Solid perfume (a tutorial)

As promised, I present the tutorial for making solid perfume! I saw this on Pinterest a while ago and pinned it to my {Crafty things I need to do} board. And finally got around to trying it out!

{original pin here}

I searched and searched for a vintage pocket watch or locket to fill with perfume, but after a few weeks I became way too impatient and ended up picking one up for $5 from Michaels. Then I realized I had NONE of the ingredients I needed to make solid perfume. Argh. So I spent a few weeks researching and and comparing products and waiting for everything to come in the mail. Why I bought ingredients online and waited around for them to arrive escapes me. Wait, that's a lie. It's because it was much cheaper that way. Getting off topic...

Yay! If you follow me on {facebook} you're probably sick of seeing these, they are the newest addition to my shop! But they are so much fun (and addicting) to make, I thought I'd share the how-to as well!

To make solid perfume, you will need:

• Beeswax
• Carrier oil (I use a combo of sweet almond oil and coconut oil.)
• Essential oils
• Oral syringe (find it in the medicine aisle of the grocery store)
• Locket
• Old metal/glass bowl that you will never use for food again.
• Plastic spoon

I didn't really follow the pinned tutorial very well. I researched several different recipes and sort of mashed them together and came up with my own. Through experimentation, I discovered that a 1:1 beeswax/carrier oil made the best perfume base. Not too solid, not too lip balmy. Since I decided to use a combo of two different carrier oils (sweet almond and coconut) it comes out to be a 2:1:1 beeswax:sweet almond:coconut oil ratio.

 For this huge locket, I did a teaspoon of beeswax...

...and a half teaspoon of the oils. It ended up being way too much. 

Bring a small amount of water to a boil in a pot small enough to NOT let metal/glass bowl fit in. We're making a double boiler here. 

Combine all three into the bowl and place it on top of the boiling pot of water. The steam will quickly melt the three together. I mean in like less than a minute. 

Stir with the plastic spoon to combine. Stir really well, otherwise you'll end up with pockets of oil in the beeswax. Not cool. 

It really does melt fast! Stir, stir, stir, then turn the heat off. 

Add your oils. For this particular locket I used a headache relief blend (since I am an almost daily sufferer...) a 50/50 peppermint/lavender. Mix really well again, but do this quickly because the perfume will harden pretty quickly. The amount of essential oils added was different everywhere I looked, so I just had to wing it. I added about 25-30 drops total. 

Fill the oral syringe with your perfume. This makes it a lot easier to fill the locket. 

....though it's not a perfect science. 

Let the perfume harden for at least 15 minutes before disturbing it. (10 BFF points if you sang that.)

Then comes the fun part, turning it into something beautiful!

To apply solid perfume, rub your fingers on the perfume and smooth it onto your pressure points. Wrists, behind the ears, etc. Since I made this amazing headache relief batch, I massage it into my temples and at the nape of my neck to work in the magic. 

Another added bonus: Your body acts like a candle warmer. The heat from your body will release the oils in the locket and you will smell gorgeous all day. I've now made three of these for myself (and another half dozen that I've sold) and the scent really sticks with you. All in all, a wonderful pin. I hope you enjoy it! 

I'm linking this up to...

Because Becca inspired me to actually do one of my pins! And linking up to a few other fun {parties}

I got the boots, an outfit post

Remember how I told you I model part time?

I lied. I may have stretched the truth a little bit. I am ridiculous in front of a camera. I have no idea how to pose, NO idea what to do with my arms, and I tend to make really weird faces.

Yeah...like that one. But I'm not showing off my face, I'm showing off The Boots.

(Cue that "Ahhh" angel sound when something awesome happens.) I found The Boots! Actually, David found them. After many failed attempts at finding them in almost every single one of the stores you suggested (some were too far out to get to) I finally convinced David to take me to the outlet mall. Found them in the first store. First pair I tried on. Holla!! Best part?? They were only $25, not even kidding! My budget was around $50, so now I can buy a pair of skinny jeans to go with them without feeling guilty at all!

I promise they are a lovely espresso brown, not black like they look in the pictures. Hubs and I aren't too good with the camera.

Outfit breakdown:

Earrings: Made em!

Scarf: Some nice street vendor in NYC, $5

Cardi: Target, $20

Lace tank: Hollister clearance, $6

Belt: Aeropostal clearance, $2

Jeans: uh...Kohl's maybe? $20ish?

Boots: I think the box says Lifestride, but who knows? $25

Outfit total: $78, not too bad!

Can I tell you a secret though? The boots aren't my favorite part of this outfit. The jeans are. Why? Because I can fit into them again! For the past year I have been bound to only two pairs of jeans and like 1/3 of my tops because I had gained too much weight to wear anything. But I'm down 15lbs (5 more to go!) and I am happy to say that I can now wear almost 10 pairs of jeans in my closet. I am so happy. :) 

Happy about the boots too. Bring it on, fall. I am ready to plow through you looking moderately better than I did before.