huredriel said:
I am looking to get into making my own lotions & mixes with herbs & oils, shea butter etc .....
oooh fun! I have been making my own aromatherapy concoctions of late, and am having a great time. I'd advise to just make very small batches and try before you commit to making a whole bottle worth (Cause a lot of my first efforts, were a bit dodgy
). The best part is you can make what you want, and if you want something different, you can make it different every day.
As a general rule, use 1 drop of essential oil, to 2mL/gm or base substance (e.g. shea butter).
Mixing oils is fairly easy really, and you quickly learn what you like and what your special favorites are (for me, Sandalwood, Bergamot, Lime, Patchouli! YUM)
To start out, its good to work with only a small number of oils in each blend. Ideally 3. That makes it easy to make a nice blend.
Its usually good to pick:
1) a wood (so this is usually your base note, something like Sandalwood, Cedarwood, Rosewood, Frankincense, etc..)
2) Then pick a herb or flower (usually a middle note, Patchouli, Lavender, Basil, Chamomile, Clary Sage, Geranium, Rose, etc.) and then
3) a Citrus (so a top note, makes is sweet and bright, and softens harsh wood and florals. Grapefruit, Orange, Lemon etc..)
If your blend is not quite right, try adding an extra drop of the top note, that often sorts it out. Though generally speaking you'll want most of your oils to be from middle notes, with a lesser amount of top and base. My list above is not 100% correct, as some of the florals are bases and some of the woods are middles etc.. but you won't go to far off if you just work that way to begin with.
What sort of oils are you wanting to use. Are you selecting for their effects on the skin, or more spiritual reasons. If you wanting to smell good to pick up a man or two
, may I suggest Sandalwood, a little bit of YlangYlang, Neroli and Lime.
