Jeana

Mary Kay Cosmetics has a lip exfoliator (a scrub that takes off dry or dead skin). After you use it your lips look and feel great. Of course their's is full of chemicals and petroleum, so I would love to make my own. Has anyone ever seen a recipe for this before?

sorry this went to the wrong spot

I've used it in soap and in my body oil spray. I like it because it is a nice light oil, and it sinks in quickly.

I was wondering how many of you guys don't use the stick blender to mix your cp soap ingredients. I have always heard that mixing it by hand keeps it creamier. I was wondering if any of you had strong opinions about this one way or the other.

For one thing that is a really high temp to get soy up to. Most manufacturers say don't go over 200, and with my experience even that is too high. Using a double boiler method would be better than the microwave, to help regulate your temp. You can heat gun the tops to get rid of small cracks, but then you may get an uneven surface or some frosting. Soy can be a funny product to work with. It seems something will always pop up once you've solved some of your other issues.

I have been trying several waxes so far. For me, the CB3 was by far the worst with frosting. Two of the other waxes were pretty and smooth but had some frosting too. One was very nice, smooth with little to no frosting, and so far good scent. I haven't been able to burn them all to compare throws yet because some of them are curing. I was thinking it may be good to get some of this frostop stuff in case the best thrower ends up to be the worst froster. I noticed I got the small hairline surface cracks with each brand though. This was disappointing. One brand even has their own additive which still didn't prevent this. They don't go below the surface. I guess something has to be sacrificed somewhere with soy.

Holly, do you know what is in the Frostop? Does it help with some of the cracking issues you were having?

I have heard other people use LX8 or LX12 for their soy tealights. My favorite so far is HTP 31. LX 12 had just a bit too much heat for me. I have only done a couple tests but the HTP 31 is by far the best for me so far.

I'm with Lorrie. I love the fact that I put only the ingredients I want in the CP. Many MP bases put stuff I don't want in there. And CP really is easy after the first couple times you do it. It is so cool to know you made up your own recipe from scratch.

People have rarely asked me what type of salt I am using. Most people are more interested in the smell. I don't think they know the difference. I don't think I know the difference come to think of it. I believe all salts are detoxifying, right? If DSS are that difficult to use it may be worth switching to regular salts.

If you want a really dark navy blue, use indigo root powder. Very dark and pretty. For a dark brown you can use cocoa powder. Many of the micas, or oxides can be very vibrant or dark without using much. I got some liquid colors from a place called the soapgoat. I liked them because most of them didn't change after curing. The only one I have noticed the color coming off the soap is the indigo root. It didn't stain my skin, and my sponge didn't stain blue either. But it was only swirled in the soap.

Depending on the scent, I have used rose clay, cocoa powder, and many of the different oxides. They don't fade at all. And I haven't had them get gross when mixed with essential oils either. Another one I do is a spiced vanilla, which I put nutmeg in the vanilla salts. It turns it a slight brown. I gave up on food coloring, it didn't last at all. Oh, and my salts are just regular rock salt, so DSS may be different.

I thought discounting the water would make it cure faster any way. Why do the oven process if you have already discounted the water?

I sent away for the packet to trademark a name. It is only $300 to do so, which isn't bad considering what can happen if someone does use your name or one that is close to it.

They were having a sale on many of their scents for $9 a pound. I don't know if this is still going on but it was really worth it to me. Now I have to start testing all of them.

I recently got a sample of woodberry from Just Scents. It smells really nice but I haven't put it in anything yet. It smells like a winner though.

I am looking for a really awesome, true sandalwood fo. I don't mind if it is mixed with vanilla or another scent, just so it has a great smell.

I've used my crockpot to melt soap too.

Are you guys premixing it before you add it to the soap? I usually take about half a bowl out and mix my color then add it back to the rest of the batch. Or maybe mix it with warm water or oil, which ever it breaks down in best then strain it with a coffee filter. Add the strained color to your batch. I've done this with ratanjot and it makes a huge difference in how well the color distributes.

What about only putting out small sample cups. Then they can only use a small portion any way. Or have the product on the sticks ready for them to try rather than depending on them to put it on the sticks. You could hand them a stick as they walk up. This way the sample seems more of a personal service. It is kind of weird that people aren't concerned for their own sanitation though.

I haven't tried the whipped butter yet. I have only made the regular. I melt the ingredients, then let cool a bit, then pour them into the jars. I guess I assumed that cooling slower is better because of candle making. Should I be using an ice bath?

I have made 3 batches of body butter and two of the three have become grainy. I don't feel like I am doing anything different than the time it turned out fine. I know many of you guys make butters, so I was hoping someone could give me some suggestions for this. Does whipped butter have this same problem?

So when the calculator gives you a range say between 11-16 oz of water, if I choose the 11 does it work the same way?

Ya, I have to get a screwdriver to break mine apart. The deoderized seems to be a little softer than the regular.

Even though the numbers are down they are still making 15 million a year. Can you imagine making that much from candles? I don't see how companies can't keep afloat on that kind of income. I agree some of the cheaper candles can be hazardous. I bought a ball candle to see if I wanted to make them myself. I lit it and the flame was at least 3" tall. I clipped the wick back again and the same thing happened shortly after. I'm glad we all take so much time to keep our candles safe.