Jami

I make body sprays with FCO, cyclo and FO. IF and I can't stress this IF enough, you sell this mix as a room spray........PUT a BIG RED CAUTION on your label. Do NOT spray in rooms with hardwood/linoleum floors. It is an OIL mix, even in mist form, the oil WILL get on the floor causing the floor to be slick and someone WILL fall. I know from personal experience. My daughter sprayed my body spray in a hurry for work one night. I hit "something" on the floor and it was not a pretty site. While I was down on the floor, I noticed the oil sheen where she had sprayed it. There are a variety of emulsifiers for a water/oil mix such as polysorbates and CME. I have tried these blends but my only problem was I couldn't get a clear mix using the amount of FO I wanted to actually be able to SMELL the scent. Others that use less FO have no problem with a clear mix. You can also just buy linen base to mix with your FO, water and preservative.

Here is a black Friday ad for Kohl's. http://bfads.net/KitchenAid-Mixer-at-Kohls

I came across dead sea salt at Big Lots. I paid $3 for a 33.8 oz bag. I have no way to verify that it truly is dead sea salt other than the info on the back of the package. I have been using it in the recipe Carmen's Silky Suds or something to that effect in the recipe section.

I would have stroked it too. I was looking at them to tell my kids EXACTLY which mixer I want. If I don't tell them everything down to the model number, price etc, it is no telling what they would bring home. I am going to check other walmarts now. That is a deal that can NOT be passed up, even if I have to sell or give away my first born child to do it lol Thanks for the heads up!!

I personally weigh every jar & bottle that I package. My label reflects the net weight of that product in that package as it was made. I don't want to risk something changing without even realizing the change. I just feel better (and more professional) knowing that my label reflects the exact weight of each jar or bottle that I have made.

Are you sure it was a KA for $98? I just looked at them tonite when I was at hellmart, I mean Walmart. The Sunbeam Heritage was $98 and the Kitchen Aide was $198 I did really like the looks of one of the Sunbeams. It seemed to have similar features to the Kitchen Aide and only one Sunbeam model had the whisk attachment in addition to the beaters and dough hooks. I might need to check out some other Walmarts in my area for KA's to see if one of them has them for that price.

Kohl's has them for $199. Yesterday or the day before, I saw that someone will have them for $169 on Black Friday but can't remember who it was. Keep an eye open for sales the day after Thanksgiving.

I can totally relate to your frustration. I didn't get a new printer but got a new batch of labels. I am STILL trying to tweak it every which way but loose to get them to print right. Calibrating the printer didn't do a thing to help I have used Print Shop, Avery and Microsoft Word to get these D**N things to line up right. It is bad when you dread making something because you know what has to be done next (labels) lol Good luck!!!

"SHOULD a candle be cured" I can burn my candles within a day or two and I get great throw from them. BUT since my blend has soy in it, they do get stronger as they sit. There are some great scents that just take a few days to "bloom" in the wax and there are some that will throw as soon as the candle as set up. I think it is a personal preference on how your candles are. If you test one at day one level, day two level, day three level etc to compare the throw on it, you will find your own answer on how many days you feel is necessary before you sell your candles.

Actually, if you do the calculations, the recipe that was mentioned is using 75% butter and 25% oils. I stated I use 60% butters and 40% oils. I also stated I don't use more than 25% cocoa butter (out of my 60% butters) because it defeats the purpose of a whipped butter - it hardens the butter as stated. The remaining 35% of butters I use are softer butters (shea and some mango). This combination makes a whipped butter that stays whipped, soft and for me. Yes 40% vs. 25% of oil is increasing the oil BUT I also made a suggestion about the butters as well, reducing from 75% to 60% and reducing the amount of cocoa butter in that combination. You want the total of your ingredients to add up to 100% of your total weight. If you left the butters alone and increased oils, that would put you at over 100% :smiley2:

I have never tried it. What are the ingredients? That would be a good starting point to see what is used.

I have played around with pumice in scrubs. Even finely ground pumice is VERY scratchy. It only took me washing my hands off 2 or 3 times to say no way. After how it made my hands feel, I was afraid I would come out of the shower looking like I was in a fight with a cat and lost lol I do like straight brown sugar for my face and a combo of turbinado (bought at Walmart) and brown sugar for the body. I have 2 different scrubs I offer. One for those with sensitive skin who don't like it real scratchy and those who like the different sugar textures. I tried organic sugar (bought at Kroger) as well. I don't know why but it ended up a mushy looking mess in my scrub. I had to totally ditch that batch. Domino Sugar has a Demerara Sugar. I can't remember which store I saw it at though. I picked it up and looked at it but didn't get it. I am going to have to buy it now to see how I like it. Back to pumice, a little pumice in a scrub is nice for the feet though.

I agree with Michi. After ALOT of wasted butter, I settled for 60% butters and 40% oil in my whipped butter. It stays whipped up and creamy with this ratio. This recipe calls for 25% oils. I personally won't put more than 25% cocoa butter because it will harden the butter. I love shea and mango in mine. I rarely use cocoa butter in them any more and have had MUCH better results without it.

There are actually some emulsified sugar scrub recipes floating around. I use them all the time and LOVE them. I do add SLSa to mine for a little foaming action but when you add the SLSa it does reduce the "lotion factor" a little. I personally don't care much for the foaming bath butter. No matter what I do to it, it dries my skin out but others love it.

I have bought quite a few FO's from with no problems until recently. I swore by their pink sugar after trying this scent from MANY suppliers. Last month when I ordered a new bottle of pink sugar it had changed. This wasn't the first time I noticed that an FO had changed from a previous order but this change made a HUGE difference in my products with a popular scent. Not only is it not as strong, even the color was different. I had posted on their message board asking if it was a reformulation because it wasn't as good. I also asked if anyone else had been a long time buyer of this FO to notice the change so I would know it isn't just candle nose. My post was deleted. I am done buying anything from there. If they can't answer a simple question like that vs. deleting the post, I don't care to buy from them. Since then, my clients have asked me why it was different so I realized it wasn't candle nose. The prices are great but just be forewarned that the FO's are not consistent from purchase to purchase. You get what ya pay for I am not bashing them because I don't feel that accomplishes anything. What works for me may not work for others and vice versa. I just move on to new suppliers if I don't care for their oils or don't have good results. I just wanted to share my recent experience.

If you go to google and type in, how to make soy candles.....there are MANY links to read to get a starting point. Read, read, and read some more until you think you understand the steps. You can then apply these to your own candle making for a place to start in your testing. Once you have gone through those 2 steps, it might become a little clearer than saying, how do I make a candle, how do I make a tart or reading a long drawn out conversation that may even confuse you more. Sometimes step by step instructions that are found on those links will help clarify your questions.

I knew I had read SOMETHING about honey and FINALLY found it lol Honey is water soluable not oil soluable. I found this on Sweetcakes website: Sweeteners -- even "grocery store"-type sweeteners like honey and stevia -- can be notoriously hard to mix into lip balm. We've come up with the following tips for incorporating our sweetener into lip balm: Make your basic lip balm mixture (whether it's "from scratch," using various liquid oils plus beeswax, or using our preblended base plus beeswax). Add to this our All-Natural Sweetener (we recommend using 3% by weight). Stir continuously as the base cools (the sweetener will want to pool at the bottom initially, but will become more willing to blend and integrate as the mixture cools down). When the base has cooled and is opaque and thick, put the container in a hot-water bath to remelt, stirring constantly. Voila! The sweetener will stay nicely combined with the base. "You must allow the mixture to cool COMPLETELY after the initial melt before you put the mix in a hot-water bath or over a double-boiler to emulsify the sweetener with the lip balm." "Stir constantly both while you cool the mixture until you can't stir anymore AND while you re-melt the mix -- if you don't stir at all times, some of the sweetener will not mix in and will be left sitting in the bottom of the cup or pot when you pour." I use the 76 Degree coconut oil. Where the weather has cooled off, my balm is a little harder in the tubes than they were during the summer. If you are concerned with it melting in your pocket, you can add part candelilla wax in place of about 1/3 the beeswax. That will make it much harder and safer for your pocket! You can also up the beeswax just a TINY bit.

JS has some AWESOME vanilla scents. Southern Style Vanilla is a true vanilla scent. I also love the Vanilla Incredible. They have candied blueberry that is a strong blueberry scent as well. I have the Vanilla Bliss from ICS/Snowtop. I think it is a vanilla hazelnut vs. a straight vanilla scent. I have read alot of reviews for it after I bought it. They all said the same thing so I knew it wasn't just my nose lol Don't judge an FO oob. I have done that before and put them aside. When I came back across those FO's and decided to give it a try in wax, I was really surprised at how well it did.

I have quite a variety of jar styles whether it be purchases from coops, classifieds, WSP surplus or just jars I bought elsewhere. In the 2 oz size, I have sold more products in low profile jars than any other jar I tried. When I asked a few people which jar they preferred and why, hands down the 2 oz low profile won. They felt they were getting more in these jars because they are wider so they look bigger. It doesn't matter than the same weight of the product is in each jar. They just felt they were getting more of a deal Just thought I would share if anyone is trying to decide on what jar type they want to buy.

Before I decided on my jar labels, I looked at products from Body Shop, BBW, VS etc. BBW and Body Shop put their labels on the lid. VS puts it on the side of the jar. All of them have nice labels. For my 2 oz and low profile jars, I put a label on the lid with my company info, product and scent. I had round ingredient labels printed up and put those on the bottom for these jars. For my 4 oz and 8 oz, I put the label around the jar with the ingredients on this label. The exception is my amber jars. Clear labels around the side is too hard to see and white labels to me glows like a sore thumb lol I prefer the label on the lid for these jars. I also think if you are coloring your product and using either a clear or frosted jar, a label on the side covers up the color. The color adds a little pizazz to the appearance of the product. Just my opinion though. I personally think it comes down to jar size and preference. Based on what the bigger companies are doing, I don't think one is less professional than the other. Before you started making your own products, did you buy a jar because the label was on the lid or on the side? I sure didn't. I bought it for the product itself :tiptoe:

The recipe calls for 4 oz of SAO. I have subbed out castor oil, emu oil, macadamia nut oil and jojoba oil (all at 1 oz each) I also like to put a little vitamin E in my recipe. If there are certain oils you prefer, give them a try. Just keep your oils at 4 oz (consistent with the recipe). I also use mango butter in mine. One batch I made I used 2 oz of cocoa butter and 2 oz of mango butter. There are so many variations that you can do. I like to experiment and think I have it down as to what variation I like. I haven't tried to sweeten with honey although that is on my list to try. I do know that others have used it. I just can't help ya with how much to add lol I really liked that this provided me with a baseline of beeswax, butter, and oils. It is so user friendly. The best part is I LOVE how it makes my lips feel!

www.texasnaturalsupply.com has both. I have ordered twice in the past month and both times my orders were shipped the next day after placing the order at night. They are becoming my one shop stop because they have so many ingredients for BB products.

When mixing the MSM in lotion or cream, you have to let it sit for at least 24 hours to dissolve. I mix 1/2 tsp MSM with 1/2 tsp EMU oil then add it to 4 oz of body butter mixing thoroughly. I have also read that castor oil helps with sprains, bruises, fractures and arthritis so that might be another option to blend. The texture of MSM reminds me of salt but takes longer to dissolve. By letting it sit in the lotion/cream for a day or 2 will help it all blend properly. I feel no grittiness in mine. I bought my MSM powder at my local Tractor Supply Company. I paid $6 for a 16 oz jar. I compared the mg's of what is sold online vs. what I bought for 1/2 tsp. They are the same product and same ingredients, 100% MSM (methylsulfonylmethane).

You can actually get these types of stackable jars at Hobby Lobby, Michaels or JoAnn's. I have been using them since the spring. It has been a while since I bought them because I bought alot of them for beading last fall. I don't think they were $2.00 for the biggest size like this (if that). You can also buy the stackable "beaders" jars that can be found at walmart or the dollar tree. Here is what one from JoAnn's looks like: http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog.jsp?CATID=cat2119&PRODID=prd3039 I have 3 different sizes. My smallest size is my "sampler pack" then I have 2 other bigger sizes for whatever combination I want in my products.

I have seen many recipes like that but never tried them. I have read conflicting information where you can and can't sell something with alcohol involved.