kidsngarden

Never mind, it's just a picture! Sheez! Bethany

I'm banner ad challenged. Anyone who can offer a tutorial or a link to one? Thanks, Bethany

So polysterene is ok, but polyethelene is bad and will zap your FO? Thanks for the link! Bethany

I've tried putting my 2 oz meatballer bombs in and egg carton - didn't work. Can you tell me what size you are using and do you use the plastic, foam or paper? Thanks, Bethany

Cp'd at RT 100% GM and another with 50/50 GM water. Plastic is what I am getting - it smells like plastic! I'm hoping it comes back as we are not all that far out of the mold. Bethany

Ok, I have made some very nice bath bombs. Tiny if any cracks, held together. I took notes....I made about 7 or 8 batches with great success. Then I started having problems with them being too soft. If I applied pressure with them between my fingers they would crush when dry. I tried rebatching and adding more oil, didn't work unless I added A LOT more oils - but then it's too oily. So I've been looking at my notes and thinking that the reason they crush is too little water as the weather since my first 7-8 batches has been hot and fairly dry for the PNW. So the last batches I made I added as much water as I could without causing fizzing 3 mls at a time. about 50% more I think. Now they are rock hard, but crack city when they dried! Just big ole' cracks everywhere! So I'm thinking too little water they crush, too much they crack - - am I on track here? Anyone else have this experience? This is such tricky business - I think I better write down the weather on the day I made them too because I swear it makes a Huge difference! I did better on the more humid days than the dry! Thanks, Bethany

I use the oil cleanse method and rarely have a breakout, but I use the oils if I feel one coming on. I need a blemish solution for my son especially as he is 13 and just began oil cleansing and will probably purge.. . he has blemishes that need to be treated now as well. But I did look at your recipe and had written it down three days ago! I have dry skin actually so overdrying tends to be my issue. Bethany

I have been doing a BAD Thing. I've been using a undiluted blend of peppermint, lavender and lemongrass EO's on pimples, etc. I usually just put it on a q tip and spot apply and it certain zaps the heck out of them! But I know it is not good and can cause a sensitization. So what fixed oil can I blend it with? FCO? Should I just mix it with maybe some witch hazel with no fixed oil and just mix really well every time? What's the dilution rate? Thanks! Bethany

Thanks! Anyone Cp'd it? Bethany

Oh yeah - I forgot to add that Monkey farts gets dark! Bethany

Anyone know of a good Fendi dupe? It's my favorite perfume! Bethany

I love Cucumber Mint, monkey farts, lemon verbena, raspberry in CP. Not good in CP - Forget me not, sweet pea, pearberry. Bethany

Did you add the FO then the color? My DB discolors to a really dark brown in CP so I have to color and unfragranced portion. Bethany

How about both honey and milk! I make a oatmeal milk and honey with no fragrance that people adore. I know that honey has antiseptic and healing properties, but how much that really transfers in soap I do not know. I think it helps with lather just like sugar does too. I use it at .8 oz (about 1 TB) ppo added at trace and soap everything RT. If found this about honey: From: http://www.bupa.co.uk/health_information/asp/healthy_living/lifestyle/diet/honey/ Antibacterial properties Honey is high in sugar, low in protein and quite acidic. These factors combine to make honey free from contaminants itself and help it to kill the contaminants it comes into contact with. The main antibacterial agent in honey is hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), which is released when honey touches the skin. This is produced by the enzyme glucose oxidase which is introduced into honey by the bee. However various types of honey will contain slightly different antibacterial substances. Read more information about antibiotics and first aid kits. Scar prevention Honey has a hygroscopic nature. This means that when honey is exposed to air, it draws moisture in from the air. This is very useful as honey may help to: prevent scarring by keeping the skin moist help in the growth of new tissue stop bandages from becoming stuck to an open wound if applied to the bandage before useIt is this nature which causes honey to be an ingredient in lots of cosmetics and make up, as it keeps the skin moist and fresh and prevents drying. HTH, Bethany

Doesn't Dr. Bronners use Bitter almond in thier Liquid soap? I have been looking into buying it for just this purpose! Bethany

Thanks for that. Seems like it would be too much of a bother to figure and not worth it. I wouldn't want to risk getting someone sick I think. Bethany

My niche is goat milk. I do GM bar soap, GM liquid soap, and GM in lotions. I figured that GM in my lip balms and lotion bars wouldn't work. But yesterday at the market someone showed me the Canus lip balm with GM in it. How do they do it? There must be a preservative in there too, but I forgot to check. Did a search here, but couldn't find anything. I know even adding a bit of honey is hard to do in lip balms. The GM is really far down the list for them so I betcha it's more label appeal than anything, but I just gotta know how to do this! Bethany

I think it has something to do with the gel. I have soaped BB Yuzu in GM before with a pink mica and had good results, but when I soaped in with Labcolor red TWICE it was pink all around the edges of the bar, cream in the center. Now I use fuchsia mica and get a lovely pink. Bethany

The recommended about of GM in lotions is 10% of the entire weight of the formula, not just the liquids. I make a GM lotion and yes, I use a preservative and yes, that milk is pasturized (I use GM from my own goats) along with all the other liquids I use in it. And most certainly it is less than 10% and it has been tested too. People ask me if my lotions are natural and I say "more natural than what you'd by in the store, BUT some are fragrances with FO's and they all have a preservative in them for your safety" Then I tell them that if they ever find a lotion without a preservative to run the other way - especially if it has GM in it. And to help along with your rant - what kind of person sells lotions without the complete listing of ingredients (and technically they chould have the INCI names) on the as required by law? Glycering and GM - RIGHT! This reminds me of the gal I know who is a distibutor for soy candles advertised on this forum. She was next to me at a show once and was telling me how EVERYTHING in those candles was "All natural" and that you could probably eat them if you wanted. I thought, "HMMMM so you can get sex on the beach in EO's, huh?" RIGHT!:rolleyes2 I politely told her that the "triple fragrance" in those candles could not possibly be created by anything other than Fragrance oils which are synthetic. I have not problem with FO's, use them all the time, and those candles seem pretty ok - and I do prefer soy to parrafin, but TOTALLY natural? I don't think so. When told her about the fragrance she was like, "I don't know, I guess I need to check on that. I know they are specially made in Europe...." But I heard her for the rest of the day extoling the the "natural" thing and how you could "probably" eat them. Whatever. Ok, now I'm in a rant! Bethany

yeah, what sweetiepie said, LOL! The GOOD stuff is left. Only the water leaves, but remember that when oils are saponified they aren't palm or shea, or sunflower or whatever. It's all soap which is why legally we don't have to list ingredients on "Soap" All that's left is the "good stuff" of each ingredient that survives saponification. for milk it is like sweetiepie said, sugars for lather, fats for moisturization, sodium lactate, etc. Just a question though, did you mean to post this in the gallery? I betcha this'll be moved soon! Bethany

Ditto here. I came to this forum as a soaper wanting to make soy candles to match the fragrances of my soaps - Oh my! I had never realized how hard it was to make a GREAT soy candle than a GREAT bar of soap. There are a zillion variables, especially with soy and the testing is extensive. Needless to say at this point I don't have any candles for sale. To be truthful I think that many people try handmade soap after using storebought and truly find it lovely in comparison. It is REALLY hard to make a soap that isn't better than a bar of dial. And let's get real, even an experienced soaper usually tries to make their product even better. Things are constantly evolving - and thank goodness for that! Now, if you want to make lotions, then you'd better be testing. It can be a lovely lotion full of bacteria, yeast and who knows what else if your preservative isn't working properly or you aren't using correct sanitation and manufacturing techniques! My two cents! Bethany

Unless it is 5 fold or greater citrus essentila oils are photosensitizers and cause you to burn easy. So how much patchouli would you recommend for lotion? I usually make a 24 oz batch per fragrance. I have done peppermint before as well, but just forgot about it - and I guess I could try a straight lavender. Thanks, Bethany

I have been using fragrance oils for my lotions. but I am marketing to a natural food store this month and would like a few good EO's or EO blends to bring. I know I can't use Citrus - and I'm assuming bergamot counts as well? I make a lavender lemongrass that sells well, but that is as far as my EO ventures have taken me. I think I will do a straight ylang ylang and one with vanilla oleoresin. any other suggestions and formulas? Thanks, Bethany

I have these! Woo Hoo! And thanks for the link on the tubing - I'll give it a try! Bethany

Ok, if you don't know about the tubes - anyone have any suggestions of how to remedy this problem for me? Bethany