beau's mama

Have you tried labelsbythesheet.com? I buy all my labels from them, mainly cuz they ship the same day before 3pm CST, are inexpensive, and if I'm not sure about about a label, I can buy JUST 1! They have inkjet & laser weather/water proof, but they also have kraft labels (the textured kind). They also custom make labels. Everyone has already said what I was thinking as I was reading, so I have nothing else to offer...except that your body scrub packaging is very, very eye-catching, and like Scented said, don't you dare cover it up!

LOL, I logged in and this is the first thing I saw. Yes, definitely the Tank. As Care Bear told me last year when I got mine: With the Tank, you definitely learn that you can love an object!

It seemed that everybody had a sale when I finally had some money So, I treated my soaping oils to some new fo's. OK, I'll make this short and sweet... Everything was CP'd RT (which basically means cold LOL) @ .7 Lone Star - Spruce Orchid The oil itself behaved well, but LS should warn folks that it is a really weird yellow! My whole batch almost looked like sunshine w/ gold undertones. 3 days later it's mellowed out to a sorta tannish color, but there's some weeping going on that I have never, ever experienced w/ any oil before. This is supposed to be a masculine, but I aint smelling nothing manly about it I love floral scents, but this is too much for me...almost like a sweet flower smell. Unless that "light woody background" jumps out in the next month or so, I'm gonna have to give it to the chicks! Peaks - Black Canyon As usual, Peaks does what Peaks does: Turn out kick-butt oils! No A, but this looks like it's going to end up a dark tan. The smell is incredible. Definitely man-manly. I smell undertones of Oakmoss, but that could be the sandalwood/patch mix. Whatever it is, this is definitely a keeper. Peaks - Twilight Woods No A or D. This is a little sweeter smelling than I wanted. I don't know what the original smells like, so I can't compare SGS - OMH This OMH is OOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMGGGGGGGGGGGG! I have never, ever, ever liked OMH from anywhere b/c it was always either too oaty, too almondy, too honeyish, or too milky smelling LOL. The only thing thats wrong w/ this OMH is that it's too darn good. It really smells exotic to me. I could go on forever. Oh, no A, but of course it's gonna darken up on ya. If you soap this, just get a chair & sit w/ the soap so you can smell it while its sapping. It'll be easier than going back & forth all day like I did:laugh2: I'm gonna keep updating this as I soap. I have more from these suppliers. Definitely will be ordering more from SGS...I have Bacci de Miele (sp?) and Sandalwood Ylang that's screaming to be put in some soap this weekend. If these 3 are any indication of the quality of fo's they carry, then I better plan on being broke well before Thanksgiving!

I learned to make lotion from a couple of people on this board and from this site http://soapnuts.com/lothelp.html I only used the basic instructions, not the recipe, and tailored the instructions to fit my recipe. There's not a lot of lotion instructions on-line and even though these instructions may seem a little loopy, it's the only thing that made sense to me. I needed to see what my e-wax/stearic lotion should look like as it's emulsifying, and this is the only thing I found that had pics. It also helped me to understand and formulate with percentages. If you decide to check out the site, you may want to print out each page and then put them in the correct order. The way it is set up now, the 1st page should really be the last page. As far as a thickening agent, I like vegetable stearic and my lotion doesn't have a drag, but I also add Shea butter b/c I like a thicker lotion, but not as thick as a body cream. You'll find that by experimenting you'll get a good feel for what you like and what works for your skin. Try playing with your stearic & e-wax at 3-5% each. The percentage of water, as well as oils and/or butters will also have an impact on how thick or thin it will be. I didn't see you list a preservative in your recipe. Lotion is a breeding ground for the yuckies...yuckies that start happening well before you can see it. It may take a while to get it exactly how you want it, but have fun while learning and you won't notice exactly how much money you've spent on the process HTH

Thanks Judy! I knew they were members but I couldn't remember the name. I just got a nice 18 bar mold w/ dividers from the classies, and DH saw how much easier it was for me, and he's feeling generous today LOL. My first thought was LBC. Gonna PM him now. Hopefully he has 1 slab left Thanks again!

I hadn't been to NG's site in a long time and I was pleasantly surprised to see it revamped...makes me wanna buy from them again LOL. I purchased from them a few years ago and really didn't like much when I put it in soap. I gotta get some lip flavors for my neice's "end of the summer party" in September and have no idea what's hot at NG and what's not. Figured since I want to get the flavors, I may as well try the fo's again. Are any of you using their flavor oils? Any good recs? What about the fo's? I'm particularly interested in the "NG Originals". Anyone CP'd any of them? TIA Sharon

I went there to price some molds and got a freaky message that read "As of October 14, 2009 Logan Bear Candles is no longer accepting orders for Soap Molds." Anyone know what's going on? Thanks

I'm a Floral gal and the best Jasmine I've found is from OT. I don't make candles, so I can't say how it would be, but I know in CP it's a perfect lady!

I'm trying to reduce the cost of my soap down to a 3-4 oil soap. I've used Crisco before, but only in small amounts, so can ya'll take a look at this and let me know what you think? Not aiming for anything super special, just a pretty basic bar that's not drying. Not sure if I should keep the SF @ 5% or up it to 7% (?) Maybe upping it will help the Crisco & the OO become good friends and give me a bit more conditioning somewhere down the line. Oh, BTW it's the "new" Crisco...Soybean & Palm Am I going in the right direction? All help and advice is appreciated. TIA Sharon Coconut 46% Crisco 45% Castor Oil 7% Olive 2% Hardness: 48 Cleansing: 31 Conditioning: 45 Bubbly: 37 Creamy: 24 Iodine : 54 INS: 179

Liquid Germall Plus is good for lotions. That's what I use. ETA: oh, BTW, here's a link to a sticky w/ some good preservative info http://www.craftserver.com/forums/showthread.php?p=199218

I use quite a bit of FO's from them. Excellent quality and well worth the price. Whatever you do stay far, far away from that awful Dutch Breezes. Of all the fo's of theirs that I use (especially the florals) I absolutely HAAAAAAAAAAATE that fo. YUCK! I couldn't do a darn thing with that one. It is soooo awful On a better note, get as close as you can to the Bonsai. WOW! Absolutely wonderful! And you don't need a lot. Same with the Oakmoss. I'm a floral gal so that's what I have to most of.

Oh well, I guess I spoke too soon. My local office and everything within a few minutes of me is on this list http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/documents/post-offices.html

I transfer to glass. I hate the plastic bottles. And my fo's keep better in the fridge when in glass. I learned that the hard way.

Has anyone even heard of them? http://www.inolex.com/cosmetic_ingredients/preservation_systems I was looking up caprylyl glycol and found this site.

I used to melt Jojoba beads to color oil based products (mainly sugar scrubs). I kept a lot of them on hand and figured I'd make them do double duty so I wouldn't have to buy oil-based colorants. I never used enough to get super bright colors, but it was enough to give the products a bit of color.

Hmmm, my service has seemed to get better in the last few months. I get mail everyday now and it's here by 10 am as opposed 5pm. Now, the kookiness of my local PO and some of the strange things they do is an entirely different beast. Sometimes I wonder what they are smoking!

OS, what lip fo's have you ordered from them? I just ordered one of the vanilla's that had great reviews and a taste enhanced coconut. But I must say OOB I'm not feeling them very much...makes me want to get back on my "I hate making lip balm" wagon. Sorry for the hijack. So to answer the OP, I've ordered from wsp quite a bit over the years, and I've never had a problem w/ any of their products. I have a love/hate relationship with them. Love that when money is tight I can get some things I need inexpensively and quickly, but hate that I'm about a state away and always feel I get raped on shipping. But, I love seeing things I use in the surplus section...but, again, I hate feeling like I'm getting a deal only to be violated again with the shipping.

Yes, it's for personal/family use. My lotion is too thick for a pump, unless it's some kind of a big pump. Thanks for that link. I don't think I've ever been there before. Me likey places where I don't have to buy a gazillion containers at one time!

Well, I'm on a Peaks Pomegranate kick right now and OT's Egyptian Dragon

I'm sure I will. I absolutely love OT (hate the plastic bottle crap going on now!) Plus, I want to try to get to the fo's that are strong so I can use .5 pp in CP like I do in MP. I need to watch my bucks!

Oooh, that's good to know. I just ordered the Bonsai:yay:

I usually make a 64oz batch and it goes pretty quickly so storage was never a real problem. Now I want to make larger batches and a little trumped on what to store it in. My first thought was one of those heave plastic buckets, the gallon size with the gasket lid (I think that's what it's called). A stainless steel bucket with lid would be ideal, but I'm only finding ice buckets with lids. Any suggestions? TIA

www.tkbtrading.com has nice colors. The neons & jewel collections are great in mp, especially the clear.

The molds are cheap, but I tend to not like the same size bars that everyone else has. Not to mention I've got issues & with what I think is a touch of AADD, I get bored really fast making the same size all the time. It takes the same amount of supplies and time to line a mold for mp as it does for cp. A huge roll of freezer paper cost me 3 bucks from the restaurant supply warehouse. 2 minutes to line whatever, pour the soap and I'm done. Plus, the freezer paper keeps the soap clean and dry until I'm ready to wrap it. Try it. You'll be surprised at the different sizes to make your soap stand out.

You can do m&p in a shoebox. Pretty much any box for that matter. You just line it the same as you do for CP.