Plant Color Stability - It's Possible

Pictured: Foundation (in tube) and highlighter (stick) accompanied by a few splotches of handcrafted plant extracts that are the colorants used to make these products.

I wish I could say it has been a snap to figure this out, but it has taken me more years than I care to admit to crack this code. These products - made in 2019 and still color stable - are a clear indication to me that it is indeed possible to make color stable colorants using only plants.

Next step: more skin tones.

That shouldn’t take more than a mere moment….

(insert smile)

Meantime: there’s a self-preserving bundle offer in the shop you might want to take a peek at if you’re interested in making your own self-preserving skincare.

Self Preserving BUNDLE

Emerald Body Oil

This is a quick peek at a custom order for a steady client. I named it emerald body oil. Because this was made to order, the formula was mixed in the final container - a lovely glass bottle with serum pump. I paused to take this photo before giving the bottle a shake.

Ingredients include a combination of handcrafted oil infusions in different oils. The result is both pleasantly fragrant and refreshing. One of the herbs is meadowsweet (a beautifully fragrant herb).

Below: the final product

Follow me on Instagram for up to the minute peeks at what’s going on in the LisaLise lab.

Preservative Free Salve Batch Umpty-Dillion

See that bottle up there? It’s batch number umpty-dillion of a preservative-free salve that pretty much defies the normal rules of cosmetics making.

How does it defy the rules?

• It contains water, but no preservative, yet stays fresh for months

• It is an emulsion without a (standard) emulsifier, yet remains stable for months

• It contains handcrafted botanical infusions and tinctures, yet defies contamination and stays fresh for months

Cool, huh?

The (homegrown) botanicals in the pictured batch are rosemary (tincture) and helichrysum (infused oil).

Counting Batches

I’ve been using this salve formula for many years and have made so many variations of it (both with and without preservative) that I would probably have a hard time counting the actual batch size. It’s great for sensitive, dry and mature skin and I use it for everything from night cream to foot balm, so there is at any given time a bottle of it in my stock.

If you’re interested in making a version of it (that contains preservative) , there’s a how to in the book below.

Do Tell

Do you have a favorite formula that is easily tweakable just keeps on going? Please share in a comment below

An Introduction to Natural Cosmetic Emulsions - Hand-Stirred Lotions and Creams

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Drying Helichrysum

This picture is from a several weeks back when I was drying herbs all over both my lab (and parts of the house). This helichrysum is from my garden and my plant (yes, I only have one) was so generous and plentiful this year there was enough for making distillates as well as drying the remaining portions for oil infusions.

Helichrysum is sometimes called ‘Everlasting’, ‘Immortelle’ and even ‘the Curry Plant’ . The fragrance is indeed somewhat reminiscent of curry. Some find this delightful and others aren’t as in love with the fragrance. Luckily, everyone in my household is pleased with the scent, so there have been no complaints.

Do Tell

Do you dry your own herbs? How do you manage to find room for everything during harvest season?

Tip: If you want to learn how to make your own infused oils for your own balms, this book can help.

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Preservative Free Cleansers with Hurdle Technology

On the left: my latest batch of this preservative free botanical cleanser that includes a selection of handcrafted extracts.

On the right: an earlier batch of the same type of cleanser that has been going strong since the beginning of 2019. (Here’s what it looked like in the beginning) The color of the batch on the right has faded some and started morphing into a browner hue, but it took well over a year before it started changing color. You can see an update from last year on this cleanser right here.

These are preservative free because of a number of things and if you’re interested in reading a bit more about what Hurdle Technology is all about, I wrote a post about it right here.

My book pictured below shows you how to employ Hurdle Technology in a series of natural cleansers with honey and botanicals.

Self-Preserving Natural Cleansers

€61.00

Cleansing with Soapwort - Purist Style

A few posts back, we took a look at soapwort and its content of saponins (all-natural cleansing action). Today, we’re going to put this pretty plant to the test and see how well it lives up to its name.

The Process

I picked these on one of my walks and brought them straight home for processing. After allowing them to wilt for a short spell (so any residing ‘small visitors’ could make their escape), the plants were inspected and any less-than-perfect parts were removed. The one root that came along was lightly scrubbed under running water to remove any dirt. (FYI: it is the roots that contain most of the saponins so this root was a little bonus).

The 3 plants were then cut up and placed in the bowl you see above, covered with freshly boiled distilled water, then placed under a tight fitting lid to steep for an hour.

After straining, the liquid was weighed and the suitable amount of broad spectrum preservative was added (for this batch I used Euxyl PE 9010).

The soapwort ‘wash’ was then transferred to a foam bottle. Below is a picture of the foam (and bottle). It’s not long lasting lather like you would see in a commercially made product, but this foam stayed foamy long enough for me to position the spoon and bottle, check the lighting, find the angle I wanted to photograph, and take the picture.

Putting it to the Test

I tried this all natural ‘purist-style’ cleanser as a facial cleanser, body wash and even hair wash, and the results were so good I went back for more. At the time of writing this, I have been using soapwort infusion as my sole shampoo and body wash for 6 weeks. The only reason I haven’t also been using it for face is because I am testing some other cleansers for facial use.

The scent of this liquid is the only thing I have been trying to ‘adjust’ - not that the fragrance is bad - it’s just a bit ‘boring’. The scent is a combination of woodsy and herby all at the same time. The flowers have the most deliciously sweet and floral fragrance, but this unfortunately doesn’t transfer during an infusion.

I have made subsequent batches with combinations of herbs and flowers and will be sharing about these in future posts. Meantime, I can say that soapwort definitely lives up to its name. My hair has never felt so soft and clean without a trace of dryness.

Do Tell

Have you ever tried to wash your face and hair with a plant infusion? Please share in a comment below