Lemon Hand Cream

To Make:

     Squeeze a Lemon and strain through cheesecloth.  Pour the juice into a measuring cup and add an equal amount of Almond oil.  In a small butter melting pot put a thin piece of beeswax.  I use approximately 1 teaspoon beeswax for every 3 oz. of cream, this amounts to a thin sheet about an inch square.  Add to the pot a bit of the Almond oil that has collected above the Lemon juice in the measuring cup.  Heat over a medium fire, gently shaking the pot, about 30 seconds or more.  Take the pot on and off the fire so that the wax melts but does not burn.  Add the rest of the contents of the measuring cup.  Heat, shake, and stir with a wooden spoon until the wax has completely melted.  Remove from the fire.  Stir until cool with the wooden spoon.  Add one drop of Lemon oil for every oz. of cream.  Give it another stir and transfer to a cream jar or bottle.  Cap it.  Now shake it every few minutes until the cream is completely cold.

To use:

Rub a little bit on hands or body whenever necessary.

Why:

This cream is excellent to soften and smooth rough hands.  The oil is an emollient, the Lemon is a protectant and texturizer.

Tip:

Lemon Hand Cream is so easy to make (and so lengthy to describe) but takes less than 5 minutes, so only make one Lemon's worth at a time.  Your measurements then will probably be 1 1/2 oz. Lemon juice, 1 1/2 oz. Almond oil, 1 tsp. beeswax, and 3 drops Lemon oil.

bookmark         - From "Kitchen Cosmetics" by Jeanne Rose

     During my early research, I found in an old herbal, Receipts in Physick and Chirurgery, by Sir Kenelm Digby, 1668, a recipe called "A most precious Ointment for all manner of Aches and Bruises; and also for the Redness of Face."  I proceeded to make this ointment according to the original formula and then made it twice again, slightly enlarging and improving on the formula.  It really is a most precious ointment.  We have used it to relieve the pain of sunburn (and if used throughout the day, even if you skin is fair, it usually prevents sunburn and peeling).  We have used it on bruises to make them heal and disappear more quickly and on all the myriad little wounds, cuts, cat scratches and hurts that a child gets during a day.  We have used it to cure more quickly a bad case of poison oak, and have even heated it as a massage cream for sore aching muscles.

     It is a very handy all-purpose medicine to have in the house.  When applied externally, pain immediately disappears and the healing process seems to be hastened.

Take 2 handfuls each of the fresh botanicals, or 1 handful each of the dried.*

Ingredients:  

alfalfa leaf

balm (lemon balm leaf)

bay leaf

benzoin

birch bark

camomile flowers

clary sage

cowslip flower and leaf

dill seed

elder flower

feverfew

hyssop

Jerusalem oak seed

lavender

lemon peel

lovage

marigold flower

marjoram

mint leaf (spearmint)

mugwort

myrtle berries

pennyroyal

peony leaf and root

primrose

ragweed

rose leaf

rosemary

rue

saffron

sage

sesame seed

smallage

southernwood

St. Johnswort

tansy

thyme

violet flower

white mint (peppermint)

white pond lily root

white willow bark

wintergreen

wormwood