Wonder Balm

Ok- so I've been making this recipe for a long time. Since before the African kids came home. I got it as a recipe for home made "hair grease." It has worked miracles on their ethnic hair- bringing it from brittle, falling out, thin, missing patches on their scalp hair to thick, luscious, shiny hair. Our family and some of our extended family have been using the balm for rough elbows, 'winter' dry hands and also for cracked/dry heels. Same results- miraculous!

When I went to the home school convention, I used throw away diapers for Angel Baby. She's got extremely sensitive skin and I tried to change them very often- but to no avail she got a raw bottom and a big red patch of raw skin from the disposable diapers. I tried Desitin for a day and it wasn't helping much- it started to make the one patch look like a scab. She was still in a lot of pain and I could barely wipe her skin. My immediate thought- THE BALM! I made a new recipe and modified it a little bit to help heal her back-side. The first day after using it, I could see the red turning to pink. No scabs, no pain when wiping, nothing... today is the 3rd day and I can barely see the spot. All redness is gone!

So, I had to share. Make some for yourself, share it, pass it on! Modify it how you want and see what it will do!

WONDER BALM
1 cup coconut oil (I use the cheap stuff at Walmart)- it's near all the oils
1 cup olive oil (I used flax seed oil when making the diaper balm)
1/3 cup beeswax (this is where I bought mine- it lasts a LONG time)
http://hiveharvest.com/index.html
*Essential oil for fragrance- but not necessary (we've used lavender or jasmine for girls and sandalwood and/or patchouli for boys). I used Melaleuca oil for the diaper balm (you can find Tea Tree oil at Walmart, I would use at least 1/2 tsp. to be therapeutic).

~You take your chunk of beeswax and shave off pieces to fill a 1/3 cup measuring cup (I use a cutting board and a big, sharp knife). Use a double boiler (I use an empty Pyrex bowl over a small pot of boiling water) to melt the beeswax. Then add in 1 cup of either oil. Let the beeswax get hot again and allow everything to melt completely. Then add in the remaining 1 cup of oil and stir/melt until everything is a liquid. Add your fragrance- it's trial and error how much you need. If you take a spoon out and allow it to cool, you can rub it into your skin and smell. If it's not enough fragrance, add more to your bowl.

I've stored the balm in pint sized canning jars or Tupperware type containers with lids. It really doesn't matter, use what you have. Just pour the VERY HOT liquid into your storage containers and seal (please keep little ones away from the stove when making this recipe). When I made this last batch it was for 3 different people. I doubled the recipe and added the fragrance to the storage containers instead of directly into the balm. That way each container had a separate fragrance and I only made it once.

*For the reusable diapers I just used a disposable liner (that's meant to go inside those kinds of diapers) to protect the diapers from the oils. Then when I washed them, I just rinsed one extra time (than usual) with hot water. Everything has worked out great!

I also use home made baby wipes. Here's that recipe if you're interested:
Bounty Napkins (half of the package- 100 napkins for each recipe)
2 cups water
1 Tbsp. baby oil (I use Burt's Bees)
1 Tbsp. baby soap, liquid hand soap or body wash
*I use lavender essential oil (I use about 10 drops in the water solution)
~Mix together the water solution in a container and add in the 100 napkins (half the package). Put the lid on the container and turn it upside down to allow all the liquid to soak through. When it's soaked through, turn it back over and VOILA...baby wipes!

I hope you can use these recipes, share them with others and LOVE them! Have a great day!