bunkie68

None of the body glosses I've seen have cyclo - that's supposed to give a more slippery feel, right? If it's intended as a moisturizer, I'm not sure too much slip would be a good thing. The ones I've seen are a combination of shea and sunflower oils, and one uses soybean oil, and I wasn't sure if this was something premixed or if they'd just mixed oils together until it felt nice and went with that. I could have sworn I'd seen a body gloss base somewhere, but perhaps I imagined that.

Is there such a thing? Or do you just select your oils and mix them together until you get a proportion you like?

To rephrase: Do the Chemistry Store colors work with scrubs, bath bombs, etc.? The description said they weren't compatible with gel candles or oil-based products, and I'm wondering what exactly constitutes "oil-based". Scrubs have oils, as do bath bombs and bubble bars and lotions and most bath products. Has anyone used these for making scrubs, and did they work well? Thanks for any input!

I found a site that had everything I was looking for: http://www.theherbarie.com. It had glycerin, various kinds of surfactants, preservatives, citric acid - my order is on the way, and once it's here, it will be a bubble bar extravaganza at my house!

Soapermom, the recipe just calls for liquid surfactant, so it's not very specific. I'd looked at cocamidopropyl betaine, as I'd seen it mentioned in another bubble bar formulation, but if someone knows of one that's more suitable, I'm open to suggestions.

Thanks, Michi! :smiley2:

I'd like to try adding some color to my scrubs, but I'm having a hard time narrowing down which ones might work best. There are so many choices out there! Which ones have you used that have worked for you and that you'd recommend to a relative beginner?

I've got a recipe for bubble bars that calls for glycerin and a liquid surfactant. I've found what I need at the Chemistry Store, but only in large quantities. I don't want to invest a lot of money into supplies until I see if the recipe works for me. Any suggestions as to where I could find these in smaller quantities (as in, less than a gallon)?

Mine has started to thicken up when I've poured at 140, so I won't go any cooler than that. If I do, my last couple of tarts will be unintentionally grubby, because all I'll be able to do is scoop the rapidly congealing wax into the mold. I just wish I could figure out some rhyme or reason as to why my wax is going bonkers. Weather, bad batch, user error, whatever.

I think the hottest I've poured mine is about 160, and I got bubbles on the tops. Maybe I'll try pouring hotter and see what happens (although I think 160 is the recommended high temp for pouring the V-1). Do you warm the molds, or just go with them room temperature? I've stopped warming mine, because it didn't seem to make a difference and because my house is plenty warm (my coconut oil is liquid just sitting out on my counter, so it's over 76 degrees for sure). kandlekrazy, in some strange way, it does make me feel better - like I'm not just a complete boob if it's happening to others, you know? I'm sorry you're sharing my frustration, though. Nothin' but fun, huh?

Tried the coconut oil tonight - I added 1/2 tablespoon per pound. It didn't help the cracking that I could tell, and it might have been worse with this batch, although that could be my imagination. So, what the heck?! I'm very interested to see what Lone Star tells me. I almost hope it's a bad batch and that I've not suddenly lost my touch somehow or jinxed myself by getting actual paying customers.

I'm using a base - haven't been quite brave enough yet to start from scratch. I tried it with the coconut and a bit of olive oil, and it seems to have worked well! I'm having a few people test them out for me, and I'll let y'all know what kind of reviews I get.

I'm venturing into the world of sugar scrubs, and was wondering what oils worked best. So far I've tried sweet almond by itself and a mixture of sweet almond and olive oil, and both seemed to do well. What about coconut oil? That's the only other kind I've got on hand at the moment (besides olive - I used the last of my sweet almond), and I'm wondering if it's worth the trying or if I should just wait and order something different. Thanks for any thoughts!

And now it's not working again. I'm back to getting cracks around the edges, and a lot more of the tarts are sinking in the middle and developing a circular crack around the sunken area. GAH. I've also noticed that I'm not getting the nice release I used to, from either molds or the tart burner after I melt one and it hardens back up. With the V-1, they used to pop right out, with almost no effort. The last few I've burned, once they've cooled, I've had to get a butter knife or spoon or something and pry them out. Not as difficult as some tarts I've burned where they'll only harden up enough to come out solid if you put them in the freezer, but still - not that nice fall-right-out quality that my customers seem to be crazy about. I've just gotten an order for votives, but the way the V-1 is acting, I'm hesitant to make them right now for fear they'll be a disaster. I've e-mailed Lone Star just to see what they say - didn't ask for anything back, I just told them what was happening and asked for suggestions and said I wanted to let them know in case anyone else had mentioned a similar problem. I could just scream. Perhaps I'll switch to palm wax and be done with it. But dang it, then I'd have to shell out more money for palm wax when I haven't come close to using up what I've got already.

I know I'd tried to copy and paste from a couple of sites to share the description with my boyfriend (he's not actually making tarts, but he's moral support! ), and some places wouldn't allow copying and pasting. I'll use the basic descriptions and tweak them for myself as best as I can, then - gotta get my scent list together so I can get my website up and running! :smiley2:

Mix it with a pancake FO and voila! Breakfast! (Although I have a hard time wrapping my brain around a candle that smells like bacon.)

Did you just get a new batch of wax, by chance? I did, and had all sorts of problems I hadn't had before, including the wax sticking to the molds. It would come out for the most part, but it would stick just a little and pieces of the tarts would break off, and it cracked like mad as the tarts set up. I stirred it up real good, and it has helped tremendously. I'm back to having very few cracks and the tarts release like a dream again. Hopefully it will be something simple like that for you - I know it's frustrating.

It turned out to be a good weekend for tarts - I got seven (!!!) batches made, and the V-1 worked nicely for me for a change.

Just stirring up the wax has helped immensely. Yay!!!! The V-1 is almost back to its original deliciousness, and I'm much happier with it. Tried palm wax, liked it, might add it to the repertoire at some point. Tried a 50/50 V-1/palm blend - the surface of the tarts looked kind of funny, but they had a good throw. I probably won't keep that in the works, though, just because the finished product isn't that pretty. But yay, the V-1 is working again!!! I'm a happy girl, and a tart-makin' fool.

Tartage - trying out palm wax, trying to get my beloved V-1 to go back to being its lovely self, trying to get orders filled. :smiley2:

I'm trying to duplicate a scent that's been discontinued by an e-tailer I frequent, and I'm looking for a blood orange FO. I've found the essential oil, but didn't know if that was my only option. Thanks for any help!

I've gotta start somewhere, right? I'm still stunned that people pay me money for this. I'm hoping to have my site up and running soon, and maybe that will help bring in a few more orders. Now, to just get the $%^&*!#*&^! wax fixed....

Hmm. I've got some coconut oil at home (and yeah, you're right - it's hard as a rock!). I'll melt up a bit and try it tonight. It can't make me any more frustrated than I have been, right? I guess with containers you're not worried about how easily it releases. I'll be the guinea pig on that, and post the results here. That's one thing I love about the V-1, it releases from molds and from tart burners like a dream, and I don't want to lose that - it's been a pretty big selling point for me thus far. (Yeah, me with my six orders. Gotta start somewhere, right?) ETA: is the 1/2 tablespoon measured in solid or liquid form?

Thanks for the suggestion! The weather has been all over the place lately - some hot days, some cloudy/rainy - so I'm not sure if that's it, and if it is, well, I'm toast, because the weather in Texas changes from minute to minute. But maybe I'll wait a day or two before pouring any more. I hate to wait too long, though. I've got orders waiting, and I'm just starting out selling, and I don't want to delay those too long, you know? Bother. It had to go and freak out on me *now*. With the coconut oil, when did you use it? After the containers had completely set up? I'll try anything once, especially if there's a chance it might help! Wax issues aside, making tarts is fun. Selling them and making money on it (or at least heading in that direction) is even more fun. So, I'm determined!

All righty, let the mixing up commence - the batch I made this afternoon cracked like mad, and some didn't crack too badly but sort of sank in in the middle. I'll have to try another batch tomorrow, I just don't have the heart to mess with it tonight.