summer Archives - Page 2 of 2

Easy Sea Turtle Soap Tutorial

September 17, 2009 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

Ingredients
White melt and pour
Clear melt and pour
Green jojoba beads
Sea Turtle Mold
Salty Mariner Fragrance Oil

One: Melt 3 ounces of clear melt and pour soap base in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Do not add any fragrance oil at this time.

Two: Stir in 1 tablespoon of green jojoba beads and pour the soap into the turtle part of the soap mold. Spritz with rubbing alcohol to eliminate any bubbles. Note:The jojoba beads will float to the top which is perfectly normal. If your jojoba beads are melting, it is because your soap is too warm. Cool your soap down to 130 to ensure the soap does not melt your jojoba beads.

Three: Melt 12 ounces of white melt and pour soap base and mix in .25 to .50 ounces of Salty Mariner Fragrance. Or choose any fragrance or essential oil combo you want (might I suggest our helpful ‘Clean’ fragrance categoryfor some ideas?). Once the white soap has cooled to 120 degrees and the turtle has a thick skin on the back (better to support the weight of the white soap), spritz the turtle with rubbing alcohol (to help the layers adhere) and fill up the mold with the white soap. Spritz the freshly poured soap with rubbing alcohol to get rid of any bubbles.

Four: Let the soap cool for 12 hours. Pop the turtles out of the molds and enjoy! I just love how the jojoba beads give the faintest hint of a full outline but don’t totally overpower the fun texture that the white soap has.

Variation: Below we used our all natural Spirulina Powder, Clear Melt and Pour and our Seashell Mold.

After Sun Care Recipes

July 10, 2009 Filed Under: Lotion

It is summer time. One the best parts about summer is sun and spending time outside. We all know that it’s best to wear sunscreen and a hat when you are outside but sometimes, the best intentions go out the window when the sun appears. If you over indulged a little, I’m going to spend the next 4 days going over practical and effective sunburn aftercare recipes. Please note that these are good for mild sunburns, not the blistering charred kind. If you have that severe of a sunburn, please go see your Doctor to get something stronger.

Day One: Making a Healing, Soothing Sunburn Lotion

Day Two: Making an Easy Spritzer

Day Three: Infusing Oils

Day Four: Soothing Skin Oil

Soothing Sunburn Lotion

Ingredients (by weight):

18 oz. Aloe Vera Liquid
1.2 oz. Shea Butter
1.7 oz. Sweet Almond Oil
1 oz. Avocado Oil
1.2 oz. Emulsifying Wax
1 oz. Stearic Acid

.2 oz. Phenonip

.1 oz. German Chamomile

.1 oz. Lavender Essential Oil

Tools:

Digital Scale
Stick Blender
one 16 oz. wide-mouth container
one 32 oz. wide-mouth container
Five 4 ounce bottles

You can also buy the Lotion Kit here and substitute the water portion with Aloe Vera (Gel) Water.

Why German Chamomile? German Chamomile has a high azulene content. Azule ne helps calm skin inflammation and decrease redness. Lavender is useful for helping to reduce the sting in the burn and the aromatherapy properties may help to provide emotional stability during the painful sunburn recovery period. Aloe Vera Gel (water) is a well known healing and soothing plant for all kinds of common skin issues, from cuts to bruises to sunburns.

Step 1: Disinfect all of your tools and containers by dunking them in 5% bleachwater solution and drying them with fresh, off the roll, paper towels.

Step 2: In the large 32 oz. container, add the Sweet Almond oil, Avocado Oil, Stearic Acid and Emulsifying wax. Make sure this is all weighed out using a handy dandy digital scale (no volume measurements). Put in the microwave on 30 second bursts to melt the E-Wax and Stearic Acid. Despite the scary name, Stearic Acid is derived from Palm Oil and isn’t acidic or scary. It actually adds to the fluffiness factor of the lotion.

Step 3: Add the Shea Butter to the hot mixture and stir to melt.

Step 4: Warm up the Aloe Vera Liquid and add it to your oil mixture. Why do you need to warm it? Because if it is too cold, it will harden the waxes directly upon mixing. Vigorously stir with a spoon by hand to start. Then switch to the hand blender.

Step 5: Once the mixture is fully mixed and emulsified (usually about 2 to 3 minutes), take the temperature and add the preservative and fragrance. For Germaben II, Optiphen and Phenonip preservatives, you want the temperature to be below 140 degrees. Usage rates of all three of these preservatives start at .5% by weight. Fragrance and essential oil usage for lotions is very low (remember, you don’t want to inadvertently make a perfume!) so start small. This recipe literally calls for .2 ounces of essential oil and that is more than enough to make a lovely smelling lotion and get the therapeutic benefits of all the oils. Notice the blue color of the azulene in the powerful German Chamomile? That’s some pure healing goodness.

Step 6: Pour into prepared bottles while the mixture is still warm. If the mixture is too thick to pour, heat it up for 30 seconds in the microwave and stir. Repeat as needed until it’s thin enough to pour. If the temperature during re-heating goes above 140, you’ll need to add an additional .5% preservative.

Step 7: Allow to cool with the lids off. Then put on lids and label and impress your friends and loved ones with your handmade goodness. Remind them to wear sunscreen next time.

Check back tomorrow for after sun care spritzers.

Summer Flip Flop Soaps

August 29, 2008 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Melt & Pour Soap

These flip flop soaps for summer are simple to make and look impressive when finished.

Here’s what you will need to make these simple yet fabulous soaps

.5 lb of Shea Melt and Pour

Blue Mix LabColor

Lavender Fragrance Oil

Aloha Flip Flop Mold

Rubbing Alcohol Spritzer

1 Dropper

Step One: Melt a small amount of your Shea Melt and Pour in a microwave safe dish (Pyrex or a coffee mug will work). Stir in a couple drops of your fragrance oil (usage rate is .25-.5 ounces per pound of soap). Fill your dropper with the white soap base and pour it into the flower/thong part of the flip flop soap mold. Give this a spritz with alcohol to get rid of those bubbles.

Step Two: After the first layer has had a chance to solidify, melt the rest of your soap in the microwave. Add your Lavender Fragrance Oil and 1 drop of your Blue Mix LabColor. Add more color if you want a darker blue. I loved the pastel color that I got with just 1 drop. If you want a bright blue, just remember that you’ll want to use clear soap because white + blue = light baby pastel blue. Before you add your blue layer, give your first layer another spritz with alcohol to ensure that your layers will stick together. Fill the mold to the top with your beautiful blue soap and spritz once again for a smooth finish.

Step Three: Let the soaps cool for about 5-6 hours before popping them out of their molds.

Calling Summer Sun in Bellingham

June 9, 2008 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Melt & Pour Soap

With Summer supposedly around the corner here in Bellingham, I am desperate for happiness even if it comes in the form of cheery soap. I hope these sunny flowers make you smile.Here are the supplies you will need to make these Summer Sunflower soaps:Clear Melt and Pour Soap base
Sunflower Labcolor
Java Beans Labcolor
Pearly White Mica
Fuscia Labcolor or True Tone
Cappuccino Mica
Sunflower Milky Way Mold

Step one: Melt a small amount of your clear M&P soap base in a small heat safe container. I usually use a small glass Pyrex or coffee mug. For this project, you’ll only need about 16 oz. of soap base to make 4 stunningly beautiful sunflowers. Divide the soap into about 4-5 different sections for different colors and layers. It never hurts to have a little extra.

Hint: You can use a white base if you want a soft and pastel colored flower. I wanted my sunflower to be bright and vibrant so I chose a clear base.

Step Two: Color your melted soap base with the Sunflower Labcolor and pour into the petals part of your mold. Don’t forget to spritz each layer with alcohol to eliminate bubbles and to make sure your layers stick together.

Hint: I do another spritz after each layer has hardened and right before I pour the second layer. This will help the layers stick together.

Step Three: Melt a little more clear soap base (if you haven’t already) and color with the Cappuccino Mica for the center of the flower. For the darker shade in the center, I used the Java Bean Mica.

Hint: For that extra special attention to detail, pour a thin layer of clear soap colored with our Fuscia True Tone over the yellow petals and the the brown center. This will show through a little bit and give it that shaded and realistic look. Don’t forget to spritz between layers.
Final Step: Almost done; you can use any color here for the final layer. I think it would look great finished off with the same Sunflower Labcolor. I just chose our simple Cappuccino Mica and it turned out realistic, sunny and perfect for summer (eyes downcast modestly, of course).