Tutorials on soapmaking, bath fizzies, lotions and more
I had a rewarding evening last night. After work, I went to yoga. Afterwards, I felt strong and zenlike.
Since my dear husband was busy, I knew I could turn our kitchen into my private soapmaking studio. Bramble Berry is testing for some new non-bleeding colorants so I had plenty of stuff to play with.
Plus, we received some new adorable flexible soap moldsand they were calling out for some TLC playtime.
While testing out the new (hopefully non-bleeding colors), I built the simple layers for the owls and daisies. The detail work is nothing like Otion Soap Teacher PJ’s but since my attention span is on par with a toddler’s, I was happy that I managed to have different color eyes for my owl.
The daisies also came out cute though the yellow in the top right daisy? It speckled during testing so it won’t be added to our line up.
Out of all the colors I tested, there was a clear winner in the Non-Bleeding Red color so expect Bramble Berry to add it to our line up in the next few months.
On a recent Mother’s Day Lip Balm post, commenter Spankinart, asked:
“I notice is there are holes in the lip balm tubes..I always get this and can’t figure out why..I top it off after it cools a little and still get those holes..Any tips on how to avoid those holes in the lip balm tubes?”
When you make lip balm or home made lipsticks, a main ingredient is wax (typically beeswax). Beeswax contracts as it cools down. This means that the total volume of balm shrinks in size. If you have poured product into a lip balm tube, the contraction is especially pronounced because of the small opening.
Additionally, the design of chapstick tubes exacerbates this shrinking tendency. Lip balm tubes work by “screwing” the lip balm up and out of the container. There is a little cup at the bottom of the lip balm tube that runs up and down a center screw-like pole to force the balm out of the tube. As the balm settles and cools, it fills in the circumference of the screw, causing more of a drop in the middle of the balm.
While you cannot get rid of shrinkage entirely, there are a few ways to minimize shrinkage:
1. Cool Temperatures – The cooler your lip balm base is when you pour it, the the more dense it will be. Cooler temperatures help to prevent the divot in the top of your lip balm pots and tubes.
2. Use a knife – In the photo below, we used a knife to cut the top of the lip balm for a smooth even look.
3. Use a lip balm tray – allows for easy pouring of 50 lip tubes at a time. Because the tray allows for overfilling and scraping, the divoting will not happen.
4. Top-Off – When you make a custom color of lip balm, save some of your colored balm for topping off the hardened chapstick tube with a dropperful of melted balm.
Bramble Berry has the labels pictured above available for free download here. Over on the MetaFilter forum, there is an interesting discussion labeling your lip balm. Click here to go see it. If you want to make lipstick like the photos above, click here and here to go to the multiple part tutorial on making your own lipstick.
There is an interesting post over at the Indie Business Blog about marketing and buzz building. The synopsis of the post is that Edison did not invent the light bulb. He was just simple better at marketing it. Click here to read the entire post and learn some helpful suggestions for branding and buzz marketing your business.
Check out these cute polymer clay magnets I just purchased.
I think they will look adorable embedded in a super clear bar of soap. Or maybe I’ll use them for their intended purpose – as actual magnets.
I love the extra little touch of personality that owner Afi included on the packaging – a sculpted clay flower and a hand drawn cupcake cartoon on the envelope! It certainly made me smile and appreciate the effort.
Buy your own set of sweet foody magnets at JooJoo’s Etsy Shop here.
Whoops! When I posted the final Mother’s Day Soap photos yesterday, I forgot to mention that the custom Rose Mold is on sale for $7.70. It is made out of a flexible silicone-like plastic which helps with ease of unmolding.
Click here to see all of the Monthly Specials. There are also special Mother’s Day labels available for download to match the lip balm and soap projects at the linkas well.
If you missed the instructions on making this soap, you can find them here.
This is three layer gold-veined, cold process soap created for the Bah-Humbug 6 swap that was made by Denise in PA. I’m using this bar in my shower right now and I love gold vein between the white and burgundy colors.
If my Nike monitor doesn’t record my run, does it still count?
I was *so* bummed when my friend Heather and I went running yesterday morning and my Nike monitor only recorded 2 miles of our 5 mile run. I felt deflated, like I hadn’t actually run a decently paced five mile run.
Seeing my run all efficiently calculated by my Nike jog helper makes me feel satisfied and cha-ching, euphoric.
Studies are now showing that there really is something to a “Runner’s High.” Scientists have finally proven that there are endorphins released during running! The article about the study was published in the NY Times. Click here to read it.
Unfortunately, everyone in the study ran a full 2 hours before they were tested so for those of us short distance runners, the jury is still out on whether we get anything besides a feeling of accomplishment, love of nature, healthy heart and a fit physiqueout of the deal. But hey, those results are still a great deal (with or without the endorphins!).
Thank you to Soap Queen commenter, Charity, for pointing out that Martha is doing cupcakes this week! Hooray for Martha. Boo Hiss for the caloric overkill I feel coming on.
Martha is also doing a Cutest Cupcake Contest and so far, there’s over 350 entries, including this adorable Pirate Treasure cupcakes by by Martha Stewart Online Weddings Editor, Erin Wylie. Think you have a cute cupcake to upload? Hurry! You have until April 4th to enter for the Cutest Cupcake Contest.
I received a note yesterday from a Soap Queen reader who noted that I hadn’t clarified the amount of color in the recipe posted yesterday. She was a concerned that I was turning Mom’s lips blue, or green or just an unflattering tone of Apricot.
She has a point. Moms all over America getting green colored, Passionfruit Rose lip balm might be a wee bit worried about the color of their lips.
Fear not. The green, blue and apricot won’t turn your lips the shade of a bruise without extreme amounts of mica and titanium dioxide added to the mixture.
What’s “extreme“? In order to turn your lips any sort of shade of smurf blue, you’d need at least 5 to 6 Tablespoons of Cellini Blue and 1 Tablespoon of Titanium Dioxide in 2 ounces of lip balm base. Adding just teensy bits of color will only provide an interesting look and variation to your balm. In order to really make lipstick, you need a lot of color.
To achieve the colors below, it doesn’t take much color – one quarter teaspoon of color in an ounce of lip balm will get you a nice color without staining or coloring the lips.
Soap Queen commenter, Love Michie, asked: “Is it possible to flavor each layer individually?”
This is a *great* idea! You can easily individually flavor and color layers for a unique blend or to make four lip balms in one.
If you missed my lipstick tutorial from February, you can head here to learn more about making a lipstick.
by weight:
.5 oz. Cocoa Butter
.5 oz. Coconut Oil
.6 oz Olive Oil
.6 oz. Avocado Oil
.5 oz. Beeswax
.5 oz. Mango
Flavor: Passionfruit Rose Flavor
Colors: Cellini Blue, Cellini Red, Apricot Blush and Shamrock Green
Containers: Heart & Daisy lip balm pots and chapstick tubes
Step One: Melt the Beeswax, Avocado Oil and Olive Oil in a double boiler. As proven during the microwave-blowing-up-incident, beeswax takes prolonged heating time not well suited for microwaves.
Step Two: When the beeswax mixture has been fully melted, slowly add small chunks of Cocoa Butter. The smaller the chunks, the easier the melting will be. Stir, stir, stir until the Cocoa Butter is melted. If the Cocoa Butter simply refuses to melt, heat on very small spurts in the microwave or double boiler.
Step Three: Add the Mango Butter and Coconut Oil and stir until all the chunks are melted.
Step Four: Add the flavor, Passionfruit Rose (or another lip safe flavor). Suggested usage rate is 1-2% by weight or to taste.
Step Five: Add lip safe color. Mix in well.
Step Six: Pour the colored and flavored balm into your choice of containers. We used Chapstick Tubes and the Daisy and Heart lip butter pots for this Mother’s Day lip balm project.
Optional Steps:Layers! Prepare each lip balm color separately. We used Cellini Red, Apricot Blush, Cellini Blue and Shamrock green.Once the colors are prepared and flavored, use a dropper and pour layers.
Tip: Are you having a hard time getting rid of those little holes in the middle of your lip balm tubes? Check out this quick-fix post!
This video was taken from our bedroom window. The snowflakes came down big and fat for hours. We even went on a snowy hike in waterproof boots. It was magical, with only white as far as our eyes could see.
I am so excited about my latest Etsy find – Amethest Soap Company. Check out the soaps that I just bought; are you in awe?
I’ve played with making rock based melt and pour creations for years and have never achieved such technical perfection. I am anticipating the soapy rocks’ arrival with excitement normally reserved for extreme sporting events.
