Natural ingredients

A lot of people prefer natural products to the ones containing artificial ingredients. Also, many people enjoy making handmade cosmetics, soaps and similar products. It is a nice hobby which can easily turn into business. For people who make handmade products it is very important to know the properties of the ingredients they use to be able to predict their behavior in formulations. Success in making handmade natural products is grounded in familiarity with the ingredients and understanding of their interactions.

The term “natural” has been extremely popular lately, and the Internet community has been offering a lot of articles dealing with this topic. This provides a great opportunity for research and learning. Nevertheless, care should be taken because such an abundance of information always leaves some space for incomplete or even incorrect information. Do a little research into each ingredient that is new for you, and check its performances in small batches before you use it for some larger project. 

Homemade chlorophyll powder	Homemade orange zest powder	Homemade nettle leaf powder
Homemade beet root powder	Beet root juice as a natural red colorant

Our Natural ingredients category is focused on ingredients that are used in making homemade products like handmade cosmetics, soaps, bath & body and similar products. As its very name suggests, this category focuses on natural ingredients, but since some man-made ingredients are commonly used in products which are predominately natural in their composition, they also deserve some space on these pages.

Some of the ingredients like oils, butters, essential oils, antioxidants, and the like, have to be purchased at the shops. This is because they are obtained using special appliances and through complex extraction processes, which makes it all highly impractical within a usual home setting. However, many natural ingredients can be prepared at home from materials that are already present in almost any kitchen, or from herbs harvested from your garden or from the wild, so you do not need to spend any money on them. 

A special part of this category is dedicated to preparation of simple herbal natural ingredients like infused oils, extracts, tinctures, macerates, herbal powders and similar, which later can be included in preparation of more complex cosmetic formulations. 

In homemade preparation of natural ingredients intended for use in handmade body care products, special care should be taken related to quality and safety of raw material. Herbs, as well as any other raw material, should be free of any contamination, toxins, or pesticides. Organic growing is the safest source of raw material to be used in skin care products.

Processing of herbs and other natural products intended to be used as ingredients in handmade preparations requires proper handling, in a way that preserves their nutrients and active ingredients. Some of the most important factors that affect the quality of ingredients and final products are temperature, duration of particular phases of preparation, and choice of appropriate solvents for extraction of active ingredients. All of these factors determine the persistence of unstable constituents and proper extraction of active compounds. We will make an effort to provide our articles with information concerning homemade preparation of ingredients intended for handmade products. Instructions supported by photos showing the making process will, hopefully, help you make your own ingredients of good quality for your homemade cosmetics and other homemade products.