While each of my pregnancies has accompanied the typical heightened sense of smell that many women experience, this one has been extreme. My poor family, and especially my husband, have had to put up with so much from me. During my second trimester I had this disgusting issue with gagging. All sorts of smells gagged me and I couldn’t help but make these awful loud gagging noises, especially when changing diapers. Jonny ended up taking on diaper duty for a couple of months because I just couldn’t handle it.
Craving and obsession
My boys have been instructed more than usual to “go brush your teeth.” And when I’ve been feeling really sensitive those orders include mouthwash (that’s good stuff by the way-so effective.) It’s also possible that I have made requests that no one do any “open mouth breathing” near me. Yes, it’s been really bad. I have tried to be nice about the whole thing.
On the other hand, there are certain scents that I have totally craved. These have all been strong non-food smells. When it comes to food I haven’t dealt with major nausea or food aversions, I just haven’t been that interested in food–absolutely no food cravings. On the other hand I love the smell of rubbing alcohol, the natural oil wood finish that Jonny’s uses (fancy non-toxic stuff,) and citronella. At the top of my list are two things though: the strong eucalyptus scent of Burt’s Bees Hand Salve, and Tom’s of Maine Wicked Fresh peppermint toothpaste. I am so addicted to brushing my teeth with that toothpaste! Sometimes I have to brush twice in a row it’s so great. I know-this is really weird; I am a little obsessed.
Yesterday I decided to try to replicate Burt’s Bees Hand Salve by creating a recipe based on it’s ingredient list and the way it smells. I gathered almond and olive oil, some herbs and essential oils, and of course some beeswax, and made my own hand salve.
My version turned out pretty good, and I know it will get used up quickly by my husband who has super rough “man hands” as he calls them, but it isn’t exactly what I was aiming for. Next time I make it I will make a couple of changes, mainly replacing most of the olive oil with almond oil, and maybe cutting back on the herbs I simmered in the oil so that the scents from the essential oils stand out even more.
Here’s the recipe I created, following the same basic steps that I did when we made chickweed salve.
1/2 c. almond oil
1/2 c. olive oil
dried herbs simmered in the oil:
4T lavender flowers
2T rosemary leaves
2T comfrey leaves
1T comfrey root
After simmering the herbs in the oil and straining them out I added:
10 drops rosemary oil
10 drops lavender oil
25 drops eucalyptus oil
finally I added two generous tablespoons of beeswax pastilles, waited for them to dissolve, and then poured my salve into a tin.
This is definitely a great hand salve, but again, not perfect in the scent department. I am going to keep trying.
Tanya C says
Would you say the herbs are an essential part of the effectiveness of the end product? I love burts bees hand salve but would love to try making my own, I just don’t have the herbs and if I can make it without them it will make the cost of the salve basically free since I have all the other ingredients already on hand.
Dottie says
I know this is an old post, but next time add tea tree oil! It’s great for your skin and I’m pretty sure it figures heavily into the smell of the salve.