Wednesday, May 3, 2017

How to Make a Pain Bar

It's been a busy few weeks, and it will be a busy few months. I've got some new products planned for the shop, exciting blog post topics, and we've got a summer full of road trips, concerts, and weddings. It's going to be crazy and I am super excited about it.

This week I thought I would give you a peek behind the scenes, into my process. My mom and I made pain bars this weekend and we took some pictures along the way.

Personal information blacked out.

Step 1: Gather all your ingredients

At the bottom left is menthol, peppermint essential oil, and beeswax. Starting at the top left is previously infused sweet birch oil, arnica oil, and cocoa butter. Not pictured: coconut oil and shea butter.

Step 2: Weigh the ingredients out into a bowl. I'm not going to lie, this was one of the more exciting purchases I made. Balances and scales are some of my favorite pieces of instrumentation.

Step 3: Set up the double boiler. I fill the lower pot with water and set to simmer. The large glass bowl with all of the weighed out ingredients is set inside the pot. The steam from the simmering water heats the bowl and the ingredients gently. This prevents burning and over heating of the oils and waxes.

...and now we wait.

Different pot and batch of oils than showed previously.
We forgot to take the picture before.

...for this!! All the ingredients are melted and ready to be poured.

Step 4: I pour the liquid into the molds. This is done on a scale to ensure each bar is 2 oz. This is often the most messy part of the whole process. There is definitely some skill needed when it comes to a good clean pour. The bars are left to cool for about 24 hours.

Step 5: The last step! Wrap and label bars for sale.

That's it! This is the general process I follow for most of my products. It's simple, easy to execute, and makes my house smell lovely. 😄

Thank you for taking a look at what I do, I apologize for my poor photography skills. It's a skill I am currently working on improving.