I have been a busy bee of late making some lovely balms. Mixing up essential oils is becoming an obsession. I tell you, once, you make a couple of balms which smell amazing, it is hard not to carry on. I am always thinking of new combinations of oils and seeing how they smell. Palmarosa is my current favourite. Despite it’s rose implied name, to me it smells of black tea in a wonderful way.
Do you have favourite smells?
I have been hand lettering the labels and will most likely carry on, to be honest I am such a duffer on the Photoshop, this way is probably quicker and less stressful!
Happy weekend!
Published on April 11, 2015
Clare Davis Etheridge 
Those look so neat! I need to know how you make them. I have some roll on “perfumes” made with EOs and fractionated coconut oil, but I’d like to try the solid, too. And do tell, what’s in the palmarose?!
Roll on perfume sounds great, I assume fractionated coconut oil is not solid like regular. Palmarosa is an essential oil, not sure what is it from to be honest (I am a newcomer to essential oils, so I don’t know all of their properties and origins). I also use fragrance oil in perfumes, but I like the natural essential oils better. The ‘recipe’ for the balms is 1 part beeswax, 1 part coconut oil, 1 part almond oil and 1 part shea butter. It tends to vary as I make them and experiment with different ratios, but this is a nice consistency I think.
I love your handlettering. It looks really cool! Not very out there I know, but I do love the smell of vanilla and passionfruit in everything from lotions, body wash, to candles. x
I am thinking of getting some vanilla, it is an oil which I have not played with yet. I love the sound of passionfruit – yum!
Gorgeous labels… and yes I have MANY fave smells…. I love essential oils… I often pop a couple drops of peppermint in the floor cleaning water when I mop, it refreshes me as I go and makes the whole house smell fresh… I love rose geranium too, and sandalwood is a favourite also… what do you mix the oils with to create your balm?
Ohhh, what a good idea, peppermint in the cleaning water. I like rose geranium too, anything rose to be honest! For the balms I use a mix of coconut oil, beeswax, almond oil and shea butter.
well i love the hand lettering!
my first love is lavender…. that can be straight up or tempered with a little mint, eucalyptus.
i’m crazy for grapefruit, rose geranium, clary sage, rosemary, tobacco, moss. vanilla is a classic too.
palmarosa… i know the name but it’s been so long since i’ve smelled the scent i’m having a hard time placing it.
Thanks Tracie! The Sleep balm is a mix of lavender and clary sage. Palmarosa is my new love in essential oils, and cedarwood is a lovely one too.
I love the look and sound of these – so yummy! Have they been hard to make? xx
Pia, they are so easy to make, I feel like I am cheating!
hmmm. let me think. lavender is a big fave and pep-me-up peppermint. Oh and eucalyptus oil! Illustrator would probably be a better start for the labels if you did decide you wanted to go that way, you could live trace them you get pretty good results if you do them on white with black. then you could toss into PS if you needed 🙂 But, they are lovely by hand.
I think I want to use eucalyptus, must get some. I would like to learn Illustrator, maybe now is the time!