1 Luca Cusolito of Lollibomb
Handmade holiday treats
Turn your kitchen into Santa's workshop with these homemade body treats
By Amy Strauss
Published: November 29th, 2007 | 4:39pm
Home is where the heart is, which is why homemade, handmade gifts
make hearts flutter and elevate your wallet’s steady stream of exiting
cash flow. For this year’s stocking stuffers, skip the usual drugstore
duds for your own natural bath and body scrubs, scents, and soaps—your
kitchen will become a laboratory in no time. But, for the newly
acquainted beauty experts yet unfamiliar with such ingredients as shea
butter, pure essential oils, and arrowroot, four fragrance designers
reveal their sassy recipes that will surely score you gift-giving
brownie points.
Luca Cusolito of South Florida is the makeup mastermind behind Lollibomb Beauty, an addictive vegan-friendly cosmetic line. Crafting delectable bathroom sweets like Pumpkin Cookie Fizzes, Deep Fried Ice Cream Body Mist, and Strawberry Margarita Soy Lip Balm, Ms. Cusolito is always on the hunt for her next lady luxury that’s sure to capture girls’ love for both desserts and body products.
Vegan Vanilla Edible Dusting Body Powder
MATERIALS
2 cups of arrowroot powder
1 cup cornstarch
2 tablespoons vanilla powder
DIRECTIONS
- Mix the arrowroot powder, cornstarch and vanilla powder in a flour sifter or by combining them in a zip-top bag and shaking.
- Package in a cute, decorative container and treat your sweetie with a scented holiday season sprinkle.
Chicago’s
Hilary Larson is forever on a quest for fun, effective, and gentle
beauty products, which is why she decided to get licensed as an
esthetician and birth her own syrupy shop, Sugar Lips.
Designing everything from aluminum-free veggie deodorant to a
blemish-remedy gunk that knocks zits dead overnight, Larson’s our
pimple-popping superhero and wants you to wallow in your own
self-pretty.
Orange Water & Honey Toner (yields 4 ounces)
MATERIALS
5 tablespoons (approx. 2 1/2
ounces) Orange Flower Water (found in the cooking aisle at health food
stores; revives dull, tired skin)
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) Witch Hazel (also found at health food stores; a natural astringent)
1/2 teaspoon honey
4 ounce plastic bottle
DIRECTIONS
- Take the 4 ounce bottle and combine together the Orange Flower Water and Witch Hazel.
- Add the honey and shake vigorously for about 30-60 seconds. Suitable for all skin types, the toner is gentle and fresh on the face’s surface. It also does not create a stinging sensation or dry, tight skin, and helps clear clogged pores.
Sandra
Gamelin of Michigan is keen to using herbs, plants, and specialty oils
in her super-fattened shea butter soap bars she sells through her
satisfyingly smelly company, You Stink Soap.
Handmade in small, cold processed batches, her quirky bars retain their
natural glycerin and offer extra moistening benefits perfect for our
wintry, wind-burned skin.
Simple Sugar Scrub
MATERIALS
1 cup sugar (your choice of white, brown or turbinado — if you desire a rougher scrub)
1/4 cup olive oil or any other light oil (sweet almond or rice bran)
preservative of choice (use at manufacturers recommended level)
DIRECTIONS
- Mix all ingredients thoroughly.
- Apply evenly to dampened skin and rinse just before getting out of the shower. The scrub buffs away dead cells and offers shiny skin without a need for lotion.
Roxy Calabria lives in Iowa
City with her fiancé, Carey Adamson — the mixture of a jasmine-loving
mad scientist and a perfume-dreaming wild-eyed artist. Together they
define Cremoso, a company
that blends pure butters and oils amongst edible ingredients like
paprika, turmeric, coffee beans, and almonds. It’s real food, yet only
for your skin.
Frosted Fizzy Cakes
MATERIALS
baking soda
pure citric acid (be prepared, some people’s skin is sensitive to this solution)
shea butter
sweet almond oil, grapeseed oil, or olive oil
essential oils and/or fragrance oils (stores offer “Cake Bake” and “Cupcake” scents)
spray bottle with fresh water
muffin pan and grease-proof foil muffin tins/liners
sprinkles, spices, candies, or colored sugar (optional)
DIRECTIONS
Cake Preparation
- Prepare pan with cupcake liners, allotting however many cakes you desire.
- In a bowl, take two parts baking soda to one part citric acid and stir together very well and very slowly so as not to kick up the acidic dust.
- Once well blended, make a divot in the middle of the mixture and pour in three teaspoons of your chosen oil. To oil pool, add drops of fragrance and/or essential oil for increased scent. If you prefer color, select a pinch of spice such as paprika for soft peach, turmeric for yellow and cocoa for a creamy taupe.
- Mix all ingredients together with your hands until its texture is like wet sand. Once the texture is mildly moist, but doesn't stay packed together when squeezed, spritz with a few squirts of water (a slight hissing will occur).
- Pack the mixture tightly into the cupcake liners.
- Let cupcakes dry for a day.
Frosting Preparation
- Grab a scoop of shea butter and add a tablespoon of chosen oil to it. Whip on the highest setting until the mixture forms peaks. (Make sure to sanitize mixers beforehand.)
- Place in freezer for 15 minutes. If it's too firm, add more oil and whip again.
- Spoon shea mixture onto each now-dry cupcake. Take spices such as cinnamon, cocoa, colored sprinkles, or cloves, and decorate.
- Let dry another day, remove from pan, wrap loosely in plastic wrap.
- Each cupcake is good for two baths. They'll fizz fragrantly in your tub, while the shea butter frosting softens your skin.
Issue #32
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