Tune in to Martha Stewart Radio (Sirius112 and XM 157) at 11:30 a.m. PST/2:30 p.m.EST this coming Tuesday (just 1 day away as in, tomorrow!) to talk about some fun Winter projects. I’m taking live callers so give us a jingle. I’m excited to answer your questions LIVE! 1-866-675-6675.
Wondering where your tan is this late in the season? Well, with all the snow comes the dreaded plague: Pasty White Leg Syndrome. Couple that with holiday parties that demand a no-nylons, open-toed-shoe look and you have the makings of a veritable disaster on your hands, or erm, legs. Fear not! We’ve got you covered … in this case, with shimmer bronzer that you can make yourself!
Get everything you need in the click of a button!
ONE: Melt the perfume base in the microwave on 30 second intervals. Once the base is a liquid, mix in the 5 ml of Coconut Citrus Sorbet and 1 tablespoon of your bronzer. Mix well. On a side note, Coconut Citrus Sorbet is like a tropical vacation. It will bring you out of the haze of dreary winter weather!
Alternate Bronzing Recipe: You don’t have to get the Foundation Kit to make your own bronzer. Check out this fun recipe!
TWO: Pour the mixture into your push tubes and leave a little room in the top (about 3/4″), saving a little of the mixture, just under 1/2 ounce. We’ll come back to it. Let the shimmer sticks cool for about 5 minutes.
THREE: Five minutes later…Do you see the hole in the middle of the shimmer stick? Don’t worry, that’s totally normal and caused by the wax cooling at different temperatures. Melt the remaining mixture and pour it on top of the depression or whole (and no one will ever know it was there).
Variation: Is the Dark Bronzer recipe might be a little too dark? Try the medium or light recipe from the mineral make up book.
Application: Rub the shimmer stick on your legs, arms and decolletage for a moisturized and shimmered look!
Hi, I own a boutique and would love to make my own line of soaps and lotions. I really don’t know where to start. Help!!!
Glad to hear you’re thinking of getting into the soaping biz! J It is a pretty enormous undertaking (yet it’s totally worth it!). First things first, what kind of soap are you looking to make?
Here’s a great place to start for Melt and Pour Soapmaking:
https://www.brambleberry.com/Melt-Pour-Soaps-W1C146.aspx
and for CP soap:
https://www.brambleberry.com/Cold-Process-Soaps-W2C146.aspx
and lotions:
https://www.brambleberry.com/Lotion-W6C146.aspx
Since you’ve already got a boutique where you can sell your soap, the next step would be to look into all the legalities. This book is great for no-nonsense advice about what is required for labeling and selling cosmetics:
https://www.brambleberry.com/Soap-And-Cosmetic-Labeling-Book-1-Book-P3663.aspx
Each state has different requirements for taxes, business licenses, and that kind of thing. This information will be available from your state government on the internet.
I’d also recommend reading the Business Musings in the Soap Queen blog:
http://www.soapqueen.com/category/business/
You might also want to check out the Handcrafted Soapmakers Guild or the Indie Beauty Network, they have a lot of awesome resources, and they also offer insurance (always a good idea!)
Hi, so i was thinking of making body wash products and lotions containing chocolate in them, as chocolate is packed with antioxidants but my question is my body wash would contain milk(soy or cows) and melted Dark chocolate. so will phenonip work for this? i remember reading somewhere that phenonip is inactive for some non-ionic compounds like polysorbate 80, etc, i really need your help here, so the chocolate or milk wont inactivate it right? are chocolate and milk non-ionic? ,
Thnx in Advance =)
Aasif
I think I just answered your question on another post. Here’s what I said…
“Phenonip will be great in your lotion recipe and will prevent mold and bacteria from growing. However, it will not prevent any organic ingredients from going bad (so your milk and melted chocolate will eventually go bad even with the phenonip). With milk in your lotion it will probably only last 4-6 weeks regardless of of the preservative you add. I hope this helps!”
Courtney from Bramble Berry
I’m all over the blog tonight! :o) Does this give a really obvious color or just a shimmer like some of the lotions you see at the holidays? I’d love to make a holiday glamour shimmer but not necessarily a bronzer. Any suggestions for that?
It’s more of a shiny shimmer – just a tinch tinch tinch of color but it’s very subtle. You could do a little more Super Pearly White mica to lighten up the color or do some Sparkle Gold mica to make it more gold-y sparkly. =)
Were you using Bramble Berry mica?
Hi, i had a go at making these shimmer sticks but as bars, i found that my shimmer powder settled to the bottom and not sure how to stop this or make it so it doesnt do this, can you help ann-marie
lv Debi x x
You could do a really nice simple one with:
25% Beeswax
50% Butter
25% Liquid Oil
If that’s too soft for you, decrease the Butter by 5% and increase the wax by 5%.
BrambleBerry.com happily ships to the UK. If you get together with your friends and do a bulk order, shipping gets more cost effective the heavier the package is =)
Hello, I would love to try this recipe but I’m all the way in the UK. Please could you recommend a recipe for making the perfume base from scratch because none if our suppliers here carry any. Thank you.