Hibiscus body and face treatment

Hibiscus Body & Face Treatment

Whoa! this is so amazing.

Fig.1. L.Moore. Hibiscus plant

This plant is full of wonder and amazing for the skin. This is a stunning ornamental plant and the flowers are used as a popular drink in Egypt.Other parts of the plant can be used for making jams,soups, sauces. The flowers are trumpet shaped and come in lovely colors (pink, red, orange, purple or yellow). It is known as the 'botox plant' for it's powerful anti-ageing properties that lifts and firms the skin. Hibiscus increases the elasticity of the skin and is used in many creams that are very expensive. Here is an opportunity to make your own skin wonder.

The Hibiscus plant has powerful anti-ageing qualities due to it's promotion of skin elasticity, it is rich in antioxidants and evens skin tone and purifies the skin. The flower is a genus of flowering plants within the mallow family (also called rosemallow) with several hundred species. Traditionally the Hibiscus plant has been used for loss of appetite and current research is looking into it's qualities that may help cancer and reduce blood pressure among a list of other benefits. See my attached source material so you can read more about this plant and make your own decisions on using this plant.

Fig.2.L.Moore Hibiscus body & face treatment

Fig.3.L.Moore. Close up of Hibiscus face & body treatment

Fig 4. L.Moore A close up of whipped cream


Fig.5. L.Moore. A Bain Marie of oils and waters

Fig 6. L.Moore. Lovely whipped body treatment

Fig 7. L.Moore. whisking the body cream

Method & Ingredients

25ml Castor oil

50ml Avocado oil

105ml Rapeseed oil

150ml Hibiscus infused water and/or hydrosol

50 drops of Rose Geranium essential oil

50 drops of Frankincense essential oil

1oz Emulsifying wax 

Method

Measure your oils and emulsifying wax into a bain marie which should add up to 180 ml (25 ml castor oil, 50 ml avocado oil, 105 ml rapeseed oil). You can make your own bain marie by placing a heatproof bowl into a pan of water. You only need a little water (approx a third of the pan) and make sure your bowl does not rest on the bottom of the pan and heat up. Now get another bain marie and add your water (150 ml of hibiscus infused water or tea) into your heatproof bowl. Heat both bain marie's until they reach a temperature of 70 to 75 degrees  C. Heating the oils and water to this temperature kills off any bacteria. 

When you have reached this temperature the next phase is to add the water slowly to the bowl of oils. To do this safely take the bowl of oils with an oven glove and place on the kitchen top and then pour the water slowly into the oils. As you do this it is important you do it slowly and whisk the ingredients together. Keep adding the water and whisking at the same time until all the oil and water are mixed together into one substance. Let your lovely mixture cool down. If it looks like it is splitting then whisk again. When it has cooled down now add you 50 drops of Rose Geranium and 50 drops of Frankincense essential oils and whisk. When it has completely cooled down place into glass sterilized jars and put the lid on. Ta Dah...now enjoy.

All my recipes vary when it comes to mixing oils and water. Sometimes I add the water to the oils and then at other times I add the oils to the water. This is important because it changes the thickness quality of your cream. This is a thick body treatment that you can use all over your body including your face. I would recommend if your doing a full body treatment to apply it to a warm body after a bath and walk around in your baby-suit for a few minutes until it sinks in...yum. 

Frankincense essential oil comes from the Boswellia sacra frankincense tree and I have attached a research paper for you to look at. Apparently Frankincense has been the focal point of a study as a possible anti-glycation. Glycation is the one main aging factors on the skin as sugar molecules in the body bombard cells bonding with fats and proteins (see sources). Both Frankincense and Rose Geranium are understood to be great for the skin. 

As with all of my recipes it  is wise to apply a tiny amount (a patch test) to your skin first before 'going for it' as a whole body treatment. This is to be secure that you do  not react to it in any way. Try it on your body first before the face as this is an intense cream. Also use a sunscreen if you are using it on the face. 

The buzz word at the moment in a lot of beauty cosmetics and creams are AHA's. The following quote is taken from Wikipedia.  

"AHA's are a group of organic carboxylic compounds. AHAs most commonly used in cosmetic applications are typically derived from food products including glycolic acid (from sugar cane), lactic acid (from sour milk), malic acid (from apples), citric acid (from citrus fruits) and tartaric acid (from grape wine)". 

All of the beauty products and creams claiming to have these organic carboxylic compounds in are pretty expensive and over exaggerated. Apparently 99% of AHA's in cosmetics are synthetically derived and are in low concentrates of less than 3%. AHA's can exfoliate the skin cells and they do this by breaking down the substance in the skin that holds skin cells together. It has been noted that 15-30% of Hibiscus tea is composed of organic acids including malic acid, tartaric acid and citric acid (vitamin C). These are commonly found in fruits such as grapes and wine. So don't go out and spend lots of money on such hype make your own using hibiscus tea at a fraction of the cost. Have a look at the cost of some of these products and see for yourself.    

I will be doing some workshops throughout the year in the Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckingham area in the UK. Email me if you want to know when they are being held and where. My workshop/course is for half a day and it's well worth it. With me you can learn a lot about about all the incredible oils, and ingredients that go into high street creams that you can make for a fraction of the cost. You learn a specific recipe of  mine that you can use to create your own individualized super cream and understand some of the buzz words the cosmetic industry tries to blind you with. I will be doing a post on this so look out for it. 

Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibiscus
https://www.greenpeople.co.uk/beauty-hub/blog/5-hibiscus-benefits-beautiful-skin
http://www.annmariegianni.com/ingredient-showcase-hibiscus-the-natural-botox-plant/
http://www.paulaschoice.com/cosmetic-ingredient-dictionary/definition/aha
http://www.skinstore.com/malic-acid.aspx
https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/beverage/hibiscus-tea.html
http://www.ajol.info/index.php/tjpr/article/view/93284
http://www.cosmeticsdesign.com/Formulation-Science/Anti-glycation-treatment-needed-to-fight-skin-aging-effects-of-sugar

As with all my sources they are here just for a point of reference and it is always wise to check the reliability of source material.I include them for you to make your own mind up.