Preparing Herbal Cosmetics At Home
Most herbal remedies won’t require more than the supplies that you normally find in the kitchen. However, it is recommended that you try to accumulate a separate set of measuring and stirring tools, bowls, grinders, pots, and more to be set aside just for making herbal blends and treatments.
Cooking Tips:
Be sure that all of your cookware for making herbal remedies is made of non-reactive materials such as glass, enamel, or stainless steel, and not reactive materials such as copper or aluminium.
Here is a list of basic provisions:
- All-purpose mixing bowls in a variety of sizes.
- Coffee Grinder.
- Cutting Board.
- Double boiler.
- Funnels.
- Glass eyedropper.
- Grater.
- Heavy-duty plastic zip-seal storage bags.
- Ice cube trays.
- Jars with screw-top lids, preferably of tinted glass.
- Kitchen or garden shears.
- Kitchen scale.
- Labels and marking pens.
- Measuring Cups with metric and imperial measurements.
- Measuring spoons.
- Mortar and pestle.
- Multispeed blender or food processor.
- Non-reactive pots and saucepans with lids.
- Sieves: fine-mesh cheesecloth, unbleached muslin, paper coffee filters, nylon or stainless steel mesh.
- Utensils: paring knife, ladle, wooden mallet, vegetable peeler, rolling pin, spatula, wooden spoons, whick.
Instructions:
1. Your nose is the best indicator of the freshness of oil or any other substance useful in cosmetics and you should discard any rancid oil/substance distinguishable by sour, foul odour.
2. To prevent spoilage, oils should be stored in containers that shield them as much as possible from light and air.
3. To increase the shelf life of your hand-made cosmetics make sure that the utensils and workspace used to make them are clean and sterile. Use utensils that are reserved exclusively for making cosmetics and wash them properly and strengthen them by placing them in a pot of boiling water for 15 minutes.
4. Make your cosmetics in small batches and pour them into clean pump dispensers and bottles with flip-top lids. Refrigerate them separately from food in a crisper.
Always refrain from dipping your fingers into your products to avoid the transmission of harmful bacteria into them. Use a plastic cosmetic spatula or a popsicle stick to dispense cream from non-pump jar.
