ingredients

i'm not sure how long it's been that i've been interested in making things 'from scratch', or how widely known this is, but this year for my birthday i was given a really great series of books on how to make stuff.
cheese, preserves, mosaics and cosmetics amongst other things.
one of the books, 'domestic goddess on a budget' had some great ideas, and the recipes matched the things i had in my cupboard. all that was really missing was some wine and some friends to share it with.
so i invited over some demi-goddesses who brought along some wine and nibbles and prepared to pass an evening together, eating, laughing, drinking and pampering ourselves with homemade cosmetics.
we soaked our hands in hot water while patchouli oil wafted gently towards our noses; i made a honey sugar scrub which we used to really clean and soften our hands. next i whipped up a coconut oil cream (with lavender oil) to moisturise our lovely skin. we nibbled, sipped and gossiped while we applied a honey-yoghurt face mask (with lavender blossoms and banana). and we laughed outrageously while we sat with granny's cold cream all over our face.
the reason we laughed was really because this cold cream was quite unlike granny's traditional cream.
me thinks that granny never tried to convert her recipe back to imperial measures to match the ancient scales (she was probably already using these scales and wasn't confused to start with)
me thinks that also granny hadn't drunk the better part of a bottle of wine before trying to undertake said conversion either!

i put in double the amount of beeswax prescribed....

needless to say, although it wasn't quite as granny intended, it was delicious. after washing it off our faces felt fresh and rejuvenated.

some might think it was a dangerous time to gather, the night before a full moon. but no. we had a great time, discussing all the issues that interest a series of fine women.
and decided to do it again.
before the next full moon.

xx
mama b

the recipes are simple- try it yourself!

honey-sugar scrub:
1T honey, 1/2C sugar, 1/2T lemon juice.
heat honey to liquid add lemon juice & mix; add to sugar and mix well.

coconut oil cream:
1T coconut oil, 1/2T almond oil, 1/2T rosewater, 10 drops of essential oil
combine...

honey-yoghurt mask
1t finely minced lavender blossoms, 1/4C yoghurt, 1/8C mashed banana, 1/8C honey
soak lavender ablossoms in yoghurt for 1hr or more; gently stir in banana; add honey last & stir to incorporate.
wash face & generously apply; leave for 1/2 hr. rinse off with warm water

granny's delicious cold cream
84ml olive oil, 28g beeswax, 28ml rose-water, 10-20 drops of rose essential oil.
put the oil and wax in a double boiler and heat until the wax melts; gently warm the rose-water and pour into the wax-oil mix; remove from heat, add rose oil and stir until it cools.

use the best ingredients you can afford.
pascal made the yoghurt, the honey was local manuka honey, the lavender blossoms from our garden; the wine from our island and the goddesses a delicious blend of local and imported goods.