I have to start out saying two things:
1. Rosemary Gladstar is my hero. If she knew me, we'd be best friends. She just doesn't know that yet.
2. Because of my deep respect for her, I cannot share with you her copyrighted recipe by giving you all of it.... Duh. That's like giving your hero's magic out for free. It doesn't work out like that in anyone's favor, karmically speaking. The way I'd honor her most is if I led you to buy her book, where not only do you get this incredible recipe, word for word, proportions, and details the way she'd have it set...but then you have an amazing encyclopedia of all of her body care recipes and more. Win, win, win, I think. You can find it here.
What I DID want to do was share my experience in making the cream, and to show you some minor adjustments I made to make it "mine".
So it's called, ROSEMARY'S PERFECT CREAM because, well, it IS perfect. Silky, smooth, relatively cheap to make, but it requires a few magic tricks: like patience, scoping things out, waiting, waiting some more, not being scared of loud blenders, and a little more waiting. It's also tricky because basically you're combining oils and water and they don't like to mix. I've never NOT made it in a vitamix, so I can't advise those of you who don't have one, and you do need the tamper so make sure you have that. There rest is in timing. And don't rush the process.
Changes I've made to suit my taste, all of which will be explained below:
Replaced coconut oil with Shea Butter
Replaced distilled water with floral waters such as hydrosols
Added in essential oils
So here we go:
Part 1, you heat over a double boiler some almond oil and coconut oil ~ however, lately I've been getting into Shea butter instead of the coconut oil. I love to cut it thin and add it to the pot to melt.
Additionally, you'll add beeswax to the oils, to melt right along (again, exact amounts of each in her book). Note: I used the pellet beeswax because it was easier to measure (see pictured below), but feel free to cut into bars if you need to.
Once these ingredients become liquid, you pour the mixture into the vitamix vessel and let cool until it looks like petroleum jelly, opaque, and creamy. Don't be fooled by the top layer, dig a spatula in to make sure it's that consistency throughout. While this is cooling in the vitamix container, go to part 2.....
Part 2, she creates a blend of "waters" to be mixed in to the wax mixture above. I like to doctor it up a little bit in my own way by using hydrosols or floral waters in place of distilled water that she calls for. You'd also be adding in some aloe vera (this is the one I used), 1/2 tsp vitamin E, and I personally added the following oils for an amazing aroma:
1 drop Young Living Geranium essential oil,
5 drops Young Living Lavender essential oil,
and 5 drops Young Living Elemi essential oil (also known as "poor man's frankincense").
THE MESSY & LOUD PART: This is where you blend in the waters to the beeswax mixture. Mind you, oils and water don't mix well, but somehow this cream works ~ almost like an emulsification. So here goes....when the beeswax mix is the right texture, start the vitamix (it will sound a bit violent, but rest easy and just work up slowly), and then slowly add in the waters mixture in a small stream (as the motor is running). Run it for about 20 seconds, using the tamper to help it along, then stop and scrape the sides down. Run it again until everything is smooth, well blended, and the color changes from yellowish to white. And you're done.
I like to pour the whole mixture out back into my glass measuring cup so it pours into the small containers easier, as pictured....
That's the gist of it, but Rosemary has some pretty awesome details and tips to make this work well, because the truth is, it doesn't ALWAYS work. Again, timing is everything. If you look at step 1, when it says make sure the beeswax mixture looks a little like petroleum jelly throughout ~ one time I didn't wait long enough, and I ruined the whole thing.
Parting words:
1. I would like to say that for my skin type (oily, mostly), I would not put it on my face - it's too rich, so it goes best for my hands, feet, knees, elbows, and legs. But do as you'd like, as you know your skin best.
2. I won't lie, cleaning the vitamix container is a pain in the butt. At the same time, I make this cream twice a year and that pain in the butt is totally worth it. One thing I've found is, if you remove the blade completely and scrub everything with a pasty mixture of: 1 cup baking soda combined with a few tablespoons dish soap and a sponge, you'll get it clean in under 2 minutes. Just use as little water as possible. Then spin it in the dishwasher for good luck and you'll be amazed. But if you want to wash it just with dish soap, you'll basically never get it clean.
And most of all, have fun making it year after year!