It's All About Absorption

In choosing DIY ingredients, their absorption rates may be most important. It essentially means, how long after I apply the ingredients will I still feel them on my skin? 

When I started DIY natural skincare, I tried using a macadamia nut oil moisturizer. After all, nut oils are available and are full of healthy fats. It was a cold January day, and my skin was so dry I thought it might crack. An hour later, I still felt an uncomfortable, greasy film on my face. I under-estimated just how slow a slow absorption rate can be.

I am not criticizing macadamia nut oil, but illustrating the importance of personalizing. DIY recipes are like colors of the rainbow. We can pick our perfect shade.

In general, dry skin wants ingredients with slower absorption rates, which give ongoing relief and hydration by continuing to sit on your skin. Argan oil keeps my banana curls in place because hours after application, it is still there, doing its job. 

Oily skin, however, usually prefers a faster absorption rate. My summertime godsend is Baobab oil. When I am in a hurry, I can confidently rub the rapidly absorbing oil on my hands and grab my white purse, without worrying about leaving an oil stain. 

Sea Buckthorn Oil

Sea Buckthorn Oil is bright orange color is just screaming Vitamin A! Think fresh carrots straight from the garden or the farmer's market, and you have the idea. Color is important, not just because it's beautiful, but because nature has a way of sneaking all sorts of benefits into colorful plants. What makes raspberries red and blueberries blue is also good for you. Similarly, sea buckthorn oil comes from the small berries of the sea buckthorn plants. It is believed to help with wrinkle, aging, skin elasticity, brown spots, and much more. We include sea buckthorn oil in many of our serum kits so you can see for yourself. 

Recipe: DIY Moisturizer Combination Skin

1 tbl. of kokum butter
1 tbl. of cocoa butter
1 tbl. of ivory shea butter
1 tbl. of tamanu oil

Heat kokum butter until it melts, about two minutes in the microwave for big clump and about 1 minute for small pieces.

Stir in cocoa and ivory shea butter. Depending on how hot the kokum butter is, the shea and cocoa may melt on their own, but the mixture might need up to 30 seconds in the microwave.  

Stir in the tamanu oil and shake.  

You can experiment with texture by varying the amount of kokum butter (more kokum means a more solid product).

Reheat for 1-3 minutes if the ingredients begin to separate. Store upside down.

I took these photos the next day. What do your creations look like? Share photos in the comment section below.

Recipe DIY Exfoliating Facial Scrub

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup sugar 

1 tea spoon of ground vanilla, mint, or lemon balm

 1/4 oz aloe vera oil

Mix the sugar into the honey and stir. Work in batches if the honey is thick. Stir in aloe vera oil and vanilla, mint, or lemon balm. Store upside down in leak-proof container.

I prefer aloe vera oil to the gel because I find it mixes into honey more easily.

Which sugar is right for you? Demerara? Sucanat? Light Muscovado? Dark Muscovado? Date? Coconut? Personalize your Prismatic kits to see.

Fresh, Natural, Personalized

What if your skin care products came from the garden, instead of a lab?

You shouldn't need to be a chemist to pronounce the ingredients. Our kits are fresh, natural, non comedogenic, and preservative free. 

You don't need to be a chef either. You kit include your personalized ingredients, along with the recipes and tools you need to make and store your creations. You can do this!

Cocoa Butter

Did you know that the ancient Mayans used cocoa beans as money? Well, they had a good reason for doing so.

Many of our kits include this luxurious cousin to chocolate in its pure, raw form.  Cocoa butter is filled with vitamin K, Vitamin E, oleic acid, stearic acid, palmitic acid, Cocoa butter's structure makes it uniquely able to help seal moisture into the skin, and help collagen production. Cocoa butter is believed to be an anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory. It may even help boost the immune system. Shouldn't we give nature's gift to us a try?