The air in my home cosmetics laboratory was thick with sensual aromas yesterday, as we were making cleansing balms, toners, oil serums, body scrubs and a whipped body cream.
If you’ve been looking into the comings and goings of celestial bodies recently, you’re aware that Venus is arriving at the end of the week. No wonder almost everything we made ended up containing the essential oils of ylang ylang and jasmine – both known to increase erotic charge.
Some of the recipes will be included in my book that will be released later this year, some of them we made just for fun. Instead of going for a cup of coffee, making cosmetics is a great way to meet up with friends. You can share your beauty care ideas and talk about girly stuff – just lovely!
I want to reveal one absolutely divine recipe as a teaser for what you will find in my book… this creamy jasmine and ylang ylang whipped body cream!
This lotion has the consistency of a creamy mousse that actually pops and bursts when you scrape it out of the jar. The secret is in whipped shea butter, which is super easy to make. You can change the consistency to your liking by adjusting the ratio between the shea butter and oils. This recipe makes a creamy, fluffy body mousse that melts into a rich oil once applied on the skin.
Creamy jasmine & ylang ylang whipped body cream
50 ml shea butter, melted
10 ml mango butter or cacao butter, melted
20 ml almond oil
10 ml argan oil
10 ml grapeseed oil
25 drops of ylang ylang essential oil
25 drops of jasmine absolute
5 drops of blue tansy essential oil
Put shea butter and mango butter in a heat-proof bowl and set the bowl over warm water. Let melt. Once the butters are completely liquid, remove the bowl from the water and stir in oils and essential oils. You can use other types of oils or essential oils if you prefer. Put the mixture in the freezer for 20 minutes. The mixture should solidify but not freeze before whipping. Once the mixture is solid but still soft, remove from freezer and whip with an electronic mixer for 8-10 minutes, until a fluffy cream is formed.
Spoon the mixture into a jar and let it settle in the fridge for a while. Once done, the cream can be kept in room temperature.
Notice that when mixing the oils, the mixture will be opaque or even dark in color depending on which oils you are using, but once whipped it will turn completely white. Treat yourself or someone else!
Linen cloth Balmuir
Pictures Katja Kokko
Translation Eeva Kolu