Soap Advisor

Re-inventing Hair Pomade

Well, I am putting the ‘natural Vaseline’ idea on hold.  I think I need to play around with something else first.  Pomade.  At least that’s what we used to call it, back in the 60s.  And only people of color and the white guys we called ‘greasers’ used it.  It is now a new millennium and we all use it.  But we now call it ’sculpting cream’ or lotion or whatever.  At any rate, they have so much garbage in it these days, I thought it was time to take it back, way back, to pre-1970.

My first goal is to just get an idea of how much wax to put in it.  So I’m only using almond oil and beeswax.  I heated it to melt the beeswax. It sure cools down fast.  I was surprised.  But then, so does lip balm and this is really just a big ol’ lip balm for the head, huh?

I really need to get a good prototype done today.  I’m out of hair goo.  I put a little orange liquid colorant in it to gussy it up.  It is a very pretty peach color.  Why the liquid colorant mixed right in with wax+oils, I have no idea.  It shouldn’t have.  But it did.  I’m a happy mixer.

Stay tuned.

Once I get this right, I think I can move on to the natural Vaseline idea.  That is a similar product, just not as stiff and sticky.

UPDATE: not enough wax in the formula.  I put a couple drops to the side, let them get cold.  Then tried to spike my hair.  It didn’t spike, just sort of made it oily.  I may have fixed the fake Vaseline….. LOL

UPDATE:  I think I am really close. :D  I put some on and when I went outside and saw myself in the rear view mirror, it was WOW.  My hair was so incredibly shiny where I put this stuff.  Cool.

You know when you make a sauce and you taste it and it is just ever so slightly wrong?  Like it would be so much better if you added that one thing.  What’s the thing, you ask, what does it need?  In this case, I’m thinking candelilla wax.  I’ll swap out some of the beeswax with candelilla wax and then I think its going to be perfect.

UPDATE:  Bingo! I do believe I’ve got it.  :D  I will use it this weekend and see if I find any problems, but so far, it is  pretty cool!  And I like how if you put scent in it, you’re like a little puff of perfume where ever you go.

Creating a new version of Nature's Jelly

We do currently sell this product as “Nature’s Jelly” on SoapCrafters.com.  However, we do not make it ourselves.  We have been purchasing it from a manufacturer who is pretty far away.  It never occurred to me to make it ourselves until the other day.

Today I’m playing around with a recipe to see if I can improve upon it.  Not that the product needs improving, but I just can’t help myself.  I must tinker!

I’m using only bee’s wax, soy oil, and palm oil.  I have it all melted and blended and I’m emulsifying it now and then as it cools.  It is still too warm to have anything interesting to report.

My hope is that it will be just like Vaseline Petroleum Jelly when I’m done, but made only with oils and bee’s wax, instead of whatever the heck is in petroleum jelly.  The name alone suggests some byproduct of fuel, haha.

I shall report back.

UPDATE:  It is a few hours into the cooling and I’m not so sure this is going to work with the recipe I came up with.  Seems to runny to me.  I might have to use a tougher wax to get the job done.  I dunno…  still waiting until its cold.

UPDATE:  Well, eh hem.  If you use palm oil to make this stuff it will be solid white.  Really, it should be translucent, you know?  It was almost thick enough after sitting for the weekend, but I scrapped it.  I need to use a liquid oil that is see through.

Making face cream

This morning when I was getting ready for the office, I realized I needed a good face cream.  I can never find what I like in the grocery store.  Today I made it a point to get started on a face cream recipe.  If I need one, don’t others need one a good one too?

I went sort of tropical with the ingredients.  I included mostly Mango Butter with Palm Kernel Oil and Coconut Oil.  I put in some stearic acid to make it thicker to the touch and of course, some vitamin E for good skin care.

I have it mixed up and cooling down.  Making lotion is really pretty easy.  It is mixing oils with water is all.  Emulsifying wax holds it all together.    The only tricky part is getting the right ingredients in the right combination so it feels like you want it too on the skin.

Here is a recipe for making lotion on the Soap Crafters website.  What I’m doing today is making a face cream, which is a lot different than a lotion recipe because it has a lot less water.  That particular lotion recipe has been really popular, though.

When I get this face cream recipe perfected, I will put it up on the Soap Crafters website for sale in bulk.  All you’ll need to do is add scent and color if you want color.  It will have all the required antimicrobial in it already and it will be ready for packaging and resale.

I’ll keep you posted on my progress.  Right now it is cooling down and I’m stirring it once in a while.

Pam

UPDATE:

Finished Face Cream

All done!

It turned out great.  I have some samples of it here in the office if you are local and want to pick one up.  When you come in to pick up your order, let me know you want a jar to try out.

It is really for moisturizing that extra dry skin.

Now I have to figure out what scent I want in my personal jar I’ll use at home!

Delica Seed Bead DBH0914

It is a new year and to kick that off we’ve decided to add bead working supplies to our regular website for those who like to make jewelry at home.

We’re specializing in the Miyuki Delica beads and offering them at an awesome price!  Also include in the line up are charms to dangle from handmade bracelets, necklaces and earrings.

Adding these items to our website is going to take quite some time.  We have about 600 different Delica seed beads and about a hundred or two charms.  Each has to be photographed with close-up photography and coded in to the website.

We are carrying the most popular Delica seed beads, so chances are, we already have in stock the one you are trying to find.  If you know the Delica product number of the bead in particular you need, please give us a call toll free and we’ll let you know if we have that one in stock.

We are carrying the popular sizes of  8-11 and everything from silver lined, opaque, metallic and gold plated.  Miyuli Delica beads are very well known for being the very best, top of the line seed beads which are manufactured in Japan. There are cheap seed beads out there, but your finished product is just not the same.  For a little extra money you can have the very best and have a professional, drop dead gorgeous piece of jewelry in the end.  It is so worth it.

Gold Charm304, Feather

See our new line of Delica Seed Beads and Charms here: http://www.soapcrafters.com/catalog/69