How To - Quick And Easy Natural Massage Melts

Massage melts are a unique body product because they stay solid at room temperatures, but when applied directly to your skin, start to soften and melt due to body temperature. Their main purpose is to moisturize dry skin, as well as, relax and soothe tight muscles.

Essentially, massage bars are composed of natural butters and oils. Most recipes for this type of product call for the use of cocoa butter. Even though it has great moisturizing properties, I feel this butter produces too hard a product. Therefore, I recommend using such butters as shea and mango, which create a silkier, luxurious feeling to your melts.

For oils, I highly recommend using sweet almond and jojoba. Sweet almond oil is light and penetrates easily making it well-suited for dry skin conditions. Plus, it is effective on all skin types. Jojoba oil, which is not actually an oil but is a liquid wax, is similar in composition to the oil your skin secretes, which is known as sebum. Jojoba is a quickly absorbed oil that soothes the skin, as well as, extends the shelf life of other oils.

Other light?oils you can substitute, for the above, are apricot kernel, grapeseed, sunflower, safflower, or soybean. Rounding out the rest of the ingredients are beeswax, vitamin E, and essential and fragrance oils.

Beeswax helps formulations keep their shape, as well as, act as a humectant. Vitamin E oil protects your product from rancidity and is also a great natural antioxidant. Essential oils are natural ingredients that are the very essence of the plant itself. Extracted from the flowers, fruit, leaves, bark, and roots of the plant, the oils are used for scent and therapeutic purposes. A word of caution, due to their volatility, research any essential oil before use. Fragrance oils, though synthetic in nature, do provide an inexpensive and easy way to achieve a scent that might not be possible with essential oils.

Ingredients:
3 - oz. of shea butter
3 - oz. of beeswax
2 oz. of jojoba oil
2 oz. of sweet almond oil
?tsp. of Vitamin E

Equipment:
Mold(s) of your choice
1 digital cooking thermometer
2 Pyrex glass measuring cups
1 small digital postal scale
1 set of measuring aluminum spoons
Wax paper for measuring on the scale
Plastic wrap to cover Pyrex cups

Directions:
Step 1: Gather all equipment onto a clean, sterile surface. Place a sheet of wax paper over the small digital postal scale to measure out the shea butter and beeswax base. Place base in a Pyrex cup and cover with plastic wrap. Melt ingredients, completely, in the microwave.

Step 2: While the base is melting, use the second Pyrex cup for your jojoba, sweet almond, vitamin E, and essential/fragrance oils (if used). Mix, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside.

Step 3: Once the base has melted, mix thoroughly. Pour the Pyrex cup from step 2 into the base Pyrex cup, mix together, and pour into your mold(s). Set aside for a couple of hours to cool and set. When soft, transfer the melts to the fridge until they are really hard. They should just pop out of the molds easily. Massage into skin and let product become absorbed. Due to melting properties, keep unused portions out of direct sunlight and store in a cool place.

Note: If you plan on using essential and/or fragrance oils in your recipe, place a digital thermometer in the melted shea butter and beeswax base. Wait for the temperature to drop down to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Anything higher will burn off the fragrant oils. After the temperature has reached this point immediately dump your Pyrex cup from step 2 into the Pyrex cup with the base, mix quickly, and pour into your mold(s). Follow the rest of step 3 instructions.

Muscle Relief Essential Oil Blend
?tsp. of Eucalyptus
?tsp. of Peppermint (do not use if pregnant)
30 drops of Rosemary

Tropical Fragrance Oil Blend (Substitute shea butter with mango butter)
?tsp of Heliotrope fragrance oil
?tsp of Coconut Milk fragrance oil
30-50 drops of Tahitian Vanilla fragrance oil

All recipe ingredients, listed above, can be found by searching Google.com.

Mindy Schwartz is a writer for the handmade beauty industry, as well as, the owner of a handmade bath and body business called Grayson's Apothecary of Beauty. For more information, go online to www.graysonsco.com

Hot Topics In Massage Therapy

    How To: Quick And Easy Natural Massage Melts

    Massage melts are a unique body product because they stay solid at room temperatures, but when applied directly to your skin, start to soften and melt due to body temperature. Their main purpose is to...

    Full Body Massage Uncovered

    A full body massage is a systematic, therapeutic stroking and kneading of your body's muscles. There are many benefits that can be gained through regular massages including the most basic pay-off whic...

    Asian Massage Therapy

    There are several forms of ancient Asian massage still being practiced in the world today. Asian massage techniques are ancient healing rituals developed over the centuries in India and the Far East. ...

    Hot Stone Massages For Your Health

    Stone massage is one of those arts of relaxation that has been around for quite some time now. From the word itself, the technique uses special stones (basalt stones) in massaging specific body parts ...

    Apricot Kernel Oil

    World over people use massage therapy to help promote healthy skin, nourish and strengthen the body, relieve stress, reduce pain, and encourage balance and well being. Massage opens and increases the ...

    Face And Head Massage

    What is Face and Head Massage

    The face represents the person and a healthy face reinstates a healthy mind and body. Though adequate attention is given to face care many massage therapists feel belie...

    Massage Chair - The Only Time Sitting Down Can Improve Your Health

    Life is moving at a frenetic pace with so much worry going on in our day to day professional and personal livelihoods. On top of that the planet is experiencing incredible changes with unheard of spee...

    Body Massage for Relaxation, Health Improvement and Sensual Pleasure

    By massaging your friend or living partner and let him or her do the same to you, you will both get emotionally closer to each other, and both get several health benefits. Massaging will benefit the m...

    Deep Connective Tissue Massage

    What is it?

    The development of deep connective tissue massage therapy is credited to the German, Elizabeth Dicke. She had a medical condition in her legs that caused them to stay cold and discolore...

    Acupressure - Is More Than Just Massaging

    Acupressure is one the oldest Chinese traditions used to cure many of our health problems. It involves use of pressure by your hand, elbow and other means. This form of healing has been in existence f...

    Health Benefits Of Foot Massage

    Massage of any kind is relaxing and promotes a feeling of calmness. To many health practitioners, in fact, foot massage has been known to be good for health and well-being. Foot massage is common thro...

    Neuromuscular Therapy - Description and Benefits

    If you've been checking out massage lately you may have come across the term "neuromuscular massage" or "neuromuscular therapy". You may be wondering what they are. Are they different? Are they types ...

Most Recent Massage Therapy Supplements

Newly Popular Therapy Articles

    Bowen Technique

    Bowen technique is a remarkable holistic body therapy that balances and integrates all the physical and energetic systems releasing the blockages that separate us from our natural state of perfect hea...

    How To: Quick And Easy Natural Massage Melts

    Massage melts are a unique body product because they stay solid at room temperatures, but when applied directly to your skin, start to soften and melt due to body temperature. Their main purpose is to...

    Ancient Ayurvedic Herbs You Can Easily Use Today

    While today there is a boom in herbs and Ayurvedic medicine treating illnesses this way is not new and, as you probably know, the tradition of using holistic methods to treat illness called Ayurvedic ...

    The Alternative Therapy of Acupuncture

    Acupuncture is a method of curing sickness that began in China possibly as long ago as 3000 B.C. It is established on the idea that there is a neural link between the organs of the body and some parti...

    Young Living Essential Oils and Aromatherapy

    Essential Oils
    Organic essential oils distilled for therapeutic aromatherapy are potent natural remedies and represent the life force of the plant! Essential oils and aromatherapy ...

    Get Into Shape With Hypnosis For Slimming Relax To Lose Weight!

    Hypnosis for slimming sounds like a dichotomy to some people, because it subverses everything that everyone has propounded as the best way to shed weight. What if I were to tell you that you could los...

    Massage Chair - The Only Time Sitting Down Can Improve Your Health

    Life is moving at a frenetic pace with so much worry going on in our day to day professional and personal livelihoods. On top of that the planet is experiencing incredible changes with unheard of spee...

    Chiropractor For Back Pain

    Back pain is something most of us know all too well, lower back, upper back neck and head pain is a wide spread condition in almost every country and across all maturity ages. When people are faced wi...

    Acupuncture Weight Loss? Plus 5 Step Weight Loss Plan

    I remember back in my senior year of high school - my best friend since 5th grade was living in France. He wrote that they didn't like Americans much. "They think we're all fat," he said. With his own...

    Weight Loss With Acupuncture|Can Acupuncture Help You Lose Weight?

    In recent years, more and more people are trying out acupuncture to lose weight. Just what is acupuncture? How can acupuncture treatment help you lose weight?

    Acupuncture is a branch of traditional ...

Interesting Today:

Most Recent Therapy Blogs:

Releated to Therapy:

Massage Therapy Links: