Homemade Christmas Gifts: Natural Skincare Gifts You Can Make

Good homemade Christmas gifts are the ones you can make in an afternoon and that keep well: whipped body butter, lip balm, a sugar scrub, lotion bars, handmade black soap bars and a spa basket that gathers them together. Most take under an hour of hands-on time.

Baraka's shea butter, shea oil, African black soap, kombo butter and baobab oil are all made by hand by the women of the Konjeihi Women's Enterprise Centre in Wa, Ghana. Wayne Dunn has worked directly with the centre for over 15 years. Several of the ideas below start from those ingredients, and each one comes with its time, difficulty and shopping list.

What are good homemade Christmas gifts

The best ones are simple, cheap to make and water-free, because water-free gifts last longest on a shelf and in a stocking. Here are eleven. Times are rough hands-on estimates, so add time for setting or drying.

If you have never made skincare before, begin with the sugar scrub or the whipped body butter. Two or three kinds, made well and labelled neatly, make a better set of gifts than eleven rushed ones.

What DIY Christmas gifts can you make for mom

Choose something she will enjoy using but would not buy for herself. A jar of body butter in a scent she likes, a hand scrub and a lip balm, or a small spa basket all work well.

• Peppermint body butter. The kit keeps the shopping to one order, and the result is a gift that looks bought. See the peppermint body butter kit.
• A richer shea and cocoa butter. Cocoa butter is used where a firm, stable product is wanted, so it suits a butter that holds its shape. See the luxury kit.
• A light facial oil. Shea oil is lighter on the skin than the whole butter, and baobab oil absorbs quickly without feeling heavy, so the two blend into a gift in a small dropper bottle.
• A recipe book for a mom who likes to make things. She can start her own batches in January. See the recipe book bundle.

If mom is a new mum, the mother and baby bundles are made for exactly that. Keep kombo butter and essential oils out of anything for a baby, and never use essential oils on a newborn. For a rash, sore skin or anything that does not clear up, ask a midwife, doctor or pharmacist rather than reaching for a homemade balm.

How do you make a DIY spa gift basket

Choose a theme, make three to five items that go together, label each one and pack them in a basket with tissue paper. The whole thing is an easy hour once the items are made.

1. Pick the items. A good spa mix is one body butter, one lip balm, one scrub and one bar of black soap. Add a washcloth, a soap dish or a candle you bought.
2. Make the items first. Make the water-free ones early and leave the basket until everything has set or dried.
3. Label everything. Add the name, the full ingredient list and a make-by date (see the packaging section below).
4. Pack it. Put heavier jars at the bottom, keep the black soap bars wrapped, and tuck tissue between the pieces.

The Baraka DIY pack is a simple starting point if you want to begin making your own skincare at home.

Two small notes for baskets. African black soap contains raw honey, so it is not vegan; tell the recipient. And if you scent anything that stays on the skin, leave out bergamot and lemon essential oils and use sweet orange at the same number of drops, or leave the scent out.

What skincare gifts can you make at home

Anything built on butters and oils: whipped body butters, lip balm, lotion bars, scrubs, facial oil blends, and soap bars made from a soap base. A few notes on the ingredients will save you surprises.

• Shea butter is solid at room temperature and melts on contact with skin. Baraka's is unrefined, strained and filtered only, with no refining, bleaching or deodorising, and it is traditionally used on dry skin, lips, hands, feet and hair. Its colour runs from ivory through cream to pale yellow and varies between batches, and a mild nutty smell is normal.
• Cocoa butter is hard and brittle at room temperature, harder than shea. Unrefined cocoa butter keeps the chocolate smell of the bean.
• Virgin coconut oil is solid below about 75°F (24°C) and liquid above it. It will solidify and liquefy with the temperature of the room, which is normal and does not affect quality.
• Shea oil and baobab oil are liquid at room temperature and suit facial oils and lighter blends.
• Red palm oil and palm kernel oil are two different ingredients. Red palm oil comes from the flesh of the palm fruit and keeps its natural colour. Palm kernel oil comes from the kernel inside the stone, is white to pale yellow and has very little smell.
• African black soap is traditional Ghanaian soap, deep brown to near-black, and the colour varies between batches. It is traditionally used for washing skin and hair, and the Baraka soap is made by hand at the Konjeihi Women's Enterprise Centre.

For the black soap bars, Black Soap Base is sold as crumbs for soap making. Follow its directions, then let the bars dry fully before wrapping them.

How far ahead can you make homemade skincare gifts

Water-free gifts can be made well ahead of Christmas, so there is no need to leave it all to December. Whipped butters, lip balm, lotion bars and oil blends contain no water, and shea butter keeps 2+ years when stored properly, away from heat and direct sun.

A finished gift is only as long-lived as its shortest-lived ingredient. When you set the make-by date, check the date on each ingredient and use the earliest one.

Gifts made with water, aloe gel, rosewater or milk are different. Contains water, so make small batches, keep it cool and throw it out if it smells or looks off. Make those last, and keep them out of the early batches.

A simple plan is to make the water-free gifts first, the black soap bars next so they have time to dry, and the basket last.

Packaging and labels

Wash jars, tins and tubes well and dry them completely before filling. A little water left inside is the quickest way to shorten the life of a water-free gift. Choose sizes that suit the gift, such as 4 oz (113 g) jars for body butter and 1 oz (28 g) tins for lip balm.

Put a label on every item with:

• The name of the gift.
• The full ingredient list, so the recipient can check it.
• The date made and a make-by date.
• Your name.

A few extra lines on the label or gift tag help. If a gift includes red palm oil, say so, because the colour transfers strongly and stains cloth and surfaces. If it includes cocoa butter, mention that a pale surface bloom after a temperature change is not spoilage and disappears on melting. Black soap absorbs moisture from the air and softens if left uncovered, so keep it wrapped or in a closed container. Tell recipients to keep jars away from radiators and sunny windows.

Where the ingredients come from

Baraka is Community Certified Fair Trade, and the shea butter, shea oil, black soap, kombo butter and baobab oil are made by hand at the Konjeihi Women's Enterprise Centre. You can read more about the centre and the people behind it in the Baraka Impact Report.

Quick answers

What are good homemade Christmas gifts

Good homemade Christmas gifts are simple, water-free and made in an afternoon: whipped body butter, lip balm, sugar scrub, lotion bars and black soap bars. A spa basket brings several of them together. Most take under an hour of hands-on time.

What DIY Christmas gifts can you make for mom

A peppermint or shea and cocoa body butter, a hand scrub with a lip balm, a facial oil blend or a small spa basket all make good gifts for mom. For a new mum, use the mother and baby bundles, with no kombo butter or essential oils in anything for the baby.

How do you make a DIY spa gift basket

Choose three to five items that go together, such as a body butter, lip balm, scrub and black soap bar. Make and label each one with its ingredients and a make-by date, then pack them with tissue paper in a basket. Keep the black soap wrapped.

What skincare gifts can you make at home

You can make whipped body butters, lip balm, lotion bars, sugar scrubs, facial oil blends and soap bars from a soap base. Butter and oil gifts are the easiest because they contain no water. Black soap contains raw honey, so it is not vegan.

How far ahead can you make homemade skincare gifts

Water-free gifts can be made well ahead of Christmas, and shea butter keeps 2+ years when stored properly, away from heat and direct sun. Date each gift by its shortest-lived ingredient. Gifts that contain water should be made last, in small batches.