Easter special: carotenoid rich body melts

I'm in love with bodymelts (some call them lotion bars) and since the weather in Europe is not making any place for the spring, it would be a good idea to make some as Easter special treats.

The sky is the limit when you're making body melts. The most important factor to consider is the ambient temperature and to adjust the wax-butter-oil ratio so that the melts have a suitable hardness and melting point for the region when they are used. They shall stay hard on their own and do not easily melt in your hands during application yet should not feel waxy over the skin.

You can use whatever infused oils, plant extracts and herbal colourants to create an unlimited variety of shapes, scents and colours. Not only children love these cute pieces. I assure you every grown up would jump from joy when she sees these adorble melts.

For these melts, we've used pequi fruit oil, ojon oil, Calendula and Sea buckthorn CO2 extracts for the colour (and skin care benefits). Apart from the colour and interesting fatty acid profiles, all of these oils and extracts have a high content of carotenoids and they can provide the skin with the antioxidant and protective properties of carotenoids. I personally like to apply the melts over my skin during cold and windy days and this is why I even added Pro- vit D and ascorbyl palmitate to this formulation. Since we were working on two body melts simultaneously, we added a few drops of our red body melt to the yellow/orange body melts and created a visual effect that you can easily create by blending different colours.

As always, I recommend that you make your first batches as small as simple as possible (KISS principle). After you've achieved the desired hardness and melting point for a certain ambient temperature, you can expand your formulation.

Formulation

Phase A

Cocoa butter  46,0%

Myrica fruit wax 7,0%

Pequi fruit oil 11,0%

Murumuru butter 5,0%

Cupuacu butter 8,0%

Ascorbyl palmitate 0,3%

Sunflower lecithin 0,5%

Phase B

Ojon oil 15,0%

Evening primrose CO2 extract 1,0%

Fenugree CO2 extract 1,0%

Sea buckthorn CO2 extract 1,0%

Calendula CO2 extract 0,5%

Natural tocopherols 0,5%

Pro-Vit D 0,1%

Modified rice starch 2,0%

Rosemary CO2 extract 0,1%

Phase C

Ginger essential oil 0,1%

Ylang-ylang essential oil 0,4%

Mandarin essential oil 0,5%

Procedure:

1- Blend phase A and B in separate beakers. Heat phase A in a water bath between 80-85 ⁰C. Ascorbyl palmitae needs this high temperature to melt in the butter/wax phase. If you don't use any ascorbyl palmitate, you need to heat the butter phase according to the melting point of your waxes and butters.

2- Blend phase B in another beaker. Rice starch does not dissolve in the oil phase. You only need to blend it and keep it suspended.

3- When the wax/butter phase is melted and the ascorbyl palmitate fully blended stop heating and add the oil phase.

4- Blend at room temperature to cool down to <50 ⁰C and then add the essential oil blend.

5- Pour in a suitable mold and put the mold in the fridge for at least 6 hours (we let the mold remain in the fridge overnight)

6- Remove from mold and pack them first in wax paper and then in suitable jars or cardboard boxes.

Enjoy using these beauties and share the fun with your friends and families.

BeHappy and have fun