the meandering path of creativity

Autumn winds here in Sydney have brought along with it the bane of my existence—dry skin. I was up last night until 2 in the morning with my dry hands feeling irritated and itchy and keeping me from a restful sleep. It also doesn’t help that I’m super vigilant about washing my hands and in this cold May weather, I have had to do it lately with hot water. Moisturising hand creams are a touch beyond what I’m currently capable of making myself at home. I hungrily eye pomegranate seed, apricot kernel, and rosehip oils for my next order of supplies to incorporate into my recipes, but for now, I will be contented with blending perfumes and lip balms.

I have discovered a new blog recently that I have thoroughly enjoyed reading. Amber from Caravan Herbals, an all natural, vegan skincare store, keeps a refreshingly candid yet infectiously optimistic account of her dream to start her own business. I love how she has her goals written in her sidebar! I will definitely be rooting for her to achieve all of them. The image above shows one of her latest concoctions, a cleansing oil, which sounds just divine. According to The Oil Cleansing Method, healthy skin is nowhere near as elusive as the skincare industry would have you believe. The simple notion that oil dissolves oil suggests that using a 1:4 blend of castor (for an anti-inflammatory, healing and cleansing) and sunflower seed oil (for luxuriousness and easier absorption) to wipe away dirt, grime and makeup from the face is a natural and nourishing alternative to harsher chemicals and synthetic fragrances.  The cleansing blend is wonderfully affordable too, I can purchase a litre (33.8oz) of castor oil for $8 AUD locally.

EDIT 13/06/2010: I have tried the OCM with a blend of jojoba and sweet almond oil scented with a hint of rose essential oil, but have not noticed anything dramatically different with my skin. In the future, I may attempt a new recipe with the aforementioned castor oil and see how I go :).

I read the directions for use on the website, which recommends almost incorporating the cleansing process into a ritual for calmness, and using a washcloth to gently steam your face. I wonder if you could also include a small amount of essential oils in the blend to give yourself a little aromatherapy as well during the cleansing for a multisensory, end-of-the day distressing routine.

In honour of Amber’s blogging style, I’m also going to share with you one of my setbacks then end my post today on a positive note:

Bunny’s Boo-Boo: I never wrote down the formulas I used for blending lip balms last year so I found a rough guide online that was a completely miss. My balms never even solidified, but I was so overconfident in my abilities and the recipe that I didn’t even do a test before I poured it. (To test; you put a teaspoon in a freezer when you get ready to blend and before you take it off the heat, dip the tip of the cold spoon into your mixture and the lip balm will harden on it, giving you a preview of its consistency/flavour.)

Latest Victory: I loaded up my printer with fresh inks today and printed off my labels for Faunfare. They look gorgeous and I cannot wait to begin packing them with sample perfume vials and jewellery to send around the world.