elegantnaturals

You're welcome!

I'd put in a preservative just to be safe. I don't think there is enough alcohol content in the witch hazel for it to stay germ-free, especially since you are adding in extra yummy germ food. Also, the witch hazel I purchase from WalMart has a 14% alcohol content so I'm not sure what the difference really is. If you have Cosmocil CQ and potassium sorbate, those two in combination are a good choice for facial applications. You can read more about it at http://www.lotioncrafter.com/store/Cosmocil-CQ-pr-16421.html. Jen at Lotioncrafter.com rocks!

Is this what you are lookin for: http://www.essentialsupplies.com/~smartcart/ 8ml Polypropylene (PP) natural spray mister Small and convenient fragrance mister for purse or pocket. Order 3 or more of this item and receive a 10% discount. (1 package of 48 is $19.20)

PM'd you, Trish!

Thanks, Prairieannie!

I liked the Jewelery, Soaps & Scents. I tried to think of a few for you but all I came up with was "Flaming Jewels", which is kind of stupid now that I'm reading it back to myself! lol Good luck! It took me forever to come up with a web site name/biz name that I liked.

Are you selling just the domain name or a pre-designed site? Are you including any kind of product/inventory? For more information on how to sell a site, feel free to read the following articles: http://content.websitegear.com/article/sell_website.htm http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com/265/how-to-sell-a-website-how-much-is-your-website-worth/ You may also want to check out Ebay under Business & Industrial>Other Industries>Websites & Businesses For Sale. HTH

I love the Farmer's Market and enjoy looking at the all the vendor's offerings. B&B pops up every once in a while but today there were two tables dedicated to B&B. Since I am currently in the process of perfecting my own recipes and getting my business plan together, I decided to take a look at their lotions, etc. I was taken aback by what I found. Incomplete ingredient labels, missing labels, no preservatives (particularly for lotions that are sitting in the sun). And the thing is that both had fantastic looking presentations and one was an established Farmer's Market vendor. I was disturbed and a little upset by that. I am working diligently to have the best products but also safe ones. I want my consumer to be well informed. I hope for their sake noone gets sick from their products. At least now I know what not to do!

I found a cupcake box at Michael's today that had an insert to keep the cupcakes in place. It was a four pack though.

I lust after that Himalyan Pink. I think it would look gorgeous in my bath bombs and soak salts!

Meadowfoam is also good although that can be a bit spendy too. But if you buy a big enough bottle, you won't have to purchase again for a long time!

DH lets you know he used some kind of weird brown liquid to wash his hands with in the bathroom. And you think to myself, "What the heck did he use? Good grief, which one of the twenty thousand trial products I made turned bad?" Turns out, it was my Two Tea Toner! (And it's just fine BTW ) Point taken! From now on, all personal care items I whip up will get a designation so that his hands will actually become clean rather than toned! LOL

As an afterthought, I think the best size for these bombs is the 60mm or smaller. The bombs I made over the weekend are just way too big not only for drying time but for sheer bubbling power! BTW I made mine on Saturday (I think) and they still aren't completely dry. *sigh* I'll try again this weekend with the smaller size and let youi know how it goes.

Yep...3 TBSP is enough! My boys were nearly lost in a rising tide of bubbles at 3 TBSP. Of course, they had a ton of fun.

Recently found this site that has a good list of natural coloring ingredients: http://www.mullerslanefarm.com/soapcolors.html It looks as though it's actually meant for CP but I imagine with some tweaking they can be used with MP. HTH

You can use any base you want but for this particular project I used an opaque white MP base from Brambleberry. I melted the "whipped topping" portion of the base in the microwave and then took my trusty handheld mixer with the egg beater attachment to it. It only needs a minute or so to get that whipped egg white look (think stiff peaks). Then pour, baby, pour! The extra air that gives the whipped soap its shape also cools it down. Once poured on the cooling chocolate portion, I shaped it a bit with a frosting spreader. It was incredibly easy, seriously. Give it a go sometime. I even made some peach whipped soap with a GM base. It's my hubby's fav! Edited to add: I also found that the Goats Milk MP base whipped better than the regular white MP base. Either will work though.

Okay, I finally made the recipe! Yea me! I used my humongous molds so the bombs are baseball sized. I hope it doesn't overflow the tub! Anyway, I weighed out all the ingredients from the recipe and this is what I got: 1 Cup Baking Soda 8.1 oz 1 Cup Epson or Sea Salt 9.3 oz (half Epsom, half brazilian fine sea salts) 1/8 cup corn starch .6 oz 1/8 cup white Kaolin clay .8 oz 2.5 TBL Melted Deodorized Cocoa Butter .85 oz 2 TBL Fragrance Oil .8 oz (I used Black Amber & Lavender from Brambleberr) Colorant of your choice (didn't use colorant in this batch) 3/4 cup Citric Acid 5.95 oz 3/4 cup Sodium Laurel Sulfoacetate 4.55 oz Total of 30.95 ounces So the percentages are: 26% Baking Soda 30% Epsom Salt/Sea Salt Mix 2% Corn Starch 2.6% Kaolin Clay 2.8% Cocoa Butter 2.6% FO 19% Citric Acid 15% SLSa Please note that I haven't used the percentages above, just the recipe as stated by Firegirl. I'd like to make larger batches, though, so the percentages will help when I do. Thanks, Firegirl!

I made an M&P soap that I call Chocolate Cupcake Surprise using Dutch Process Cocoa (it's what I had on hand) and about a tablespoon of natural cocoa butter for scent. Smells and looks chocolate-y! You can see a picture on my blog at http://beautyblog.elegantnaturals.com/2007/06/13/mp-soap-is-an-addiction.aspx HTH

Firegirl, Did you ever do percentages on this? Do you know the total weight? TIA

After nearly chopping off my finger chunking up the cocoa butter I received from Brambleberry, I decided to melt it down and pour into a tart pan. Each cocoa butter tart weighs about an ounce which makes my experimenting so much easier! I can imagine though if I were using large quantities that this would not be an option. Also, I keep my cocoa butter in the freezer until I need it. The same is true for the butters (shea, mango, etc) that I'm not using currently. Anything I am using (or opened) goes into the fridge. The exception are the oils which I keep in a cool, dark closet in the coolest room in the house (my office, go figure).

Thanks for the tip! Could you please post your percentages or amounts that you used? TIA

I don't sell as of yet but I'm doing a lot of research. Personally, I prefer a preservative whether it's "natural" or not. Most preservatives are derivatives and the whole natural vs semi natural debate is a long one. Having had two children go through some serious infections from unknown causes I can't imagine having a product that I make cause one in them! The benefits of having a germ free product outweighs the horrible consequences a preservative free product may cause. On the other hand, if you are making small quanitities for personal use, keeping them in the fridge between uses, and using them within a week of making the product then I don't see the need for a preservative. But that's the only time.

Is that by weight or volume? Some people like a bigger jar even though it weighs less. Personally, if the cream is really thick and I use it once a day say on my feet or elbows, I'd only use a bit so a four ounce jar would last forever.

No, it wouldn't. If you're worried about parabens (although you have no reason to be), try using Optiphen or Cosmocil for a preservative. Sugar is yummy bug food and, unlike molds and fungi, you can't tell when your product has been contaminated. Basically, you have to ask yourself if you are willing to risk your health and possibly your customer's health because you don't use preservatives. Do a search for "preservatives" on this board and you'll find lots of information. Here's a link for you to read over: http://www.candletech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53403&highlight=preservatives Good luck!

I recently ordered from Lotioncrafter and received my order within a couple of days. This is a nice change since living in N. CA makes for long shipping times from quite a few suppliers located in the midwest/east coast.