Jadryga

Excellent, I'll experiment with that tomorrow then. Thanks, MochaMama. Was thinking of coming up with a cleansing scrub with adzuki, cornmeal, clay, kelp and some herbs.

Some of my customers are loving the mask samples I sent them as extra goodies along with soaps I told them I hadn't finished tweaking, but they really want to know if I'm going to be selling any masks, so I was thinking of making some cleansing grains containing adzuki beans. After grinding them in my blender/grinder thing, I'm still not sure if they're fine enough. Does dry roasting them before grinding help with making them finer?

It looks like they had a lot of fun! I think they have done a stellar job. They remind me of my childhood trips to Plaster Fun House to go paint things, only better.

Hey PiP Yeah, the L'Occitane shea butter is... this teensy tin costs a generous meal for me at an upscale Jap restaurant. Fortunately, my mother hoards cosmetics. Unfortunately, now that I want to carry my experiment out, I can't find that dratted tin

I love the amount of information FNWL gives, but I agree, their shipping is just too high. It doesn't help me that their standard is UPS, no exceptions Essential oils don't really count, I should think, though tea tree oil breaks me out like nobody's business. I first noticed it years ago when I used the Body Shop's tto range (this was before the notion of making my own B&B came about) and recently I tried putting a few drops with some lavender eo into my OCM. Bad idea. My pores clog easily, so I'm frankly, quite scared to put cocoa butter or coconut oil on my face though I think it's because my skin doesn't shed dead skin cells fast enough. My shins in particular are always slightly scaly no matter how often I scrub, and I have to be very careful with hair removal methods, otherwise I become Ingrown Land. Rice bran oil... now THAT's some good stuff. Only stuff that (with regular exfoliation) leaves my skin unbelievably soft and ingrown free. I have a leftover tin of pure shea butter from L'Occitane that I'm contemplating mixing with some of my mac/avo to patch test on a tiny spot on my face. Wish me luck.

Ooh... ahh... macadamia honey... two of my favorite ingredients. Looks absolutely great!

It's 5.50am... and for some reason... now I'm imagining myself trying to scrub my back with one of these soaps... and the fingers start tickling me... *faint*

They're extremely cute individually, but you're right Diva, all together like that they're kinda creepy

I am so gonna eat those.

http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/coldprocesssoapmaking/ss/whippedsoap.htm http://nizzymoulds.com/Whipped/index.htm http://www.suite101.com/lesson.cfm/17779/1065/3 and finally... from our own archives... http://www.candletech.com/forums/archive/index.php?t-29317.html Have fun

Fingers crossed!

If it's for personal use, you could probably isolate a small batch at a time in another container, add something (cornstarch? IPM? One of the lotion experts may have to help you here, I know those work for greasiness... you could always experiment yourself though!) to help, and not have to worry about compromising the preservation for the whole batch. If you're intending to sell it though, then like Sarah said, better to contact the supplier and ask.

Gorgeous! Ironically, I know if I ever got your soaps to give to anyone, they would probably never get used. 5 years later, I'd probably visit them and exclaim about it, and they'd probably reply "But... but... they're so pretty..." EDIT: Haha! I quick replied from the first page, so I only JUST noticed Irena's post right above mine!

Hear hear!

Hmm... I guess it really depends. For personal use and experimental formulating, definitely shouldn't be a problem. If you really want to run a full commercial business with that product, it would be more prudent and practical to order in bulk from a reputable supplier anyhow, no? I'm definitely still in my experimental formulation stage as far as lotions & complicated B&B items go. I don't think we're as strict here in Malaysia, which makes me a little scared to try a lot of local products, especially when I turn things over and can't find anything resembling an ingredients list. I love ingredients lists. I can just spend an hour or two in a shop reading ingredients lists. So it's a little nutty, but it really gives you a lot of insight on marketing and formulations. I once went to a beautician who gave me a very nice facial, then tried to introduce me to the spa's line of products. Apparently, they had a wide base of satisfied customers who have vastly improved skin after following their skincare regime - she showed me a whole file of "before" and "after" pics. I turned over the box of moisturizer and saw that it was made up of water, glycerin, aloe, fragrance, preservative. They charged about 130+ ringgit for a bottle of about 1-2oz. There were 2 other items in the set (cleanser & toner) that cost about the same each. Both contained really simple ingredients too. I was just... amazed. For that money I could probably have made a gallon or two of each and had enough left over to treat DH and myself to a lovely dinner too.

I keep meaning to get a block to try, but I keep forgetting. Must remember to get some later today!

Not really, it's more like 9:1 mac nut to avocado, actually. Just enough to give it a little body, but light enough to still sink in quickly. I love a blend of mac nut, avocado and rbo for massage. I just add a little lavender since DH doesn't like peppermint (I do! ) Olive oil breaks some people out, might want to cut down or eliminate that? If your vitamin E's from wheatgerm, that might add to it too. Yeah, I'm tempted to get a bottle of hazelnut oil from the grocer's to try, but when I research it I get a lot of different info about the shelf life. Some say it's short, some say the vit E makes it last longer...

I think this varies from individual to individual... if you run a quick search on Oil Cleansing Method or OCM, you'll see what a lot of people are putting on their faces. Olive oil breaks some people out, but some others swear by it... same with shea butter, etc. I'd go with... macadamia nut oil jojoba oil grapeseed oil shea butter/oil (may break some out) olive oil (may break some out too) apricot kernel oil watermelon seed oil kukui nut oil monoi de tahiti rice bran oil fractionated coconut oil rosehip seed oil (may be too rich for some) avocado oil sesame oil mango butter sweet almond oil sunflower oil safflower oil camellia oil evening primrose oil (may be too rich for some) squalane ...looks like I have nearly the whole list here. Wheat germ oil and cocoa butter have high comedogenic ratings. Coconut oil too, actually, though some can take it. Lots of people seem to be fine with monoi, even though it's based in coconut oil. One of my products is a simple mix of macadamia nut and avocado oil. So far the customers love it. They prefer it unscented which makes my life even easier I'm thinking of ordering in some watermelon seed oil.

Sarah, PM'ed you!

Resurrecting this old thread! I'd like to know more about watermelon seed oil too... especially the "sebum-dissolving" properties. Thinking of ordering some in. Sweet almond oil is a bit thick for me, doesn't really absorb fast. Macadamia oil does much better.

Wow! Those look amazing! I can't wait to participate in SB one day!

Replied... a LOT too Sorry if it's somewhat of a bombardment :embarasse Anyhow, hope it helps!

As long as the chances of it coming in contact with water is close to nil... shouldn't be a problem. For scrubs and all, people tend to stick their damp fingers into the jar to scoop out product, so preservative is recommended. For bath oils though, you don't do that. It's pretty hot and humid in bathrooms on the other hand, so some might still recommend it.

If I'm not wrong, the Kpangnan shea butter or golden shea butter isn't from the same fruit as the other two. There was a discussion about this some time back, I think.

Excerpt from http://www.treasuredlocks.com/eaafshbu.html "East African Shea Butter is the crème de la crème of Shea Butters. Because it is extracted manually from the highest quality shea nuts of the Nilotica variety, East African Shea Butter is softer and more fragrant than shea butter of West African origin. East African Shea Butter is naturally high in shea olein, melting more gently into the skin. East African Shea Butter is more rare than West African Shea Butter and is highly prized for it superior moisturizing properties, smooth creamy texture and mild fragrance. It's so smooth and creamy, you may find it hard to believe this is an all natural product." On the other hand... this is from http://www.soapnaturally.org/shea.html "Shea Butter has two distinct varieties. The West African Shea (Vitellaria paradoxa) and The East African (Vitellaria nilotica). The East African Shea is lighter in color, has less healing properties, is more expensive, and has a tendency for turning rancid." And finally... the two-sided argument... from http://store.africansheabuttercompany.com/eastvswest.html "Which shea butter to buy narrows down more to personal preferance and lifestyle requirements. West African shea butter is thought to have more healing properites than the East. We have many customers with eczema or psoriasis who find significant help for their conditions when they use therapeutic West African shea butter. But customers have commented that the softer East African shea butter works wonders on diaper rashes. Not only does it help the skin to heal, but it is much more gentle to apply to delicate skins than the firmer West African variety. We have had some cocern from elderly individuals that the West African shea butter is too hard to spread on their fragile skin, another bonus point for spreadable East African shea butter. If your days are hectic and you have little time to pamper your skin you may also choose East African shea butter, which drastically cuts down on the time it takes to spread all over the body. For pregnant women who are more sensitive to scents, but want an unrefined shea butter, East African is always the butter of choice. East can be more oilier than West. West shea butter tends to absorb better on the feet and make them softer than East. There are many differences between East and West, but when making a decision between East or West, it comes down to what works best for you and your body. We think that having both East and West African shea butters on hand is the best option for keeping your skin glowing and healthy."