BASIL ESSENTIAL OIL BENEFITS

Basil oil (Ocimum basilicum)

Basil has a very stimulating scent. It is sweet and peppery. Use with caution as this oil has a very green herbal smell. 

Blends well with Bergamot, Chamomile, Lavender, clary sage, clove bud, geranium, lime, lemon, hyssop, juniper, eucalyptus, neroli, marjoram, rosemary, and melissa.

BENEFITS

• Tones skin
• Enhances luster on dull-looking skin and hair
• Treats acne and skin infections
• Eases coughing
• Used for respiratory problems such as asthma, bronchitis, sinus
• Oily hair or greasy hair 
• Treats itchiness especially those caused by insects
• Vomiting and nausea such as those caused by motion sickness and hangovers

HOW TO USE
For those suffering from congestion or respiratory problems, diffuse Basil oil in air or inhale from a cotton ball. 

Add 2 drops to a base/carrier oil such as Avocado oil / Jojoba oil and rub onto chest.

Add to soap making or lotions to improve skin health.

Add between 10-20 drops to every 100ml shampoo to reduce oily hair and scalp itchiness. 

Always do a skin test on a small area before using.

CAUTION: Avoid if pregnant, breastfeeding, or nursing. However, some people suggest that it increases milk flow, but more research needs to be done.

You can purchase basil oil here

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HOW TO PICK YOUR ESSENTIAL OILS

Essential Oils are natural herbal wonders for our body, mind and soul. 

These oils are derived from distilling plants and flowers and extracting the precious oils that does wonders for our mental and physical health, not to mention our spiritual health as well. 

So when it comes to picking your essential oils, here are a few things you must know:

SUPPLIER

When it comes to choosing essential oils, you will need to be very careful with where you get your oils from. Because of how precious these oils are, it is not uncommon for some suppliers to adulterate the oils with other base oils or fragrance oils to raise their profits. This is why having a reputable and trustworthy supplier is very important to ensure you get the best and purest essential oils there is. 

PRICING
In terms of pricing, every oil is priced differently. Some oils like Lavender, Rose and Sandalwood are very costly. So if you do find a very cheap bottle of oil labeled as ESSENTIAL OIL, dig a little deeper to find out more before buying. 

ORIGIN
Essential oils are derived from various different parts of the world. Grapefruit Oil can be from Africa or the US. Peppermint usually comes from China. Neem is derived mostly from India and so on. The plants are native to the land and need to be harvested there for good reason. So find out where your oils come from. At Craftiviti, all our essential oils are harvested and distilled in their homeland but certified and quality approved in the UK. 

CHECK THE LABELS
Always check the labels of your oils. Sometimes, there may be other additives to the oil such as base oils, binders or other chemicals. Find out more from your supplier on these added ingredients. The best oils to go for will state 100% pure essential oils. 

BENEFITS
One other way to picking the right essential oils for you is to know what you want the oil to do for you. If you have a skin ailment or migraine or a fungal infection, different oils are used for different ailments. Not all oils work the same, however, some oils such as Lavender cover a lot of ground and hence can be used in almost every application. 

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HOW TO MAKE A FLOATING CANDLE WITH WAX BEADS

Floating candles are gorgeous but here's a nice little twist to it. 

Just grab any sort of jar preferably clear glass to set the mood for a flame that seems to hover.

Fill the jar up with water.

Pour wax beads onto the surface of the water. Yes it floats! 

Stick a wick into the middle of the mound. 

Light it up!

To add scent, just drip a few drops of your favourite fragrance. 

The great thing about this is that the cleaning up is so easy. 

Once the flame is out, the wax cools on top of the water. Just pour the whole thing away or top up with more wax beads. No more issues with wax sticking to the sides of containers. 

You can find waxbeads here

EPOXY RESIN AND SOAP BASE CASTING

 Epoxy resin is seriously so fun to do and so very pretty too. 

We decided to make some gem stones one day with Epoxy and we had the perfect mold in our store. 

Just mix two parts of Part A to one part of Part B. It's that easy. 

We used a very sensitive digital scale to help us. 

So in a nutshell, if you are using 50g of Part A you only need 25g of Part B. 

Pour both parts into separate containers and then pour and mix together in a bigger container. Stir very carefully so as not to incorporate any bubbles into the resin. 

Our epoxy resin is crystal clear and takes overnight to cure depending on the size of the cast. 

After our little epoxy experiment, we tried the same mold with Melt&Pour soap base. We just melt a little M&P in the microwave and pour. 

In the photo above, the left pair is the epoxy resin. See how clear and shiny it is? The right pair is our SLS free soap base. We can glue this on to a larger bar of soap with isopropyl alcohol. 

Next up we are gonna try epoxy with glitters and glow in the dark powder. Fun times ahead so stay tuned. 

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DIY CANDLE MOLDS

When making candles, you don't need to confine yourself to making container candles. With the help of candle molds, the possibilities are endless.  

Candle molds can come in aluminium or acrylic molds. Both work equally well.

Both are also easy to demold by applying a release agent to the surface before pouring. We recommend a silicone release agent. However some people have used vegetable oil spray and says that it works too.

The great thing about making candles out of molds and not containers is that you get to play with harder wax which tends to make candles last a lot longer and retain better scent throw. Also, you get to make free standing candles of many crazy different shapes!

Molds come in large pillar shapes, slim tapers, cute votives, egg shapes and more. 

Most molds will come with a tiny hole at the bottom for the wick. 

As for the type of wax to use, palm wax is perfect as well as paraffin wax. If budget allows, beeswax candles work well too. 

SoyWax 415 is not so suitable for free standing candles as the wax can be too soft. However, you could try mixing Soywax with a little Stearic acid to harden the wax. There are also Soy Wax pillar blends that are harder. 

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FIXING BROKEN PIECES WITH E6000, APOXIE SCULPT AND BONDITE

We received some wood stock the other day and realised we had 3 broken blank wooden bangles. So we decided to test out our top 3 putty and adhesives to see how they do with fixing the broken parts. 

Here we have Bondite Epoxy Putty (RM7), Apoxie Sculpt (ranging from RM58 to RM148) and E6000 (RM28).

Let's start with E6000.

This is a very popular glue especially among jewelry makers. It claims to be able to glue almost anything. 

There is a list of things they cannot glue on their website so you can check it out there. Jewelry makers love this because it happens to work great with crystals, metal and glass parts. 

There is however a danger warning on the product that states it needs to be used in a well ventilated area so user caution is advised. 

This glue is pretty easy to use. It comes up in a thick clear paste that tends to stretch so be careful of the mess it can potentially make. 

Any access of the glue is easy to wipe away. The glue needs to be left to dry overnight and can be painted over the next day. However, cleaning up has to be done before the glue dries because after it does, it has a rubbery feel that is hard to sand away. 

We clamp the two ends of the bangle together with a rubberband. 

Results: Glue works well. Bangle was restored the next day and could withstand pretty rough tugging. 

Next, Apoxie Sculpt.

Apoxie has a range of fixing agents called FIXIT however because we've heard so much about Apoxie Sculpt we decided to use it as a fixing agent and see how it works.

Here we have Apoxie Sculpt in Yellow along with the hardener in grey. Apoxie Sculpt also comes in white and beige colours. This putty can be painted over once cured.  

Mix two similar balls of Part A & B together. We kneaded it well together and used it on the bangle. Apoxie Sculpt cures in 2 to 3 hours. More than enough time to work on. 

As you can see Apoxie Sculpt cleans up pretty well but will it hold?

Results: It holds great. However, like E6000 cleaning has to be done before it cured as it becomes SUPER rock hard and is a tough cookie to sand down. So best to scrap down and clean up before curing. Cured strong and restores the bangle perfectly.

Lastly, Bondite.

 Bondite  is an affordable Epoxy Putty that's great for all kinds of repairs and sculpting. It comes in only one colour, white (Part A) and beige (Part B). 

Like Apoxie Sculpt, Bondite needs to be kneaded together well in equal parts. It is very tacky to start off with and tends to stick to fingers. 

Bondite works great at covering cracks and also bonds well with wood. It is very easy to use and clean up is easy as well. 

Results: It's a tough materials and holds the wood well. Finishing is very similar to Apoxie Sculpt but rougher in texture. 

Summary. All 3 adhesives worked well at repairing all 3 bangles. All 3 are waterproof and very strong. In terms of finishing, E6000 dries to a clear finish and has a rubbery latex feel. Apoxie Sculpt dries to a hard finish with a smoother surface than Bondite. 

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DIY CANDLE MAKING WITH CRAFTIVITI CANDLE WAXBEADS

Candle making just got so much easier. 


No melting.
Start layering the beads the way you want to. Get creative with the colours.

No dealing with hot wax.
No need to add any dyes.
No messy spills (if any)

Introducing NEW Craftiviti Wax Beads for DIY candle making. 
Comes in 9 brilliant colours in 100g bags
- Purple
- Hot Pink
- Peach
- Pink
- Yellow
- Red
- Green
- Blue
- White

Instructions
So easy!
Just secure the wick into a glass container and start filling up the container with the beads. 
To add fragrance, just fill the container midway and drip some scent into the container in the area closest to the wick. Fill the rest of the container with more waxbeads. 


In a tea light holder, the wax burns for up to 4 hours! You can top up more wax along the way to make the candle last longer. 

Burning time
In a tealight candle holder like the one shown above, this waxbeads burn for up to 4 hours. Can also be topped up occasionally to  make the candles burn much longer.

Ingredients
Craftiviti Wax Beads are made from vegetable wax. They burn smooth and strong without soot. 


100g for only RM6
Buy 10 packs for RM48

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