Soothing diaper cream
If you would prefer a cream to a balm it’s only slightly more complicated. Creams involve mixing water and oil based ingredients therefore require an emulsifier (Emulsifier HE20) to combine them and a preservative (Geogard 221) to keep the finished product from going mouldy.
Zinc’s anti-inflammatory properties mean it is gentle on most skin types, making it especially soothing for sensitive skin. Xanthan gum helps give it a gooey texture and helps it glide onto the skin.
The coconut, almond and argan oils, shea butter, beeswax and vitamin E soothe and moisturise while the glycerin helps retain that moisture.
This recipe makes 200g of soothing diaper cream.
First Phase:
- 120g water
- 30g zinc oxide
- 12g Emulsifier HE20
- 8g coconut oil, certified organic, virgin
- 6g almond oil, certified organic
- 6g shea butter, certified organic, refined or unrefined, fair trade
- 6g beeswax, certified organic
- 6g glycerin, certified organic
- 2g argan oil, certified organic
- 2g xanthan gum
Last Phase:
- 1g Geogard 221
- 0.5g vitamin E
Method:
- Put the First Phase ingredients in a pot.
- Heat until the emulsifier is melted.
- Blend on and off until it begins to thicken.
- Add the Last Phase ingredients and blend.
- Spoon into pot/s.
Whipped shea butter
While you can apply it in the dense butter form it comes in, here’s a wonderfully easy way to make it lighter and fluffier and go make a little go a long way!
If you would prefer not to use anything other than just the raw ingredient shea butter is an excellent option.
Unrefined shea butter contains an abundance of healing ingredients, including vitamins, minerals, proteins and a unique fatty acid profile, and is a superior active moisturiser. Unlike petroleum-based moisturisers, shea butter actually restores the skin’s natural elasticity. Shea butter enables your skin to absorb moisture from the air, and as a result, it becomes softer and stays moisturised for longer. Regular users of pure, unrefined shea butter notice softer, smoother and healthier skin.
Ingredients:
- 100g shea butter, unrefined, certified organic, fair trade
- You can add a few drops of essential oil if you want to make it smell delicious.
Method:
For this, you need an electric beater with a whisk attachment. Put shea butter in a bowl and start whisking. If it’s too hard, melt it just a little (you can do this in the microwave or on the stovetop). It’s good if you can get away without melting as it’s easy to over-melt it. Then you’ll have to wait for it to cool.
The heat generated from whisking can be enough to melt the shea butter. Whisking can take a while, so it’s good if you have a machine you can turn on and leave. The idea is to get as much air into the shea as possible. Whisk until it is twice the volume and is light and fluffy.
Pour or spoon into containers while it’s still warm. When it cools it will harden but will have a wonderful light texture. A nice touch is to use an icing bag to put it into containers.
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