Whatever it is that has caused you worry today, make it known to God and stop writing that story.

Here is a little song we sang in Sunday School:

Why worry, when you can pray

Trust in Jesus, He knows the way

Don't be a doubting Thomas, Just lean upon His promise

Why worry,worry,worry,worry,

When you can pray?

I dare not make light of what you going through at this moment,but remember what Jesus said and rest assured(Matthew 6:25-34)"

²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

²⁸ “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? ³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Labor of Love

As I was perusing Curly Nikki, I came across her NBC segment on MHP on how society views natural curly hair and how we curly head hair owners often perpetuate negative views of curly natural hair. The stigmas of natural hair being ugly, nappy, annoying, something to get rid of, inconvenient are planted in our heads at a very young age. Think about it. Do you have fond memories of your hair getting styled, braided, hot combed, relaxed?

During the moments I imagine and dream what my children will look like, I pray and hope my husband (another dream) and I will be good parents. I pray that our children will grow up being self-confident, believe they are beautifully and wonderfully made, and are strong enough to combat the harshness society deals at times. I would love them to believe they are the best in the world and that our love is unconditional. I would love my children to grow up loving their hair and body the way God made and intended them to be. I would love them to embrace the uniqueness and versatility their hair will bring and that caring for it is a labor of love.


Here is a homage to my future children and other parents out there who promote labor of love.


Clink on the links below for inspiring stories

Daddy's Little Girl/Mirror On America

GirlsLoveYourCurls

Chocolate Hair Vanilla Care

Beads Braids and Beyond

Natural/Organic Fever

 Source

Parabens! BPA! Cancer! Estrogen! Sulfates! Cetearyl alcohol! Infertility! Phthalates!! OH MY!!!!!

Natural Hair Dyes - Henna and Indigo

Can I just say that I am so jealous of Shelli of Hairscapades length of hair!!!! Gorgeous!!! Anyway enough of my green facial expressions. Here are her wonderful tips on dying natural hair using henna and indigo.

 

It’s finally here!! The highly anticipated (by, like, two people) tutorial for my two-step henna/indigo process!! LOL! I did a treatment this Sunday and photo-documented it for this post. I explained most of my process in my Henna and Me “interview.” So, a lot of this will be a repeat of that information. However, it’ll be bulleted and accompanied with pretty pictures and a little more detail . First though, here are a couple of notes about modifications I’ve made to my henna treatments due to my preferences and my hair’s needs: