Heavy Duty Handcreme #21

This recipe was inspired by the Body Shop Hemp Hand Protector Cream. It’s great for people who have very dry skin, eczma or psoriasis. You don’t have to restrict its use to your hands.  As with all cosmetics,  you should carry out a patch test if you have any concerns about adverse reactions.

I used too much hemp oil in my first version. Although it worked well as a moisturiser, the smell of hemp and the green colour were too intense. (Think Incredible Hulk.) In this version I cut the hemp oil with moisturising grapeseed oil. Woody, resinous essential oils work with the smell of the hemp oil instead of trying to mask it.

This recipe makes about 350 g of handcreme. In addition to the ingredients, you will need:

• A stick blender. (You can use a whisk at a pinch.)
• A set of metric scales capable of weighing to the nearest gram.
• A container that you can use to put the stick blender in hot water to pre-heat it.
• 2 containers in which to heat and mix the ingredients. One container must be large enough to hold the full quantity; the other only has to hold the water phase ingredients. Although the container you will use for mixing has to be large enough to hold all the ingredients, the ingredients must fill it to a depth that will cover the blades of your stick blender. (I use two 500 ml Pyrex jugs. I know people who use Mason Jars successfully.)
•  A pan large enough to hold your 2 containers (or 2 pans, one for each).
• Something you can use to stir the ingredients as you heat them up. A small plastic spatula that can cope with boiling water is ideal because you can use it to scrape out very last trace of your handcreme into jars.
• Glass jars or plastic pots to store your handcreme.

Ingredients:

Oil Phase:

• 20 ml Hemp Seed Oil
• 80 ml Grapeseed Oil
• 10 g Beeswax
• 50 g Shea Butter
• 10 g Lanolin

Water Phase:

• 80 ml Distilled Witch Hazel
• 50 ml Aloe Vera Gel
• 20 ml Glycerine

Cool Down:

• 5 ml Vitamin E Oil
• 4 drops Myrrh Essential Oil
• 6 drops Juniper Essential Oil
• 4 drops Patchouli Essential Oil
• 6 drops Rosewood Essential Oil

Method:

Measure the Oil Phase ingredients into the container you will use for mixing your handcreme.

Measure the Water Phase ingredients into the second container.

Put both containers into the pan, then put enough water in the pan to come up to the level of the ingredients. Put a stirrer in the oil phase container so it heats up with the ingredients. (If you put a cold stirrer into the warm oils they will solidify on the stirrer.) Put the pan over a low heat so the water slowly comes up to the boil, then turn the heat down so the water just simmers.

Put your stick blender in the container you are going to use to pre-heat it, and put the kettle on. Prepare your containers ready to pour in your creme when you have made it.

Stir the oil phase occasionally until the wax and butter have melted. Then turn of the heat and take out the containers. Now put hot water into the container with your blender. Watch the oil phase as it starts to cool down. When it starts to go misty as it begins to solidify, put in your blender and run it as you add the water phase ingredients. Only run the blender until everything is mixed.

There will be a little oil gathering on the surface of the creme, and the container will be quite warm to touch. Briefly run the blender once or twice as the mixture cools.

When the creme starts to solidify, add the cooldown phase ingredients and briefly run the blender again until everything is mixed in. Disconnect the blender and scrape off as much as you can from the blender back into the container. Pour your creme into the prepared pots.

Put the lids on the pots and then put them in a fridge until you are ready to use them. You might like to label the pots, including the date you made the contents.

Clean up with hot water and washing-up liquid.