Attar of Rose & Shea Butter Cream

Yesterday, for some odd reason, I decided that I needed/wanted to make some hand cream. I had had the ingredients spread out on the counter for a week & decided that I need to get to making the cream or pack the stuff away again. I wanted to try one of Vicki Welsh's recipes. She is the damsel that got me started on this soap-making, cream & lotion gorging delightful way some time ago. I have been interested in making crams & lotions for years, but it was Vicki's was soap recipes that got me back on track. Now it just seems normal to make these products for myself rather than go & buy them. I like richer creams- especially for my weary hands - than seem to be generally available , at least for anything less than a small fortune. I like Vicki's recipes because she has made them before - so I know they will work for me too. Vicki has simple directions on her website. If you follow them I don't think you can make a mistake!

Shea Butter Cream
(makes approx 10 ounces)

* .1 oz Citric Acid (yes, that's 1/10 of an ounce)
* .4 oz Glycerin or Hydrovance
* .35 oz Stearic Acid
* .35 oz Emulsifying Wax or Conditioning Emulsifyer
* 2 oz Shea Butter
* 6.7 oz (up to 8 oz for a thinner cream) Distilled Water (Distilled is important)
* Optional: .1 oz Allantoin

All of Vicki's recipes are hypo-allergenic and, since I wanted slight scent for this cream in place of the distilled water I used a floral Rose hydrosol & then I added pure Attar of Rose oil when I added the allantoin. My cream has a very soft, very light rose scent and, thanks thanks to a bit of alkanet root the color is a very pale pink. It's a perfect cream - light and fluffy, deeply healing and penetrating with no oily feel. Thanks to Vicki for her recipes and for getting back on the creams and lotions track!

I also made some some hand sanitizer yesterday to keep on hand in the office especially. It is similar to Purell but a bit less thick. Simply mix 2/3 cup of 90% alcohol with a generous thrid of a cup of aloe vera gel (next time I plan to use aloe vera gelly instead) and a scent of your choice. Mix and pour into squeeze or pump bottles. At first I was overpowered by the scent of the alcohol and was not at all impressed. Over night however, the scent that I had added became better integrated and now the scent of alcohol is very minimal. The aloe keeps the alcohol from being too drying on your skin - though a bit of luscious Attar of Rose and Shea Butter hand cream afterwards is really nice!