Wildcrafter

If you're looking for a lavender essential oil that stays well in soap, use lavandin, not lavender. Lavandin is also called spike lavender. It is a true lavender and sticks very well in soap.

I got lye solution ready for a couple of batches last week and then realized that I didn't have some of the ingredients needed to make soap. So....it's now a full week later and I'm ready to make soap.

Is the lye still ok to use? It's been sitting on top of my oil drums in stainless steel pots.

I only use EOs. Lemongrass EO is cheap and it's the real thing, baby.

I have my own website and don't utilize etsy for a number of reasons. The primary is that, in my opinion, every site looks the same as all the rest since they are all in the same format. Of course, pictures and products are different, but to stand out you really need a website that pops.

Don't pay those kind of people any attention. I've been doing farmers markets and craft fairs for 14 years and I've seen and heard it all. Even a gal who took a soap making class from me and a month later showed up at a street fair (she applied before knowing how to make the soap!) and one of the farmers markets I do. People who have bad attitude and/or talk down their "competition" are not going to make it in the long run. I have seen many soap/bb people come and quickly go over the years. Keep making your best quality products, put your best face forward, be kind, professional and generous to customers and you will be the one left standing at the end. This is how I have always run my business and it consistently keeps the roof over my head.

I tried a silicone mold this week and the last week and the soap didn't want to come out and some of it stuck to the mold. Am I supposed to lube it up before pouring in the soap?

Wow, what fine work!

CALENDULA!!!! Get you some calendula extract and make you a salve. I have a friend with severe eczema and psorasis and this keeps her skin clear!

I sell a Comfrey Calendula salve on my website. I have many many happy customers who use this with very good results with eczema and psoriasis.

http://goodnaturedearthling.com/catalog.htm?category=Balms%2C%20Creams%20%26%20Salves

I grow the comfrey and calendula myself, harvest the balm of gilead in the wild and use absolutely no synthetic scents, colors, preservatives or petroleum ingredients in any of my products.

Ask your supplier. If they don't know, or won't say, then I would not do business with them. Ethically speaking, I find that it is of utmost importance to know exactly what is in every single one of my products so that I can honestly share the information with my customers. I don't have to give them my formula, but the ingredients, yes.

This email(name and exact text) has been going around for at least six years that I know of, and has been mentioned on forums that have come and gone, many times. If I hear from her again, I'm simply going to tell her to look at my replies for the past 6 years and quit bothering me. Wish there was some way to report her and get rid of her once and for all!

Good one!

Yep!

Here's the email she sent to me. Anyone know her?

Subject: Sales Question Regarding your Facial Products

I'm putting together a lot of gift baskets for family members and work associates

for events in 2010 and a bunch of them in 2011. Many of the events are centered around taking better care of oneself and learning to relax and take it easy and I am planning on including a variety of spa items in each basket.

I'm wondering if you ever mail out small samples of your products so a consumer can test them out before they purchase anything?

I'd really like to put products in my baskets that I've sampled myself and am interested your Bath, Body and Face products!

I make baskets for events all year round and am always looking for stellar products.

Thanks so much and I hope to hear from you!

Christianne Amato

(Richboro, PA)

I think it was Christy, Christine. Something like that.

There's a gal that sends out blanket emails with "exciting news" about how she's going to be doing amazing amounts of B&B baskets and wanting samples of everything I make. I've gotten them before over the years and have either deleted them or sent something about how I'm a one woman business, too much money, etc. etc, blah blah blah.

I was just about to delete this one and then decided to mess with her.

I emailed back:

I will sell you sample sizes of my products for $10 each.

I am eager to hear back from you!

So far, I haven't gotten a single check in the mail........

I never charge a customer until the order is boxed and ready to ship.

I'd charge back, let her know and drop it. Any more emails and you'd be pestering her. No reason for that.

Of course, everyone has their way of doing things. What I said is my opinion, of which everyone has one.

From what I've seen on various HP crockpot tutorials, it's 50 minutes or more in the crockpot, so an hour is little difference.

I use 8, 12, and 16 qt stainless steel pots. Normal size oven, I can fit 2 pots in at the same time. Rack on boittom level.

I never understand why people do HP in a crockpot. It's a hassle.

I make my HP this way...very easy!

Mix your lye solution, cool down. Melt your oils/butters. They don't need to cool down. Add your lye solution to the melted oils, add colors/herbs, stir with a stick blender until it's super thick. Put your SOAP POT in the oven at 190 degrees for one hour. Take the pot out of the oven, stir in your scents, plop into molds, bang the molds on the counter to even out the soap. When the soap is cool, take out of the molds. Use. Wa la!

No stirring, no bubbling over. No checking every 10 minutes, No hassling with "is it done yet?"

Easy clean up.

I've done HP for years and it's a no fail every time.

I think this is a twist on truth in advertising. To say that M&P is "100% handmade" is quite a stretch. Sure, they must have hand carried the block of m&p base, hand chopped off chunks, hand carried it to the microwave, hand poured it, hand taken it out of the mold.............

That kind of stuff I don't like - the stretching of the truth to fool people who don't have a clue.

Good question. I get notices when someone posts something on my personal page, but not on the business page.

Thanks! They have the shrink wraps for the exact oval deodorant containers I want, but not the containers themselves. I emailed and got an answer right away.

I would have laughed. No way would I have taken it back. There's good customer service and then there's allowing someone to walk all over you.

I have extremely good customer service and bend over backwards for people, but this is extreme to say the least.

And no, I wouldn't worry about word of mouth with this type of person. I have so many repeat customers who I cater to. Someone who bought one time 7 years, I wouldn't worry about.

If you're looking for essential oil.....

www.libertynatural.com

Colored and natural lip balm containers. I already looked up specialty bottle and sunburst bottle and they don't really have what I'm looking for. I'm looking for colors and natural.

Plus I'm looking for this, but a west coast source.

http://www.sks-bottle.com/340c/fin8i.html

I quit buying from sks last year as they were taking at least 2 weeks to get my order to me every time and I just can't wait that long during my busy season. Plus I had problems with their customer service.

I can find the teal lip balm containers from Oregon Trail, but they don't have the little deodorant type containers. I'm not looking for small oval lip balm tubes, but these deodorant containers.

It would be great to find one source for both to save on shipping. I can't stand paying shipping to 2 different places because I can't find what I need in one place.

TIA!