Jadryga

I wish we had things like soap parties here Nevermind. Now my new goal is to take over the country, then introduce and educate local people about the benefits of handmade B&B and hold classes to impart my superior and vast knowledge of B&B making (and make money at the same time), spawning a new breed of elite Malaysian B&B crafters. Then I shall hold a soap party.

I don't see why not, actually. I think the Body Shop actually sells some massage oils in pump bottles. I was thinking of a disk-top for my stuff, but a pump top sounds easier.

I can't wait for DH to make mine so I can play too! Floodlights are a great idea, I was thinking of getting some cheap table lamps from Ikea or something (at least 3) but now you've got me thinking maybe I should just go straight for floodlights. Did you make or buy your lightbox? Curious since I found some sites on DIY lightboxes

That is absolutely adorable

Hmmm... I love my HP2600n printer, but I have noticed a few discrepancies between onscreen color and printed color. I've noticed that this is a common feature with most home printers. That's why it's usually recommended to provide the CMYK color codes if you're getting it professionally printed, so they can print the EXACT color. Maybe check if your photo's in RGB or CMYK. RGB colors are much more vivid, but they're designed for screen view, and the degree of difference in color on different monitors is quite amazing. DH used to use a Mac for his graphics (until it got fried by lightning ) but I prefer a PC. The same image looked different from monitor to monitor and on paper. Having it in CMYK (the preferred color mode for printing) may help lessen the discrepancies slightly, though there's still no guarantee it'll be exactly what you want. It may look duller on the monitor though, depending on the shade.

The irony of my first post in this thread has just struck me

Hmmmmmmm......

Kudos, SS, for coming out and being forthright with everything. You're actually quite a pleasant surprise. I thought I was young here at 22! I was interested in B&B at around 16 too, but I think you're light years ahead of where I was at that point in time. Keep it up. You're very enthusiastic and keen on getting things done, which is great, though I agree with Dallas that checking yourself once in a while is good practice. Always easier to fix things before they go wrong I know it's really stereotypical to think that only women are interested in bath and body stuff, but that's why it's always nice for me to see someone crack the mold once in a while. One more thing... the fact that you didn't take a lot of the criticism personally and the way in which you answered speaks volumes to me about your level of maturity. I've seen older people degenerate into insults and defensiveness when criticized. As far as I can tell you explained everything in an honest and non... I can't quite place the word... well, non-hostile albeit passionate manner, so another kudos there.

Great soaps, Grandma! I like the pink swirly soap with the green crystal (?) chunk best. That's the bay rum? The lighting needs to be brightened somewhat though... not sure how your setup is, but if you can, maybe put the lights closer to the box or use brighter bulbs? Alternatively you can just brighten it with an image manipulation program

Genuine Leather FO! I have some guy friends who are addicted to the smell of new sneakers and cars. I just may get some of that soap from Grumpy for them!

Happy, happy co-worker I would SO love to receive that! Those exfoliation soaps are pretty neat. DH's mom (she lives in Cali) just bought me a boatload of Bath & Body Works things and sent them over to Manila (where DH is at the moment) with a visiting relative cos DH mentioned I love B&B stuff (trust the men to be sufficiently vague!). We don't have B&BW stuff locally, this should be interesting

Cute! I'm sure she had great fun and probably a good early intro to the addictive world of B&B You'll probably have to start hiding your oils soon!

"Papaya oil" probably means papaya seed oil. It's a carrier, not an essential oil. http://www.earthoil.com/Speciality-Oils-Papaya-Seed-Oil-3340 http://www.fromnaturewithlove.com/product.asp?product_id=oilpapaya&affiliate=32964 I'm not too sure about the mango... is there such a thing as fractionated mango oil? As far as I know the only "oil" available from mangoes is mango butter from the seed. UPDATE: Ahh... here we go! My theory was right for the mango oil. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mango_oil http://www.fromnaturewithlove.com/soap/product.asp?product_id=oilmango

As we speak, I have a mixture of Rhassoul clay and Aussie "Washed Blue" clay drying on my face My cat thinks I'm nuts!

Probably because once you mention "home show" the tendency is to think that there won't be a credit card terminal. It's probably useful for those who buy so much they run out of cash and want to buy more though!

I so know what you mean... that's why DH has the honor!

People are usually hesitant to part with their money for some unknown brand because this is going through their heads: "I've never heard of this brand. What if I'm paying so much and it's crap?!". All them big companies with good advertisements usually work on getting people familiar with the brand name and creating an "image" to be associated with the brand. This helps overcome the initial "never heard of this brand" bit, and the image (of course it's usually something desirable) gives the person the expectation of something quality. I just usually try and offer great personal customer service (since I don't have a multi-billion dollar advertising budget). Talk to them, drill into them the reasons my stuff is good, smear them all over with my testers and SMILE

PET is a hard, clear plastic that's great for EOs and FOs, but if they're boston rounds they're usually not very squeezable, so you may want to try a celtic oval shape instead. I think Kangaroo Blue has some 2oz ones in celtic oval that come with disc tops that I think would be awesome for sanitizer. HDPE, MDPE and LDPE are much more squeezable (the natural squeezable stuff scentsme mentioned) but I've yet to see them clear. They're usually at the most frosted.

I just mixed some Rhassoul with Manuka honey and water for a shampoo. My hair has never been THIS combable (?) wet without some sort of commercial conditioner. I have learned though, that although they just say mix paste and apply to hair, you really should wet your hair first, or you'll have gunk spread unevenly in patches of hair. Now off to get some honey powder for a more easily stored (and marketed) version of this stuff!

Crossing my fingers for good luck for you. For ever.

Yeah... now I can't imagine paying that much for stuff, but well. I'm getting some lotions and stuff from Lindsay (Soaper's Workshop) and I recently spoke to a regular, explaining the lotions I was bringing in and what she thought about 2oz of lotion going for about 20 ringgit (about $6). She goes "That's too cheap! You're selling a premium product here!" Firstly I was flattered silly that she thought my things were "premium products". The Chinese blood in me was also crying with joy at the thought of more money. But it was then that I realized that it really does affect your reputation adversely if you price too low. I don't plan to do a L'Occitane and charge the sky for a tiny tin of shea butter (the tin costs more than the butter as far as I can tell and even then, not THAT much more), but gotta price high enough to distinguish ourselves from the drugstore brands! (Good marketing and pretty labels help.)

*faint*

So excited, I can't wait to use that stuff! Thank you Lotioncrafter! Has anyone tried this stuff with witch hazel as a toner? Just an idea that popped into my head. Oh, and while we're at it, what preservative would be good for a facial spray? I want to incorporate some hydrolyzed oats with some hydrosol or witch hazel into a facial toner spray, but I've read somewhere that liquid germall plus is not suitable for aerosolized (sp?) applications and I don't want to use parabens.

Oh! Oh! I use this awesome gel thing that has menthol, eucalyptus eo and niaouli eo as the active stuff as far as I can see. Relaxes my muscles like nothing else. I'll probably try making my own as soon as this bottle finishes

I have absolutely no idea if those were successful tarts or not, since I don't do much candle-wise, but they look good to me They actually resemble a local pastry without the toppings. They're called "woon chai gou" or directly translated - "Little Bowl Pastry"