Reg

I was out of the soap/cosmetics loop for almost a year, and just read one thread that mentioned pop micas were discontinued. Is this true? If yes, why?

Thank you everybody! I ordered cyclomethicone (hoping it ships soon).

Here's my story: my daughter has long hair, down to her waist (she is 3 y.o.), and recently her hair started tangling up horribly. I tried using detangling sprays that are made for kids, and they don't help. I tried braiding her hair overnight, and that helps some for nighttime tangles, but not 100%. During the day I try to keep her hair in a ponytail, but the elastic still slips off over time (or my dd takes is out) and her hair still tangles. Now I need to invent some sort of conditioner or concoction to help hair stay tangle free. I prefer more natural stuff if there is an option. But I was thinking of adding a "slippery" ingredient to her current hair conditioner (I use natural organic baby conditioner). What I don't understand is what happened to her hair? It never tangled like that before. Now if I don't braid/tie her hair right away after combing (and she absolutely hates combing), in about 30 minutes she starts getting dread locks. HELP!

Do they ever do free shipping or at lest 10% off you purchase (or something like that). I am willing to wait if something like this appears closer to holidays.

Wanted to place an order, and was blown away by the shipping price. Does anybody know of any current promo codes form them? I want to offset the shipping a bit.

I was just thinking about that this morning. I use BE as well and yesterday placed an order to replenish my makeup bag. It is pricey. I'll be watching this thread, too. If I find any information, I'll let ya' know.

eta: Just wandered out to the TKB site. They have a section with different bases and ingredients to make mineral makeup. Haven't looked for recipes on there yet. Might be a place to start.

J

TKB has lots of info, thanks!

like I need another hobby, but it just won't leave my mind. I want to make my own mineral makeup (love BE stuff, wish I could buy every item they have). Finally decided that it would be a lot cheaper and more fun to make my own. Are there good sites with tutorials/recipes, and decent-priced suppliers? I found some info on WSP, just a few recipes, and that's it so far. TIA!

wow, that's expensive now that we can sort of make our own...

Yes, it is expensive, that's why I really wanted to make my own. So far I lived on samles (every time I went to Sephora, or BE boutiqe, I'd ask for a sample).

I was wondering how you would package a dry mask mix though. I was thinking a 2 oz jar with a small plastic scoop tied to the side with organza ribbon to make it pretty? I was thinking that baggies would make it look like something else...

any packaging advice?

Weirdly enough Bare Escentuals has it in a plastic bottle, the kind you would put liquids in, see the link:

http://bareescentuals.com/RareMinerals%20Renew%20Reveal%20Facial%20Cleanser/42175,default,pd.html?start=1&cgid=BE_CLEANSE

Their stuff is pretty "flowy", maybe that's why they had to put all the fillers in. But the jar with a small scoop sounds like a nice idea.

This seems like an overqualified Dry Mask mix to me.

If you search for Dry Masks you'll see that they are based

on clays with powdered goodies and powdered scrubbies

into the blend. An upside to the Dry Mask mix is that you can

mix with water OR honey, yogurt, milk, fruit or veg puree, juice

or any liquidish substance depending on your preferences.

Dry Masks can be thin and just a cleanser or thicker as well..

a mask.

I looove Dry mask mixes.

Here's one of my fave basic ones:

Pink Kaolin Clay 75%

powdered Coconut Milk 22%

powdered oatmeal 3%

I like adding honey, or pureed cucumbers or avocados to

mine for a facial. If just cleaning and exfoliating i add water.

Just a different outlook on it.

I agree that there are alot of fillers in the Bareminerals one.

That sounds like a mini spa! I like the idea of adding fruit and veggies to it. I didn't even know that powdered coconut milk existed. Thank you!

I learned so much on this board, love it!

The only ingredients that come to mind are baking soda and hydrogen peroxide.. those are often used as skin brighteners, baking soda because it lightly exfoliates, making your skin brighter. Perhaps you could mix some into the bar... I really am not sure what that would do though. I havent tried it..

benzoyl peroxide brightens skin, and is found in some OTC detergent bars, im not sure about adding it to standard soap.. i wouldnt even know where to source it.

this bar brightens skin.. its sold as an "acne" bar but it lightens/brightens as well... http://www.dermstore.com/product_PanOxyl+Bar+10%25_945.htm

Active Ingredients: 10% Benzoyl Peroxide

Inactive Ingredients: Cetostearyl Alcohol, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Corn Starch, Glycerin, Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Mineral Oil, PEG-14M, Silicon Dioxide, Sodium Potassium Lauryl Sulfate, Titanium Dioxide, Water

That "acne" bar cracks me up. Maybe I am wrong, but when I was a teenager, I remember reading all about acne and such, and it said that benzoyl peroxide is drying to the skin (therefore use it on the pimles directly, not all over the face), and mineral oil plugs up the pores (causing more pimples).

Back to the topic, woud anything exfoliating be skin brightening as well?

I also make some "liquid soap" from it, I just crumble up or grate some of the cut-offs, and put it in an empty foaming soap botte from bath and body works, fill it up with distilled water and add a couple of drops of essential oil. Give it some time to dissolve (swirls gently once in a while), and viola - foaming hand soap! I don't measure anything out, so I don't have a recipe for it, I just throw some in and see how it turns out (add more water or soap if I am not satisfied). Since foaming soap is pretty runny, it doesn't take much actual soap to make it.

hmm... well the first things that jumped out at me... kaolin clay as the first ingredient... rice starch (just a filler I'd think...).. tapioca starch.. same thing kinda (although I've seen that in other face masks)... sodium bicarbonate (baking soda).. citric acid.. canola oil?!?.. colloidal oatmeal...

I'd start with a mix of kaolin, baking soda, citric acid, and tapioca starch (you can get this from the healthfood store or in some large store's bulk sections)

Because this is intended for the face... maybe keep the citric to less than 10% (it could be harsh in levels over that), the baking soda to less than 15% (again, could be harsh), and go from there. It sounds like a bath bomb recipe almost. I have considered making a powdered cleanser, but thought about adding SLSA, for more "bubbles" because while citric will fizz, it wont "foam".

The ingredients look pretty nice and legit.. I add baking soda to my facial cleanser once a week to give my skin a nice brightening polish.

Thank you for your reply!!!

Is tapioca starch a lot different then corn starch?

I've been checking out bare minerals a lot lately, and finding ideas that I want to try. I got a sample of their cleanser which was in a powdered form (you just mix it with water to use). I really liked how it worked on my skin, it really gets rid of the blackheads for me, and it's not drying. Did anyone ever make anything like that?

Here's a link to bare minerals one:

http://bareescentuals.com/RareMinerals%20Renew%20Reveal%20Facial%20Cleanser/42175,default,pd.html?start=1&cgid=BE_CLEANSE

And it can double as a mask if you make it thicker consistency.

Any idea what key ingredients to use to make a basic formula?

Okay, so the Burts Bees is a cream, not a lotion. So the water content is going to be between 60-70% (probably more towards 60). Let's look at the ingredients:

Water,

sesamum indicum (sesame) seed oil, - emollient

glycerin, - humectant

ricinus communis (castor) seed oil, - emollient

stearic acid, - thickener

royal jelly, - optional/omit (jury is still out on this & it's pricey)

kaolin, - clay, thickener

fragrance, - rarely at more than 1%

Everything after the fragrance is 1% or less of the product, and can be omitted (except the preservative, of course)

aloe barbadensis leaf juice, - use at 1%

lecithin, sucrose distearate, - lecitihin at 1%, thickener

sodium borate, - borax, omit (skin sensitizer)

xanthan gum, - use at 1% or less, thickener

sodium lactate, - humectant

chlorophenesin, phenoxyethanol - preservative at manufacturer's recommendation

You can omit the extracts and not notice it in the viscosity of finished product: (prunus serotina (wild cherry) bark extract, pollen extract, mentha viridis (spearmint) extract, betula alba (birch) bark extract, arctium lappa (burdock) root extract,sucrose stearate,)

So if we take out the extracts and fillers, we have a basic cream consisting of water, sesame oil, glycerin, castor oil, and a sprinkling of clay, aloe, lecithin, xantham gum, and preservative. As a starting point you might try:

Water 65%

Oils at 10-20%

Glycerin at 3%

Sodium Lactate at 1-2% (any more than this is photo-sensitizing)

E-Wax at 3-5%

Stearic Acid at 2-3%

Aloe at 2% or less

lecithin at 2% or less

xantham gum at .5-1%

Clay at .5-1%

Preservative and fragrance at manufacturer's recommendation

These are just figure off the top of my head, so you'll need to play with them to make it equal 100%. This might be too thick or thin, but it's a place to start. Good luck and let me know what you come up with!

Thank you! I had no idea where to start (because I never made a face cream before), so I was not sure what's omitable, and what the proportions should be. Looks like I need to get some more ingredients before I can start my experimenting.

One question, do I use aloe gel or juice or some other form of it?

My granddaughters eczema cleared using my handmade soap. She can't use bubble bath or anything like that. I make her pretty unscented soap that is 75% OO and 25 % PKO. I add 2 oz of cream in place of 2 ounces of the water. My dil was amazed, the creams etc didn't work but the soap did.

I also remember reading that OO soap would help crear up eczema (I think that person said they used extra virgin OO to make their soap,I don't know if that makes a difference)

I like Burt's Bees (for cooler weather)

http://www.burtsbees.com/natural-products/face-moisturizers/radiance-day-creme.html

And Bare Minerals (in summer)

http://bareescentuals.com/RareMinerals%20Purely%20Nourishing%20Moisturizer%20and%20NEW%20Active%20Triple%20Treatment%20Eye%20Cream/600026,default,pd.html?start=4&cgid=BE_TREAT

And since I started making my own stuff, I wonder if it's possible to replicate these at home. Both of these list their ingredients online, but I would have no idea how much of what to use, and which ingredients would be optional (not even sure what some of them are)

I saved this recipe from a book I had checked out from the library recently (I can find out the name of it if you need it). I haven't made these myself, so I have no idea if this would clump at all, but the recipe is small enough to try this out without wasting too much in case you don't like it. Also I don't know what concentrated sea salt is, never heared of it before.

Stress-Relieving Bath Salts

1cup (237 ml) Epsom salts

¼ (59 ml) cup concentrated sea salt

1 (5 ml) teaspoon sweet almond oil or apricot kernel oil

A few drops of lavender or other relaxing scent (optional)

Mix the salts together, then stir in the almond or apricot kernel oil, a few drops at a time, until it’s evenly distributed. Add the essential oil if desired. Use ¼ cup (59ml) of salts per bath, adding them under running water.

Shelf life is 2 to 5 months.

I do a massage butter with cocoa and shea butters, cocoa powder, and milk chocolate FO - melt, mix in cocoa powder, strain out the powder, add milk chocolate FO, and let it cool in the fridge for an hour (I like to stir every fifteen minutes to keep it softer). It is truly decadent and wonderful. I don't have the formula with me, but I know there are some similar recipes floating around the net. The hard part is to remember not to eat it!

I have never experienced any stickiness with chocolate in a product, but I keep the percentage small.

I am drooling here just reading the ingredients!

Next time you make a batch, skip the FO and add a bit of sugar, and you can probably eat it OK now, I'll probably have to go search for the food grade cocoa and shea butters...

Almost forgot, thanks for the tips on cooling! I haven't done much of B&B stuff, so it's nice to know the tricks ahead of time.

Why not also true natural cocoa butter. it has that yummy chocolate smell!

Actually cocoa butter is what making me want to put chocolate in the product to give it a little more chocolatines (more smell and more color without chemicals).

I have never tried using glycerin in bath salts, but like the PP said, glycerin attacts moisture. What is the purpose of glycerin in this recipe, is it to make it a bit moisturizing? I wonder if using a light oil instead would work better. I know I've seen recipes that called for some light oil .

I am not an expert here, but table salt usually has some sort of anti-caking agent (look at the ingredients on your table salt, and most of the time you'll see at least one more ingredient besides salt). My understanding is that anti-caking agent prevents salt from absorbing moisture (which is supposedly why it's not good for you to consume). I was grocery shopping today and saw a box of pickling salt, so I had to inspect it. It claimed that it has no other stuff, just salt, but it did not have an official list of ingredients on the package at all.

What is in your recipe that it gets that wet? I only made bath salt once, and it was epsom salt, sea salt, a few drops of food coloring and a few drops of essential oil, then shake well. Nothing clumped, and nothing was moist in that concoction. I am just curious, but you don't have to tell me if that is your trade secret.

I want to make something with chocolate for my frined's birthday. So if I wanted to add chocolate to things like body butter or lotion bar (all oils, no water), do I need a preservative, or something like vitamin E would be sufficient? And should I add cocoa powder or bakers semi-sweet chololate or something else?

TIA!

Shea tends toward graininess. There are a lot of theories as to why, but it seems mostly do do with temperature variations. Some people recommend heating and holding at a certain temperature, some recommend quick cooling, tempering like chocolate, etc. A lot of people use Butter EZ from Lotioncrafter for a portion of their butters, which is designed to help with this problem. I use the ultra-refined High-Melt Point Shea from MMS in my shea-heavy products, and haven't had a problem with grainies since using it. Sometimes shea grains, sometimes it doesn't. You just have to play around and find what works for you!

Thank you! I guess I'll play with it. I use unrefined shea because I want my products to be as natural as possible (I don't sell), and I actually like the smell of unrefined shea to the point that I want to eat it, but the label on the container says, "external use only":(

I made some body butter just recently (shea butter, almond oil, and corn starch), and I did notice a little graininess. At that point I chucked it up to the starch, but I guess it is shea that's doing it.

I re-melt all the time. Go for it! Be gentle with your shea so it doesn't go grainy, but you should be fine.

What would cause shea to become grainy? (I am cluless here)