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You can make Thermomix Beauty Products?!
Have you ever thought about making your own beauty products? In Episode 96, we are joined by Nicky Gordon, author of The Beauty Mix and owner of the natural cosmetics company Maeve Botanicals. Nicky tells us why the Thermomix is made for making beauty products and gives practical tips on how you can make your own Thermomix beauty products to avoid any nasties that may be lurking in your cosmetics.
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Over the last 25 years Nicky has worked as a lifestyle photographer, writer and now magazine editor of South Coast Style magazine. It was whilst researching a story about the cosmetic industry that Nicky was drawn to the uncertain practises of the commercial brands of cosmetics, skincare and cleaning products. She dug deeper and was alarmed by the lack of government regulation and the associated health and environmental hazards of many commonplace ingredients used in these everyday products. Her concern about these questionable ingredients led Nicky on a quest to find safe, natural and ethical alternatives. When they were not easily found, she set out on a mission to make her own.
She began making cosmetics for herself, then her friends and family and soon enough people were asking to buy her products from her! That is how her line of beauty products, Maeve Botanicals, was born.
Nicky’s mother purchased a Thermomix and Nicky was amazed. With the built in thermometer, thermostat, scales and speed control, she found that the Thermomix was the perfect tool for homemade beauty products.
In this episode we talk about:
Sourcing Ingredients.
You will need an emulsifier (helps to bind the water and oil molecules and prevent your beauty products splitting) and a preservative (to make sure your products don’t go rancid, with a preservative the products should last 3 months). Your oils can be sourced from a supermarket.
Emulsifier:
A good quality natural emulsifying wax will cost around $13 for 100grams (enough for approximately 1 – 2 kilos of finished product). There are many different emulsifiers available. The one Nicky uses and recommends is a self-emulsifying wax derived from olives, Oliv Emulse (INCI Cetearyl Olivate, Sorbitan Olivate). It is completely safe (even for sensitive skin), is quick to absorb and adds a luxurious texture to the finished cream or lotion. Oliv Emulse can be purchased online from Aussie Soap Supplies.
Preservative:
Nicky chooses to use the natural preservative Naticide (INCI: Parfum or Fragrance), which interestingly, is not officially classified as a preservative. It is a broad spectrum preservative and approved for use in organic formulations. At $21 for 17grams it may seem expensive but as you only need to use about 0.5% of the total volume in any given recipe a little goes a long, long way. 100grams of Naticide can be purchased from Sydney Essential Oil Co for $70 or 17grams is available from New Directions. A more affordable, safe but also synthetic preservative is Phenoxyethanol and at around $9 per 100grams will give you more bang for your buck.
Sourcing Containers
The distributors in the links below will also sell containers, but you can also consider recycling the containers you have at home.
Costs Involved
Ingredients for the recipes require an initial outlay, but then the products become very cost effective. Oils are interchangeable within the recipes, which further reduces the cost. For example, you may wish to start with two good quality oils and use these in place of the oils listed in the recipe.
Free Recipe!
Nicky has kindly shared a recipe with you all in her guest post, 10 Minute Thermomix Body Lotion. Check it out!
The Beauty Mix
You can get a copy of Nicky’s beautiful book (full colour, with over 70 tried and tested Thermomix beauty product recipes) online at www.thebeautymix.com.au Check out the index below for the amazing recipes featured!
Don’t forget there will be a 20% off discount code AND 6 of Nicky’s recipes in The Easter Issue of The 4 Blades Magazine for our mag readers!
Want to win a copy of the book?
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*COMPETITION THREAD* Want to win a copy of The Beauty Mix, a beautiful recipe book for beauty products made in the…
Posted by The 4 Blades on Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Have you made something other than food in your Thermomix? Leave us a note in the comments below!
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