I’ve been wanting to make up a cream with all the smelly, folksy remedy good stuff for quite a while now, and have finally decided to give it a go with my base cream.

Ingredients: base cream 50gm, cod liver oil  10gm, comfrey infused lard, 10gm, sauerkraut juice 10gm, onion juice 10gm, powdered kelp 1 gm, whey 2gm.

Never been game enough to put all these ingredients in together without some kind of essential oil to cover fishy smell.  So here goes…

Also been using a combination of raw apple cider vinegar, raw honey, mixed with water for a toner.  Works a treat.  You combine equal parts vinegar and honey = honegar.  Then I use a spray bottle you can get from a supermarket and added one finger width honegar and then the rest with water.  Vinegar smell goes after a few minutes.  Good for extra shine on hair too.  Just don’t use too much.

Off to the kitchen to play now.  Somedays its very fun being a little witch. :-)

Hallo Nourishers!

I have had a well rested break, and am back with more fire and energy.   Thanks to all for support and encouragement!  I have been doing some studying and found out I am a Hedgewitch!  Decided to give myself a new witchy name, and decided on Comfreya.  Based on Comfrey - my favourite food/herb, and Freya - earth goddess of the north.

For the past few months I have been developing my base cream and business plan to sell to naturopaths and health practitioners, but then thought, ‘why not to everyone?’  So many people want to make their own creams, but lack the knowledge and/or time to do so.  This way, the leg work is done and all you need to do is stir in your own ingredients, and bottle yourself.  (I recommend the little jam jars you can get from any charity shop.) I have made up a small booklet with information and recipe guidelines which is included.  You can make potentially 600-700gm of a multitude of your own creams from this.  Excellent value.  $25 for 250 gm tub + postage.

I have revised my anti-ageing cream, in fact I have used the above base cream as my starter, and added in all my luscious ingredients.  No more fussing about with temperatures trying to keep the enzyme rich goji syrup and aloe components under 40C whilst blending.  I have new packaging too.  Very cute and stylish!  Now in 30gm pots and selling for $25 + postage.

I’ve also developed a hair conditioner which is deadly for nits and dandruff!  Using the most powerful essential oils in a basic gentle conditioner base, this is perfect for any parent who is developing an insane hatred for nits, and tired of forking out wads of cash to use a ‘natural’ alternative which in turn doesn’t work.  My conditioner, which I call ‘Its Nit Genocide!’ incorporates sassafrass and lemon myrtle essential oils which kill lice instantly as well as neem and pennyroyal which disrupt and break the egg laying cycle.  Rosemary is added for its antiseptic properties and to give the hair extra shine and bounce.  Sassafrass and Pennyroyal are contraindicated for pregnant and breastfeeding women.  $15 for 250gm + postage.

These are the only three products I am now selling.  My website also has more information and pictures of my new products.   www.thewitchsbrew.net  You can place orders by contacting me directly via email.  I accept paypal and bank deposit. 

For my lovely nourishers, a shampoo/body bar will be included with orders, until stock runs out.  Make sure to let me know when you order.

Blessings and much love,

xoxoKaren. aka Comfreya the Hedgewitch!

Hallo Nourishers,

I am downscaling my Witch’s Brew business due to personal reasons, and closing the ebay store.  You can still purchase products by contacting me directly through the Witch’s Brew website, and I will invoice you and give details for bank deposit or paypal.  Once a product runs out of stock, it will be taken off the website. 

I am taking a break for 6 months, but would like to say thank you to all the comments and support over the last year. 

 xoxo Karen.

www.thewitchsbrew.net

Hallo Nourishers,

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Years! 

Latest News: 

Whilst researching preservatives, I came across a rather interesting article online, regarding the efficiacy of Grapefruit Seed Extract.  It interested me because I have been having trouble getting it to emulsify into the creams.  I also had to remove one of my creams from Happy High Herbs as mould was appearing after 2 weeks of making it.  (lacto-fermentation not completed properly and GSE was only preservative)  It worried me, but the other creams were doing fine, and so I figured it was a lone nut cream.  I scraped the mould off and have been using it personally and the mould has not returned. (two months later).  More recently a batch of anti-ageing cream came out a little oily, so I put it into a closed airtight container to deal with later.  With the warm weather, I discovered it was continuing to lacto-ferment a couple of days later when I checked it again.  Bells were starting to ring quite loudly now…  What the hell was going on?? 

Anyway here is the article I found:

Aspects of the antimicrobial efficacy of grapefruit seed extract and its relation to preservative substances contained.

Institute of Pharmacy, Ernst Moritz Arndt University, Greifswald, Germany.

The antimicrobial efficacy as well as the content of preservative agents of six commercially available grapefruit seed extracts were examined. Five of the six extracts showed a high growth inhibiting activity against the test germs Bacillus subtilis SBUG 14, Micrococcus flavus SBUG 16, Staphylococcus aureus SBUG 11, Serratia marcescens SBUG 9, Escherichia coli SBUG 17, Proteus mirabilis SBUG 47, and Candida maltosa SBUG 700. In all of the antimicrobial active grapefruit seed extracts, the preservative benzethonium chloride was detected by thin layer chromatography. Additionally, three extracts contained the preserving substances triclosan and methyl parabene. In only one of the grapefruit seed extracts tested no preservative agent was found. However, with this extract as well as with several self-made extracts from seed and juiceless pulp of grapefruits (Citrus paradisi) no antimicrobial activity could be detected (standard serial broth dilution assay, agar diffusion test). Thus, it is concluded that the potent as well as nearly universal antimicrobial activity being attributed to grapefruit seed extract is merely due to the synthetic preservative agents contained within. Natural products with antimicrobial activity do not appear to be present.

http://www.momsjournal.org/20071205/grapefruit-seed-extract/

 After reading this, and several other articles which came to the same conclusions, I double checked with my wholesaler who supplies me with Grapefruit Seed Extract, and the description was specific about it being completely without synthetic substances and certified organic.  I was quite relieved, yet angered that I am paying quite a bit for a preservative which is extremely limited to the point of being useless without another synthetic preservative solution. 

To my mind, and personal experience, it is a good antioxidant, but not a preservative.  If it had preserving qualities, my creams would not continue to lacto-ferment after adding it.  I will use the rest of what I have in stock but once its run out, no more!

I have been looking up ‘food grade’ preservatives over the last week, as I want to keep my creams as user friendly and natural as possible.  I realise that a synthetic alternative is the only option available right now.  I have been looking at a product which combines benzoic acid with potassium sorbate in benzol alcohol.  The percentage/volume is something close to 0.3% - 0.5%  If anyone knows of a better alternative, I would like to hear from them!

I have also discovered the wonders of ionized ‘acid’ water.  It is anti-microbial and anti-bacterial in itself, and I have been using this instead of my distilled water, and will be lacto-fermenting my next batch of goji and cacao syrup with this.  It has a perfect PH for the skin, being slightly more on the acid side of the scale.  It has also been used in hospitals in Japan for bathing infections and wounds with nothing else added.  Apparently they are getting very good results.  Its also cheap and easy for me to get to, as my local health store has an ionizer and sells by the litre.  Wooohoo!  (around $1000 to buy filter) I am also using this water for my base creams which I sell by the litre to Health Pracitioners in the area. 

Well that’s it for now.  Been very busy busy busy, but should have cleansing conditioner bars out on ebay soon!  I still have some samples and trial bars to give away with ebay purchases.  If you would like one with your order, please write a note and let me know at checkout.

Blessings and Fun!

Karen.xoxo

Hallo all,

Merry Christmas!  I hope you all have marvelous holidays!!  I’m going home to Adelaide to be with my parents and so will be shutting down my store from the dates of 21st - 29th Dec ‘08.  You can put in orders during this time, but they won’t be processed until the 29th.  I will also put up a notice on ebay.

My soaps are ready to go, but I’m having trouble with my camera at the moment, so they are slow to make the webpage and ebay.  I do have a regular cleanser bar as well as a shampoo bar now.  Once I get my camera fixed, or new camera (thank you Father Christmas) they will be up and running.  However if you make an order, let me know if you would like a free cleanser or shampoo bar and I’ll include one with your order. 

I’ve been flat chat for the last couple weeks with orders, and have started to make ‘base cream’ for naturopaths and health stores.  After some initial encouragement, I took samples and information sheets to my local health stores and naturopath centres, and met with more excitement and encouragement from said health practitioners.  I now have regular customers in Mullumbimby, Byron Bay, and the Gold Coast.  I am really excited about it.   Its a nice fat cream made with unrefined shea butter, and ionized acid water.  Its vegan/vego friendly and half the price of the mediherb vitamin e cream (which has parabens, or so I’m told). 

Well, off to make more comfrey ointment!

Much love, blessings and good health,

Karen.

Being a good little witch, I try out all my creams and concoctions on myself and friends, but until recently have never needed to use my comfrey ointment.  I had a rather large heavy object fall directly onto my open foot while working at my part time job, and a rather large vein began to rise up and out.  It was quite painful.  I was allowed 15min to sit down and ice it, and then back to work.  Two hours later when I got home, I used my comfrey ointment and kept it well oiled every day.  There was no bruising or discolouration at all.  It kept the pain down too.  A week later I noticed a spot about 6cm away had turned a little blue, as I wasn’t spreading the cream far enough on my foot.  It has been slightly swollen and tender, and I know when more ointment needs to be put on, because it starts hurting again.  I always knew cerebrally it was awesome stuff, but now I truly know how wonderfully it works!

I have also come to some conclusions regarding formulas.  Nourishers, I have tried and tried.  I have finally decided to let go the veg-emulse and go back to my old emulsifier (cetearyl alcohol, ceteareth 20) a vegetable based wax. 

I am still using the veg-emulse for base creams for naturopaths and practitioners, as oil and water can be heated to exact same temperatures before mixing.  It works fine for very basic creams.

I found that to keep my creams consistent I couldn’t lacto-ferment them, but had to mix the ingredients all at the same time including the preservative to avoid separation later on.  I also needed twice as much veg-emulse as I did the original veg wax to hold the ingredients together as the water content needed to be mixed at a lower temperature (to preserve the goodies in the goji berries and aloe vera.)  Also, in order to compensate for the lack of lactic acid, I used potassium sorbate in an effort to prolong the shelf life.

I am going back to what I know works very well, and the old emulsifier is completely safe.  The only negative thing I could find regarding ceteareth 20 is that it makes it easier for toxins to get into the blood stream.  If I was using non trans-dermal preservatives or fillers like the parabens, it would enable them to get into blood stream, and in that respect I can see the harm.  As it is, there are no toxic substances in my creams at all, and the thought of superfoods and saturated fats making it into your bloodstream, well …….. excellent!

I made my first new batch of anti-ageing cream, added the whey last, let it sit for 7-8hrs before adding the grapefruit seed extract, (no potassium sorbate) and it came out beautifully.  I’ve also decided to add some raw cacao powder - just for fun.  Love those anti-oxidants!

Been having trouble with the soap making.  Cold pressed takes long long time to cure, and being a water sign, am too impatient to wait!  Tried making the heat pressed method, and they are coming out a little too dry.  Patience and practice and I will be there soon.  I’m getting lovely lathers from the saponified oils and soapwort content though.  They just don’t look too pretty at the moment. :-)

PS - fight for the tooth goes on.  Its still hanging in there, despite the dentist telling me it was dying and that I would need root canal.  That was 6 weeks ago. 

I have a new website up and running.  Its at http://www.thewitchsbrew.net

I’ve also been researching and experimenting with shampoo bars.  They are not up and running yet, but still gestating!  I’m very excited about them though.  The cleanser bar will be more castor oil and olive oil based, and quite simple.  The shampoo bar will have ghassoul lava clay, bee pollen, molasses and gelatin, and lard.

I have made up a new chocolate body butter, and the first batch sold to friends and stores before I had a chance to post them on my ebay store.  It is delicious!!  More will be up in the next few days.

More news as it comes,

xoxo Karen.

I have been going through some family emergencies and emotional times this month, and so apologise for lack of blogging, and delays with ebay purchases.

I have however, decided that my product line is getting an overhaul.  I’ve discovered a shampoo bar during my time away, and absolutely love it!  So I have decided to make my own version.  I am also going to create my own cleanser bar based on similar ingredients.  (absolutely no detergents) Soapwort of course being the main ingredient.

The daily moisturiser will be more fluid and light for every day use.  I’ve also decided to go a basic chocolate based body butter.  Anti-ageing cream will remain the same, although the olive emulse will have to go.  Too expensive.

Have also been working on the soy lecithin/emulsifier puzzle and tried using egg yolk recently instead of the soy lecithin.  It worked great.  It came to me a few days ago while making mayonnaise.  Will be working on getting amounts and textures just right with the gelatin over the next few weeks.

I’ve also added raw cacao powder to my lacto-fermented goji berry syrup.  Raw cacao has a higher anti-oxidant rating than goji, and fermenting them together will make a super duper base for the two moisturisers.  I’m very excited about it.  I will also be adding the raw cacao to the chocolate body butter.

So lots of fun and witchypoo experiments in the next few weeks.  Will let you know when new products are up and running.

Good health and Blessings,

Karen. xoox

It would be perfect for the anti-ageing cream as I can lower the price back again, and toss the expensive emulsifier (which incidentally you need to use a lot of)  It also gives quite a good texture and you only need a very small amount.  Which means more nourishing content, although gelatin is very nourishing anyways. Also lecithin has a small preservative action as well.

However, I’m not too sure about the lecithin since it is derived from soy. Is soy lecithin ok to eat or put on the face?? Does anyone know?

xxKaren.

Freebie sale was super quick!  Great to clean out the closet.  :-)

One of the best thing about small scale cottage industry is that you’re not locked into a certain set of ingredients dictated to by packaging and bulk labels.  Nothing is set in stone.  My new moisturisers and cleanser are now made with new and improved emulsifiers and food grade preservatives.  Woohoo!

I’ve also figured out the ‘graininess’ to the anti-ageing cream.  It was doing my head in!  It was the suma powder after all..  In the new improved version I boil the suma in the distilled water, and then strain with muslin.  I also included coconut oil to the mix, with the result of a lovely luscious cream, super smooth, with a lighter texture.  Quite frankly, its awesome.

I’ve also been experimenting with base creams for natural health practitioners, using shea butter, distilled water, veg-emulse, grapefruit seed extract and potassium sorbate.  With an all natural product, health practitioners can blend their own tinctures, extracts and remedies for their clients.

Update on Dr Tony…. All was well until shipping rates hit the fan..  But he has given me great ideas - like the one above.

Take care until next time!

xxWitchypoo - aka Karen.