How to Calculate the Price of Your Products

Are you great with coming up with your products, but are not great with coming up with a price for them?  It is hard when it comes time to sell to determine a price for your product.  If you are in this scenario, then I would suggest you read a recent post from The Soap Queen called How to Calculate the Price of Your Products. Pricing can be a little bit confusing but this recent posting spells it out in simple terms for you.

Chocolate Lavender Bath Melts

Do you love to take a soak in the bath?  I found this recipe called Chocolate Lavender Bath Melts that would soak way your troubles away.  Enjoy the benefits of natural cocoa butter as it surrounds you to soften and moisturize your skin. This is a very easy project to do. And it will only take an hour of your time.  You should wind up with about 44 bath melts.  And when you want to use one is all you have to do is place one bath melt under running water and watch the ingredients melt into the bath water.

Couture Confetti Cold Process Soap Tutorial

Here is a really cool cold process project from The Soap Queen Couture Confetti Cold Process Soap. This intermediate project features a hot pink top layer, confetti-filled bottom layer and lots and lots of sparkle to make it fun and girly for all the girls and women in your life.  The confetti layer is created by grating cold process soap with a cheese grater and stirring it into the soap batter.  That does not seem to difficult because I have mixed in poppy seeds into a batch before so that should be too bad.  Once completed you should get about 3 pounds of soap.

Your Favorite Soaping Tips

At the beginning of the month, The Soap Queen had a contest of Share Your Favorite Soaping Tip Contest.   The tip could pertain on any type of bath and beauty project from soaps to lotions.  The Soap Queen received an astounding 400 tips. Some were having fun to staying organized.  In her recent posting,Your Favorite Soaping Tipsshe discusses scenting, tools and prep tips.Bur if you are looking for more then check out the Tips and Tricks category of her blog.

Minty Bath Salts

Recently, I posted a recipe from Wholesale Supplies Plus for minty bath fizzies.  If you loved that recipe you may want to try this Minty Bath Salts.  It is a very simple recipe that can be done in a half hour.  Once you complete the recipe you should have (6) 8 oz bags to use for yourself or give away.

Neon Geometric Melt & Pour Soap Tutorial

Melt and Pour Soap Makers:  I found this really cool project from The Soap Queen called Neon Geometric Melt and Pour Soap Tutorial that you may want to try.  Now it is an advanced project and can take about four hours to complete because of the layers you can to create. This bar of soap incorporates bright shades of green, purple, and yellow to create this complex design.  Just a warning:  This MP project requires some patience because you need the bottom layer need to be cool and firm to support the layer above it.  It also requires a solid understanding of melt and pour temperature because it is crucial to pour the layers while the soap is hot enough that it is fluid, but not too hot that it melts the layers below.

Chocolate Mint Bath Fizzy Truffles

Is chocolate and mint your favorite flavor combination?  Here is a recipe for Chocolate Mint Bath Fizzy Truffles from Wholesale Supplies Plus that will leave your skin soft and leave your feel like your have bathed in a luscious chocolate delight.  These truffles are packed with yummy oils and skin-softening butters.  If you make this recipe, it will only take a 1/2 hour and when you are done you will have 22-24 truffles.

Make Your Own Hair Perfume

Most of us have worn some type of perfume on our bodies.  But I bet you have probably never worn any in your hair? I never heard of hair before until I was doing some research and I came across the doTERRA blog with a posting on how to Make Your Hair Perfume.  The perfume is made with their own brand essential oils which can be purchased their site.  I do not know this company so I can vouch for the quality of their essential oils but I am sure that if you have your own favorite brand then you can use those.

Raspberry Swirl CP Soap Loaf

I love raspberries in any thing from lemonade to whatever.  I also love the look of the swirl in a cold process bar of soap.  So when I stumbled on this recipe on the Wholesale Supplies Plus called Raspberry Swirl CP Soap Loaf that has the wonderful aroma of raspberries enhances to the beauty of the swirl soap.  According to the directions from Wholesale Supplies Plus, this in-pot-swirl technique is simple and created a beautiful bar of soap.  Will definitely have to try this.

DIY Soaking Salt & Scrub Wedding Favors

Are you having a difficult time deciding what to give your guests for favors for your upcoming wedding?  I thought The Soap Queen had a great idea of making soaking salts and scrub.  Besides wedding, these would be great for bridal showers, baby showers or any other event you may want to think of.  If you are interested in this project, then check out the posting called DIY Soaking Salt and Scrub Wedding Favors.

Using Expired Lye in Cold Process Soapmaking

When troubleshooting your cold process soap batch there are several factors to look at.  If trace in your batch has accelerated, it could be the fragrance oil that you used.  Or if your batch is taking a long time to trace, then it maybe a large of amount of soft oils in your recipe.  But if the lye that you are using has expired or gone past its time, it can do some strange things to your soap batch.  If you are wondering about using expired lye in your cold process soap, then I suggest you read the following the blog post from The Soap Queen called Using Expired in Cold Process Soapmaking.

Chocolate Mint Marshmallow Floating MP Soaps

Do you have a problem losing your soap on the bottom of your tub?  Here is a fun recipe from the Wholesale Supplies Plus website called Chocolate Mint Marshmallow Floating MP Soaps.  These melt and pour soaps are light and airy like marshmallow soaps that actually float on top of the water. Plus the minty fresh scent will keep you feeling fresh and clean all day.  This is an easy recipe and would you believe you get 48 soaps out of this recipe?

Troubleshooting: Common Issues With Cold Process Soap

Are you having issues when making cold process soap?  I found a posting from the Wholesale Supplies Plus called Troubleshooting:  Common Issues with Cold Process Soap that has some helpful tips and tricks that may just help you solve your problems. Give this a try and see if it helps.

DIY Wedding Favor Candles

A couple of years ago, I taught a candle making class and I had a student who was going to make candles for her wedding. I thought it was a great idea.  So if you are getting married and want to give a favor, a candle would be a great idea. I found this project from The Soap Queen called DIY Wedding Favor Candles.  It is a very easy project that would take about 2 hours to make 10 candles.

Simple Secrets: How To Achieve The Perfect Curl In MP Soap

Are you trying to achieve the perfect curl in your melt and pour soap and are not getting the results that you want?  I found on the Wholesale Supplies Plus website a posting on how to achieve the perfect curl.  The posting is called Simple Secrets: How to Achieve the Perfect Curl in MP Soap.  Read it and see if there are some tips that you can use.

DIY Exfoliation: Sweet Lime Lip Scrub

Do your lips peel and feeling neglected? If your lips are not properly protected and moisturized throughout the season, they always seem to peel. Trying to rub the dry skin can feel gratifying and helpful, but quickly the results turn into cracked lips.  So what is the answer?  Why not trying using a lip scrub?  Alieta from The Mountain Rose Blog recently posted a recipe for Sweet Lime Lip Scrub which is great for exfoliating the dry, excess, weathered skin on your life, while moisturizing and restoring your lips with pure botanical oils and butter.  It is a sweet treat for your lips.

Hibiscus Infused Cold Process Soap

Do you love Hibiscus?  Dried hibiscus flower is popluar in teas and other edibles.  It makes a great addition to cold process soap.  I found this recipe called Hibiscus Infused Cold Process Soap recipe in Wholesale Supplies Plus' Recipe Library.  It takes an hour to make this soap recipe.  And once it is ready to cut, you should be able to get (8) 1" slices.

Blackberry Tea Bath Fizzies

Did you have a bad day today?  Would you like to soak your troubles away?  Here is a recipe from Wholesale Supplies Plus called Blackberry Tea Bath Fizzies that are packed full of scrumptious ingredients such as shea butter, apricot kernel oil and coconut milk powder which will help sooth and moisturize your skin. This is an easy project to make and it will only take an hour of your time to make (18) 1.75 oz bath fizzies.

How to Color Lip Balm Using Mica

I recently shared a post from the Rustic Essential Crafting Library site on how to use micas in soap.  Now I am sharing a post called How to Color Lip Balm Using Micas.  Adding lip safe micas to your lip balms is an easy way to add a shimmer of color to your lip balms.  This tutorial will show you how easy it is to add mica to your lip balm base.

Chicks and Bunnies Melt & Pour Soap DIY

Easter is early this year.  The Easter Bunny will be arriving on Sunday, March 27th.  Here is a really cute idea from The Soap Queen called Chicks and Bunnies Melt & Pour Soap DIY.  This project is very easy and takes only one hour to make about one pound of soap.  Right now I am thinking of the candy peeps that are on the shelves.

Shelf Life of Bath Products & Ingredients: Rancidity vs. Mold

As we all know that bath and beauty ingredients have  are recommended shelf life.  According to The Soap Queen, shelf life refers to the length of time that a product can be stored without it becoming unfit for use.  It is extremely important to have an understanding of shelf life to insure your products are safe for use.  This is extremely important if you give away or sell your products because you do not want to give or sell an item that is rancid or past its prime.  It is also important to know the difference between rancidity and mold.  In a recent post called the Shelf Life of Bath Products & Ingredient:  Rancidity vs Mold talks about that very thing.

Natural Colorant Rainbow Cold Process Soap

There was a time in my childhood, I was really into rainbows and collected anything I could that had rainbows.  Even as an adult I love to see a rainbow in the sky, especially if it was a double.  If you would love to create a rainbow layer cold process soap, The Soap Queen has a post called Natural Colorant Rainbow Cold Soap that uses natural colorants to achieve vivid hues of every color of the rainbow.

15 Minute Whipped Body Butter

It has been a long time since I made a whipped body butter. But when I made mine it did not come out this whipped.  Maybe I used a hand mixer instead of using an electric stand mixer may have worked alot better.  Using a hand mixer can be used but it involves holding the mixer steady for a long time.  Anyway this recipe from The Natural Beauty Workshop called 15 Minute Whipped Body Butter is quick and simple is not much different than making a buttercream frosting.  It may seem an awful lot of work with having to melt, whip and dip in ice baths, but honestly it is not really that hard and it is worth it in the end.

Single Oil Cold Process Soap Lather Tests

CP Soapmakers:  As you know the most fundamental way that cold process soap can be customized is using various combinations of soap making oils and butters.  Each oil contributes something different to the final bar.  Using different combination of oils at different usage rates will greatly affect the finished product. If you want to learn more about how each soap lathers, The Soap Queen posted a very interesting article about Single Oil Cold Process Soap Lather Tests.  The post goes into detail how each individual oil stood up to the lather test. See how each oil did.  You will find out it to be very interesting.

Celtic Melt and Pour Soap Tutorial

Melt and Pour Soapmakers:  Here is really cool project for the to celebrate St. Patrick's Day....Celtic Melt and Pour Soap Tutorial.  This advanced project from The Soap Queen uses one of Anne-Marie's favorite colors-Green.  How appropriate for St. Patrick's Day.

How to Package Round Soap Using Coffee Filters

Do you have round soaps that your are having trouble finding something to package them with?  I found this posting from Lovin' Soap that uses coffee filters to wrap their soaps.  I found it to be a very clever idea.  Want to find out how they did it?  Check out posting called How to Package Round Soaps Using Coffee Filters.

How to Make Soap Sticks

Do you do a lot of travelling? When you arrive at your destination is your bag a mess because something has exploded? How you like to have your soaps easier to travel with? Here is a project from Rustic Escentuals on How to Make Soap Sticks.  Soap Sticks makes travelling with soap convenient because it is in a tube.  They are little portable soaps that are perfect for travelling.  It is the perfect travel size so you can keep one in your purse or gym bag so you never know when you will need it.  Each stick is about 1.2 ounces of soap.

How to Use Mica Colorants in Soap

Are you new to making melt and pour soap?  Wondering how to use micas to color your soap?  Here are some tips and tricks from Rustic Escentuals Library on how micas in melt and pour base. This posting called How to Use Mica Colorants in Soap should get you started to beautifully color your soaps.

Purifying and Protecting Cuticle Salve

Most of the essential oils that I have purchased for students to use in my classes have been the Aura Cacia brand that I purchased from Whole Foods. So I have been looking over their website and I found this recipe for Purifying and Protecting Cuticle Salve.  It is an easy to make salve of baobab and tea tree that will protect and soften nail beds and cuticles.  It is also great to use after working in the garden or as a wintertime hand balm.