Recipe: Organic Baby Cream with Zinc

Happy Bum Flower Balm Recipe (adapted from The Green Beauty Guide)

Many baby creams contain petrochemicals (mineral oil, paraffin) and lanolin, not to mention synthetic fragrances and botanicals unsuitable for delicate baby skin. Ideally, you should avoid adding any essential oils to baby creams and balms.

When your baby is teething, you may want to use the cream more frequently, as babies are prone to diaper rash before their new teeth sprout. You can find most of the ingredients online in specialized stores catering to green beauty enthusiast (some ideas: mountainroseherbs.com, ingredientstodiefor.com). Zinc oxide should be nanoparticle-free.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup shea butter (if possible, organic)

1/2 cup coconut butter (if possible, organic)

1 teaspoon zinc oxide

2,000 IU vitamin E

Optional: 1 teaspoon calendula macerated oil (calendula extract in jojoba or sunflower oil)

METHOD:

1. Heat the butter and coconut oil in a shallow pan. Do not boil.

2. Add zinc oxide while the mixture is still liquid. Remove from heat and stir until the mixture starts to cool in about 3 minutes. Add the essential oils after the mixture cools a bit so that their properties don’t disperse in the heat as quickly. Gradually add vitamin E and the colloidal silver. Stir well.

3. Transfer into a glass jar and use as often as necessary when you notice redness in the diaper area.