Creative excusions

People that know me know I have some wretched allergies that manifest as eczema on my hands. Not fun.

I'm allergic to such wonderful things as shea butter and things that are better left avoided anyway like petroleum (think petroleum jelly & Tide), parabens, sodium laureth/laurel sulfates and things I've yet to identify. This means that my soaps, shampoos, etc are homemade and usually bought on Etsy - which is less than ideal in many ways.

So I've been gathering what I need to make my own soap and learning what I could. I've been following blogs, buying books. I have herbs steeping on my kitchen window sill so I can make herbal infused oils such as calendula and chickweed. I have a wooden soap mold and cutter and I have safety items on their way.

I've also made my own body butter and have a recipe I recently saw on Mountain Rose Herbs to make a more solid "lotion" - I have to make substitutions since they call for shea butter, but it's a recipe that looks like it has potential.

And I'm excited about this. It's something new and different for me to do and it has a purpose and if it turns out well enough, I'll sell them on Etsy, perhaps. Maybe there's other people like me trying to find things shea free. Who knows?

And if it continues to go well? I'd really like to have my own table at next year's Pagan Pride.