Watermelon Emulsified Sugar Scrub Recipe

Summer is here and the watermelons are the perfect summertime fruit.  If you love watermelons ans sugar scrubs you may want to try this Watermelon Emulisified Sugar Scrub Recipe from Natures Garden.  I love how they made three separate colors of the watermelon and layered each layer to make it look like you just cut a slice into a juicy watermelon.  This recipe makes (7) 4 ounce jars so that would be enough to give out as gifts.  All ingredients can be purchased through Natures Garden if you cannot find them through your normal supplier.

Lavender Gardener's Bar

I saw this recipe for a Lavender Gardener's Bar on the Wholesale Supplies Plus blog and from the title that it may have been a recipe for a lotion bar.  But it is not. It is a cold process soap recipe that just happens to be palm free and does have cocoa butter as an ingredient.  So if you love lavender and cocoa butter in your soap, then this is for you!

Poppy Flower Soaps

Make these adordable Poppy Flower Soaps for favors for your daughter's next birthday party.  This melt and pour soap project from Wholesale Supplies Plus takes one hour to make (12) 2.10 oz bars.

Black Cherry Bath Bomb Recipe

It is summer time and all the great fruits are at the grocery store.  My favorite fruit are cherries.  If you love cherries as much as I do and want to create a bath bomb that reflects your favorite summer time fruit, then check out this Black Cherry Bath Bomb recipe from Natures Garden Candles.  All ingredients for this recipe can be purchase from Natures Garden.

Varieties of Lavender Essential Oils

It is that time of year when lavender blooms.  Then the many local festival will be held with a variety of lavender product out from lavender oils and hydrosols will be brewed.  Would you like to learn more?  In this article from The Mountain Rose Blog called A Closer Look at Lavender Oil Varieties will spelled it all out.

Making Deodorants

Have you ever thought of making your own deodorants? Point of Interest recent a post called Making Deodorants  - Links and Thoughts provides a place to start.  You may find this information help like not using essential oils in your recipe.  Yes, essential oils are natural that means that they are safe.  This is not always the case.  There are properties in some essential oils that are not great to use in high does or must be avoided.  So you should check out every essential oils before you put it in your deodorant recipe.

Sweet Summer Scrub Tutorial

Summer is here and there are some activities that cause our skins that need some attention.  This recipe/tutorial from The Soap Queen called
Sweet Summer Scrub  is rich in Sweet Almond Oil, which is known for being lightweight and chock full of oleic and inoleic essential fatty acids.  What that means that is is incredibly moisturizing and absorbs into the skin with ease.  This is an intermediate project that should take you only 30 minutes to make 32 ounces.

Carrot Cold Process Soap

How would you like to take your cold process soap making to the next level?  How about making this recipe for Carrot Cold Process Soap from Natures Garden Candles?  This is a palm free recipe that uses the addition carrot baby food to complete this recipe.  And to really bring out the orange color in the soap they used orange oxide to really make the color vibrate.  But if you do not want your soap that bright you can leave it out.  Check out the other recipes from Natures Garden Candles for more ideas and inspiration.

Chunky Lip Balm

Have you ever heard of Chunky Lip Balm before?  It kind of looks like a chunky candle only in a miniature version.  Or in this case it like peppermint bark.  This tutorial for Chunky Lip Balm is from Natures Garden Candles is primarily made with their pre-made lip balm base, but I could not see why you could not use your own favorite lip balm recipe.  Since this is going into a lip balm pot instead of a tube, you may have to adjust your beeswax.  If you do not like strawberry, you could substitute it with your favorite flavor.

Water as a filler and preservative levels

Are you wondering about water and preservative levels in some of your products that you are making?  In this blog post from Point of Interest about Water as a Filler and Preservative Levels talks about this subject in detail - especially for toners.  There is some information in here that could be useful.

Mickey and Minnie Mouse Soaps

School's out for Summer!  Are you heading for Disneyland or Disneyworld?  Here is a really cute melt and pour soap project from Denise from her blog called Mickey and Minnie Soaps. These would be a great project to do with your family once you return from your vacation!

How to Make Gem Stone Bath Salts

The Natural Beauty Workshop has been working behind the scenes to create a brand new line of video tutorials.  The first video that is available is How to Make Gem Stone Bath Salts.  If you love to use bath salts in your bath, this would be a great project to make for yourself or make as presents or favors for your friends.  So keep watching for new video tutorials from The Natural Beauty Workshop.

Video: Painting Soap with Mica

Mica powder has been used to color soap.  Did you know you could use Mica as paint to add pizzazz to your melt and pour soap?  You betcha!  In this video tutorial called Painting Soap with Mica from the Soap Queen you can do just that.  Once you get the hang of this particular project, you can try and create your own designs.

Herbal Liniments

If you loved the posting from Mountain Rose on making your own salves,  then you may want to check out their posting on Herbal Liniments.  Liniments are simple to make and great to have in your medicine cabinet to pull out when you need relief for pain, inflamed muscles, bruises and sprains.  Also depending on what botanicals you use in your liniments, they can be used to disinfect cuts and wounds.   They can also be formulated to to warm or cool certain parts of your body.

Herbal Salves

If you are just starting making your own salves, you should read the post on The Mountain Rose Blog titled Herbal Salves.  In this posting goes into detail on how to make an infused oil,  how to make a salve and detail information on herbs to use for your salves.  So let's get started on making your own salves.

Super Soapy Crayons Project

Now the kids are out of school and if they are screaming, "Mom, we're bored!" You can pull out this good clean fun project of Super Soapy Crayon from Camp Brambleberry. Now you can create a fun adventurous summer camp experience by making this easy melt and pour soap project.  In just one hour you can create nine 1.5 oz soaps.  Good news is that this is only one of some really projects you can expect    from Camp Brambleberry when you sign up for the Brambleberry Newsletters.  Sounds like alot of Summer fun!

Guide to Making Tinctures

Have ever wondering about the the world of Tinctures?  It can be difficult to navigate.  But I found an article called Guide to Making Tinctures  on the Mountain Rose Blog that just may ease your way through your journey.  There is alot of good information on this article that is help to getting to know the subject.  So let's get started together.  If anyone has any other information they would like to share, please leave a comment on where we can find more info.

Stearic acid: A few questions answered

Do you have any unanswered questions about Stearic Acid?  In a recent post from Point of Interest's article called Stearic Acid:  A Few Questions Answered goes into why you will see it some products and not others plus let you know that it is a natural product and if you have any concerns to check with the manufacturers.

Watermelon Bath Fizzy Pop

In a recent publication of Handmade E-magazine from Wholesale Supplies Plus, they had this really cool bath fizzy project that I just had to share because it was unique and it reminded me of when I was a kid purchasing an ice cream treat from the ice cream man.  The project is called Watermelon Bath Fizzy Pop  looks like a pretty easy project that takes two hours and yields six bath fizzy pops.  What really makes this totally cool is the push pop containers which takes this project over the top.

Shamrock and Gold Whipped Soap

Have you ever heard of whipped soap?  Well it is soap that floats in the bath tub and it looks like whipped cream and it can be pipped like frosting.  The thing I did not know that is also goes by another name - Floap.  Are you interested in trying to make this type of soap?  In this tutorial called Shamrock and Gold Whipped Soap from the Soap Queen's website tells you what to do (and what not to do) in making this type of soap. I will have to try making this type of soap.  If you have tried making soap by this technique, please let us know the results of the process.

Strawberry Swirl Soap (Melt and Pour)

I saw the instructions for this Strawberry Swirl Soap  on a site that I follow called Totally Tutorials. I clicked on the link for the instructions and it directed me to a site called Wiki Talks (Share Knowledge). I knew that this had to be a melt and pour project but what I found interesting was the first ingredient on the list - Soap Base (Crystal Suspending).  To be honest I have never heard of crystal suspending.  I know that Life of the Party makes a suspension formula but that formula is normally used when you want to suspend things like poppy seeds.  For those really experienced melt and pour soapmakers, have you heard of Crystal Suspending?

Mango Cuticle Cream

This Mango Cuticle Cream from Wholesale Supplies Plus is packed with moisturizing butters and oils to soften dry cuticles, moisturize brittle nails and soothe cracked finger tips.  It is pretty easy to make.  Once you are done, you will have enough to make (24) .5 oz tins.  I will have to try making this sometime soon.  This would definately make a great gift.

Facial scrubs: Adding essential oils to an oil based scrub

Are you interested in making your own facial scrubs?  Wondering about adding essential oils to an oil base scrub recipe?  In a blog post from Point of Interest titled Facial Scrubs: Adding Essential Oils to an Oil Based Scrub goes into detail on what or not what to do.  Make sure to click on the link for information on essential oils portion of the blog.

Mango Cold Process Soap

Are Mangoes your favorite fruit?  Well, how about incorporating your favorite fruit int a cold process soap recipe?  This recipe  Mango Cold Process Soap by Kimberly Sanchez from Natures Garden Candles makes  approximately three pounds of soap.  If you are not familiar with cold process soap making, please become familiar with soap making practices and click on the link for a basic cold process soap making class before attempting making any cold process soap recipe.

Summer Fruit Pop Soaps

Soaps that look like popsicles are popular these days. Since summer is just around the corner, here is one way to cool off.  This tutorial from Wholesale Supplies Plus called Summer Fruit Pop Soaps look good enough to eat. So if you want a challenge of an intermediate project that makes 10 soap pops, then give this a try.

Ruby Red Raspberry Lip Gloss

In a recent issue of their Handmade Emagazine, Wholesale Supplies Plus had published a recipe for Ruby Red Raspberry Lip Gloss.   Lips can get chapped in Summer just as much as in the Winter, so create this lip gloss to help keep your lips moist.  This is definitely an easy recipe that only takes a half hour to make (12) 1/3 oz jars.  I have to absolutely make this recipe because I just love raspberry sorbet.  This would be a perfect summertime flavor of lip gloss/balm to make.

Baby Sprinkle Series: Mini Flower Bath Bombs

If you love using bath bombs in your bath, here is another tutorial from The Soap Queen that you may want to make for yourself and for gifts.  This recipe for Mini Flower Bath Bombs is the recent tutorial in the Baby Sprinkle Series that is for the beginner and  takes 30 minutes to make 20 mini bath bombs.

Liberty Lip Balm

We just finished celebrating Memorial Day.  Our next patriotic holiday is the 4th of July. Here is one way to show your patratism is by making these Liberty Lip Balms. This recipe from Wholesale Supplies Plus uses a lip balm/solid perfume base as its main ingredient, but if you prefer using your own lip balm recipe I am sure it would work fine in place of it. I really like the idea that each layer is a different flavor.  I am sure if you do not like one you could change it for something else.  Like I am sure that the blue layer would probably be cotton candy.  So if you do not like that you may want to subsitute blueberry. Or anothor berry flavor instead of watermelon. 

Fresh Ginger-Raspberry Body Polish

Now that Memorial Day Weekend has now passed and it is the unofficial start of summer. Summer is my favorite time of year to eat fruit.    Next time you are at your local grocery store purchasing berries that are on sale, why not purchase some extra to make this Fresh Ginger/Raspberry Body Polish recipe from The Natural Beauty Workshop.  In this recipe, bright berries are blended with fresh yogurt, kaolin clay and Himalayan Salt.  When you combine the ingredients together you will get a luscious mixture that acts as a scrub and mask that will give your arms and legs a gorgeous glow.  If you like this recipe, then make sure to click on the button to print out this recipe for your records.

Tips for Using Fragrance Oils in CP Soap

Most of the time, people who make soap by the cold process method will use essential oils to scent their soaps.  The reasons are that essential oils are 100% natural and fewer people are less likely to be allergic to them.  But the downside is that they do not come in some of the unique scents that fragrance oils come.  So you maybe wondering how I can I use a favorite fragrance oil in a cold process soap recipe. The Nova Studio has addressed this issue in a recent post called Tips for Using Fragrance Oils in CP Soap.  The biggest problem is that some fragrance oils will seize(if you do not know what seizing is, then read the link) in a batch.