We use our hands all day long for everything. Caring for these wonderful parts of our being is so important. This section includes recipes to help maintain and repair happy healthy hands. These recipes can be used by themselves but also make for a very nice hand massage session. Start with the Coffee Sugar Scrub (on page 133) to exfoliate dry skin and follow with the Cuticle Cream on page 112. Then you could fill in exceptionally dry rough spots with the Cracks and Chaps Balm (page 116) and finish by massaging in Hand Butter (page 115).
The featured cuticle cream is a sweet, easy, and incredibly helpful thing, excellent for hangnails and cuticles.
15 grams shea butter
5 grams beeswax
5 grams cocoa butter
7 grams mango butter
10 grams nettle herbal oil (see page 22)
3 drops lemon essential oil
3 drops myrrh essential oil
10 grams arrowroot powder
This recipe will fill 3 to 4 half-ounce tins.
Weigh out shea, beeswax, cocoa, mango, and nettle oil in a heatproof container. Set over double boiler until melted. Remove from heat, add essential oils and arrowroot, and mix until fully incorporated. Pour into half-ounce tins, let set, cap, and label.
To use, take a small amount of cuticle cream and work into cuticles and over nail and around fingertip area, softening the area. Re-apply as often as desired.
This recipe is perfect for softening the hands and works really well for extremely dry skin, cracks, and rough spots.
1 ounce shea butter
1 ounce cocoa butter
1 ounce mango butter
⅕ ounces jojoba oil
5–10 drops lavender essential oil
Makes about 3 ounces.
Weigh out shea, cocoa, mango, and jojoba oil in a heatproof container. Set over double boiler until melted. Remove from heat, add essential oil, and mix until fully incorporated. Pour into 1-ounce tins or pans, let set, cap, and label.
To use, take a small amount of hand butter and work into hands, and re-apply as often desired.
HAND BUTTER PROMPT
What other oils, essential oils, or herbal oils could you substitute in this recipe for specific hand needs?
This recipe utilizes the powers of a particularly potent tri-force of skin-knitting herbs: comfrey, yarrow, and dragon’s blood resin.
12 grams shea butter
5 grams olive oil
12 grams beeswax
1 pinch dragon’s blood resin, ultra-fine powdered
10 grams comfrey herbal oil (see page 22)
10 grams yarrow herbal oil (see page 22)
3 drops cypress essential oil
3 drops eucalyptus essential oil
3 drops rosemary essential oil
This recipe makes enough balm to fill 3 to 4 half-ounce tins.
Place shea butter, olive oil, beeswax, and dragon’s blood resin into heatproof container and set over double boiler until melted and dragon’s blood resin is well incorporated. Remove from heat, add comfrey and yarrow—reheat if it starts to set up too quickly. Add essential oils. Pour into tins, allow to set, cap, and label.
To use, apply generously as needed to any area with particularly dry skin, cracks, or chaps, but keep out of open wounds.
Comfrey is an herb that works to knit skin back together; it works really, really well, so be certain your hands are clean before you use it. Yarrow enhances the circulatory powers of comfrey, and dragon’s blood resin moves the blood and cleanses it, and keeps out bacteria as well.
