The Health Benefits of Coconut Milk Soap

For centuries, people have used coconut milk as a natural remedy for minor ailments. Coconut milk soap is particularly effective at addressing skin conditions. Lathering up with coconut milk soap is an excellent way to get the health benefits of coconut milk into your skin.

Deep Clean
Coconut milk soaps offer a deep, thorough cleansing of the skin without overdrying. Coconut milk is naturally rife with fatty acids, which help to eliminate dirt, impurities, dead skin and other blemish-causing debris. For this reason, you can find coconut milk in facial cleansers as well. The rich milk cleans the skin gently without irritating it. Coconut milk soaps are an excellent option for those with sensitive skin due to their calming properties.

Moisturization
Coconut milk naturally has a high fat content and includes fatty acids, which are good for the skin. The presence of fatty acids in soap results in intense hydration. Coconut milk soaps are ideal for those with dry skin. Although it offers a deep clean, it does not strip away the natural oils in the skin. It works to replenish moisture in the skin, leaving it smooth, soft and hydrated.

Healing
Coconut milk is rich in vitamin E, long known to deliver healing benefits to dry skin, minor cuts and burns and rashes. When used on a regular basis, the vitamin E in coconut milk soap can heal severely dry, chapped or chafed skin, restoring it to its smooth state.


Source: http://www.ehow.com/list_5788584_health-benefits-coconut-milk-soap.html

Banana Skin Benefits for Skin and Hair

Banyak yang ga kebayang memakai puree pisang sebagai tambahan pada sabun. Emang apa sih gunanya pisang bagi kulit?

Penambahan puree pisang bisa dilakukan pada saat light trace. Satu sendok makan per 500 Gr oil.
Jika ingin menggunakan puree pisang sebagai base, campurkan satu sendok makan puree pisang dengan air atau susu, aduk sampai tercampur merata dan bekukan sebelum dijadikan lye solution :)

berikut artikel mengenai benefit pisang bagi kulit anda :)


19 Amazing Benefits And Uses Of Banana For Skin And Hair


Bananas are exceptionally healthy food that provides numerous health benefits. It is a versatile fruit that contains many nutrients including vitamins A, B, C and E along with minerals like potassium, zinc, iron and manganese. Just as eating a banana helps in utilizing the banana nutrition to keep your body in good health and great shape, while application of this fruit on your hair and skin will help you to keep them in great condition. The banana benefits are many and they are discussed below!

Benefits of banana for skin:

Banana fruit has nutrients that are essential for the skin. They contain significant amounts of vitamin C and B6 which plays vital role in maintaining the integrity and elasticity of the skin.
In addition, the large amount of antioxidants and manganese present in banana protect the body from damage caused by oxygen free radicals which lead to premature aging of the skin. So a major benefit from banana is younger looking skin. Banana has about 75 per cent water by weight in it. Thus banana helps hydrate your skin and prevents it from drying and peeling.
Here are some benefits of banana for skin:

1. Natural Moisturiser:
Banana is a great natural moisturiser for your skin. The Vitamin A present in banana restores the lost moisture and repairs the damaged, dull and dry skin. To instantly moisturise dry and dull skin, mash a ripe banana and apply it on your face. Avoid contact with eyes. Leave it on your skin for 20-25 minutes and then wash it away with lukewarm water. You will instantly feel skin looking soft and supple.


If you extremely dry and flaky skin, you can also add honey to this face mask.
This banana and honey mask also helps in getting rid of skin pigmentation.
Another easy face mask to get moisturised skin is to mash half a ripe banana and mix it with 1 tbsp. yogurt and 1 tsp. Vitamin E oil. Apply it generously on a clean face and wash it away after 30 minutes.


2. Glowing Skin:
Banana contains generous amount of Vitamin C in it that help in maintaining the natural and youthful glow of the skin.
Here are some banana face masks that you can use to get that natural glow back on your face.

-  Mash half a ripe banana and mix it with 1 tbsp. of sandalwood powder/paste and ½ tsp. of honey. Let it stay on your skin for 20-25 minutes and wash it with lukewarm water. This face mask is beneficial for oily skin as sandalwood helps in cleaning excess sebum and oil from the skin while banana keeps it moisturised.
-  Mash one ripe banana and mix it with lemon juice form one lemon (approximately 2-3 tbsp.). Leave it on for 25 minutes. This mask is full of vitamin C which will get rid of dullness and help in reduction of spots and blemishes.


3. Banana Skin Scrubs:
Banana is full of anti-oxidants; mixed with a few ingredients, it not only helps to get rid of dead skin but also leaves it feeling rejuvenated.

Here are some banana based scrubs that you make using ingredients available in your kitchen

-  Take mashed banana and 1 tbsp. of sugar and mix them well. Apply it on your skin and rub it in circular motions. Banana will moisturise the dry skin while sugar granules will get rid of the dead skin
-  Mash a ripe banana; add 2-3 tablespoons of oats, 1 tablespoon of honey and 1 tablespoon milk. Apply it on your face and leave it 5 minutes, then slowly rub it on your skin. Wash with cold water. In case you have extremely dry skin, you can substitute milk with fresh cream.
- Take half a ripe banana, 1 tbsp. coconut milk, 2 tbsp. uncooked rice, blend everything together to get a thick paste. Gently massage your face with this paste and wash with cold water afterwards.
-  To make a body scrub, mash 2 bananas with 4-5 strawberries using a blender. Mix 3 tablespoons of sugar and use it as a body scrub when you take a bath.

4. Anti-ageing:
Nutrients in banana helps in fighting wrinkles and keeps the skin youthful. For an anti-aging facial mask loaded with vitamins A and E, mash together an avocado and a banana. Leave on skin for 25 minutes and rinse. Skin will be soft and youthful. The vitamins E in avocados combined with the nutrients in bananas fight free radicals and repair damage.

Another simple face mask to fight effect of ageing is to mash 1/4 banana until very creamy and add one teaspoon of rose water. Apply it on face and neck and wash it off after half an hour.


5. Foot care:
The moisturizing property of banana can be used to get rid of cracked heels. All you need to do is mash the pulp of two ripe bananas and apply this pulp on clean, dry feet. Leave it on for 10 minutes and rinse the feet clean. The banana pulp will penetrate deep into dry, cracked skin to create soft and supple feet.


6. Goodbye puffy eyes:
Mash half a banana and apply generously around the puffy eyes. Let it sit for 15-20 minutes and then rinsing with cool water. The puffiness will vanish instantly. The potassium rich banana draws out excess fluid from under my skin and reduces the swelling immediately.

You can also apply the banana peels instead of mashed banana. This tip can also be used whenever you apply any face pack and think about putting cucumber slices on your eyes.








Read more: http://www.stylecraze.com/articles/amazing-benefits-and-uses-of-using-banana-for-skin-and-hair/

The Gelling Process

Disini saya posting foto proses gelling sabun.

Saya lupa foto sabunnya pada saat dituang ke cetakan. Jadi, langsung ke foto proses gelling 40 menit setelah dituang ke cetakan :)
Pada saat dituang, semuanya berwarna krem muda seperti di pinggiran ini.

40 Menit setelah dituang ke cetakan, awal proses gelling. Terlihat proses gelling dimulai dari tengah, bagian tersebut mulai menjadi transparan

1 jam 10 menit kemudian, sabun semakin transparan, disini adonan sabun menjadi lunak.

2,5 jam kemudian, proses gelling sudah selesai, sabun kembali mengeras, warna kembali pekat.

Sabun belum bisa dipotong pada tahap ini, biasanya bagian tengah belum mengeras sempurna. Kita tetap harus menunggu 24-48 jam untuk mengeluarkan sabun dari cetakan dan dipotong.

Beauty Benefits of Cucumber

10 beauty benefits of cucumber: How to use cucumber juice in your beauty applications, beauty uses of cucumber

Cucumber is fortified with some skin beneficial qualities that make it a wonderful beauty aid. Cucumber is easily available in your kitchen cupboard. So why not take advantage of its skin beautifying properties? Let us learn the amazing 10 beauty benefits of cucumber in this article. All these magical beauty uses of cucumber suit your pocket very well. Read on to know how to use cucumber juice in your beauty applications.

Beauty benefits of cucumber

1. Cucumber helps a great deal in fading the nagging dark circles around your eyes. Just rub cucumber slices on your dark circles or apply the juice of cucumber around your eyes. Wash off after 10 minutes. Your dark circles will start reducing gradually on continuous use.

2. Grate a cucumber and squeeze it to extract the juice. Dab cucumber juice on your skin. It will take 15 minutes for cucumber juice to seep into your skin. Then wash with fresh water. Cucumber helps a great deal to whiten and brighten your skin if you use it regularly.

3. If you are fed up with freckles on face, then use cucumber juice all over your face. Let it dry for some time .Wash off with fresh water. Cucumber juice can ease off the appearance of freckles over time after regular use.

4. Cucumber is a boon to the sun burnt skin. You have stayed in the sun for long and got tanned badly, then apply cucumber juice over the affected area. The cooling and soothing effects of cucumber helps to cure sunburn over a short period of time.

5.You can treat puffy eyes with cucumber easily. Just place cucumber under your eyes to reduce the water retention that causes puffiness of eyes. Cucumber is bursting with the goodness of ascorbic acid that helps in lessening the puffiness of eyes instantly.

6. You can make an excellent toner out of the juice of cucumber. You can either blend it with lemon juice, egg white, aloe vera, honey or tomato. Cucumber juice alone is a wonderful face toner. Just apply fresh cucumber juice on your face for ten minutes. Wash off to reveal a brighter and sparkling fresh complexion in jiffy.

7. Deseed the cucumber; blend it with 4-5 leaves of mint and egg white to make a purée .Apply on your face and wash off after 15 minutes. This face mask is a great aid in making your skin soft and glowing naturally.

8. Mix cucumber juice and lemon juice in equal amount; apply this mix on your acne and acne marks. This magical home remedy is very helpful in removing acne and its ugly scars.

9. Cucumber juice mixed with coconut water is a great skin whitening beauty treatment. This home remedy helps to fade all types of blemishes from the face too.

10. Mix cucumber juice with curd and apply this mix on your face for 5-10 minutes. This face toner is very effective for oily skin and helps to iron out all sorts of facial marks.

By now you are aware of the best 10 beauty benefits of cucumber .So you know how to use cucumber juice in your beauty applications. Do not wait anymore! Try out these beauty uses of cucumber in your beauty routine right now! Be ready to flaunt the skin which sparkles with a natural glow!

The Properties of Fats & Oils

The fatty acid composition of each oil determines its properties. The fatty acids may be distributed at random in the triglycerides or as in palm oil, specifically arranged in the triglycerides. The fatty acid composition determines the melting point, stability and saponification value of each oil.

The properties of the oil itself are important when choosing oils to make lotions, salves, bath & massage oils and other similar products. After saponification the fatty acids are randomized within the soap.

For soapmaking, it’s the fatty acid contents that matter the most. The chain length (C number) is usually cited and helps describes the molecule’s properties in relation to others in its same series.


Saturated Fatty Acids

Saturated fatty acids contain no double bonds. They are stiff molecules which tend to increase the melting point of oils. Saturated fatty acids themselves are room temperature solids. As they increase in size from lauric to stearic, the melting point of the oil increases. Saturated fatty acids in soaps have good cleaning properties and support foam. The longer chains also tend to harden soap.

Lauric acid, C 12 and Myristic acid, C 14 fatty acids tend to give very good lather. These are the softest of the saturated fatty acids.

Excessive amounts of short chain saturated fatty acids can result in a harsh soap with a strong defatting action.

Palmitic C 16 and Stearic C 18 fatty acids tend to increase the hardness of soaps. They do not lather as well as the shorter fatty acids. Excessive amounts of long chain saturated fatty acids can make soap brittle.

Palm oil contains triglycerides composed entirely of stearic acid (aka, stearin). Palm oil should never be partially melted in use because as you pour the liquid off the saponification value will shift. Either remove portions of the solid or completely melt the entire container every time you use it.


Unsaturated Fatty Acids

Unsaturated fatty acids can contain 1 or more double bonds. They are designated by the chain length followed by the number of double bonds (Oleic acid 18/1). Unsaturated fatty acids are liquids. They tend to have good cleaning power, but lather poorly. These fatty acids also tend to make milder soaps. Palmitoleic (16/1) and Oleic (18/1) tend to increase mildness in soaps. They have adequate cleaning power and perform better on dirt than on oily problems. They do not have significant defatting action. Both of these oils resist attack of the double bonds by oxygen and are resistant to rancidity. Oils high in these fatty acids are also good choices as liquid oils for most products since they lead to long shelf lives.

Linoleic acid (18/2) also increases mildness in soaps. It is very easily oxidized but oils containing it have short shelf lives due to rapid onset of rancidity. Linolenic acid (18/3) also increases mildness in soaps. It is very easily oxidized and oils containing it have short shelf lives due to rapid onset of rancidity. Avoid using liquid oils which contain more than one double bond in most products because of shelf life considerations. Antioxidants are definitely required for these oils.

Ricinolenic acid (18/1) also contains an alcohol group in the chain. This increases the viscosity of the oil and accounts for the thickness of castor oil. It also makes this fatty acid very mild on the skin and is good for super fatting soaps. It should be used in moderation because of rancidity issues.

Castor oil can be reacted with sulfuric acid to make Turkey Red Oil, the first synthetic surfactant, a predecessor to Sodium Lauryl Sulfate. Turkey Red Oil should never be used in lotions because it is an irritant if left on the skin.

Source: http://web.archive.org/web/20110811072427/http://www.snowdriftfarm.com/fatproperties2.html

Milk and Bran Benefit for your skin

Oat bran for smooth skin: Bran from milled oats contains small amounts of salicylic acid and enzymes that stimulate circulation and gently exfoliate the skin. Oat bran is beneficial for all skin types.




Wheat bran to nourish the skin, skin smoothing and firming effect. Wheat bran, produced by milled wheat flour, contains B-complex vitamins. It gently cleanses the skin and is especially good for sensitive skin, eczema and psoriasis.





Honey for minor inflammations: The enzymes and organic acids in raw honey helps to soften the skin, while giving it a warm sheen. Honey is also mildly antibacterial and can help heal minor inflammations.


Cream and milk for dry, delicate skin: Sweet cream contains fat, which softens and nourishes dry, flaky skin and keeps it smooth and elastic. If you have normal skin, you can use milk instead of cream; it is less heavy, but it also supplies the lipids that enhance the skin-softening effects of a bran bath.