Made some more bath bombs and my first lip balms!

[kasilofchrisn]

A buddy's kids have been begging me to come over and make some more bath bombs with them.
I made bath bombs with them once before and they really really enjoyed them.
We had trouble aligning our schedules and so they bought the kids some bath bombs from The Box store and apparently some of those things can stain your skin.
Fortunately I do my research before I do these projects and used some good mica powders for the colorant.
This time instead of using spherical molds I used moon cake molds and I really like the looks of them.
They didn't all turn out perfect but that's what you get when you're working with young kids and it was still a fun time.
For these I used the Dean Wilson bath bomb recipe.
For the kids we used grow capsules as embeds in the center they had sea creatures and dinosaurs in them.
Then I decided we needed to make some lip balms for my buddies wife and his daughters.
I had some Fireweed flower infused sweet almond oil and some Rose petal infused sweet almond oil that I had made last summer from local flowers that I wanted to use for this project.
The recipe I used for this is as follows:

3/4 cup Fireweed infused sweet almond oil.
1/4 cup Rose infused sweet almond oil.
2 oz beeswax.
A few drops vitamin E oil.
20-25 drops peppermint EO.
I heat my oil in a double boiler then add the wax.
Once the wax is melted I test it with one of those red plastic coffee stirrers. if the plastic coffee stirrer is deformed by the heat then I know it is too hot to pour into the tubes.
If the mixture is too hot it will deform the tubes the Caps won't fit right and you won't have a nice end product.
When I'm satisfied my oil mixture is cool enough then I had the vitamin E oil and the peppermint oil to taste.
I use a lip balm filling tray and after everything is cool I hit it with my heat gun set on a low setting (350*f) to remove the divot that has formed on top of the tubes and make them nice and flat on top.
this step is purely cosmetic as it doesn't affect the use of the final product.
One cool I add the caps and labels

These turned out really nice and I'm really happy with the results.
We made 48 of them at my buddy's house and then I made 48 of them at my house to to gift to family and friends.
I have a friend of mine who prints all my labels for me for my wine bottles and all my other things I make.
so I bought the lip balm labels and just had him print them up.
These labels have the small little perforated tamper evident tab on the top.
He has suggested for more crisper label that I order some glossy labels for next time so I have them on order.
The background picture on the labels are of a faded Fireweed flower and a faded Rose.
The contents are also listed on the labels.
Everything I make is purely for my own use or for gifting I don't like to sell the things that I make.

 

[shunt2011]

Congratulations! Very nice. There are a lot of recipes on this site for lip balm and bath bombs as well. You should be measuring by weight for accuracy and Also, are you aware that fireweed flowers can be toxic. Especially if ingested.

 

[kasilofchrisn]

Congratulations! Very nice. There are a lot of recipes on this site for lip balm and bath bombs as well. You should be measuring by weight for accuracy and Also, are you aware that fireweed flowers can be toxic. Especially if ingested.

I usually do measure my stuff by weight for my soaps and things.
But for the liquid oils in my lip balms I used the basic formula I found on several online sources that stated 2 oz beeswax to a cup of oil.
It worked out great!
As far as the Fireweed flowers go you are thinking of a totally different Fireweed plant.
The Fireweed we have in Alaska has been used for many generations to make Fireweed jelly, Fireweed and clover honey, lip balms, and other products.
In fact I made a case of Fireweed jelly this year using a tea made from soaking the flower petals and it turned out absolutely fantastic.
The recipe I use for my fireweed jelly can be found on the Alaska Cooperative Extension Service website or in their book.
I have to assume the government wouldn't publish a recipe that was poisonous.
None of these products call for ingestion of the raw flowers though but if there was any issue with ingesting something made from the Fireweed I and half the residents of Alaska would have been dead a long time ago.
In fact the fireweed shoots can also be eaten early in the spring.
I will definitely look into it but I know what I'm doing is safe as I do a lot of research before I begin any of these projects.
Edit:
Yes you are speaking of a different plant altogether.
This is the one I used.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamaenerion_angustifolium

 

[shunt2011]

The flowers are toxic. The rest is not from my research.

 

[kasilofchrisn]

The flowers are toxic. The rest is not from my research.

As I said in my post above you are researching/ referencing a totally different plant.
If you'll follow the link I posted you will see the plant that I am referencing and how it is vastly different than the plant you are referencing.
I am using a plant we call Fireweed here in Alaska. It's scientific name is "Chamaenerion Angustifolium"
You are referencing a plant called Fireweed
Who's scientific name is "Senecio Mafagascariensis"
Two totally different plants and the one I'm using is perfectly safe to consume, use in bath and body products, make jelly out of, etc.etc.
While both plants have the same common name "Fireweed" they are vastly different plants grow in different areas have different scientific names and are definitely not the same plant.
I am not trying to be argumentative or start a debate here I'm just letting you know that there are different plants with the common name of Fireweed one of them is perfectly safe to use and the other is most likely not.
If you want to know more about the Fireweed (Chamaenerion Angustifolium) plant that I use send me a PM and I will send you more information than you can imagine on how this plant has been used for thousands of years by Alaska native people and how the flowers leaves and stalk of the plant can all be used and all be consumed in some way,form, or fashion.