thesoapbox

Mixing is the best to keep it a soft butter consistency. I will whip mine with the handmixer pretty much all day long each hour for about 5-10 minutes. As mentioned earlier, you can also add oils to this mixture.

Angi

Lettuce?

What on earth does that smell like? Actual lettuce?

Angi

I just read mine and as I was waiting for this site to load I was thinking, this must already be a hot topic here lol!

No replies yet, so waiting to see....

:tiptoe:

Angi

Mine are in tins as well. I am thinking for the massage ones and after sun ones I am going to do as suggested on the beeswax and eliminate the cocoa butter and use that aloe/shea mix of butter to see how well that works.

I never cared for the JE lotion bars as well because of the stickiness. I tweaked the recipe for the non-sticky lotion bar here on the board and have come up with a nice one thanks for that recipe!!

ANgi

At the time my card number was stolen a branch manager for the bank I used to bank at was put in jail for embezzling over $450,000 from people's accounts and cards! However, mine wasn't touched, my info was definitely gotten from that online company I ordered from that had their database hacked into.

Angi

Ooh that sounds like a fun swap to host! How long cure time would be necessary for a swap like this do you think? I think I may do one of these with a review board

Angi

First off you have to remember that JE is a direct sales company like Mary Kay so that is why they have the huge numbers of those being sold .

Their lotion bars are being sold at home parties where a rep can teach customers how to use them, what they are for, what their benefits are for and the customers can try them out before buying them. Something we may have a hard time doing especially if you simply sell off of a website.

Now, I love the idea of calling them Balm Bars and I may just steal that from you lol! I know when I gave my lotion bars in a swap practically everyone loved it. The downside of lotion bars is how long the dern things last lol! One bar practically lasts me a year, however I go through normal lotions at least every 3-4 weeks so I have to purchase more lol.

Another one I am wanting to do is a lotion bar that softens up a bit more than my normal lotion bars and can be used for after-sun care or even as a massage balm bar. That is on my drawing board to start experimenting with to see if I can make my current lotion bar become softer when hitting warm skin . Any ideas?

Angi

Why don't you send them an email and ask them where they got them from? May be a bit easier to find then

Angi

Reminds me of an old farmer's market where the fruit is displayed in baskets like that. I really like it!

The picture is a bit small though.

Angi

If you have the cc holder info give them a call! I had someone steal my info and I only found out after I tried to go grocery shopping and a nautical company called me about the order that was placed to them using my card. I was so thankful that company called me. They mainly called because they had never seen my name spelled the way I spell it and they thought it was weird. I ended up having over $1500 in charges from that theft and that one company was the only one that decided to call me about it. The others just took the money and shipped even though it was to a foreign country. My card was used for numerous orders and sent to different countries!

You may be doing that person a huge favor if you call them and ask!

Angi

Hi all!

I am going to host a gathering for Kentucky soapers/chandlers. Please pm me with interest in attending.

Details:

-Only 15 spots are open for this (it is going to be held at my house) - hopefully we will grow to be a bigger gathering but I wanted to start small at first.

-Held on Saturday, June 14th - $30/person

-From 12 noon until the cows come home

-Food will be a big BBQ with tons of food and drinks

-Goody Bags to all 15

This first time gathering will be a get-together to plan future gatherings and what everyone would like to experience during the gatherings. If anyone that attends this gathering has any ideas for demos, swaps, etc just pm me with the details and we will make it happen. This one will be more of an informal one for us to get to know each other and have fun!

Angi

The recipe does have oil, scroll up, it is 3 cups lol. The supplier I got the preservative from says it is compatible with all cosmetic ingredients and good for water based items not only for water based items. I used it mainly because water would definitely be introduced into it. When I questioned them they said it was fine in a scrub /shrug.

Angi

One more dumb question.

Am I preserving the entire concotion or just the oils and butter parts?

ANgi

Ok now it makes sense LOL!

I just need things that have to do with math explained in as low of a grade level as possible ROFL!

Angi

Angi - you cannot mix and match units in a formula/recipe (well obviously you CAN but it's not right and leaves huge room for error). You will need to get the weight of each portion then calculate the amount of preservative based on that weight by the % recommended.

So what would the equation look like? weight x percent?

Angi

I am not very good at figuring percentages. I am more of a ml, tsp, cup type of person lol!

So, I am wanting some help from all you math guru's in figuring out preservative amount.

Here is the recipe:

3lbs 4oz sea salt

3 cups oil

4 tbsp butter

In ml's, how much of Germall Plus would I add to this type of recipe?

Thanks so much for any help!!

Angi

For those of you that use this for products to sell, do you consider this a "luxury" item that your prices can be higher on to justify the oil cost and how does that affect your sales? I think I am going to order some of this after reading all the comments on it

Angi

Maybe a 2 or 3oz bar? I would definitely go smaller as well, since most will use them with their hands.

Angi

Thanks!! Maybe making a 4oz wouldn't be a whole lot and you can fill as you need

Angi

The only way I can see it being a savings to anyone is if I call the suppliers directly to see if they would offer a deeper discount on an even bigger bulk than what their sites offer. Not even sure any supplier would do that but who knows. As it stands, there is no way a co-op on Monoi would be any type of savings for anyone that joined it.

Angi

Can someone well versed in the Co-Ops PM me about them? Mainly because after seeing this thread I want some of this oil and would be more than happy to host the co-op but I don't see where there would be any of a savings (is that what co-ops are for?). I found one place that if you buy in bulk you save $3 per pound however, if there are hostess fees and shipping then it pretty much puts the pounds of oil back into the range of what you could get it yourself from the suppliers.

So, if someone could help me understand co-ops a bit then maybe I am looking at it wrong and could do this

Thanks!!

Angi

Only thing I can think of is to make 4oz or 8oz of your base and scent it the way you normally would and then use that to fill those little bottles.

Sorry, not much help but that is probably how I would do it.

Angi

I never noticed that!! Thanks .

Angi

Pull it up on our search and you should find a ton of info about this.

Angi

I have to agree on this one. This supplier simply wrote an explanation as to what was going on. Nothing more, nothing less. I can see if she was plugging and running unchecked as was mentioned, but she was not. To remove her post was really unnecessary as I have seen other suppliers posting and defending their businesses as well without removal. Why this one? I agree with Sliver...I sure hope this one is enforced across aboard. If you are going to do it to this supplier here who was simply stating what was happening with the message on her site, then you had better do it with all the others as well. It's only fair.

ANgi