Still wondering about how to best spend your Valentine’s day with your loved one?
Browse no more, because you’re on the right track (or should I say page?) now.
This beautifully cute Valentine’s DIY massage bar(s) would be the answer you’ve been looking for.
Maybe you’re now planning to go under the radar and prepare these by yourself to surprise your significant other later on the day.
Or do it together and turn the day into a fun DIY Valentine’s day.
Either way, you wouldn’t be able to resist the imaginary aftermath, aka the Valentine’s day massage party!
So, welcome to my DIY “lair” and enjoy the ride!
Before getting into the recipe, let’s talk about the ingredients. Don’t worry, just briefly.
Valentine’s DIY Massage Bar: Ingredients
1. Cocoa butter
INCI: Theobroma cacao (cocoa) seed butter.
Cocoa butter; definitely one of my favorite skincare ingredients. What I’ve got here is unrefined, raw and organic. Oh, and it has been locally sourced – yes, I’m lucky in the sense that I live in the place where high quality cocoa ingredients can be easily sourced. The cocoa ingredients have been made from scratch in a village in Bali, Indonesia. Other than the organic status, they also claimed that all their ingredients are sourced from sustainable farming practices and producers.
Like any other natural and organic ingredients, the characteristics and properties cocoa butter could vary slightly. They depend on the way they have been planted and processed, the harvest time, and ultimately, the soil. This particular cocoa butter I’ve got in hands here smells really, really good. The aroma is sweet and unapologetically chocolaty.
In the world of natural and organic skincare formulations, people would instantly think about cocoa butter when the phrase “hard butter” is mentioned. Due to its hard texture, we need to gently melt it before combining it with other ingredients, as you will see later. This wonderful butter readily melts upon skin contact, and then readily absorbs into the skin’s top layers.
Other than its unique texture and other physical and olfactory properties, the polyphenolic components of cocoa butter also offer great skin benefits. In their study, Scapagnini and colleagues confirmed that cocoa phytocompounds do possess antioxidants and anti-inflammatory activities. These offer skin protection against UV damages and are crucial for the maintenance of our skin health. All of which could also translate to cocoa butter’s great anti-aging effects.
2. Shea butter
INCI: Butyrospermum parkii (shea) butter.
Shea butter has probably been the most widely used natural butter in the world of natural and organic skincare formulation. Since the beginning of its popularity, the skin healing properties of shea butter have been well-shown by numerous studies around the world. Dry skin would benefit from the use of shea butter, since it is good for preventing the transepidermal water loss (TEWL). This amazing butter has even been used as an emollient and anti-inflammatory ingredient for eczema skin with promising results. And of course, shea butter has also been said to prevent the development of stretch mark. You can read more about the skin benefits of shea butter here.
Here I managed to purchase the organic, unrefined shea butter from Ghana. It’s broken white in color, and it’s got somewhat smoky aroma. Shea butter also readily melts into the top layers of our skin. But unlike cocoa butter, shea butter is a “soft butter”. Which also means that we wouldn’t need to melt shea butter in order to combine it with other ingredients. Ever heard of whipped shea butter?
The only not-so-pleasant thing about shea butter is the fact that it could feel too heavy or greasy for some of us. Don’t worry, though, because we can really improve the skin feel by combining shea butter with “drier” butters and oils.
3. Jojoba oil
INCI: Simmondsia chinensis (jojoba) seed oil.
Jojoba oil is one of my favorites as well! It is relatively more stable, which means it takes longer time to go “bad” when compared to many other natural carrier oils. The sweet and somewhat nutty aroma is just so subtle, unlike many other carrier oils that have those pungent aromas. These are only 2 of the reasons for its wide use in the natural and organic skincare world. Jojoba oil is basically many formulators’ best friend.
In terms of its skincare benefits, jojoba oil has too many of them. Its noncomedogenic property and sebum-like structure says it all – from helping with acne to preventing and improving the premature skin aging. Find out much more skin benefits of jojoba oil here.
.What I’ve used here is organic, non-GMO jojoba oil.
4. Natural vitamin E
INCI: D-alpha-tocopherol
Don’t panic just yet, people! Yes, the human language simply natural vitamin E. We use a dose of vitamin E oil as the chosen antioxidant for our massage bars. Because… remember, we’re going to add the essential oils and such to the bars. We wouldn’t want these volatile aromaceuticals to oxidise prematurely. And we wouldn’t want the whole oil-based massage bars to go rancid quickly either, right?
Although this ingredient could be hard to find in some places, I’m sure you’ll get the hold of it somehow. One of the classic problems in trying to find the right natural vitamin E, really is the many types of vitamin E and the nomenclature itself.
Let us just skim the chemistry-heavy part off and directly go to on of the most important parts here. Firstly, you’d need to decide whether or not you’re going to limit yourself from the synthetic vitamin E. If the answer is yes, then you wouldn’t want to purchase anything whose name begins with dl, e.g. dl-alpha-tocopherol. They are all synthetic forms of vitamin E. Choose the one whose name begins with d instead, e.g. d-alpha-tocopherol. Ask the supplier the d- and dl– question, and ask yourself about your own values – now you’re good to go!
Not that confusing, right?
Welp.
If you’re lucky enough to find d-alpha-tocopherol, then the next step is asking about the source plant. The first, more desirable option is to choose the vitamin E that has been derived from sunflower oil. Another source of vitamin E is soybean. However, there are GMO and non-GMO variants. Ask the supplier to provide the information regarding this. And then, decide according to your own values and goal.
After the endless search, I finally managed to get the d-alpha-tocopherol, which is naturally derived from soybean oil. So I purchased it right away. It really is not an easy task to find sunflower-based vitamin E here where I live. Next time! Hopefully everything would be better in the future.
For insightful and more detailed information about vitamin E oil, you can read this article.
5. Vanilla oleoresin (absolute)
INCI: Vanilla planifolia (vanilla) fruit oil.
The aroma of this vanilla absolute is just so fun and inviting! Well, I guess that’s the inner child in me. Seriously, though, imagine the characteristic vanilla aroma that is very sweet, but somehow spicy, fruity and warm. Literally the aroma that can’t go wrong – whether when used solo or in combination with other aromas! Love it, love it, love it.
As both fixative and base note, vanilla absolute holds together all the aromas and it offers the depth and make the fragrance combination whole. This is the scent that will linger on your skin, even after the other aromas have gone away. Vanilla absolute really is the perfect base note for our chocolaty Valentine’s DIY massage bar(s).
The thick vanilla absolute I’ve got in hands was solvent-extracted from vanilla bean which originates from Kerala, South India, India. The supplier claimed that their old plantation has adopted the sustainability principle. This includes educating the farmers on how to maintain the soil’s health and biodiversity, as well as applying that “harvest and plant 10 times more” principle. What I also love from them is the fact that they provide the CoA and GC/MS test documentation for the ingredients – just like that, I didn’t even need to ask for it.
6. Arabica coffee absolute
INCI: Coffea arabica (coffee) seed oil.
From the same supplier, I purchased the solvent-extracted arabica coffee absolute. The plantation has been said to be located in the Western Ghats mountain range, Wayanad, South India, India. Just north-east of Kerala (where the vanilla ingredient originates). I googled the place and it looks and sounds amazing! And the sustainable and ethical practice imposed by suppliers lets me know that I wouldn’t need to worry about the future of the plantation area and its surroundings.
Now back to the coffee ingredient. This arabica coffee absolute would be the middle note to our Valentine’s DIY massage bar(s), that is the “heart” of the aroma blend. The absolute’s aroma resembles that of freshly brewed espresso. Which is a great compliment to our massage bars’ cocoa-themed aroma. However, since its aroma intensity is rather high, we’re going to use it at a low percentage. That way, it wouldn’t be overpowering the formulation’s aroma blend.
The coffee absolute would serve as the “yang” element of our Valentine’s DIY massage bar(s). It’s also intended to give that fresh, rejuvenating feeling during and after the massage.
You would also want to note beforehand that the coffee absolute’s texture is thicker than many other essential oils. Runnier and not as thick as the vanilla absolute, though.
7. Rose geranium essential oil
INCI: Pelargonium graveolens roseum (rose geranium) oil.
If you’ve got a chance to visit my Solo Valentine’s Rose Clay Mask blog post, you’ll have known that rose otto (Rosa damascena) oil’s dermal limit has been restricted to 0.02% in leave-on products. It’s unfortunate that we’ll have to miss all its goodness and its heavenly fragrance.
There’s no need to worry, though, folks! Because we can compensate for this situation by using rose geranium essential oil instead. The exciting aroma of this essential oil bears a resemblance to that of rose otto, but it’s more heady and more obvious in its sweetness. Whereas the fragrance of rose otto oil is more of a base note and more subtle in its sweetness.
In the natural and organic skincare world, rose geranium essential oil has been well known for its sebum balancing property. This makes it a fantastic skincare ingredients for both young, acneic skin and dry, mature skin.
Again, I purchased this rose geranium essential oil from the same supplier for the exact same reasons that I’ve mentioned before. The rose geranium essential oil was grown in Kannauj, which has always been known as “the perfume capital of India”. The oil was then extracted by using steam distillation. As a mid note aroma, together with the arabica coffee absolute, they will blend and be the “heart” fragrance for our Valentine’s DIY massage bar(s). Nevertheless, I’ve always thought of rose geranium as mid-top note because of its heady scent.
The rose geranium essential oil was intended to fill the role of “yin” in our Valentine’s DIY massage bar recipe.
8. Cocoa CO2 extract
INCI: Theobroma cacao (cocoa) seed butter extract.
Cocoa CO2 extract possesses a sweet, milky, creamy, characteristic chocolate aroma. It smells like milk chocolate bars instead of dark chocolate bars. It’s very similar the aroma of cocoa butter, but even sweeter, more sugary, and more concentrated. The kind of fragrance that could induce that happy feelings! We’re using it to enhance the chocolate-themed aroma.
Cocoa CO2 extract is solid at room temperature. That’s why it needs to be indirectly and very gently melted in a warm to hot bath that’s less than 100 degrees Celsius, before use.
As the name suggests, in this type of extraction, CO2 acts as a solvent that is used to remove substances from the plant. And since the extract is not subjected to high temperatures, this CO2 extraction doesn’t harm the plant’s botanical compounds. Hence the very potent characteristic of CO2 extracts.
Due to its very potent characteristic and intense aroma, we’re not going to use too much of it in our Valentine’s DIY massage bar recipe.
Here I’ve managed to locally source high quality Indonesian Cocoa CO2 extract. Complete with all the technical sheets and certifications that indicate that there is no allergens/sensitizers, it’s vegan, halal, cruelty-free, solvent-free, non-GMO, and so on.
9. Dried rose petals
As we are using the rose petals for solely aesthetic purpose here, you can really use the rose petals of any variant. As long as it is not poisonous, of course. Just make sure that the petals have been dried properly.
What I use here is locally sourced from Bali, Indonesia. If you’ve read my Solo Valentine’s DIY rose clay mask blog post, you might have witnessed my contemplation on what type of flower I’ve got here. In a nutshell, although the seller claimed that these are the rose petals of Rose Damascena, I’m not sure yet. They do look similar to petals of Rosa damascena, but they also look like those of Rosa centifolia. And the scent is not as sweet as that of Rosa damascena I’ve known. I really don’t know. After all, different soils grow nonidentical produces, right? What I do know is that the petals are of old garden roses since it’s got that beautiful scent.
10. Arabica coffee beans
Here we are using the coffee beans as the massage bar’s texture modifier. The addition of coffee beans to our Valentine’s DIY massage bar(s) would offer a pleasant uneven-texture sensation during the massage.
What I’ve used for these cute massage bars are arabica coffee beans. You can definitely use any type of coffee beans, as long as they are clean, dry and have been properly stored.
Alrighty! Now that we’re done talking and learning more about our ingredients, let’s start creating!
“Rose Mocaccino Melting Chocolate Massage Bars for Couples” Recipe
Ingredients, in grams (for 100 g batch):
- 75 g cocoa butter
- 15 g shea butter
- 7.2 g jojoba oil
- 0.8 g d-alpha-tocopherol (natural vitamin E)
- 0.3 g vanilla oleoresin (absolute)
- 0.2 g arabica coffee absolute
- 0.5 g rose geranium essential oil
- 1 g cocoa CO2 extract
- Dried rose petals
- Coffee beans
Now I’ll share with you the recipe in the form of percentages. This way, you could decide on the best batch size for yourself.
Ingredients, in percentages:
- 75% cocoa butter
- 15% shea butter
- 7.2% jojoba oil
- 0.8% d-alpha-tocopherol (natural vitamin E)
- 0.3% vanilla oleoresin (absolute)
- 0.2% arabica coffee absolute
- 0.5% rose geranium essential oil
- 1% cocoa CO2 extract
- Dried rose petals
- Coffee beans
This recipe contains geraniol, citronellol and linalool, all of which naturally occur in essential oils. I calculated the percentage of each one of them, and they are way below the recommended dermal limits. Please let me know in the comment section below if you need to know all the details.
Well, you know what? I’ll disclose the calculations here for you this time.
This recipe contains 0.01% linalool, 0.06% geraniol and 0.13% citronellol.
Please feel free to ask me more questions!
Directions:
- Weigh the cocoa butter in a beaker.
- Cut the cocoa butter into thin, small pieces to help with the melting process.
- Now add shea butter to the finely chopped cocoa butter.
- Weigh the jojoba oil in another beaker.
- Weigh d-alpha-tocopherol (natural vitamin E) in another smaller beaker.
- To the same small beaker, add the vanilla absolute, arabica coffee absolute, rose geranium essential oil and cocoa CO2 extract.
- Now before proceeding to the melting phase and further, sprinkle the dried rose petals onto the bottom of the mold. *You’d want to make sure that everything is ready beforehand. Because, trust me, you’re not going to have enough time (and pair of hands!) for that, starting from this point.
- Alright. Now that everything is in place, gently melt the butters in a bain-marie, while continuously stirring the mixture to avoid overheating and scorching the butters. *Overheating would destabilize the butters, thus making the massage bars too easy and quick to melt later on.
- Once the butters have been completely melted, remove the beaker from the heat.
- Add the jojoba oil to the melted butters and then stir thoroughly.
- Once the temperature drops below 40o Celsius, begin to very gently melt the cocoa CO2 extract by stirring it in a hot water bath. *At the very same time, don’t forget to keep stirring the butters-oil mixture. An extra pair of hands would help a lot here! Don’t worry, though, you can do this by yourself, too!
- Add the melted cocoa CO2 extract to the butters-oil mixture and then stir thoroughly.
- Finally, add the pre-mixed vitamin E, vanilla absolute, coffee absolute and rose geranium essential oil to the butters-oil-CO2 extract mixture.
- Stir, stir, stir – it’s time for even more stirring! This would take a while, so feel free to stir and dance the minutes away! *Or you could actually put the beaker in an ice bath to speed up the process. *There would be some sort of “crystallization” just before the whole mixture turns opaque and more viscous. Don’t worry, just keep stirring and make sure you scrap off the solids from the beaker’s wall. This way, the mixture would turn out fine without any graininess later on.
- Continue with the stirring, until the mixture is opaque and starts to solidify but still pourable.
- Slowly pour the final mixture into the rose-sprinkled mold.
- Gently tap the mold on the table for multiple times to evenly distribute the mixture inside the mold. This way, you’d also get rid of any existing air bubble, which might be trapped in the mixture.
- Arrange the coffee beans to your liking. *Just make sure that you’re creating a surface that is suitable for massage application. In this case, the coffee beans on the base of the massage bars were meant to induce that relaxing sensation when used during the massage.
- Leave the bars to set in a safe, clean space. *To speed up this process, you could put the mold inside a zip lock bag and put it in a fridge for an hour.
- Carefully pop the hardened massage bars out of the mold.
And… there you have it! Enjoy!
Well, no, I’m not leaving you yet. In fact, I’ve made this video to make life easier for you!
HOW TO USE + TIPS:
*Rub the top of your massage bar on the skin (circular motion is my favorite!) and let it melt over time.
Now rub the back of the bar (with the coffee beans on it) on the same skin area where the bar melts. Use your palm to give it a gentle push while gliding the massage bar over the skin. Feel the relaxing sensation given by this uneven surface.
Unleash the creativity in you and create your own massage routine with your bare hands!
*It would be a good idea to wrap the individual massage bar in a small piece of greaseproof paper before storing them in a jar.
Avoid heat and sunlight.
*Please omit the use of ingredients you’re allergic to.
And that’s it, folks!
I’ve realized that this is not the simplest recipe in the world, so please feel free to ask me any questions. Post your questions in the comment section below, and I’ll try to answer them as best as I could. This way, we’d share more with one another!
I hope these Rose Mocaccino massage bars would bring so much happiness into your life!
Enjoy your day, lovebirds!
Love and best wishes,
Ella
Epic DIY Rose Mask for Your Solo Valentine’s Day
