sumptillyumptious

I've been testing my first batch of solid perfume for three weeks now, and nothing seem out of the ordinary. They look as good as the day I made them, and they smell really nice. However, I can't help but wonder what I should look for when it comes to a test batch going bad. All of my first batch smells good, rolls on nice, and it doesn't seem rancid. But are there any true telltale signs of a batch going bad? thanks.

Those soaps are just beautiful...especially the Soda be Delicious one (I think that's what it was called). Just lovely.

... Well, obviously. Thought I used a lip balm base, it's not MEANT to be used as a lip balm. I know that myself, and I advise it to people who use it as well. If I wanted it to be a lip balm, I'd have added a flavor oil, or nothing at all (and I have tried it as a lip balm...it's pretty nice). But I used it as a solid perfume, and have labeled it as such. That said, I have my answer.

I use skin safe fragrance oils for all my solid perfumes. I made sure that when I bought from a supplier, that these scents were safe for the skin or else I didn't buy them at all. (I learned that from the boards here!) Also, I used a tablespoon (15ml) of base to make 3 5gram containers. For all of them, I used 2 - 3ml of fragrance oil, and I mixed it up well. While I'm waiting for my beeswax to come in, I used a lip balm base, consisting of shea butter, olive oil, beeswax, cocoa butter, and sweet almond oil (I should try some on my lips now that I think about it). After a day of letting the solid perfumes sit, the scents are much more prevalent. The Blackberry Musk and Mango Mandarin have scents to them now, and they are nice. Maybe I just needed them to "rest" for a day. Either way, that's the recipe I used, so I hope this helped.

After waiting forever for my items to ship, I finally got them in today, and started the testing phase for my solid perfumes. I tested four fragrance oils, Very Sexy (VS Type), Good Love Fortune, Mango Mandarin (I think it's a BBW type), and Blackberry Musk. After six hours, the solid perfumes with the Good Love Fortune and the Very Sexy fragrance oils were nice and fragrant (I used 3ml of each scent in the base I used which was about 15ml or so before I melted), the other scents I used were barely noticeable. While I don't want scents shouting at me, I would think that with that combination, there would be some kind of scent. Is it okay to add more fragrance oil, or should I just chalk this up to the supplier giving me a very weak scent? Thanks

Another newbie question from the homebrew newbie labratory in Northern BC... I just got back into homemade perfumery/soap making after about a few months of giving up. Last night for Christmas, I got this gift of fresh strawberry soap that made my mouth water. Not only was the strawberry smell authentic, but it even had strawberry seeds in it. Now, I'd like to try to emulate the soap myself, because the size of the soap is small, and such a pretty soap shouldn't be used up in a matter of days. So, along with a nice mp base (I've found a good white glycerin base, but I'm looking at jojoba oil and soy milk ones of the Gourmet Rose on ebay), is it possible to use strawberry seeds or strawberry powder to emulate that effect? Or, should I used frozen or fresh strawberries in the mix? I've heard of food being used in mp, but I haven't experiment or heard of it enough to go that route. So I humbly ask for your advice. Thank you for your consideration.

Thank you for all of your answers. I thought I've seen some body butter that uses a colorant, but not coloring it makes my life a while lot easier too. I can just have fun and experiment without worrying about color combinations (which I'm terrible at) thanks again.

Hello, all. I found this board via yahoo, and it looks like a great community to learn from. I hope to get to know you all. As for my question, I'm starting out with body butter recipes, and I'm a bit stumped on coloring. I'm making one that will kinda have a caramel frappucino scent (provided I get the combo right), and I wanted to have a light brown color. Do I have to used a specific body coloring for it, or can I use normal food coloring, since shea butter is edible (though my butter won't be)? Thank you in advance.