Friday Spotlight: Clove Lip Balm

This week, let's take a look at my clove lip balm!

All of my lip balms are made with three basic ingredients: beeswax, deodorized cocoa butter, and coconut oil. These three combine together to make a firm balm with a smooth glide.

This lip balm is scented with clove essential oil, which not only smells like the sweet autumn herb, but tastes like it, too! Clove is a classic in the fall, but I love this lip balm year-round.

Out of all of the lip balms that I offer in my zibbet shop, this has been my most popular by far! Check out some of these rave reviews: 

• "The order arrived quickly and is really close to the Clove Lip Balm that Burts Bees discontinued. Couldn't be happier!"

• "Really great lip balm! This is the only balm that helps my lips, as I have an auto-immune disease that limits the amount of saliva I produce. Really fast shipping! Thank you!"

• "This is the best clove lip balm I've had since Burt's Bees discontinued theirs! I highly recommend it!"

Wanna check out my clove lip balm? Click here and go to my Zibbet shop!

Soap Tutorial: How to make Rebatched Milk Soap

About a week ago, I was reading on a parenting community that a member wanted to make some milk soap, but she was not comfortable with handling lye. On the surface, this would limit soap making to melt and pour varieties. However, there is another option: rebatched soap, or french milled soap!

To make french milled soap, you will need:

• a double boiler (I use a candle pouring pot that sits in a pot of water on my stove)
• 1 pound (4-5 bars) of cold process or hot process soap
• Up to one ounce of milk (any kind of milk will work. I have great success with goat's milk and butter milk)
• Any scents, fragrances, or essential oils that you want to use
• A mold
• A spatula
• A knife or cheese grater

1. Start off with cutting your soap up into small chunks or grating your soap with a cheese grater. 

2. Put your soap chunks into your double boiler and warm the water on medium heat.

3. As your chunks are warming, slowly stir in your milk one tablespoonful at a time. You may not need the full ounce of milk. Look for a chunky-mashed potatoes-type of consistency in your soap. If the soap is not 100% smooth, it is okay. 

4. Now is the time to add any color, fragrance, or essential oil that you like. I made my rebatched milk soap with ginger essential oil and orange essential oil.

5. Using your spatula, carefully pour your soap into your mold. Let it cool overnight before unmolding and cutting. Put your soap in a cool, dry place to "cure", or harden. The harder your soap, the longer it will last!

Friday Spotlight: Red Moroccan Clay Mask

My model : My sister

This week's product spotlight is on my Red Moroccan Clay Mask!

My clay masks were a huge hit on the craft show circuit in East Tennessee, so I brought them over to my Etsy shop! My masks are made with a few different ingredients that all work together to soften and smooth your skin.

The first ingredient is the red clay, which has been used as a cosmetic clay for centuries. Red clay helps to pull impurities out of the skin while wet. Red clay is full of great minerals, including silica, magnesium, potassium, and calcium

The second ingredient is ground oatmeal. Oatmeal has always been known to soothe skin, and is a traditional remedy for itchiness associated with chicken pox.

The third, and last, ingredient in my face mask is baking soda. Baking soda is a mild exfoliate, working to smooth the skin as you apply the mask. Baking soda also works to fight blackheads.

Swirling Soap Series: Nonpareil Swirl

After finishing my first attempt at a peacock swirl, I became obsessed with different swirling techniques. I worked on my swirling while watching videos on youtube and talking to my friend Michelle, who makes amazing marbled and swirled paper (shout out for Michelle and her shop DynamiteFibers!) After realizing how few tutorials there were online, I decided to start documenting my swirling on my blog. So here we go with our first swirl in the series: the nonpareil swirl.

Gorgeous, Simple, Beautiful!

Basics:

You will want to start off with a slow moving recipe (recipes with 70% olive oil or above work well for me) and a fragrance that does not accelerate trace. Mix your lye and oils together until you reach emulsification, which is where the oils and lye are mixed together, but not thickening. You will want your mix slightly runny. Once you reach emulsification, add your fragrance, then set aside a few ounces of soap into separate containers to color. When choosing the colors for your soap, remember that bright, contrasting colors work great! The addition of black, white, and brown can make a very dramatic effect. 

Tools:

You will need a combing tool, which can easily be made at home. I made my combing tool using cardboard and chopsticks. I attached my chopsticks to my combing tool using a hot glue gun. It works great!  

Start off by pouring the base of your soap, which should be the majority of your batter. 

Next, color your soap batter that you set aside and drizzle that soap on the surface of your base. You will want to drizzle side to side, rather than up and down.

Soapy lines from left to right

Once you have drizzled your lines back and forth, now is the time to use your combing tool. Insert your combing tool at the top of your mold, then pull down in one, solid stroke. Your comb will create the nonpareil swirl as it pulls down.

That's it! You are done! Super simple, yet really gorgeous! 

My lovespell soap!

Come back next Wednesday when I break down the peacock swirl!

Sign up for my Newsletter!

One of my great new projects this summer has been the official start of my email newsletter! I have been noodling around with a newsletter for a few months, but never had the time to really sit down and do it... The summer months have finally given me that opportunity!

Preview of Issue #1!

So, I am proud to announce that my newsletter will go live on July 1st! I am so excited for the first issue to go out. I am featuring my soap of the month, which is a soap that is discounted throughout the month, as well as the featured sample of the month. My newsletter will also feature my upcoming craft shows for the next three months, as well as a bath and body project that you can do at home! Plus coupons, sneak peeks, and more!

Interested in signing up? Well, just follow this link and enter your email to receive it! Simple as that!

Hope to see everyone sign up, and be on the lookout for newsletter #1 in July!

Friday Spotlight: July 4th Red, White, and Blue Star Soaps

Today, let's take a look at a seasonal product: my Red, White, and Blue Star Soaps!

These soaps were designed just in time for the Independence day celebrations on July the 4th. The soaps are made from a vegan melt and pour base and molded in the shapes of stars.

One white bags of soaps contains two red, two blue, and two white soaps. Each soap is scented with a blend of wildberry and lemon. The blend reminds me of lemonade and blackberries at my grandmother's house in the summertime.

These soaps will be available through the patriotic season, and will come back around every summer. Stock up while you can!! These soaps are great to use as guest soaps, hand soaps, decorative soaps, or travel soaps! Find them in my Etsy shop!

Fantastic Supplies for Fall/Winter!

It may be June, but my eyes and nose are already deep into Fall and Winter! This month, I will begin making my fall soaps and other items, so I've started getting in new fragrances for fall and winter, as well as working on summer makeovers for my wax tarts and bath bombs.

Lets get to the good stuff first! Fragrances!
I made an order with a new company this week: TheCandleSource.com! I found them through eBay, but I ended up buying directly through them. I picked up three fragrances: Kumquat, Sleigh Ride, and Monkey Farts. I've had many requests for Monkey Farts, so I was anxious to get this one in. I am so delighted with my goodies, the shipping was fast, the prices were excellent, and I cannot recommend TheCandleSource enough!

I also made an order with AromaHaven. I love selling wax tarts, but this summer I decided to give my tarts a makeover from the single tart to clamshell breakaway tarts. My wax also got a makeover: All of my tarts are now being made with soy wax! I picked up some great clamshell molds/packaging from AromaHaven, and I am so pleased with the results.
While at AromaHaven, I picked up four new fragrances:
-- Wild Muscadine: A sweet grape scent with hints of musk... Totally Southern!
-- Applejack N' Peel: An apple, cinnamon, and cider blend. Another heavily requested scent!
-- Corn Husk: A combo of citrus, sweet fruit, floral, and amber musk
-- Red Maple Leaf: A lighter scent with maple leaf, patchouli, sandalwood, and fern.

I also ordered some new molds off of eBay for my upcoming craft shows.

First, I ordered a new Snowflake silicone mold, which arrived today. I am already thinking of Peppermint soaps, Eucalyptus soaps, Sleigh Ride Soaps, and lots and lots of glitter!

Second, I ordered a cute Apple silicone mold. I picked up the Apple mold because I recently applied to attend the Apple Festival in Erwin, TN, and if I am picked to attend (cross your fingers!), I'll have apple-shaped soaps with me! (Sneak peek: My apple soaps will be scented with applejack n' peel, apples and mint jelly, and granny's green apple!)

This fall is going to smell amazing! I cannot wait to get started!

Friday Spotlight: June 2013 Soap of the Month - Waterlily Orange

Soap of the Month: June 2013

This month's Soap of the Month is Waterlily Orange, a very popular soap at craft shows!

This soap is a vegan cold process soap in blue and orange, with a very unique, lovely scent. The soap was made with olive oil, coconut oil, and castor oil for a mild, hard bar of soap. It was colored in layers of blue and orange, with delicate orange flowers gracing the tops of the soap.

The scent is called Waterlily Orange, which is a lovely mix of the floral and citrus. Lily notes top off the scent, with orange notes in the middle, and an anchor note of amber.

Since this is my Soap of the Month, you can catch these bars at a discounted price of $5! Also, be on the lookout for samples of Waterlily Orange in all orders going out in the month of June (while supplies last). Make sure to head over to my Etsy shop and grab a bar before they are all gone!!

First Attempt at a Peacock Swirl

I've seen the peacock swirl around in the soaping world, and while it is gorgeous and produces amazing looking bars of soap, I've always been a bit hesitant to start such a complicated-looking technique. I love beautiful, bold swirls on the tops of soap (so much that I bought a mold just so I could do them!), so yesterday, I decided to bite the bullet and try a peacock swirl.

First, I watched this video by LovinSoap about 10 times in a row.

Then, I attempted the swirl using my 9 bar mold from Brambleberry.com and Blackberry Sage Fragrance Oil  from AromaHaven.com. I chose this mold because it gives me lots of room to swirl on the top of my soap, and I chose this scent because it does not accelerate, giving me plenty of time to work.

And here are my results:

I like the swirl and it is very pretty, but it is not in the classic peacock, or bouquet.

I think I have identified two problems with my first attempt:

1. My lines of soap in the beginning were more thick than I have seen others do. I think I need to thin out my lines, which will give me more room to have more lines and more swirl.

2. I drew my S-curve very wide. Next time, I am going to tighten up that curve, hopefully giving myself more swirl per inch.

All in all, I am pretty happy with the soap, I love the colors and the scent, and the swirl isnt terrible for a first timer. The soap gelled overnight, so the green and purple really pop next to the white and black. I have some new fall and winter scents coming in next week, so I'm looking forward to practicing this advanced swirl a few more times! Plus, I am going to get some help from a friend of mine who is an expert at swirling and marbling paper! Go check out her Etsy shop here: DynamiteFibers