The spignato: the basis of do-it-yourself cosmetics
The art of preparing your own cosmetics is called "spignatto" and is an increasingly widespread and affordable practice for everyone .
Preparing your own cosmetics is bringing more and more people closer because through self- production cheap, natural and ecological products are obtained with great satisfaction .
In this article we will see what equipment and what ingredients are needed to start preparing your own DIY cosmetics.
The equipment of the spignato
No special equipment is required to make your own cosmetics at home. The common kitchen utensils and very little else are sufficient.
They are very useful for example:
- heat-resistant glass cups and a saucepan for heating in a bain-marie;
- steel spoons and spoons for mixing;
- an electric whisk or immersion blender to make the emulsion creams .
A small precision balance that weighs the decimals of a gram is indispensable for measuring small quantities of ingredients; the price varies between five and ten euros and can be purchased in household stores, as well as online.
Also obtain maps showing pH (litmus paper) in the pharmacy or on one of the sites indicated at the bottom of the article.
Litmus paper is used to measure the pH of the finished product, which must respect that of our skin. In the next article we will discuss the subject in detail.
Finally, you need jars and containers to store the finished products you've made. The cans of finished cosmetics can be recycled after being washed and sterilized.
Simple hygiene rules
Cleaning is very important in the spignato and serves above all to reduce the bacterial contamination of the preparations. This means that the cosmetics you have created will last longer if you work with a few simple hygiene rules:
- all that is used to produce one's own cosmetics, including the worktop and the jars in which the finished product will be stored, must be washed and sterilized ;
- cleaning is carried out with dish detergent ; where possible, sterilize utensils and jars in boiling water for a few minutes, otherwise they are disinfected with an alcohol wipe.
- although you are practically never in contact with dangerous raw materials, it is good practice to work with gloves both for hygiene reasons and to avoid reactions with ingredients that are too acidic or too basic.
Natural ingredients: where to buy them
For the spignato are used flour, starch, cane sugar, coffee, cocoa, sunflower oil: all ingredients easily available at the supermarket and in grocery stores.
Other raw materials, such as vegetable butters, essential oils and less available vegetable oils can be purchased in herbal medicine.
For some of these ingredients, buying online on specialized sites is more convenient. In fact, the price of ingredients sold online is often lower. Furthermore, some ingredients are difficult to find outside the Internet: this is the case, for example, of active ingredients and plant extracts, ingredients we will learn to know.
Natural ingredients: the indispensable
To start spignatting we need some ingredients, including:
- food ingredients that you will certainly have in the pantry: corn starch, sea salt, cane sugar, apple vinegar, cocoa, coffee, etc .;
- at least two vegetable butters, such as shea butter and cocoa butter;
- some vegetable oil ; sunflower oil, olive oil and sweet almond oil are great to start;
- essential oils : the essentials are the essential oil of lavender, that of tea tree and at least an essential citrus oil (lemon, sweet orange, bergamot, etc.)
- distilled water
- a wax (bee or vegetable, like mimosa wax)
There are also a series of ingredients that are used when you have more experience - such as surfactants for preparing shampoos, emulsifiers for preparing emulsion creams and active ingredients to be added to our products to give it certain characteristics - but in the beginning they prepare very simple products, so it is not necessary to buy special ingredients.
