20% of your recipe should be Beeswax
	25% of your recipe should be any cosmetic grade oil that is solid at room temperature (coconut oil, palm oil, lanolin, shea butter, mango butter, sal butter, kokum butter).
	15% of your recipe should be any cosmetic grade oil that is brittle at room temperature (cocoa butter, palm kernel oil, etc.)
	40% of your recipe should be any cosmetic grade oil that is liquid at room temperature (sweet almond oil, apricot kernel oil, avocado oil, hemp seed oil, grape seed oil, sunflower seed oil, olive oil, etc.)
	100IU Vitamin E per ounce of oils can be added as an antioxidant to prolong shelf life.

1 part beeswax
1 part butter
1 part oil or oil infusion
100IU Vitamin E per ounce of oils can be added as an antioxidant to prolong shelf life.

Melt wax and butter in a double boiler and stir in oils. Remove from heat and add fragrance and colorant. This basic balm can be softened with more oil or hardened with more wax or butter. This can be poured into lip balm containers or deodorant containers for use as lotion bars.  Use herbal infused oils in place of the oil and essential oils (up to 3%) for added therapeutic value!!!

Basic Cold Cream

1 ounce grated beeswax or beeswax pellets
6 tablespoons sweet almond oil (you may use any oil of choice, olive oil is great too)
4 tablespoons distilled water
1 teaspoon borax
2-3 drops of your preferred essential oil (carrot seed oil is great for aging skin, tea tree or lavender for its healing properties, etc)

In a double boiler, combine beeswax and sweet almond oil. Heat to 130 degrees and stir until beeswax is melted and well blended. Dissolve your borax in the distilled water and heat to 120 degrees, do not boil. Remove both pans from heat, stirring constantly, slowly pour the distilled water and borax solution into your wax and oil solution. When fully combined, using a stick blender whip until oil and water is fully incorporated and cools to about 80 degrees. Add your essential oil and continue to whip until your cream is light and airy, with a brilliant white sheen. Store in sterile container, preferably in the refrigerator. The borax is a light preservative, but your cream will keep best when refrigerated, shelf life with refrigeration is approximately 2 months, so make only what you will use within that time line. You'll be amazed how you skin glows after this treatment. 

Note:  Adding a synthetic preservative such as Optiphen Plus or Germall Plus will substantially increase the shelf life of this product.  It will not need to be stored in the refrigerator either.

Basic Lotion:

	1 ½ oz. Sweet Almond Oil
	½ oz. Cocoa Butter
	½ oz. Vegetable Glycerin
	1 ½ Tbsp. Emulsifying Wax
	8 oz. Distilled Water (room temperature)
	30 - 50 drops Essential Oils

In a heat-safe measuring cup combine the sweet almond oil, cocoa butter, vegetable glycerin, and emulsifying wax. Melt everything together in the microwave (about 1 - 2 minutes) or by the "double-boiler" method (nest the measuring cup into a saucepan containing 1 to 2 inches of water. Heat over medium heat until melted, stirring occasionally).

Measure out water into a blender. Turn the blender on low and very slowly and steadily pour in the melted oil mixture. You should now have a thick, beautiful cream.

Add the essential oils last, turning on the blender just enough to incorporate the oils and being careful not to over-blend the mixture. Pour into the jars while still warm, as it will thicken as it cools. Cap jars when completely cooled.

Store any extra cream in the refrigerator to prolong its shelf life.

Basic Lotion Bar:

3 oz. beeswax
3 oz. cocoa butter
3 oz. sunflower oil (may substitute sweet almond, jojoba, etc.)
20 drops essential oil 
100IU Vitamin E per ounce of oils can be added as an antioxidant to prolong shelf life.    

Melt beeswax and cocoa butter together in top of double boiler.
When melted, add sunflower oil and stir until completely mixed.
Stir until mixture cools slightly before adding essential oils, about
20 drops. Pour into molds and let harden.

Basic Body Butter:

2 oz Cocoa Butter
1 oz Olive Oil
1 oz Coconut Oil
2 oz Shea Butter
1 oz Jojoba Oil
1 oz Beeswax

20 drops Essential Oil (Optional)
100IU Vitamin E per ounce of oils can be added as an antioxidant to prolong shelf life.

Melt all ingredients in a double boiler, and mix well while cooling. If desired, add essential oil when cool.  For a whipped version, use a stick blender to whip the butter as it cools.

Un-petroleum Jelly:

1 cup oil (your choice)
1/4 cup beeswax
100IU Vitamin E per ounce of oils can be added as an antioxidant to prolong shelf life.

Melt oil and beeswax together. Pour into containers, let cool.

How to Botanically Infuse Oils

Infusing oils with botanicals is extremely easy, however it takes patience.  Infused oils can be a beneficial healing aid and is a 100% natural alternative to modern medicine and creams such as cortisone or steroids.   You can even make your own pain relief balms!

To infuse oils you will need:

	A Mason Jar or clear wide mouth glass jar with a tight fitting lid.
	Cold Pressed oil (I prefer Sunflower, Almond or Grapeseed).
	50 grams of a therapeutic herb of choice (such as Calendula or St John's Wort) per cup of oil.
	If you are infusing roots (such as comfrey) you will need a crockpot or some other stable heat source that can be set on low.
	A tincture press, potato ricer, or muslin cloth.
	Gloves.
	A sterilized, clean Amber glass bottle (or other dark GLASS bottle) to store your finished oil in.
	Natural Vitamin E (100IU per ounce of oil)

Cold Infused Oils:

To make a cold infusion (you do this with delicate plants and petals such as Calendula, St John's Wort, Chamomile, etc).

1. Weigh out 50 grams of herb (depending on the herb it may be a lot or hardly any... Calendula, for example is extremely bulky, St John's Wort isn't.

2. Stuff the herb into a mason jar or any other wide mouth jar you are using.  Pour oil over it making sure no plant matter is exposed.  Some herbs this will take 1 cup of oil, others such as Calendula, may take more.  Try to stick within the guidelines of 50 grams/cup of oil.  It's not a big deal if you can't, it just won't be as potent.  

3. Place mason jar in sunny windowsill.  Remember to turn the jar every few days.  I personally write the date, oil I'm using, amount of herb to oil ratio and when the oil will be ready on a label on the lid.  This way I do not forget 6 weeks later, that the oil needs to be strained.

4. After 6 weeks your oil is ready for further processing.  Take a sheet of Muslin cloth ( or a muslin bag) and pour the oil through the cloth into another clean container.  Do not discard the herbs.

5. To get the most concentrated constituents of the herb... squeeze out the herbs through the muslin cloth, tincture press, or potato ricer (wearing rubber gloves so as not to contaminate the oil).  The more oil you get out of the herbs, the better the oil will be medicinally. 

6. Let the strained oil sit covered overnight to ensure any leftover plant residue sinks to the bottom.  

7. Pour the oil into your glass amber bottle being careful not to disturb the sediment and residue in the bottom of the jar (including this in your final oil will result in the oil going rancid faster).  

8. Date and label your oil.  Add Vitamin E to lengthen shelf life, if desired.  Store in a cool dark place.

Heat infused oils:  

Comfrey Root and other hardy roots and barks need to be infused using a heat source.  You can infuse the delicate plants this way too, however, it can kill many of the active healing constituents in the plant.

1. Weigh out 50 grams of herb.

2. Place the herb in a Crockpot and pour oil to cover so no plant parts are exposed.  Try to stay within the 50 grams to 1 cup ratio. 

3. Cover the Crockpot and turn to low heat.  

4. Check regularly to make sure the oil is not too hot and herb is burning.  Stir.  

5. Let simmer for up to 6 hours. (4 hours minimum).

6. Turn off the Crockpot and let the infusion cool enough to handle.

7. Complete steps 4 through 8 from above.

Voila!  You have herbal infused oil ready to use for balms, creams, lotions, or to simply use as they are.

Note:  Using soap grade herbs for infusions is a waste of money and time.  Soap grade herbs do not have the active constituents required to carry the properties of the plant into the oil.  For more on the difference, please go here.

Cold Processed Castille Type Soap:

To make about 4.5 lbs of soap, you would use:

	40 oz. olive oil
	5 oz. palm oil
	5 oz. coconut oil
	16 oz. water
	6.7 oz. lye
	Between 1.5 and 2.2 oz of fragrance or essential oil, according to your preference

Follow basic soap making instructions (coming soon).

Make sure that you run your recipe through a lye calculator to make sure that all of your measures are correct!