Shani

That's wonderful! Congratulations! :highfive:

For you experienced bombers....when your bath bombs crumble and they are still quite dry, can you mix it with more oil and remold? Has anyone ever tried this?

Yes you can add a little more oil and mold.

How is it that when I make a batch, my first 2-3 bombs turn out beautiful yet the rest of them from the same batch crack or crumble??? Not enough liquid? I have decided to now offer fizzing flakes too. LOL

If it's the last few bombs that you mold crumble, your mixture is drying out too quickly. You can either cut the batch size in half, so that you can mold before the mixture dries or adjust the liquids/oils in your recipe so that you can mold in a decent amount of time...

like someone mentioned before, the trick is NOT to use any water when making your bombs. as you well may know, water will set off the reaction between the citric and baking soda. it took me 3-4 months to FINALLY land on a recipe that gives me rock hard bombs, excellent scent throw and just the right amount of moisture. moral of the story is; don't give up! everytime you make a batch and it doesn't turn out right, eliminate an ingredient you feel is not right and try again! adjust your percentages; remember less is more when trying to find the right consistency. okay i'm done...

edited because i've been on the computer all day and things are starting to look a bit blurred...

Your site looks wonderful! I love the colors and graphics; very different! Lookin' good!

I'm happy for you! Now you can play with mixing different scents to see what you come up with!

I give my family the "friends and family discount" that's usually 30% off retail prices.

HTH

Shani

Sounds like your batch over heated. This tends to happen with animal milk soaps...here a a few threads that may help you:

http://www.candletech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32588&highlight=goat+milk+soaps+overheating

http://www.candletech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1387&highlight=heating+soap

HTH

Shani

Thank you all for the feedback!

Well heck, instead of changing YOUR site again, and again, you could always make ME a site. That would give you an outlet for you obsession wouldn't it???!!

It looks really cute, eyecatching, especially those bombs-they are the bomb!!

I didn't have time to look through everything, but love all your products, and the gift wrapping/boxing looks great, and is a great feature to offer.

Thanks Michi! Believe me, if I had formal training in building sites, I would jump on it in a heart beat! I'm just afraid that I will not be able to build exactly what people want-or get the image across that they would like to portray for their company. So I'll just stick to my own; for now at least!

I think the site is really cute overall! When I clicked on the site map at the top, the white font was really hard for me to see against the pink background. Maybe it's my screen though...

thanks for telling me, changed to a darker color that's not so hard to read...

On your Body and Lip Smoothers page, I think it's supposed to say "compromised" not comprised.

Thanks, it's always good to a another set of eyes:D

I really like the site though! It's definitely fun!! I'm not trying to nitpick, so I hope you don't mind my thoughts...

I don't consider it nitpicking at all; it's constructive critisicm!

I'm not sure of the effects of baking soda in the milk bath; however baking soda in general when added to the bath softens the water. Maybe too much corn floor? (I'm assuming this is the same as corn starch) Maybe you can try it again and this time lower the corn floor and see what happens.

Mix all your ingredients except for the color. Seperate the batch into 2 or however many different colors you want. Color each individual batch and mold as usual. Alternate colors while packing the mold.

HTH

Shani:)

second here too...

Since I've learned how to design sites, I'm never satisfied with my own! With the previous site, I said, this is it! It was clean, easy to navigate, and the whole shabang! Low and behold, here I am again! I've changed the packaging, and the overall look of my company. I'm going for a more fun and funky feel.

So, without further ado, here's the new Gift Boulevard! Please let me know your thoughts and always, it is greatly appreciated!

Everything is working fine on my end. The whole look is great! Good Job!

It sounds like you have a good plan! You have it all under control!:highfive:

Have you checked your scale? It sounds like your measurements are off somehow. Did you tongue test the 1st castile batch? Did you get a zap? Maybe some inconsistent stirring? I'm just throwing some things out there to find out if your batches can be saved.

I stick blend 1-2 TBS of powder ppo into my oils before adding the lye and it works fine for me. HTH

I do the same...

very well done! they are beautiful!

I agree with ginger; more liquid is needed. Maybe try 1/2 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon of vegetable glycerin per batch and see if that helps.

It's fine to cut the lotion bars up and remelt. Just do a test batch with the cornstarch before you re-mold the entire batch:D

Bath bombs, soap, then lip balms

If you have the domain name, you can always bounce it over to the free web if that is where your design is posted. I don't see an issue with that for the short term. Eventually you'll want it all on your own named domain. And pictures, Shani on here has some of the best pictures I have ever seen. Her website is: www.mygiftblvd.com - maybe she can give you some ideas.

Hope I'm helping

Thanks for the compliments on the pics, Ginger:D When I first started taking photos, I sucked! The main thing I had to do was learn the features of my camera and how to use them. Once you have that, the lighting and photo taking will come with it. I don't do anything elaborate. My dh built a lightbox for me out of wood, I use a white posterboard as the backdrop. I throw a white bed sheet over the top and sides of the homemade light box and put a lamp on both sides, the top and in front of the product. Snap a few photos, go into my editing program, do a few touches, resize for the web and BAM! I'm done!

I also want to thank Ginger publicly for doing the beautiful navigation bar on my site. Thanks girl, it is greatly appreciated!

I don't think it's too big. Some of the baseball sized bombs weigh 6-8 ounces...

If you have any restaraunt supply stores in your area, try them. If they don't carry it, I'm sure they can refer you to someone who does. If you purchase it online, it will cost an arm & a leg to ship.

HTH

Shani