chamomile Archives - Soap Queen

How to Make Gentle Oatmeal Baby Soap

November 22, 2016 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Cold Process Soap

This Gentle Oatmeal Soap recipe is perfect for babies, or those with sensitive skin. The majority of the recipe is made with olive oil pomace that has been infused with skin-loving chamomile herb. Chamomile has been used in skin care for centuries, and is well known for its calming properties. The soap also contains shea butter for moisture and castor oil for lather.

This soap does not contain any fragrance, because that can sometimes be irritating to extremely sensitive skin. If you’d like to add some, feel free. In particular, lavender essential oil would be a great choice. You can use the Fragrance Calculator to find out how much to add to the recipe. Once unmolded, the soaps are stamped with the Stork & Baby Acrylic Stamp for a cute finishing touch. They would be a perfect gift for a baby shower! Looking for more baby soap recipes? Check out the Buttermilk Bastille Baby Bar tutorial!

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Chamomile & Coconut Oil Body Balm DIY

October 19, 2016 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Lotion

Chamomile is one of my favorite herbs to use in do-it-yourself beauty products. The use of chamomile in skincare has been traced all the way back to Ancient times, including ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome. Today, chamomile is still ingested and applied to the skin for its anti-inflammatory properties. To add the skin-loving properties to this balm, coconut oil is infused for several hours with chamomile herb.

Olive oil is combined with the coconut oil for a bit of softness, while yellow beeswax helps keep it solid in hotter temperatures. If you live in an extremely hot temperature, you can add more beeswax to increase the melting point. If you like a softer balm, decrease the amount of yellow beeswax. A great trick for testing the consistency of balms is the frozen spoon trick. It allows you to feel the balm when cooled, prior to pouring it into containers. In our tests, we found this balm begins to melt around 100 ° F. Looking for more ways to incorporate chamomile into your skincare? Check out the recipes below!

Top Row: Chamomile Oat Melt & Pour Bars, Lavender & Chamomile Goat Milk Bath Tea
Bottom Row: Soothing Eye Tea, Yellow Chamomile Cold Process Soap

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Soothing Eye Tea DIY

October 5, 2016 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials

Need a few minutes to relax and unwind? This Soothing Eye Tea is a great pick me up. The “tea” is made from a combination of chamomile herb, calendula petals and lavender buds. Once you’re ready to kick up your feet, boil some water and submerge the tea bags just like normal. “Brew” the tea for about a couple minutes and remove the tea bags. Place the tea bags into the fridge to completely cool, then place the cold tea bags on your eyes for a refreshing feel. You can also place the warm tea bags on closed eyes until fully cool. It all depends on what you prefer. =)

I like to make a large batch of these to have on hand whenever I need a little pick-me-up. They are especially nice during a bath, or before bed. The recipe below makes about eight tea bags, so feel free to size up the recipe as you’d like. You can also adjust the amounts of each herb as you see fit. This project is the perfect time to use a “Keep Calm and Make Soap” mug! =)

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Chamomile Oat Melt & Pour Bars DIY

May 24, 2016 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Melt & Pour Soap

Chamomile is one of my favorite herbs to incorporate in bath and beauty products. It smells amazing, looks appealing and is known for its soothing properties. For these Chamomile Oat Bars, I added chamomile extract to Stephenson Oatmeal and Shea Melt and Pour to create a super luxurious bar. Chamomile Bergamot Fragrance Oil gives a fresh and relaxing scent.

To embed the chamomile herbs into the bar, I placed the herbs into each cavity and covered them with a thin layer of Stephenson Ultra Clear Soap Base. This base is incredibly clear, which makes it perfect for embedding and layering. The chamomile herb does bleed in the soap slightly and may increase over time. I think they still look beautiful, even with bleeding. They can also discolor brown over time.

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Herb Infused Bath Oil

June 2, 2015 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials

After a long day, nothing is quite as relaxing as a hot bath. This Herb Infused Bath Oil can be added directly into your bath water to create a moisturizing and calming bath experience. Comprised of argan oil, avocado and infused sweet almond, this combination of oils is full of vitamins E, B1, B2 and A. Before combining the bath oils, the sweet almond oil is infused with calendula and chamomile herb to impart extra skin-loving properties into the oil.

Infusing oils is easy and fun. To make this infused sweet almond oil, check out the How to Infuse Oils with a Crock-Pot. If you don’t have a slow cooker handy, you can also infuse your oils with a double boiler, or by using the cold infusion method.

In addition to the skin-loving oils, this recipe contains a small amount of polysorbate 80. The polysorbate 80 helps the oils combine with the water. Below is an example of how oil behaves with and without polysorbate 80. On the left is plain avocado oil. On the right is avocado oil with polysorbate. You will notice that the addition of polysorbate makes the water murky, but the oil is dispersed evenly throughout the water. To help the oil disperse through the bath water even more, pour the oil under the faucet as the bath fills up. When you get out, make sure you have solid footing and a good handhold. That same oil that is so lovely on the skin makes the tub slippery.

What You’ll Need:
8 oz. Chamomile & Calendula Infused Sweet Almond Oil (learn how to make it here)
3 oz. Argan Oil
5 oz. Avocado Oil
.6 oz. Polysorbate 80
1 oz. Vanilla Oak Fragrance Oil
Two 8 oz. Bottles with Pump Cap
Optional: 8 Tbs. Chamomile Herb + 8 Tbs. Calendula Petals

Click here to add everything you need for this project to your Bramble Berry shopping cart!

ONE: In a container, add all the ingredients and mix well with a spoon.
NOTE: The sweet almond oil needs to be infused with the chamomile and calendula before mixing. You can find the instructions for infusing your sweet almond oil here.

TWO: Slowly and carefully, pour the oil mixture into the bottles. Screw on the cap and enjoy! To use, add the oil directly into your bath water. To help the oil mix into the water more thoroughly, pour the oil under the faucet while the bath tub fills up. This recipe is pure oil so your tub will be oily when you get out so take care in exiting the tub.

NOTE: Because this recipe does not contain water, it does not need a preservative. If you’d like to learn more about how to use preservatives in your products, click here.

Do you have a favorite product to add to your bath? I love bath fizzies!

Herb Infused Bath Oil

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

10 mins

This combination of oils leaves skin feeling smooth and soft!

Author: Soap Queen

Serves: Two 8 oz. Bottles

Ingredients

8 oz. Chamomile & Calendula Infused Sweet Almond Oil
3 oz. Argan Oil
5 oz. Avocado Oil
.6 oz. Polysorbate 80
1 oz. Vanilla Oak Fragrance Oil
Two 8 oz. Bottles with Pump Cap

Instructions

In a container, add all the ingredients and mix well with a spoon.
Slowly and carefully, pour the oil mixture into the bottles. Screw on the cap and enjoy! To use, add the oil directly into your bath water. To help the oil mix into the water more thoroughly, pour the oil under the faucet while the bath tub fills up.

Yellow Chamomile Cold Process Soap

February 12, 2015 Filed Under: Cold Process Soap

This Yellow Chamomile Cold Process soap is cheerful and bright. This project is made with with Chamomile Bergamot Fragrance Oil and topped with chamomile herbs; it smells like a calming cup of tea. Chamomile extract is also added at trace to give additional skin-soothing properties. Made in the 4″ Silicone Loaf Mold, this mold creates four 1″ bars of soap. It’s ideal for smaller recipes or even test batches.

The vertical stripes are achieved by pouring the white and yellow soap into opposite ends of the mold at the same time. The colors are then swirled back and forth with a chopstick or dowel which pulls the colors into the other colored area. This technique is great for beginners, as you do not have to be precise when swirling.

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Fresh Face Round Up + Chamomile and Calendula Infused Toner

August 25, 2014 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials

Last week was full of recipes created to pamper your face. For dry skin in need of additional moisture, the Lavender and Aloe Lotion and Lavender and Chamomile Cleansing Bar feature hydrating ingredient such as Sweet Almond Oil, Shea Butter and Jojoba Oil. If your skin is on the oilier side, the Tea Tree and Rosemary Cleansing Bar and Oil-Free Lavender Lotion help control oil and keep skin feeling comfortable.

Top row (left to right): Lavender and Aloe Lotion, Oil-Free Lavender Lotion
Bottom row: Oily & Dry Cleansing Bars

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Fresh Face Cleansing Bars for Dry & Oily Skin

August 19, 2014 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

An important step in any skincare routine involves keeping your skin clear of excess dirt and oil. These facial cleansers created with melt and pour soap are specially formulated to suit either dry or oily skin.

For dry skin try the bar at the end of this post. Treat yourself to a luxurious and moisturizing blend of Shea Butter and Jojoba Oil in our Shea Melt & Pour base. This results in a soap that doesn’t really lather due to the extra oil & butter, but it is mild and gentle for dry skin. If your skin is on the oily side try the recipe directly below, Green Zeolite Clay helps absorb excess oil while Olive Leaf Powder is known for its antiseptic properties.

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Facebook Photo of the Week (May 3rd ~ May 9th)

May 9, 2014 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

This week we kicked off a series of sales and promotions that will continue into next week. Be sure to keep your eyes on the blog and the Bramble Berry Facebook page for the coupon codes. If you’d like to be the first to know about sales and specials in advance, sign up for the Newsletter. Newsletter subscribers were given advance notice of coupons and the schedule for coupon release.

Paired perfectly with the promotions is a collection of soothing, floral-themed projects. The Rose Water Lotion tutorial uses rose water to give the lotion a light, rosey scent. If you have never made lotion before, it’s a great recipe to get started. The recipe also includes Chamomile Extract, which helps to calm the skin and reduce redness. If you are curious about extracts, the Sunday Night Spotlight: Extracts explains what they are, their special properties and how to use them.

The Lavender and Chamomile Goat Milk Bath Tea is another great project for the beginning crafter, and it’s the perfect way to unwind after a long day. If you are looking for more bath time additives, the Soothing Bath Soak with Oat and Lavender is made with Aloe Extract and Colloidal Oatmeal, making it great for dry skin. If you are scrambling for a last minute gift for mom, our Mother’s Day Bath Tea can be made in no time!

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