First of all, roll up your sleeves. Just because this is mad science...
...doesn't mean it has to be messy.
Then, gather up the ingredients with lots of little beakers, and eye-droppers, and those sorts of things, if you have them. Don't worry if you don't, they're actually just window dressing this time around.
What you're really going to need is shortening (all the amounts depend on the amount of lip balm you are trying to make, but we used about 1/8 cup), viola tinted water (made by steeping 1/2 cup of clean viola petals in 1/2 cup of boiling water for a few hours, and then straining out the flowers), and powdered lemonade mix (sugar-free, so it won't be sticky). Oh, and some type of containers, cleaned and sterilized with boiling water, to hold the finished lip balm (we used candy machine toy containers).
Pour about 1 teaspoon (or to taste) of lemonade powder into the shortening...
...and mix it in completely.
Add a few drops of the blue, viola infusion (or pour a bunch in), and mix, repeating until...
...the shortening can't hold any more liquid, and has started to turn a lovely shade of pink (thanks to the anthocyanin from the violas reacting with the citric acid in the lemonade). There's your mad science "oooh" factor, too.
All that's left to do is scoop some up into whatever cute containers you have cleaned, sterilized, and ready to be filled.
Just remember, shortening based lip balm won't stay good for long - about three days. It doesn't usually last that long anyway - mad scientist have been known to use large amounts of lip balm.
They must have very chapped lips...
...even if it does taste like lemonade.
Move over, Lip Smackers and bonnie Bell- the Mad Scientists are here!
ReplyDeleteI think you are the only one who has put Pretty Pink and Mad Scientist in the same title! I had never heard of Violas before. I had to look them up. Do you know if the color change work with all Violets or just Violas?
ReplyDeletePhyllis - Never heard of violas!?! Every garden or flower bed of my adult life has been filled with pansies or violas - along with strawberries and mint. I love hardy plants, that take care of themselves, and can be eaten :) Any plant with a purple or red tint ought to give the color change - but violas are edible, and so safe for lip balm. There are some flowers called violet this or that, because of their color, that have no relation to violas, and might not be edible - pansies though, are part of the family, and would work just as well.
ReplyDeleteI love it! I don't think we have any violas yet but I'm certainly going to go look in the garden - thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteLove this! You guys rock. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI love that shot of the girls rolling up their sleeves, such hams :)
ReplyDeleteI wonder if I could keep violas alive..........
Lovely story and a great science lesson mixed in. I enjoyed the pictures in this post!
ReplyDeletelol - cute post. I made the mistake of giving lip gloss at a birthday party once. All the girls left looking like scary clowns. ;)
ReplyDelete