Double Rose balm
There’s something just darn indulgent about spreading a gorgeously scented balm on your skin. And you can’t go past rose for something totally luxurious. After making a double infused rose petal oil for an upcoming herbal facial oil I was looking around for something else to put it in as well, and created this balm. Voila!
This balm is made not using beeswax but with Cera Bellina, a beeswax derivative that makes wonderful ointment like balms. I am an unashamed fan of the texture that Cera Bellina will give to a balm. One of the other cool things about using Cera Bellina is that it tends to eliminate the grainy feeling you get with the inclusion of butters in many formulations. It may very well be due to the fact that there is a trick with a smooth Cera Bellina balm. When left to its own devices Cera Bellina balms tend to get a hard surface and a trifle lumpy as it sets. Not a good feel at all me thinks!!
To eliminate this issue you just stir the balm as it cools. Intermittently at first, but as it starts to set make sure to scrape down the side and mix thoroughly through. When it is cool but still not fully set you can then transfer to your finished jar. I find the little bendable mini spatulas you can find easily on Amazon do the trick here. This is the type I use here. They are one piece and easy to clean and sanitise. I have often joked with my husband that a bouquet of spatulas would excite me nearly as much as a bouquet of flowers. Well maybe not….
The formula below uses the rose petal infused oil I have made earlier. Of course if you don’t have rose infused oil handy you could use any lipid that your skin loves, although the rose scent will not be as prominent. You could amplify the aroma using a rose essential oil. As this is a little pricey and you can only use a small amount safely you could also use a small amount of rose geranium. I would recommend no more than .2% so that the rose wax is still prominent. Take this amount out of your oil percentage.
If you’’d like to learn more about making gorgeous infused oils for yourself I highly recommend you check out The Herbal Hub hosted by Vivienne Campbell a renowned and highly experienced herbalist. It’s where I learned to lift my game on using herbs in professional skincare.
The other prime component of this balm is of course Rose Wax. Rose Wax is a highly aromatic wax that is very hard and it is made as a by product of Rose absolute extract. A solvent is added to the rose petals and both a concrete and an absolute is obtained. The concrete is further filtered to obtain the rose wax. In buying rose wax make sure you are purchasing a quality, genuine product. Sad experience has shown me that it is buyer beware if you feel you are getting too much of a bargain. You probably are!!
If you want to customise the hardness/softness of this balm formula you can either increase or lessen the Cera Bellina and adding more or less correspondingly to the lipid component. I have used Cupuacu butter but Mango butter would work just as well, it just may change the finished texture. As for the lipid I chose to infuse my rose petals in, I chose sunflower oil. Sunflower oil is one of those highly underrated oils I believe that I love using for infusions. It is heat stable and has great properties for your skin.
Have fun with this and you’ll come up smelling like Roses. (Sorry - couldn’t help that pun!)
ROSE WAX BALM
Rose Floral Wax, Double Rose infused oil, Cera Bellina, Cupuacu Butter, Vitamin E
Note - This formula is made in percentages so if you translate the written percentages into grams you will make a 100g batch.
Phase A (Heated)
13% Cera Bellina
73% Rose infused Sunflower Oil
5% Rose Wax
Phase B (post heating phase)
8.5% Cupuacu Butter (cut into small pieces)
.5% Vitamin E oil
*If using an essential oil take off the percentage used from the lipid amount
Method
Melt Phase A until fully melted in a heat proof beaker or jug in a double boiler. . Add in Cupuacu butter and stir thoroughly until melted through. Continue to stir, intermittently at first, scraping the sides as the balm starts to set. Add in Vitamin E and essential oil if using. Keep stirring until mixture is very thick and creamy. Put in jar to fully set.
FURTHER INFO ON ROSE WAX
Further reading on Floral wax from the amazing Lise Andersen - Floral Wax and enfleurage