All I have left to list are the sugar scrubs! I should have those all photographed and up by lunchtime tomorrow. I listed the body gloss and body butters today, but I won't be able to ship any body butters after May 1st, they are very heat sensitive, as they are a completely water free butter. Very lush though - I like to test lotions and butters on freshly shaved legs, these were completely creamy and soothing, no burn, and a nickle sized scoop was enough for both of my ginormous legs.
On another note, my husband who is a SAHD to our little 3 year old son had been feeling a little down. He has anxiety disorder, and is not able to go out very often, but today was just awesome! He's decided to start making stained glass again, it was a hobby he used to do a lot, but lost touch with over the years. Today we went together and purchased all the supplies he needs to get started again, and he's already cut and foiled all the pieces for a new pane on our front door. I'm just happy to see him happy, and excited about something.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
All The New Soaps
I have pics and descriptions of my new soaps on my alternate site SweetsNThings I will have them available there in April, but tomorrow night at midnight on Etsy! Coupon code FACEBOOK is also available for a 15% discount!
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Considering a Change of Venue
I'm sure everyone knows that there have been some issues at Etsy recently. While I don't want to go into them here, I understand that some buyers may be hesitant to shop there at this time. I have been considering perhaps moving my special seasonal sales to another venue, but I do not want to cut off my own nose to spite my face. I haven't personally had any problems with the changes, and I've been happy at Etsy so far, but if my customers aren't happy, then something must change. I have less than a week now to make that change - but if it's not necessary, then I don't need to. If you have a concern, please e-mail me at Sweets_N_Things@yahoo.com, or feel free to post in my comments here. Thank you for your advice, and support.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
New E-Mail Address
If you'd like to be on my mailing list, I have a new E-Mail set up just for the bidness stuff - it's www.Sweets_N_Things@yahoo.com. I'm the queen of all procrastinators, so I'm cutting it really close for the relaunch - soaps are done, but I'll be super busy all week, whipping body butter, mixing body gloss, and of course, lip balms! I will definitely have all the new things available for purchase for at least two weeks. After that, I will be only keeping the shampoos and the Detox soap in stock. I will also be available for custom orders - but if you want something special, or something that's no longer in stock, there will be a minimum wait time of 2 weeks for hot process soap, 5 weeks for cold process, just a couple of days on lip balms, body butters, sugar scrubs, or body gloss.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Sneak Peek
Started photographing my new soaps and "stuff" today, my least favorite part, but it is getting easier for me. Chemistry is easy, art is hard. I may be one of the only people who LOVES daylight savings time, I love coming home from work, and there's still sunshine for me to play in! This soap is Lemon Sunshine, it's everything I love about summer. The fragrance is not a straight lemon, it's a blend with a little floral, a little herbal, and a little amber for a nice base that lasts.
Thursday, March 03, 2011
Clearance and Relaunch
I'm going to be clearing out all of my current stock for a relaunch later this month. The only items in my shop that will remain after the relaunch will be the shampoos and the Detox soap. Everything that remains after the sale will be donated to charity. So, coupon code CLEARANCE1 is active, it gives a 25% discount on your entire purchase. I will also be listing multiple quantities of the items I won't be carrying in the future, so you can stock up if you have a favorite.
The new line will feature scents especially blended for spring and summer, focusing on floral and tropical top notes, bright colors, fruity and cold beverage lip balms, and a couple of light summer-y fragrance oils, all limited edition. All of the new soaps will be cold process, except the cream soaps, those are a hot process soap, totally from scratch. And also, a few sugar scrubs and body butters.
The revamp is due to the massive growth of my little business - I'm just not able at this point to leave my day job, so I will only be doing retail sales on Etsy twice a year, but continuing with custom orders and wholesale accounts. Thank you to everyone who has helped our family with this success.
The new line will feature scents especially blended for spring and summer, focusing on floral and tropical top notes, bright colors, fruity and cold beverage lip balms, and a couple of light summer-y fragrance oils, all limited edition. All of the new soaps will be cold process, except the cream soaps, those are a hot process soap, totally from scratch. And also, a few sugar scrubs and body butters.
The revamp is due to the massive growth of my little business - I'm just not able at this point to leave my day job, so I will only be doing retail sales on Etsy twice a year, but continuing with custom orders and wholesale accounts. Thank you to everyone who has helped our family with this success.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Handmade Whipped Cream Soap
What a cool new thing - sort of! I've been trial & erroring this for a while, and have achieved some awesome success! This is basically just a hot process soap, but prepared with potassium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide. Using potassium hydroxide alone produces a liquid soap, using sodium hydroxide alone produces a solid soap. I used a basic soap recipe, but used pure stearic acid for 45% of my oils. I then separated the oils into two groups - my olive, shea and cocoa butter into one group (about 17% of my oils), and then the rest of them, as if I was making two different batches of soap. The little batch, I calculated with NaOH at 5% superfat, and the big batch with KOH at 0% superfat. Then, I combined the two recipes, the total was 36 ounces of oils. Instead of using the 14 ounces of water recommended by the soapcalc calculator, I used 40 ounces - the usual in most cream soap recipes is six times the weight of the lye(which would have been 42 oz), but I wanted it just a bit more solid, so it would be the consistency of the foaming body butter base that I have been using for whipped soaps. I prepared it just as I would have any crock pot hot process, adding 5 oz of glycerin to the oils, as cream soaps can be drying to the skin, and glycerin helps to counteract that. Then, I cooked it in the oven in a stainless pot at 250 degrees for 2 1/2 hours - the KOH needs a bit more heat and time to process. I stirred it up every half hour. At the end of that time, there was no zap to the tongue, but it was still a bit harsh on my hands, and it was quite solid - I've unmolded HP soaps that were just as solid! My plan was to "supercream" it with an ounce of glycerin and an ounce of melted stearic, but it was too solid, so I figured I might be able to adjust the pH later. I let it sit in the covered pot for three days, squishing it each day(some liquid separated out the first day), and it became more squishy each day, and mellowed so that at the end of three days, it was as mild as commercial soap - like ivory. Also, no more liquid separation the last day. To prepare what you see in the pic, I measured 10 ounces of the soap, and whipped it with a hand mixer, adding .5 ounces of jojoba oil, .5 ounces of apple cider vinegar (to further adjust the pH, and for a nice liquid), and .01 ounces of germaben plus preservative, a must for any product with this much water, and paraben free! Oh, and also, about 1/4 ounce of red apple fragrance. It is just awesome. I washed my face & hands with it, and it left everything soft and moisturized - very nice on the face, I'm super happy with that! The lather wasn't as bubbly as the detergent based Stephenson base, but was still quite bubbly and creamy. Now, my soap, let me show you it!
Saturday, January 08, 2011
Whipped Soaps!
I'm in the process of adding my whipped soaps to the shop, I really like them! While I have a big batch of cream soap "rotting" to perfection, I'll be using the Stephenson foam bath butter base for these - it's free of parabens and SLS, but is a very bubbly detergent based soap, not so awesome on the face, but still very nice. I've added some shea butter to one batch, and grapeseed oil to another, and that made it really nice, even on the face part of me, and it really takes a fragrance well. Nommy.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Whipped Soap
I love doing something new, and this was the best EVER!!! No melting all the oils, no fuss, no stick blender! I used my handheld kitchen mixer, a very high powered GE wonder, but I know that a regular sunbeam would do fine.
My recipe:
14 oz coconut oil
6.6 oz hydrogenated soy oil
3.4 oz palm oil
9 oz olive oil
1 oz cocoa butter
1 oz shea butter
1 oz castor oil
5.17 oz sodium hydroxide
13.6 oz distilled water (frozen into ice slush)
1/2 oz fragrance (really, that's all it took!)
As always, wear your goggles & gloves, and protect your work surface, lye is caustic!! Carefully measure water and lye, slowly add lye to water while stirring. When lye is completely dissolved, put your lye water in the fridge to further chill. Then, measure your coconut, soy, and palm oils in a LARGE bowl. Think a double batch of angel food cake large. Melt your shea and cocoa butter in the microwave. On medium speed of your mixer, mix all together until creamy, about 2 minutes. Then, on high speed, whip it for another 2 minutes, until it's like stiff egg whites. Slowly add your measured olive and castor oil, about 1/4 cup at a time, and mixing well after each addition. Then, put that in the fridge as well, and have a nice drink. I like all kinds, but I'm on a sangria kick right now. Sip, cruise the internet for a bit, check your email. WHAT!! Your wine is gone? Well, then it's time to get back to the soap. Pull out the whipped oils, and whip them again for a bit on high, until they're nice and creamy again. Then, safety gear back on, and get your lye water. With mixer on medium (you really don't want this to splatter), slowly add the lye, just like you did the liquid oils, a bit at a time, and stop every so often to scrape the sides and get it all mixed in super well. Then drizzle in your fragrance while mixing. Pour into a lined mold, or spoon it into a pastry bag with a cool tip - you can pipe it like frosting into stars, or dollop it onto a lined cookie sheet like divinity. You can swirl the top just like frosting. Let it sit, do not insulate, you don't want it to gel. In 24 - 48 hours, it should be set up well enough to unmold and cut, use a wire cutter for a nice clean cut. Cure for 3-6 weeks, and enjoy!
My recipe:
14 oz coconut oil
6.6 oz hydrogenated soy oil
3.4 oz palm oil
9 oz olive oil
1 oz cocoa butter
1 oz shea butter
1 oz castor oil
5.17 oz sodium hydroxide
13.6 oz distilled water (frozen into ice slush)
1/2 oz fragrance (really, that's all it took!)
As always, wear your goggles & gloves, and protect your work surface, lye is caustic!! Carefully measure water and lye, slowly add lye to water while stirring. When lye is completely dissolved, put your lye water in the fridge to further chill. Then, measure your coconut, soy, and palm oils in a LARGE bowl. Think a double batch of angel food cake large. Melt your shea and cocoa butter in the microwave. On medium speed of your mixer, mix all together until creamy, about 2 minutes. Then, on high speed, whip it for another 2 minutes, until it's like stiff egg whites. Slowly add your measured olive and castor oil, about 1/4 cup at a time, and mixing well after each addition. Then, put that in the fridge as well, and have a nice drink. I like all kinds, but I'm on a sangria kick right now. Sip, cruise the internet for a bit, check your email. WHAT!! Your wine is gone? Well, then it's time to get back to the soap. Pull out the whipped oils, and whip them again for a bit on high, until they're nice and creamy again. Then, safety gear back on, and get your lye water. With mixer on medium (you really don't want this to splatter), slowly add the lye, just like you did the liquid oils, a bit at a time, and stop every so often to scrape the sides and get it all mixed in super well. Then drizzle in your fragrance while mixing. Pour into a lined mold, or spoon it into a pastry bag with a cool tip - you can pipe it like frosting into stars, or dollop it onto a lined cookie sheet like divinity. You can swirl the top just like frosting. Let it sit, do not insulate, you don't want it to gel. In 24 - 48 hours, it should be set up well enough to unmold and cut, use a wire cutter for a nice clean cut. Cure for 3-6 weeks, and enjoy!
Monday, December 13, 2010
Now That the Christmas Frenzy is Over...
Now that the whole Christmas shopping frenzy seems to be a little less frenzied, I have time again to be creative, YEA! This one isn't actually a result of my creativity, credit has to go to my hubby. He grew up in Taos, NM, and loves the smell of sage. This is a nice blend of lime and sage, very fresh! I love lime, so that's my contribution to this effort.
But I'm super excited about creating some new things, and Valentine's is just around the corner! I bet there's roses and champagne coming up, and of course, chocolates. Now my soaps, let me show you them...
But I'm super excited about creating some new things, and Valentine's is just around the corner! I bet there's roses and champagne coming up, and of course, chocolates. Now my soaps, let me show you them...
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Etsy Coupon Codes!!
Etsy has added a new feature, Coupon Codes!! I am very happy with this, because it allows me an easy way to give a discount to friends and family on Facebook, my buddies on Ravelry, or... nice people who visit my blog! So, for anyone who stumbles on this bit of obscurity, 10% off on all purchases from my Etsy shop, just use the coupon code "BLOGGER", and it does it automatically, no more processing refunds on paypal, or changing listings. SQUEEEEEE!
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Kitten Hostage
Last two days for free shipping in my Etsy shop. Plus, I am holding this kitten hostage until someone buys some soap. Her name is Hostage.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Product Safety, Lip Balm and Lotion
As soap makers, our main safety considerations tend to be pH levels, and ingredient sensitivity issues. If you should branch out into making lotions and lip balms, there's a whole new set of concerns. These are not wash off products, they remain on the skin, and are absorbed into the skin, so there can be problems. Lip balms may be ingested, so it is very important to use food grade ingredients, pure oils, and lip safe flavorings and colorants. Not really that difficult, but something to remember when formulating and manufacturing. Sanitary conditions also need to be in place for these. Not just clean, you need to get a spray bottle of bleach, and sanitize your work area. Sterilize all of your containers, and spray everything that won't go into the dishwasher with a little bleach, let it air dry. Wear gloves.
The reason this came into my head today, is there was an item in the etsy finds e-mail that was awesome, so I visited the shop. In the shop was a lotion that proudly proclaimed that it was "preservative free". Which is okay for a body butter of pure oils, but this one contained aloe vera gel. Which is mostly water. If your formulation contains any milk, water, or botanical juices, it is perishable. It can grow bacteria or fungi, which can cause serious skin problems. The only ways to prevent the growth of nasties in a water bearing emulsion are refrigeration and preservatives. I love all natural products, but a good broad spectrum preservative is the only safe way to go if you're selling lotions or creams. I personally use germall plus, which is effective in lotions and creams at 0.1% - 0.5%. That's just a tenth to a half of an ounce in a 100 ounce recipe (one and 1/2 pounds!). Most chemical preservatives have similar usage rates, so an 8 oz. bottle will last a long, long time. I'm comfortable with 99.5% natural, if it means saving someone or myself a nasty skin infection. To make lotion at home for your own use, the refrigerator is fine. And it's as easy as making mayonaise. It's kind of exactly the same.
The reason this came into my head today, is there was an item in the etsy finds e-mail that was awesome, so I visited the shop. In the shop was a lotion that proudly proclaimed that it was "preservative free". Which is okay for a body butter of pure oils, but this one contained aloe vera gel. Which is mostly water. If your formulation contains any milk, water, or botanical juices, it is perishable. It can grow bacteria or fungi, which can cause serious skin problems. The only ways to prevent the growth of nasties in a water bearing emulsion are refrigeration and preservatives. I love all natural products, but a good broad spectrum preservative is the only safe way to go if you're selling lotions or creams. I personally use germall plus, which is effective in lotions and creams at 0.1% - 0.5%. That's just a tenth to a half of an ounce in a 100 ounce recipe (one and 1/2 pounds!). Most chemical preservatives have similar usage rates, so an 8 oz. bottle will last a long, long time. I'm comfortable with 99.5% natural, if it means saving someone or myself a nasty skin infection. To make lotion at home for your own use, the refrigerator is fine. And it's as easy as making mayonaise. It's kind of exactly the same.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
This is one of the most awesome ways to recycle my soap "waste." You know, trimming the bumps, leftover sample slices, and chunkles from handmilled soap that just WOULD NOT DRY!! I had to cut them into 1cm squares to get them to really dry out! But what to do with that stuff? Here it is, a plain vanilla soap, 2# of oils, three cups of chunks, lots of vanilla. I like these better than soap balls, even if all the ladies love my balls. Now my soaps, let me show you them...
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Shampoo Bars
This is Lemon Rosemary Shampoo, also works as a great soap. Made with a crock pot hot process method, cooked for about 2.5 hours, a little longer than a standard soap. Just sharing...
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Holiday Themed Soaps
Handmade soap makes a great gift for any holiday. However, it's good to consider that you give that gift on the holiday - so the soap gets used AFTER the holiday is over.
I'm super jealous of the melt & pour crafters, you guys can make the most amazing soaps! Little trees with different colored decorations, little Santas and snowmen that look almost lifelike! In the prelude to the holidays, those are my favorite guest soaps and decoration.
For gifting though, I'm trying to design soaps that have a shelf life that extends past December 26th. I made this soap with green mica and chromium green pigment, gold mica pigment, and a blend of scents based with fir. I also used a plain meat basting brush to dust the top with gold mica, for a nice shimmer.
I have also found that plastic inventory bins, available at www.grainger.com, item #5W853 or 5W842 make a great mold, even for CPOP soaps! They have a big variety of sizes available, those are just the two that I use. Just line with freezer paper, or spray with Pam, and they are fine in an oven for one hour, up to 200 degrees. After the cook, just turn the oven off and leave closed (with soap inside) overnight.
Now my soaps, let me show you them...
I'm super jealous of the melt & pour crafters, you guys can make the most amazing soaps! Little trees with different colored decorations, little Santas and snowmen that look almost lifelike! In the prelude to the holidays, those are my favorite guest soaps and decoration.
For gifting though, I'm trying to design soaps that have a shelf life that extends past December 26th. I made this soap with green mica and chromium green pigment, gold mica pigment, and a blend of scents based with fir. I also used a plain meat basting brush to dust the top with gold mica, for a nice shimmer.
I have also found that plastic inventory bins, available at www.grainger.com, item #5W853 or 5W842 make a great mold, even for CPOP soaps! They have a big variety of sizes available, those are just the two that I use. Just line with freezer paper, or spray with Pam, and they are fine in an oven for one hour, up to 200 degrees. After the cook, just turn the oven off and leave closed (with soap inside) overnight.
Now my soaps, let me show you them...
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Holiday Peppermint Soap
This is my first Christmas soap for this season. I know it's a little early, but all the other big time retailers are breaking out the festivities, so why should I be left out?
Monday, October 04, 2010
Secret Sale!!
I'm having a "Secret Sale" through October 24th. I guess it's not that secret, anyone who wants to find out can, I've posted it here, and on my shop announcements. Any purchase (except flat rate packs) will come with a free full sized bar from the clearance list (see the announcements). I have a lot of soap that seems to be unloved, even though it is FULL OF AWESOME, and it has to go so I can continue making soap. I'm not trying to stock up for the apocalypse here, and I'm out of storage room.
And now my soaps, let me show you them...
And now my soaps, let me show you them...
Sunday, October 03, 2010
Adventures With Goat's Milk Soap
My daughter's best friend's mother, who I LOVE, gets fresh raw organic goat's milk from her sister for her little boy. This unpasturized milk is only good to drink for a couple of days before it starts to sour. But it's fine for soap for a week. But now I have a freezer full of the most awesome milk ever! She hasn't sent me any that's soured yet (it's wonderful!), cause mama goat is really producing, and her babies from the spring are off the milk. I only make hot process soap, so it's been a challenge to do it with milk without making it hideous. This is my first real success! I started with frozen milk first (pretty standard), mixed the lye solution, no problem, proceeded as with a CP soap. Poured the raw soap into the mold, then put it in the freezer, to cool it quickly. One hour in the freezer, then moved it to the fridge for a couple more. Then I put it into the oven at 150 degrees for one hour. Back into the fridge one hour! Back into the oven for an hour, back into the fridge for the night. Cut the next morning, cured for a week, and while there's a little discoloration, I believe it's mostly from the fragrance oil that I used, which was an amber color before the gelling. Also, I oven processed the soap in a plastic dishwasher safe mold, no problems.
Now my soaps, let me show you them...
Now my soaps, let me show you them...
Saturday, October 02, 2010
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