A Lesson in Cosmetic Chemistry

A friend of my daughter is turning 8 in mid-January, and she mentioned that she really likes Wizards of Waverly Place. After she mentioned this, my head started spinning with ideas for a fabulous birthday party.


I have to admit, WWP is one of the tween shows that I can actually watch without wanting to bang my head against the wall. It takes the mega-popular "supernatural" concept and creates a kid-friendly show. A spunky Selena Gomez is one of the main characters in this ensemble cast. She is a teenage wizard who lives with her two wizard brothers, former wizard Dad and regular human Mom in the Waverly Place section of New York.


Now that you have a bit of a back story, I can start talking about some of the ideas I have for this theme. The first installment is a craft: The "Lotion Potion" Station. The girls would be able to create their own shimmer lotion, choosing the lotion color, fragrance, and shimmer. My girls Lia and Jayden decided to do a little experimenting in the kitchen today, and I decided to share it with you.


Here are the materials you need:
* Plain unscented lotion
* Fragrance oils
* Cosmetic Coloring
* Cosmetic Glitter
* Funnel
* Empty Bottles
* Plastic Bowl
* Spoon

All of these materials can be found at your local Michael's or other craft store. If this was to be done on a larger scale, for many party guests, it would be more cost efficient to buy your supplies online.


First squirt the correct amount of lotion for the empty bottle. We just guessed, and ending up having to make a little more of the "lotion potion" to fill up the bottle.

Then we added the coloring. Follow the directions on the packaging. Lia and I chose Turquoise, and then Jayden chose Lime. We each dropped in about 4 drops to fill a 4 oz. bottle of lotion.


After putting the drops in, mix for a few minutes until the coloring is thoroughly spread through the lotion. Now it is time to mix in the fragrance drops. We chose Honey Almond and put in 1 drop for each ounce of lotion. Mix thoroughly.


Adding the shimmer glitter was the girls' favorite part. Using just a small amount adds a nice, subtle shimmer to the lotion.


We used a funnel to pour the lotion into the bottles, using a spoon to put the lotion down. Make sure you have a helper hold the bottle so it doesn't slip out from the funnel spout and make a mess. I learned that from personal experience. LOL


After putting the lotion in the bottles, the girls decorated blank return address labels to put on the bottles. If we were doing this for a real party, I would have created a nice label that matches the party theme.