Milk and Oatmeal Ain't Just For Breakfast Anymore

Good Night All! I am writing this just 15 minutes before the New Year comes in. I am going to write briefly on Milk and Oatmeal Baths.

Milk baths have had their place in history from Egypt to Russia. Cleopatra is noted for her milk and honey baths. Poppea (Roman) and Catherine the Great to Pauline, Napoleon's sister, to the reign of Charles II nobility has fought aging tooth and nail. Milk has lactic acid which breaks down dead skin cells and allows new cells to appear quicker. Bathing in goat's milk may even alleviate arthritis pain.

For those who suffer from dry eczema to dry skin an oatmeal milk bath could provide wondrous relief. The gentle exfoliation of the powdered oats and Dead Sea salts will lift away dry and dead skin cells. The milk (goat's milk preferably) will help to break down the dead skins cells to be sloughed away in your bath. For those who don't have any nut allergies, almond meal would be a nice addition due to almonds being a natural moisturizer.

The following are additives that could make your bath a better experience..

Cornstarch - A natural healing agent that can soothe dry cracked skin.
Vitamin E - A natural moisturizer and skin repair agent.
Patchouli - Skin healing properties
Chamomile - Anti-inflammatory, Analgesic (pain reliever), Eczema reliever
Peppermint (not for use during pregnancy) - Anti-inflammatory, Circulation Stimulant
Geranium (not for use during pregnancy) - Calming, Anti-inflammatory
Bergamot - Eczema relief
Jasmine - Eczema relief
Lavender -  Eczema relief
Sandalwood - Eczema relief

These essential oils have many more uses but I have just listed a few.

*As some may already know check the expiration date on the package for milk before adding it to your bath. Also, as the consumer the onus is on you to make sure that you are educated about the ingredients and possible side effects.

Thank you for following me this year. Please continue with me on my adventures in 2013. Peace and love.

Soap Continued

Good Morning All!

I am sitting at my dad's lake house enjoying an overcast day.  Weird, I know but I am one of the few people in this world who doesn't care for bright sunshiny days. Anyway, I am going to continue to share with you my soaping follies.

 This beautiful mess was my first attempt at HP in the crock pot. I cooked it like The Soapmaking Handbook said to but you can see the results. It was Black Cherry from thechemistrystore.com. I didn't like the way that it came out so I put it back in the crock pot 2 days later and came up with this.

 This looks like some kind of volcanic sludge monster leaving her spore behind. Again, went waaayyy too much on the Black Oxide. However, what I was able to do was create Very Cherry Kamikaze soap. I use Japanese Cherry Blossom from thechemistrystore.com and then added the Black Cherry balls to it. I was hoping on a bright orange with black balls but ended up with a soft barely there peach with black balls.

 

 

Then there is the ever popular soap morph. Some oils will change the color of your soap. Clove turns your soap a light tan, Vanilla will turn it brown and Patchouli can turn the soap an off-white color. What I didn't realize is that some fragrance oils can do the same thing. Strawberry Kiwi from Bath and Body Supply will turn soap a dark brown color while it cures. So what started out a s beautiful magenta, forest green and tan turned to mud red, dirty grey green and brown.

 

 This is the before picture. I was too disgusted to take an after picture.

Now on to Crisp Ocean Breeze. This is a wonderful fragrance for men. I, of course, didn't use enough of it in my 4 lb batch so it only smells like an off vinegary scent but this is my year for experimentation. 2013 is when I will kick into high gear and get cracking on making all the soaps that went right.

 

 This is just a mess! I soaped too hot (129 degrees) and didn't take the time to mix the colorant in well. And this was the result. Thankfully practice has yielded better results from me.

 

 

 This is a simple Baby Rose (Bramble Berry) soap that I made. It was a really soft fragrance. My next batch was better scented. I will post that under the Pirates of the Caribbean inspired soaps. Next up is one that I will perfect next year for my Coffee Shoppe series. This one is Coffee Shoppe: Chocolate Almond Biscotti. The bar lost all color except for varying degrees of brown.

 

 This was my best seller from October to December. It will go on my website in March as a permanent fixture.

 

This last pic is of my soap balls from the Juniper Breeze, Lilac and Hawaiian Tropic soap that I made 2 weeks ago. I would always see pics of soaps topped with beautiful soap balls and wonder how they were made. Well by lurking in other blogs I was able to pic up on using the scraps to make soap balls while the soap is still malleable. They look wonderful and I have no idea as to what I am going to use them in but I am sure to find inspiration somewhere. Lastly, I will post my pics of the Juniper Breeze, Lilac and Hawaiian Tropic soap that riced on me. Floral fragrances should be soaped at room temp and quickly.

 

 

 Yes, those are sparkles on top.

 

Well, this is it for soaps until I have completed my Pirates of the Caribbean inspired soaps. If sales continue to pic up then I will be able to have them completed no later than the end of January. My next post will be on Milk baths and Oatmeal baths. Winter and allergy wonders, if you ask me. Take care and have a wonderful time celebrating the end of 2012 and ringing in 2013.

Soap Dilema

Good Afternoon All,

As I stated before that this blog isn't mainly about soap. That doesn't mean that I don't make soap. I just choose to focus on other bath and body products. So, what I plan to do is show you my evolution in soapmaking. I used to only dabble in Melt and Pour but this year I decided to mature and move on to creating soap using lye. So without further ado ....

 This is my first attempt at adding color to a soap. The fragrances are Lavender and Spanish Rosemary. I used waaay too much Black Oxide. I also tried to layer and then make a funnel swirl on top. The flash on the camera doesn't make it any better. Oh well on to the next disaster.

 

And this beauty in all of its faded glory is Lavender Lemon. I used some micas from Bramble Berry and as you can see they faded something terrible.

 

 

 So you can see the different soaps that I tried to create. The ones with red oxide are my Jasmine Dreams that went left on me in the mold. I will post a pic below of that heartache.

 

 

 This is the Jasmine Dreams in the shoe box mold that I had prepared. It poured just fine. It was wrapped just like any other of my batches. And here is what I got when I unmolded it and cut it.

 

 Ew! and then some. :( I had to rebatch this and got some really cool pics of it in the crock pot.

 

 Some of the suggested names from the Soaper's Retreat on Facebook were: Bloody Bully Beef Stew, Walking Dead, Zombie Vomit and Zombie Meatloaf. One of my dearest new Likers stated that I made her sick! :) I know that she wasn't being mean. I was a little taken aback by how gross this looked as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 This is it in the 2 lb mold.

 

 Cut pictures of the Zombie soap.

 

 

 This is my loaf of Shea and Mango butter soap. The loaf looks concave because some of it erupted out. I wrapped it really well and unfortunately either the Shea or Mango doesn't react well to insulation.

 

 Unscented Plain Jane soap bars. My best seller for some reason. The older generation really likes this one.

 

 Kentish Rain for Men. I was able to get the rain drop look in the soaps. I don't know if I will be able to duplicate this.

Well that is it for today but I will post more of my soaps later on in the week.

Let's Talk About Scents, Bay-Bee!

Good Night All!!

I am a week late in posting. Shame on me. Bad llama!! (Emperor's New Groove, for those who are scratching their heads) Okay, so I promised to explain my evolution with fragrances. My very first purchases were from Bath and Body Works, Bramble Berry, Cedar Vale and Bath and Body Supply. Plumeria was the most popular fragrance back in 2004. I did use single fragrances at first because I simply didn't know what to do. Eventually I branched out to JoAnn's, Hobby Lobby and Michael's to find Rosemary and Thyme, Sweet Pea, Jasmine Chamomile, Sun Ripened Fruit and Petal Mania. Each one was great but I wanted to do something different. I then went to the library and used book stores to find books on fragrance blending, perfume making and soap making.

I have learned so much since then. Even this year I found out that there is a Blood Orange essential oil. Wow! And it is divine let me tell you!! Essential oils are NOT to be trifled with. Even misused in a topical application can cause skin irritation and illness for some. Please don't ask me about the Lemongrass incident. I can still hear the nurse laughing at me!! :( 

Anyhoo, not all of my experiments worked out that well. Mostly when I am trying to come up with a blend I use Epsom salt as a base because it is virtually fragrance free and I can stir the oils as I add them and get a good idea as to what the end result will be.

Lavender Tang: 4 parts Lavender, 3 parts Lime and 2 parts Mandarin = Stinky mess. The lavender overpowered the Mandarin and the lime took on a tangy stink.

 

Citrus Fusion: 1 TBSP Lemon, 1 tsp Sweet Orange, 1/2 tsp Grapefruit and 1/2 tsp Sandalwood. One would think that this might actually smell good. Tart Lemong, Sweet Orange, Tangy Tart Grapefruit offset by Smoky Sensual Sandalwood, right? WRONG!! It is tart alright but not sweet and the sandalwood just makes it a mellow mushy scent. Sticking it in a body butter makes it worse for some reason.

Now I have found that:

Blood Orange smells fresh, fruity and tangy. It is purported to have antidepressant, antiseptic, antispamodic, carminative and aprhodisiac properties. It blends best with clary sage, cinnamon, clove, lavender, lemon, myrrh and nutmeg. ** Caution: it is phototoxic meaning that if you go out in the sun within 30 mins to 4 hours of application it could cause a person to burn easier.**

Pink Grapefruit smells sweet, tart and fruity. It is purported to ease muscle fatigue and stiffness, alleviate congestion and dissapates oily and acne prone skin. It blends best with cardamom, cypresss, geranium, lavender, rosemary and the entire citrus family. **Caution: it is phototoxic.**

Petal Mania smells sweet and slightly floral. It blends well with green apple, lavender, chamomile and jasmine. The best mediums for it are shower gels and MP soaps.

Okay, that is all for tonight. I will try to end each post with a few fragrances that I have researched and used.

Good Night All!!

I am a week late in posting. Shame on me. Bad llama!! (Emperor's New Groove, for those who are scratching their heads) Okay, so I promised to explain my evolution with fragrances. My very first purchases were from Bath and Body Works, Bramble Berry, Cedar Vale and Bath and Body Supply. Plumeria was the most popular fragrance back in 2004. I did use single fragrances at first because I simply didn't know what to do. Eventually I branched out to JoAnn's, Hobby Lobby and Michael's to find Rosemary and Thyme, Sweet Pea, Jasmine Chamomile, Sun Ripened Fruit and Petal Mania. Each one was great but I wanted to do something different. I then went to the library and used book stores to find books on fragrance blending, perfume making and soap making.

I have learned so much since then. Even this year I found out that there is a Blood Orange essential oil. Wow! And it is divine let me tell you!! Essential oils are NOT to be trifled with. Even misused in a topical application can cause skin irritation and illness for some. Please don't ask me about the Lemongrass incident. I can still hear the nurse laughing at me!! :( 

Anyhoo, not all of my experiments worked out that well. Mostly when I am trying to come up with a blend I use Epsom salt as a base because it is virtually fragrance free and I can stir the oils as I add them and get a good idea as to what the end result will be.

Lavender Tang: 4 parts Lavender, 3 parts Lime and 2 parts Mandarin = Stinky mess. The lavender overpowered the Mandarin and the lime took on a tangy stink.

 

Citrus Fusion: 1 TBSP Lemon, 1 tsp Sweet Orange, 1/2 tsp Grapefruit and 1/2 tsp Sandalwood. One would think that this might actually smell good. Tart Lemon, Sweet Orange, Tangy Tart Grapefruit offset by Smoky Sensual Sandalwood, right? WRONG!! It is tart alright but not sweet and the sandalwood just makes it a mellow mushy scent. Sticking it in a body butter makes it worse for some reason.

Now I have found that:

Blood Orange smells fresh, fruity and tangy. It is purported to have antidepressant, antiseptic, antispasmodic, carminative and aphrodisiac properties. It blends best with clary sage, cinnamon, clove, lavender, lemon, myrrh and nutmeg. ** Caution: it is phototoxic meaning that if you go out in the sun within 30 mins to 4 hours of application it could cause a person to burn easier.**

Pink Grapefruit smells sweet, tart and fruity. It is purported to ease muscle fatigue and stiffness, alleviate congestion and dissipates oily and acne prone skin. It blends best with cardamom, cypress, geranium, lavender, rosemary and the entire citrus family. **Caution: it is phototoxic.**

Petal Mania smells sweet and slightly floral. It blends well with green apple, lavender, chamomile and jasmine. The best mediums for it are shower gels and MP soaps.

Okay, that is all for tonight. I will try to end each post with a few fragrances that I have researched and used.

Body Polish and Other Yummies!

Good Evening! I am way over due for this post. I do apologize. **Excuse Alert** I was away for Thanksgiving and then cranking out product for my new display in Polish Distribution on St. Andrews Rd. Columbia (Irmo area). Today is my first chance to try out the Yuzu Body Polish.

Okay quick review: This is what it looks like. Thank you so much Coreen!!

My skin feels like silk!! Too bad no man to share it with. *heavy sigh* but that is for another blog.  I digress. The polish did just that; it sloughed off dry and dead Winter skin, even my tough to PedEgg heels. Yes, no cutting the sheets tonight!! The clean fresh fruity fragrance is strong enough to linger on the skin after my shower ended but not so overpowering as to give me a headache. Oh, Bad Wife Products has raised the bar on polishes and scrubs. Well played, Coreen. Well played.

I don't have anything else to review. This installment is a great tipping of my hat to Coreen of Bad Wife Products. Thank you so much for the great gifts.

I will publish more about how my line has evolved since 2004 in the next blog. Goodnight.

I love the Goodies!!

Hello!

I just got back in from the lake today and what did I receive?? Bad Wife Products!!!!! I was a winner last week.

What is it, you may ask? Well, just the finest li'l bag of joy!!!! Cherry Bomb vegan lip balm, Yuzu Body Polish and a mysterious but oh so deliciously scented soap.

 Goes on so smoothly!! Yes, I could not help but smack my lips together. I put it on at 8:20 p.m. and as I type this it is 9:35 p.m. and my lips are still moist. I have drank juice and eaten a Chocolate Mint Moon Pie in the duration. This is definitely a keeper!! As well as a standard order!!

Yuzu Body Polish. I had to show you that it looks as good on the inside as it does on the outside!! I cannot wait to use this!!! I have been seeking some relief for my dry itchy Winter skin. This shall do it!!!

Ah, CP soap!! I love the beautiful marbled swirls. When I pulled Coreen's package out of my mailbox I could smell the soap. Of course, I didn't know that it was the soap at that time but, yum!!! I absolutely love the stamp. I almost don't want to use it ... but I will get over it ;).
Okay, I just washed my hands with it about 5 minutes ago. The scent is still strong on my hands A+. It produced a great lather in lukewarm water A++. My hands have not dried out yet. AA+++++. This soap is a slam dunk!!

And how sick is this? I am keeping the tissue paper that it came wrapped in because it is still holding the fragrance of the soap!!!! I am loving this soap. During my next post I will supply the name of the soap as well as my review of the body polish. See you soon.

A Rose By Any Other Name, Usually Stinks

Last post I promised to tell about my fragrance crafting journey. When I first started it seemed to me that all homemade natural soaps and salts had Lavender and Chamomile and virtually nothing else to it. Um, ew! Back in 2004 Bath and Body Works (R) had a line where you could go in and purchase Ylang Ylang, Jasmine, Bergamot and Jasmine essential oils from their store. Hot diggity! I was on my way. I came home and promptly stared at my purchases wondering 'What in the world am I going to mix up?' Well, the answer was to test and test and test until my nose was clogged and I couldn't blink without water gushing from my eyes. In the end, I realized that I needed more information on the subject. To the Internet, Robin!! Okay, not really but you understand.

 

I was introduced to Vanilla, a fragrance I still hate to this day, Patchouli (barf!), Honeysuckle (summers running in the grass bare foot), Gardenia (spring and summers at Auntie's house) and Plumeria (strong, but it was the buzz fragrance for 2004). But I wasn't satisfied or excited. So, I dipped further into my wild side, and wallet, and purchased Green Apple, Orange Blossom, Strawberry Kiwi and Orange from Bath and Body Supply; Pink Grapefruit, Spearmint and Tea Tree from Cedar Vale; and Frankincense and Myrrh from Bramble Berry. What I found is that I really have a knack for mixing E.O.s together and blending F. and E. O.s together. I must admit that I was pretty selfish back then and only made fragrances that appealed to me and me only. That is not to say that others didn't care for them, I just didn't care if they did or not because I made my items with myself and daughter in mind. That changed.

 

What I have found is that:

 

Vanilla and Gardenia are great for taking the acrid pungency out of Patchouli (less than 3 years old) and Basil.

Bergamot, Lime and Gardenia make a wonderful starter fragrance to add to any other E. O.

Tea Tree is fine by itself, no really, it is.

English Rose is great to pair with Patchouli and Blood Orange.

Peach is very versatile and can be paired with any pungent fragrance (Basil, Frankincense or Tea Tree) and will make it more palatable.

 

*Patchouli actually smells better the older it is.

 

Again, back during my oh-so-misguided era of thinking that handwritten labels were a good idea. I offered Cool Water for Men body oils and such names as 'Invigoration' and 'Mediation'. Oh, boy! *smacks forehead*

 

I learned to keep my labels closer to what was actually in it like Lemongrass, or Invigoration: Basil and Lime. Anyway, that is it for now. I have been away for so long due to getting my Holiday Orders out. You can receive your order by 12/1/12 if you pay in full by 11/15/11. Until next time.

Buddah Baby!

So I promised from my last post that I would get more into the body butters that I created in the beginning. It was very touch and go. At first I used unrefined Cocoa Butter, Grapeseed Oil, Sweet Almond Oil and unrefined Shea Butter. Okay, so CB doesn't cool as fast as the other butters out there. So once I melted it using the double boiler method I waited for close to 3 hours for it to go from liquid amber to cloudy to almost solid. I will have to mention that I fell asleep during this waiting period and was deeply chagrined to wake up to find my butter solid, AGAIN! Arg! Okay, so this time I popped it in the microwave for 2 mins and then took it out to whisk with the SAO and Grapeseed Oil. During the whisking phase I had to remelt the unrefined Shea.

What I was not ready for was how grainy the Shea would become once it started to harden. Ew! Not to worry just whip, whip, whip it back to a smooth consistancy.

Not too shabby but it was hard to scoop back out and didn't melt on the skin with any light rubbing. Oh no! You had to really knead and massage to get it to melt. Now, flash forward 8 years and I discovered that if I melted my butters and then placed them in the freezer for 2 - 5 minutes they began to solidfy quicker. Oh boy! Now mama's cooking with gas! Out of the freezer they come, to the counter with the oils waiting and drizzle and whip with an electric mixer. Stop! Place back in the freezer because even though the oils and butters are thoroughly mixed there is a little extra moisture. 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 minutes, out they come back to the counter for a 3rd whipping ... er, um nevermind, and in goes the e.o. or f.o. to finish it off. Yay! A supple buddah!!

 

 

Yes, back in the day I thought that handwritten labels would look 'homy-er' yeah the just looked 'homlier' instead. Oh, well live, learn and apply.

 

Up next, a review of my fragrance creating journey. There are some doozies and some that I have absolutely loved over the years. Occasionally I will retire one and try out another. Other times I lease out my fragrances to spas and massage therapists.

The Good, the Bad and The Fancy

So, last post I was explaining why I got started. Now to the why. Where I was living there were many young kids suffering with skin allergies and their parents didn't want them hopped up on an Rx cocktail either. We pooled our collective home remedies and I created some soothing bath salts:

Lavender E. O.
Chamomile E. O.
Epsom Salts
Vitamin E Oil
Grape Seed Oil
Ground Steel cut Oats

There was a sigh through Maryland that next morning. Our kids woke up with nary a scratch or bleeding limb. It worked! On to the internet for more information!! I looked and looked and tested new ideas and older ones. Thankfully after 2 weeks of oatmeal baths and oatmeal soaps my daughter's skin cleared up. Honestly after the first night she had stopped itching. But the bumps and dry skin remained.

Chamomile is soothing to the skin and the mind. Bathing with that at night helped to calm her from the day's activities. Lavender is known for soothing ailing skin and relaxing a person also. Vitamin E is great for moisturizing and repairing skin. Epsom salts can be used as a mild exfoliant.

This is my first oatmeal and honey soaps. I known it says Lemongrass in the upper left hand corner but the label is for soaps out of the picture. These first bars were made with the massage bar molds to give added exfoliation to the skin. That and the kids thought they were really cool. Gotta love the little ones. :) I haven't made anymore like these because thankfully my daughter has outgrown her allergy and I keep her stocked in body butter. That is what my next post will be about. The joys of buddah.

First Blog Ever

I am really excited and nervous to start my own blog. Do I have anything that is new to say about home spa products? Will anyone listen or even care? I don't know. This isn't just about making soap. This is a chronicle of my journey into making spa quality products for home use. What started my on my journey was my daughter was misdiagnosed with eczema. She was prescribed some heavy creams (an awful sticky mess) and steriod cream. I did not want my baby at that age of 4 on steriods. So, what was a young inexperienced first-time mom to do? I did like any other rational person. I called home in hysterics so my mom could make it all better.

She reminded me of oatmeal baths taken and aloe slathered all over my once itchy skin. So, after picking her brains for an hour I called one of my other aunts and she expanded my knowledge.