Testing an Ingredient Blend

This little bottle doesn’t look like much, but the contents is about effect more than anything else. As you may guess from the name on the label, this has been created with feet in mind. To be more specific: tired and arthritic feet.

This is a mixture of macerations and essential oils with herbs/botanicals that include comfrey, daisy, black pepper, eucalyptus, meadowsweet, and wintergreen (to mention the main players).

If you are used to blending essential oils, I’m betting you can already tell this is not a deliciously intoxicating perfumed fragrance, but more of an earthy-herby medicinal type of scent - definitely not something you want to be applying on a face.

But that’s ok for this product.

When I’ve tested this to my satisfaction, these ingredients will be adjusted (if needed) and used to make a soothing balm for a special and very loyal client.

Do Tell

Do you make test blends of ingredients before committing to making a balm? Please share in a comment below.

Book of Natural Balms - Volume 1

Elderblossom Infusion

One of the most overlooked skincare tips is pictured above – a cuppa that consists of freshly picked seasonal botanicals (in this case, elder blossoms), a slice of lemon and a small dollop of raw honey infusing in boiled water.

How is this skincare?

Taking a break to enjoy a freshly made botanical tea with your favorite herbs is relaxing, refreshing, calming, and guaranteed to put a smile on your face. I dare you to try it and then tell me you don’t both feel and look amazing afterwards.

TIP: When using fresh botanicals for tea, allow them to infuse a bit longer (5-10 minutes should do it). If you choose a cup that presents your brew beautifully, infusion time is also a bit of eye candy.

Enjoy.

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

Distilling Plants at Home

For the past many years, I have flirted with the idea of doing my own hydrosols. This year, I finally got started with it, and I have decided to share this home-crafted hydrosol making journey with you in case you decide you want to give this a try too.

What you see above is the beginning of a distillation of homegrown helichrysum.

The container on the left is the base of the still with some stainless steel cooking equipment placed to create a raised base for the steamer with herbs. The bag on the right holds helichrysum stems and leaves that will be placed on top of the blossoms. The reddish ‘birds-nest’ is a handcrafted copper wire ‘net’ that will be placed on top of the herbs before closing the lid.

The Still

The still I am using is quite compact (about the size of a large thermos) and does not require running water. Instead, it cools using air - hence the name it is sold under: Air Still. I bought mine from a local brewery shop that specializes in all kinds of brewing equipment, but have seen them available online. It was a helpful tip from a lovely member of my Facebook group that brought this apparatus to my attention. The Air Still is made for distilling alcohol (which I may try at one point), but for making (most) hydrosols, there were a couple of small adjustments needed.

i filled the spout cover with copper wiring so the hydrosol passes through copper on its way out of the still.

Moderations and Additions

For a home-crafting scenario, this still is absolutely perfect for my needs (so far). It doesn’t take up very much room, is easy to clean, easy to use, and produces beautiful hydrosols (some even with a bit of essential oil — more on that in a future post).

I had to get a little creative with a few moderations (the steamer insert and the rings to raise the herbs above the water level), but these were minor. As this still is stainless steel and many classic stills are all or part copper, I wanted to add a bit of copper ‘somewhere’ for the general benefits it offers. (for distillers of spirits, copper is said to produce a better flavor, and for many distillers of hydrosols/essential oils, it is said to provide a purer product). My first few hydrosols were without copper and there was a tangible difference as soon as I added the little birds nest and outfitted the spout cover with copper wiring.

I’ll be getting into the details of my hydrosol making experiences in future posts.

Meantime, I better warn you right now: if you are a little intrigued at the idea of making your own hydrosols and want to try this too, it’s just as addictive as making your own glycerites, tinctures, and macerations.

The glass container pictured next to the still holds about half a liter. By chance, it fits perfectly below the spout and is my go-to container for collecting the precious waters.

Do Tell

Have you ever considered making your own herbal distillates?

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Vinegar tinctures are included as ingredients in these naturally balanced shampoo bars and there’s a section that shows you how to make your own.

Make Your Own Gels and Serums

Up there is a sneak peek at a few of the things we’re going to be making in the Essential Gels and Serums course that is open for enrollment at Tisserand Institute until August 22, 2021.

Clear Gel with Natural Polymers

One of my (self-appointed) challenges was to create an alcohol based gel that was clear without using synthetic polymers. Since carbomer is the industry standard gelling agent (and 100% synthetic), this was a bit of a challenge. After numerous tests and a lot of research, I (finally) succeeded, and am very proud to be including the formulation in this course.

Gels and Serums – a Universe of Possibilities

It amazes me how many products and possibilities there are when you ’just’ stick to formulating gels and serums – everything from rinse-off products (cleansers of all types for both face, hair and body, masks, make-up removers, etc) to leave-on products of all types (rubs, ointments, firming serums, cooling gels, after-sun care, spot treatment, etc) fit into this category.

It was a bit of a task trying to narrow things down, so we ended up designing this course so students would not only have formulations and templates to use as a base, but have also included step by step methods to show how to reformulate with substitute ingredients.

See at the top of the picture up there? Those 5 pots are 5 variations of one formula. I walk you through what to consider, what kind of reformulation is necessary when substituting ingredients, and how to rework a formula for substitute ingredients. We also look at what kinds of things can go wrong and what you can do to turn a fail into a success.

Four Weeks

This is a 4-week course that consists of an introduction to gels and serums, a lesson on oil based gels, a lesson focused on alcohol based gels, and finally, water based gels.

All lessons are live and followed by a live Q and A session. Everything will be recorded so students are able to access all recordings as many times as they please. And if you are unable to attend the live classes and Q and A’s, you will still have the option to post questions in the student forums where I will be there to help guide you through the process of creating and making your own gels and serums.

At Tisserand Institute

I’m very excited about starting and hope you will be joining me on August 24th 2021 for the first lesson where we get up close and personal with the inner workings of gels and serums.

Read more about what’s included in the course and sign up here.

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Essential Gels and Serums - Enrollment is Open!

I am over the moon about sharing this with you! There’s a brand new course open at Tisserand Institute and it’s all about creating and making your own gels and serums!

The course is called Essential Gels and Serums and consists of 4 lessons

1. Understanding Gels

2. Oil based gels

3. Gels with Alcohol

4. Water based gels

Apart from getting up close and personal with the elements of gels and serums and what makes them tick, you’ll learn how to create, tweak, customize, and develop your own formulas for both gels and serums using all different kinds of bases with easily accessible ingredients.

And because we’re at Tisserand Institute, it probably goes without saying (but I’m going to say it anyway) that getting essential oils to incorporate and function optimally in all kinds of base ingredients is central to this course.

Guidelines and Templates

I’ve developed several formulation guidelines and templates and have included examples to get you started right away, but I’ll also be sharing loads of tips and tricks to help smooth the way for your formulating projects.

Lessons start August 24th.

This course is live (but every lesson will be recorded so you will have access to view the recordings as many times as you want)

Every lesson will be followed by a live Q and A (which also will be recorded and made accessible to all students along with the recorded lessons).

I’ll also be present to answer your questions in the forums on the Tisserand Learning Platform throughout the course.

Also included in Essential Gels and Serums

1. Handouts

2. Notes

3. Loads of extra reading materials

Are you ready to get busy?

Pop over to the Tisserand Institute to learn more and to sign up! Just click the button below. I hope you’ll be joining us!

Hair Gel, Syrup, and Mayonnaise

Did you know hair gel, syrup and mayonnaise have something in common?

A test of these 3 materials showed they have an almost identical viscosity.

It’s hard to imagine that syrup, mayonnaise and hair gel can have the same anything, because the texture and behavior of these 3 materials is worlds apart.

Why does this matter?

If you want to create a gel with specific behavioral characteristics, then it matters.

While the 3 ingredients above measured the same viscosity, their rheology is very different.

Understanding the difference between these 2 terms is just one of the things we look at in the upcoming gels course at Tisserand Institute.

Just Give me the Headlines, Please

Through my many years of blogging, I’ve gotten loads of questions from readers who have asked me to ‘please explain the science part, but don’t put me to sleep!’.

I totally get it.

I have done my utmost to make the science of creating gels both understandable and fun. Students to this course will be equipped with the necessary tools to move forward and formulate on their own - even those who are new to cosmetics making.

Here’s some more info about the course:

• The course consists of 4 lessons

• You’ll get a handle on terms and terminology and a peek under the microscope to understand the magic of what makes a gel a gel (and you won’t be tempted to snooze even the tiniest bit).

• You’ll learn how to create, tweak, customize, and develop your own gels and serums from scratch with easily accessible ingredients

• You’ll get formulation examples and guidelines to get started right away with your own gels.

• Enrollment opens at the beginning of August, 2021

• Lessons start August 24th, 2021

• The course will be live (but every lesson is recorded so you will be able to view lessons as often as you want)

• The course includes handouts, notes, and loads of extra reading materials so you can get busy with what interests you the most right away.

• The course will be at the Tisserand Institute Learning Platform

Please stay tuned for more info.

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