caryfh

oh, duh. Thanks. Brain not fully functioning today.

I started mine a while back and it was a pretty expensive process to get the site up and running, but now I just pay a fee each month for hosting, and I really can do anything I want with mine. As many products as I can imagine, as many pages as I want, and all of them can be easily modified to look the way I want, as if I was editing a word document. I use www.websiteforge.com. They also have a really good tech support, but again it costs more than other website companies, but in my opinion is well worth it because they don't have any limits and hidden costs, the way some of the other ones, like GoDaddy seem to. Here's my website www.westroadcandles.com and I just used a stock template (of which they have like 200) and customized it to look the way I wanted. Hope that helps. It's a big decision to make!! Cary

Sorry, what are cones? I was thinking I may play with different emulsifiers and perhaps drop the xanthan gum altogether.

I was testing out a face cream recipe, trying to get the consistency I like prior to modifying the recipe to include all the nice extras I wanted. I love the consistency (nice and thick) but when I first rub it on, it seems to feel slightly tacky/sticky, but then still absorbs nicely and feels great afterwards. Just wondering what I might change to help with this. Recipe includes 63% Water 4% Humectant (I used sodium lactate) 0.5% xanthan gum (I might have used 1% by accident?) 7% FCO 7% Sesame Oil 6% LotionPro 165 (Glyceryl Stearate (and) PEG 100 Stearate Emulsifier) 1.5% Vitamin E 1.5% cetyl alcohol Yes, I recognize that this doesn't add up to 100%, it's just the first 2 phases, but didn't feel the need to add in the last round (including preservative) if I don't love the way these act together. Is it perhaps too much xanthan gum? would adding dimethicone help?

Are you sure that all retail items have a shelf-life printed on it?? I looked around quite a bit and found that some items do, but it seemed to mostly be eye creams or sunscreens, etc., but that the scrubs and lotions and butters typically did not have this. And yes, you can pay to have your items stability tested for shelf life where they hold your samples at an elevated temperature for an extended period to determine how long it would last sitting at room temperature.

I have the same issues with huge costs for them to collect a package from me. If I load everything up and take it to a drop off location, I don't have to pay the fee, but for the convenience of them taking it from my doorstep it also costs me $10 per package!!! And that's not a monthly fee, that an "everytime I have something to ship and schedule a pick up" fee. Booooo!!!

Good luck with that. I buy my 8 ounce tins directly from All State Can, and you have to buy in large quantities to get them... something like 3 cases and/or a total cost of at least $1000. And the 8 ounce tins are priced significantly higher/tin than any of the others. I asked at one point why that was, but could never get a clear answer.

AHHHH!!! I take it back!! The Krylon spray I suggested... well, it makes the labels waterproof as I could hold it under the faucet and the label stayed perfect... but don't even think about rubbing your finger across it while wet! Rubs right off! Back to the drawing board for me. I'm far too impatient for the packing tape deal. Ended up resorting to that for the last batch of products I did. Perhaps that laminator is calling my name. hmmmm.

I let the wax cool a little while I got the dye and the kabob stick ready, but then I did the swirling pretty soon after. I think if I had been wanting darker streaks (thus more dye) I would have waited for the wax to start getting a little cloudy (cooled) before streaking, otherwise you will end up with pools of dye on the top of the candle, but since I went fairly light, it was fine to streak it will still hot.

I think I read about the streaking technique on here somewhere or maybe on the candletech website. What I did was to dip a toothpick or kabob stick into my dye, and then I put it in the wax that I had just poured into the mold, then I swirled it around a little. I was actually trying to make it look like waves, but what came out was the streaks.

I can't offer a great source, but you might do a better google search by looking for hydrosol or distillate water as those that I have used had the more technical names.

Anyone know of a source for a soap&lotion safe pumpkin creme brulee FO? I've come across a few, but they were all just for candles, and one on Rustic Escentuals (sp?) was use at 0.07%!! Wow, need a little more than that.

I was in the store the other day, and naturally I had to make a trip down the bath/body care aisle just to see what new stuff was out. I decided to look and see what other places were using to seal their containers... well apparently a lot of them don't use anything at all. I have been using these press and seal liners and was hoping to see what else was out there. How can these big manufacturers not seal their products?? I was able to open and look at the products on most of the ones at Walmart, especially. Don't they fear that customers will just dig their hands in? Yuck!!

If it sticks to you you're stuck with it. hahaha.

I still look for the "Preserve It" everytime I'm in a store that carries Krylon, but since the other stuff I grabbed seems to work well, I will just use up the can I have and then order the Preserve It. The only issue I have come across is that once you spray it on the paper, the edges curl up a little bit. This hasn't been an issue for me, since I just cut it to size and apply it to the jar/bottle, but if you are spraying it on small labels it may be more of an issue (I print my labels on full 8.5x11 sheets and then cut to size). I think the Preserve It stuff is better because it's intended to be used on old photos and paper, so it must have something in it to keep it from curling slightly. What did the fixative do? Did it just make it sticky? hahahaha. If that's the case, maybe you could add that too... then when a customer picks up your product, they won't be able to put it down.

I read that "Krylon Preserve It" was the stuff to get, but I can't find it anywhere that sells every other type of Krylon But I did find Krylon "Crystal Clear : Acrylic Coating 1303" and have used it to spray on my labels and thus far, they have proven to be waterproof. Sorry I can't get my hands on a picture right now, the cap looks kind of lightly frosted, the canister is white with gray print and the Krylon logo is red. Hope that helps.

I have some from www.clearbags.com I don't think they're exactly the same size as what you're looking for, but they do have them organized by dimensions, and they seemed to be the most reasonable when I was looking for boxes for my reed diffusers. Hope they have something that will work for you.

I got some unrefined from Columbus foods, and even with a little graininess initially, once I process it into my shea butter, no issues, and my last batch has been curing for a few days and still looks creamy and smooth. Have you tried just letting it cool slowly instead of trying to flash freeze it?

Sagescript Institute LLC is one place, and I actually just sent my stuff off to them to be tested. Some places do make testing kits you can do yourself, but I feel that I put so much energy into learning the ins and outs of my ingredients and formulations, that I don't wish to take on the project of doing my own testing.

I'm thinking perhaps I should have gone for the unrefined from Ghana. I'm pretty sure that was the type I had used prior to this order, and it still had a light shea smell, but nothing compared to this yellow stuff. Naturally, not wanting to waste it... I'm using half yellow and half refined shea in my recipes until it's used up, and then I'm going to be sure to select the unrefined from Ghana next time. I did manage to cover most of the strong yellow shea smell with a double dose of the FO, upping it to 2% total, but I'm not sure that technique would work so well with some of my other scent preferences.

I agree with KITN. I just perfected my formulations... and while I'm incredibly excited to start selling it, I'm forcing myself to be patient and have the bacterial/fungus/yeast & challenge testing done. I like to think of it from the standpoint of what I'm trying to provide to my customers. I want them to have a product that will make their skin better, and if I don't do the proper testing, and it ends up being loaded with nasty stuff, then am I really helping them? No. As for insurance, I'm waiting until the results of the testing comes back, and then I'm going to investigate whether some of these places will allow monthly installment payments instead of the yearly rate upfront. It is kind of costly in the beginning to get this stuff going, but I feel it would be more costly in the long run if I didn't do the leg work.

I had used some unrefined that was much more mild in the past, and thought this kind would be the same, but it seriously looks like the color of mustard. I called Columbus Foods to see whether their unrefined from Ghana was perhaps more of a tannish color, with less scent than their yellow. If that's the case I will either sell the unrefined I bought in the classifieds, or perhaps blend it with the milder version in my recipes.

Where are you getting your shea butter? I had purchased some unrefined from lotioncrafter.com, that seemed much milder than this batch that I ordered from Columbus Foods. The Columbus Foods one stated that it was yellow, but wow, they were really right. I'm wondering whether perhaps the type from Ghana is the more mild unrefined version. Have either of you tried that type? It's a lot of money to spend on a batch of it just to see what the difference is.

Sorry, so I guess the math on that works out to about 3%. Will give that a try and see if I can finally smell it.

I made up a batch of sugar scrub with it, which had a total weight of 1635g (including the sugar) and I used 17g of coconut lime FO (so approximately 1%). My supplier doesn't indicate a % for body products aside from Melt&Pour soap base, where it indicates keeping it to 1/2% per pound of base. Any thoughts on how that might translate into a scrub or lotion?