elegantnaturals

Assuming you mean botanicals, Brambleberry has alkanet (purple), annatto (orange, kelp powder (green), spirulina (dark green). Depending on what you are making you may also use their micas. HTH

I tried ordering samples from them. They let me know that since I would not be ordering 50 to 100 pounds of product that they would prefer that I order small quantities to try from one of their partners (Brambleberry in this case). Unfortunately, Brambleberry does not carry all of the products I wanted to try. Guess I'll have to find someone else!

I purchase beeswax from a local beekeeper. It comes in a huge chunk so I have to break it down (literally!), melt it, then filter it through cheesecloth a couple of times to get all the dirt and almond chaff of off it. It's pure beeswax but after being transported from the almond orchard with crates of almonds, it does tend to pick up some of the almond dust. Also, I found that if beeswax isn't cleaned up immediately, it will harden into a nearly impossible to remove mess!

Hi, I get my shea butter (and many others) from Brambleberry.com. Their shea butter is 6.90/pound. I've looked at different sites and found that they have one of the better varities and prices. As I detest multiple shipping costs, I order from them primarily. Good luck!

Actually, this is a body soak rather than a foot soak so there will be more than one usage per jar. I'm assuming that the customer will be keeping this next to the tub in the warm & damp. So it must have some kind of preservative, right? And I'm also guessing that you may need some kind of preservative even if its ROE for a one time use soak (whether for body or foot). As I don't know if you make up your products before hand so you have stock or make it as you go, I can't really answer your question fully. But it does give food for thought! :smiley2:

Thanks for the info, Lindsay! I did read somewhere (MMS or SDF) that polys break down but couldn't remember which preservative did that. I don't have Optiphen Plus at the moment, though. I'll wait on offering the salt soak with the Poly until I can get some! Thanks again, April

Hello all, I've searched the forums and archives and haven't found exactly what I'm looking for so I thought I would go ahead and ask. I have a salt soak that includes oils: 2 cups Epsom salts 1/2 cup Brazilian Sea Salts 1/2 cup solid coconut oil 1 tablespoon deodorized cocoa butter 1 1/2 tbsp sweet almond oil 1/2 teaspoon glycerin 1/8 tsp of T50 vitamin E oil 20-30 drops of fragrance It's actually quite nice in small amounts (we found out the hard way that a little goes a long way!). What I'm curious about is how much Polysorbate 20 should I add to make it more like "blooming oils"? I really want the oils to disperse in the water. Also, I also have Germaben II and Phenophip. Although the recipe has no water it is going into water. Thus the confusion on which one I should use. Any help would be appreciated! TIA April

Eugenia, Do you mold these like you would a both bomb? Or is it pourable into a tart pan? Any suggestions on final weight per melt? I'd hate to end up like an oil slick! I love using recipes like this for my boys. Although they love the lotions I make, I forget to slather it on especially if we get busy in the evenings. Anything I can pop into their bathwater that will keep their skin soft is a great product! TIA April

I git mine at Michael's. They were with the decoupage stuff. Ask the clerks for the clear Christmas ball ornaments. HTH

Hi Angie, Yep, it is the same thing! Also, I would melt the cocoa butter and add it to your oil instead of grating it. You can use any type or combination of oils you'd like. However, I've never used safflower oil (except for cooking) so wouldn't know if you could sub it or not. Maybe use something like grapeseed oil or hazelnut oil instead. Both are, here at least, available in the grocery market. I managed to make about 6 of the 50 mm bombs but I didn't leave a big gap between the edges. And no matter what recipe you use, you have to move fast otherwise the mixture dries out. If that happens, add a bit more oil until its back to where you want it. HTH April

Can you use soy wax with this technique?

I've been researching alternatives to lanolin and have come up with rice bran oil. Does anyone know if this has the same consistency as lanolin? If you need to sub for lanolin, what do you use? Recently, I subbed beeswax for lanolin and am thinking it may be too hard. Your thoughts?

Do you think I could sub Avocado oil for the meadowfoam oil? I have everything on your recipe list except for meadowfoam. Thanks for your help!

Hi! I've been wanting to create a face cream for a while now and found a recipe in Natural Beauty at Home. I messed with the recipe a bit and came up with this: Oil Phase ¼ cup Apricot Kernal Oil ¼ cup palm stearic acid Water Phase ½ tsp baking soda 2 TBSP glycerine 1 cup aloe gel Preservative .06 oz Germaben II What are your thoughts? Seems like a lot of stearic acid to me. I'm new to making lotions (rather than body butters). Your input would be much appreciated! Thanks April

Thanks, Denise! They kept sticking to the mould until I figured out that if I got the edges of the ornament close enough together, I got a better "pack" and they'd release.

Hi! I'm on a bathbomb kick today, trying out new scents and recipes. Since my son didn't want a peppermint bathbomb, I made strawberry scented ones instead. I used your recipe and subbed a bit. Dry Phase 2 cups baking soda 1 cup citric acid 1 cup cornstarch Wet Phase 1/3 cup Grapeseed Oil 1-1/4 T. Strawberry F/O from Brambleberry 2 T. Aloe Gel Only problem is that the strawberry fo is giving me a headache and making me naseous. I'm thinking that a tablespoon and a bit is too much! My kids love it though. You can view the bathbombs on my Flickr page at http://flickr.com/photos/7284078@N04/495119586/

I don't have the white kaolin clay but I do have bentonite. Do you think I could sub? I have a couple of other bath bomb recipes I'd like to try too but this is the only one that calls for clay. TIA! April

Oh good! I just made this recipe and weighed everything out on my brand new handy dandy digital scale. I probably should have asked before hand! lol Thanks for the info!

Are these liquid or weight measurements? Thanks!

Do you heat your wax in the microwave or in a double boiler-type set up? And I thought if I add the FO at a high temp it would burn off? Thanks for your help!

I'm new to making soy candles (or candles in general) and am having problems with rough tops after the candles have cooled. I have to go back and run my hair dryer over the tops to smooth them out. But, sometimes, even that doesn't work very well. I heat my container soy wax to 160. I cool it to 125 and add FO. Then I pour at 100. I do not heat up the container itself. Maybe I should? Especially if I have the air conditioner running (it's been really warm here and going to get hotter). Any suggestions would be welcome! Thanks!