After a long weekend away to Portland and back, it’s hard to get in the swing of things. Not to worry, the mound of mail and stack of bills is enough to swing me right back into tempo.
Thankfully, I had a little “prize” at the end of my mail pile. Nahia Creations in Pullman, WA sent me a little care package with two beautiful soaps! The photo taken with my phone, on a messy desk, clearly doesn’t do the soap justice.
The custom stamp is an especially elegant touch. Shelley sent me Chocolate Espresso and Chai Tea, both made with Bramble Berry Cybilla Fragrances.
She also made my day by trying a recipe posted on the Soap Queen – “Sugar Scrubs the Bakima Way.” Over on her blog, she says: “I used White Tea & Ginger fragrance and it was *amazing*. (I think this might be my new favorite fragrance.) I also added rice bran and adzuki bean powder as an exfoliant (my favorite exfoliants). This actually turns out to be quite heavenly…”
Have you tried to make the scrub? If you did, we want to hear how it went!
Bramble Berry has new essential oils – Sage (Dalmation), Citronella, and Sweet Southern Birch.
Mosquito season is almost here so the Citronella essential oil is sure to come in handy. Remember, if you are making cold process soaps, now is the time to make your Skeeter Beeter Camping soaps. With cure time, summer will be almost here when your soap is ready to sell.
This week on the Soap Queen, I’ll finish up the lipstick tutorial and start on a fun springtime soap project. Expect a post this evening with more information on making your own lipstick at home.
Hi Erin –
Buy some Catnip EO and use it at .5% with the Bug Be Gone. I think you’ll be thrilled with the Catnip’s ability to really disturb mosquitoes. =)
A-M
Thanks for passing the info along to Bakima! We are very happy with her recipe!
And, we just received our Lotion Bar kit & “Bug Be Gone” essential oil. We’re making up a special order for a friend who owns a farm and is really BUGGED in the spring and summer! So, we’ll let you know how things turn out.
Thanks for all the wonderful products!
Steve & Erin
Jill, you’re right. The mark up on massage candles can be very um, healthy with the right marketing.
Erin and Steve, thanks for chiming in. Bakima will be thrilled! =)
Hello:
YES! My hubby and I tried making the sugar scrubbie (Bakima’s way), and we were very pleased with the results (THANKS BAKIMA!).
For the butters we used 1/2 Shea Butter,1/2 Macadamia Nut Butter. We used organic sugar and Apricot Seed Powder. And we scented with Wild Sarsaparilla.
Kind Regards,
Erin & Steve Whalen
Heavenly Scent Soaps
I’ve been wanting to make the massage candles but haven’t yet. For $48 for the bigger one that they carry, I am thinking I can probably make them for $2 each and sell them for what, $10 at least? That is some serious mark up.
Thank you for the shout out – Anne-Marie. I also tried the massage candles and absolutely loved them! I used the Day 3 recipe. (http://nahiacreations.com/blog/?p=356)
Thanks for all the inspiration!
I am considering going to Shop/08 in Seattle next week… maybe I will see you there.
Have a great week.
SJ