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Category Archives: Bath Products (non-soap)

Mostly about specific products

Honeymoon Basket

I have an order for a fun basket to be given as a wedding/honeymoon gift. It’s basically a retooling of my seduction basket and a bit more expensive. I’ve been thinking of redoing that basket for some time, as I’ve developed more recipes and expanded the options, so I’m pretty excited. Plus, it’s hard to get restless when it’s one of everything! Lol. I’m going to include the usual erotic dice, votive candles, feather, and erotic coupons, but I think it’s up to them to do a blindfold if they want one. *cheeky grin* There will be quite a variety of oils including peppermint EO, sensuality EO, Lovin’ with Licorice, Cotton Candy, South Pacific Waters (need a dash of sexy and refreshing in there), and then I think I’ll add in some bath salts. If I were close friends with the couple I’d consider a little tongue in cheek amusement by adding my muscle rub. Rofl. I’m staying professional though and debating what else to make for it. I’ve been doing research on aphrodisiac EOs, so I’ll add in some ylang ylang and look what blend has myrrh (can’t afford the regular, so it’s in one of the blends). I read that women are more turned on by a musky masculine scent than the “gentler” scents, so I’m debating which of my male line to go with. Sand Dune seems to be going over well with men, so I think I’ll probably end up with that, which I’ve never done in oils before.

If I’m being honest I must admit to being a little nervous. I think it’s a really fun and unique wedding gift, and I’m always amused by risqué gifts, but I wonder how other wedding guests will take such an item? Truthfully it’s not really my concern, but it has my business name all over everything, so I want to walk that line on the right side. Lol.

Anyway, I think I might add a few soap cordials and mini bottles of products that can be used on their honeymoon for the everyday instead of just bedroom, too, like some lotion. It’s fun to have free rein, but it’s hard to decide what everyone will like when you don’t really know them. Lol.

I should probably go get started. I have a delivery of FOs and a couple of new molds that will arrive any day, and we know how distracted I get by my deliveries. *grin* I ordered the cutest soap mold that I can’t wait to blog about…

Mmmm Andes

Hi, my name is Georgia, and I am addicted to lists and planning. Lol. I just can’t help myself. Somehow creating a list soothes me. I will be honest and admit that sometimes I delete lists just so that I can remake them.

In light of this addiction I have tons of physical and virtual lists of things I want to do and make in my “lab” as my own version of a mad scientist. I added a new inspiration to my list that I’m so excited about that I just have to share.

I can’t wait to get some umph and create some mint chocolate bars of soap. I want to make some green and brown layered soaps to mimic an Andes mint. I make mint cocoa massage and body oils, so I have a great equation for the FOs all ready. I like mixing the visual and scent aspects of soap, as you can tell from my surprise soaps and what not, and I’m hoping that I can pull these off. I’ve been thinking over how to redo my dessert cake soaps for having on hand, since they don’t store well, so I’ll make them when I get orders, and have a different variation on hand. Well, thinking of making chocolate and strawberry layered soap, to follow the scent profile of the dessert cake soaps, I quickly went to some of my favorite desserts and got so excited when I could just see in my mind these gorgeous soaps. A luscious dark brown and a brilliant green layer. Instead of a sandwich I may leave it at two layers if I totally suck, but I’ve done other layered soaps that turned out wonderfully, so I think I just need to decide what is more visually striking to me.

I admit that I haven’t made the bath cookies yet. *sigh* I’m still so excited about them and have been listing options (see, even lists for each idea lol) for what to sprinkle on them to help them look neat. I’m afraid that if I don’t add some herbal topping that they’ll look like over baked sugar cookies or dried play doh. Lol. I’ve been debating what will be nice in bath water, instead of just making it pretty. I sketched a cookie with anise on it, but thought that it would seriously suck to have to clean that out of the tub. I’ve always been so careful to think about my exciting ideas from a user point of view, hence finding my bath tea bags and things like that. So, I’m thinking about experimenting with the new fine iridescent white sparkles to act like sugar. I’m going to roll them in the glitter, like a peanut butter cookie, and bake, and hopefully they’ll resemble a pretty version of sugar. I want something a little more eye catching than just using sugar. If a customer doesn’t rinse the tub could they get ants after using, because of the sugary water residue? *grin* See why I also have a list of devil’s advocate arguments. Lol. I could always use bath salts, but the girly part of me really wants to try out the glitter. *shaking head at self with a laugh* I think sparkly bath cookies would be an adorable addition to the girl combos and would be so adorable to little girly girls. *smile* If the slightly goth and morbid me thinks this glitter is adorable and gets all dorky about it, I figure I have a good chance that little girls will like it too. Lol.

Anyway, that’s a bit of my musings and a small confession that isn’t really a secret to anyone that knows me. *grin* (Btw, don’t you dare tease me about this Dude – you know who you are. *grin*) I have a list of ideas, a few of what to take for events, a ton of to-dos (bless the iPhone 4 reminders app), my previously admitted ones, scent names, and what spreadsheets I want to make. (Yeah, yeah. I all ready admitted that I’m a nerd that loves a spreadsheet, so shush.) In the meantime I’m writing ideas of what to post on Pinterest now that I’ve been invited. I seriously need to quit trolling and replying to questions on other people’s pins regarding EOs and what not. *grin* Have a great day. If you’re on Pinterest today, don’t be surprised to run across georgiasbath trolling. It’s another confessed behavioral quirk 😉

Baby wipes

Yesterday my helpers (two helpers now!) were in the mood to work and learn, so I was able to get several things done with their help.

I utilized the tween energy to make some goat’s milk lotion, since she could stir almost nonstop without it bothering her. I experimented with my new Coffee Bean FO, which definitely needs a lot of experimentation to find the right ratio! Anyway, a ml was so eye-watering that I added three versions of vanilla to mellow it out a bit. It still needs a lot of help, but anyway…My new helper enthusiastically loved it, while my nose was wrinkled and I turned the fan on to get the stink out of the room, so that experiment became her gift for helping, and she will be the tester for the Coffee Bean. (Did you know that some Tweens drink coffee before school?! I couldn’t believe how young the coffee drinkers are getting. Whoa, I’m out of touch.)

Anyway, I needed to make a batch of lavender GM samples and had her follow my recipe (a great chance to teach about measuring liquids, reading mililiters, reading recipes, and observing thorough cleanliness), and I commented about being glad to be done with the lavender items, since I can’t stand lavender. My helper took a sniff and suddenly I almost saw a light bulb come on over her head. “It smells like baby wipes!” Hm, that’s not really what I aim for when making products. Lol. She made a few comments about how neat it was to be able to make stuff smell like things from the store (which, admittedly, it is, but please not something associated with butts *sassy wink*) and we did a little lesson about the importance of chemistry, the difference of FOs and EOs, and how to read/apply ratios. I was still mulling over baby wipes when I noticed her over by the mechanic soaps.

Apparently Tweens still retain the childhood curiosity that makes them want to poke stuff. Lol. Thankfully she understood the importance of not touching or disturbing the sellable items, but that tester bar would have been crying from being poked and prodded so much if it was alive. *grin* The poor bar has wrinkles, fingerprints, and bits of soap dripping UP the mold. I had to keep reminding her to wash, because she was over there playing in it as it set anytime I turned, and rubbed it in like lotion. It was rather funny and I think it was intriguing to watch a liquid solidify in person. Actually seeing the process, “like making an ice cube”, seemed to make her day. I do think that I’ll avoid soap making with the girls over though, since I haven’t developed the eyes-in-the-back-of-my-head thing yet. *grin*

By the way, a great way to get a tween to handle processes carefully is to say that you could go to jail for not following the instructions. I doubt that it was so much about me going to jail, but more of not being able to be around the product making anymore, but I’ll take what works. Lol. It really worked for stressing the importance of every quarter mililiter being exact and I don’t feel guilty at all. It gave me a smile to hear “we can’t have you going to jail” after the baby wipes kick to the ego. *grin* I’ll take what I can get 😉

A little funk

I managed to get myself up and made a batch each of goat’s milk V2 and V3. Interestingly enough the silky emulsifying wax (V3) melted and incorporated much better and quicker than the pot of V2. That was admittedly a little surprising, since the first batch of V3 I ever made had odd little bulbs of wax that didn’t fully melt and incorporate. Granted that it looked really freaking cool in a colored bottle of lotion (think small tapioca pearls kind of look in a gorgeous lavender lotion).

Anyway, I made two batches of samples and then some 4 oz bottles to have on hand for the citywide garage sale next week (or the one after). I decided that I should make Soda Shoppe in V3 for those that love the scent, but don’t want the thick feeling of the V2 that I have on hand. Of course I was tickled making that and having a little to “test”. *wink*

I decided to do some unscented, dreamsicle, and spa; all best sellers except unscented. They smelled so good and made a tremendous mess. Lol. When I started cleaning up I had little blobs of lotion left behind and I hated to wash it out, so I figured I’d utilize the extras as I was washing the equipment up.

I really didn’t think about the funk from rubbing in dabs of these scents all over. Add some lavender, which I can’t stand the smell of anyway, and I’m a walking sensory what-not-to-wear example. *cracking up* I still like the spa on my elbow and it works well with most of the scents. The dreamsicle and root beer float make a horrible scent when mixed, I must admit.

I really need to think through these things. Lol. I need to make another batch of sample lotions and maybe some bubble wash. I’m not sure what I’ll have my helpers do other than attach lotion labels tomorrow. I planned on making bath cookies with them, which I think will be a super fun new product, but discovered that I’m out of cornstarch, so I’m back to the drawing board. I might let them help me pour Acne Bee Gone Soaps or Mechanic soaps, since they enjoyed the fact that they really had a hand in making the last batch of soaps. Whatever we do, I’m not wearing more than one scent, that’s for sure!!

A whole lotta V3

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I got two big orders with the majority being goat’s milk V3 lotions. I’ve never made such a big batch. That snow on top is emulsifying wax that is silky and almost leaves a powdery feel. A lot of work followed this picture, but I wanted to take a picture to remember such an accomplishment (not to mention my first round of version 3). Booyah! That pot is over half a gallon of just base, btw. *bow* You may be in awe now *teasing grin* Anyway, just a fun tidbit that I wanted to share. Have a great evening!

Party pooper

Now that the thunder storm is completely done and it’s safe to bring up all of my electronic gadgets I decided to write a quick post.  I spent a while during my technology free time (cue groan or even dramatic gasp since I’m seldom far from at least two gadgets) working on new products.  I jumped right in to my most exciting project – the cocktail combos.  While my base was warming so that I could incorporate the emulsifying wax I worked on some embedded soaps which I’ll discuss in a few, since that’s a lot more cheerful. *grin*  Anyway, the first round of lotion samplers that I made went pretty well.  It’s kind of hard to mess up lime margarita scented lotion honestly.  Lol.  I moved onto the Island Margarita samples and was very disappointed.  First I must admit that I seriously dislike peach and mango.  As I started blending the FO into the lotion I instantly developed a massive headache and started feeling sick to my stomach (See!  Every cell in my body hates those scents, especially peach.).  I decided that I needed to mellow it a little so that I could tolerate making these if anyone ended up liking these and added some of the lime to it, which actually did help, but the scents lingered in my nose.  After I finished I moved on to creating a pina colada blend and things really went downhill then.  Oh man!  I think that the candy-sweet pineapple and super mellow coconut FOs are the wrong varieties for this, but I really didn’t want to waste all of this.  The mad scientist started rummaging through my flats of FOs, pondering scent profiles if I added this or that.  Finally I added a tiny bit of Jumpin’ Jellybean FO and a healthy dose of Buttercream FO, and it finally became decent enough to leave be to cure and check in a few days.  The vanilla really helped to mellow the funkiness from the odd scent created by the two FO variations, but I still swore that I smelled peach (bleh!).  I have no idea how I could get peach from pina colada, but thankfully the quick thinking and touch of jellybean boosted the fruitiness without the odd sweetness that the pineapple has.  At this point I was so discouraged, but really wanted to finish and started the mojito lotion.  I swear that when I originally smelled and described the mojito FO that it was crisp with citrus and mint notes.  I swear that somehow I started smelling more of that wretched peach this time though!  Thankfully my grandpa flashed through my mind and I dug out Wintergreen EO to add, which worked perfectly.  (Grandpa often had wintergreen chew and it’s quite a comforting childhood scent for me despite how disgusting chew is to me.)  Anyway, I was so happy to be done working on the cocktail varieties since I was so disappointed.  I’m hoping that the scents will be better after they cure (and I will smell the rest before going near the Island ones! Lol).

Next I moved on to some fun soaps.  I made some amazing watermelon scented, strawberry colored, soap squares a few days back and diced them up to embed into other soaps for some creative soaps that children might really like.  I admit to being puzzled for awhile over what the complementary main scent should be and decided that the smartest course was to ask my young helper.  We agreed that bubblegum would be neat, since the little bursts of watermelon while using and exposing the embeds would remind people of watermelon bubble yum.  *smile*  I dropped in six little cubes of watermelon and then poured slightly cooled bubblegum scented white soap.  I figure that the white main soap will make the jewel tone pink cubes really pop when they are seen.  I also made sure to adjust the little cubes to poke out and make odd non-patterns to make them even more interesting.  I am beyond excited to take some pics and post on here once they set and I can unmold. *happy dance*  I really think that these are some fun soaps and hope that they get a lot of attention at events. 

Although I feel that the main goal of tonight’s work didn’t go well, I’m happy that my creative and random soap project has given me something new to be excited about.  I’ll keep you updated on the cocktail situation (I can always omit one type from the combos I suppose) and hope that you don’t mind crossing your fingers that they turn into winners after setting up.  *grin* Sweet dreams and I hope that your catch up day from the holiday goes well if you have to go to work. 🙂

I surprised myself

I managed to fill all of the orders I have today except for figuring up prices. I pushed myself to work on lotions today since I’m feeling a tiny bit better. When I scooped base into the pan to warm and prepare to accept additives I somehow scooped within 2 oz of what I needed without having measured. Booyah! I totally impressed myself lol. Just a little overpour. I even got all of the ordered soaps done thankfully. Of course my legs are in absolute agony and I won’t be doing much for a few days, but what a sense of accomplishment!

Now from my prone position with legs elevated on a stack of couch cushions I get to look at sale items for Spring combos while watching my fav DVRed shows. A good day. *smile*

I also get to sniff my new FOs and determine what notes I catch. Some names are so inaccurate, so they’re getting renamed lol. Banana Cream Pie actually smells like banana taffy. I may play with adding vanilla FOs to see if I can make a cream pie scent, since that would be light and still decadent. Watermelon Mania is exactly like watermelon bubblegum. It has that sugary, fun scent of bubblegum instead of a crisp fruit scent that I expected from the name. I’m delighted with it, but definitely expected the fresh version. Fresh lemon zest is amazing, yet will definitely be a note in products and not be a stand alone. It’s so sharp and tart that it’ll be amazing with a little buttercream to mellow it out. Secret Crush has a really nice combination of floral notes. I’m sad to admit that I can’t even smell one FO at all, Relaxing. It’s suppose to be a crisp, citrusy, and soothing scent. Such a bummer! Mojito has a great crisp minty scent that I’m going to use it a lot I think, while Margarita is mostly all lime. I’ll have to figure out some variations to make it a bit more appealing I think. I’m still excited to plan out some new items.

Now I’ll write my to do list and enjoy some Downton Abbey. *grin*

Like a bakery

Despite the blahs I’ve managed to get a few items made. *happy dance* I made a big batch of dessert cake soaps and they smell phenomenal. Between them and the cake batter lotions, and the pumpkin buttercream lotion, it’s a delightful mixture like in a bakery. I experimented with rolling the “ice cream” scoop of bath whip for the dessert cakes in slightly cooled melted glycerin soap. Ummm…epic fail. *biting lip* There was whip everywhere and the texture as it cooled…ugh! The whip developed a tacky texture where it got coated with the soap. Oddest feeling and experience ever. Lol. Thankfully that was soap number 13, the experimental child of each big batch. *grin* I try to have an extra in case of something bad happening when I’m doing a big batch.

I also filled the orders for goat’s milk lotions. Wow! I’m completely out of goat’s milk base now. That’s pretty cool. *smile* Anyway, a few are the new version with emulsifying wax. That was a learning experience, let me tell you! Lol. It certainly doesn’t take much of the wax pellets even in a big batch, but it took almost an hour in warm base for them to melt and incorporate. I didn’t expect that. Lotion has to be warmed at a low rate or else it turns nasty very fast, but it was hard to hold my little patience and not crank the heat when I’d all ready waited half an hour to melt the lotion anyway. Lol. I measured and did my additives, and then poured each version. After they were done I got to take a swipe of the caked on lotion on the side of my lotion pot and tried it out. Holy smokes!! I seriously think I may have to add to all adult lotions now. It’s so creamy and leaves the neatest feeling. It’s this smooth and thick feeling like it’s really working, and will take awhile to soak in, but doesn’t have that greasy or tacky feeling that some intensive care versions of lotions have. *happy dance* So awesome!! I’m debating offering the wax as an a la carte option, but the nerd in me can’t resist giggling at imaging “Sex in the Shower 2.0”. *snicker* Of course, you have to have the robot voice announcing it in your mind. We’ll see which version of me wins on how to incorporate emulsifying wax into my line. *grin*

I have a few more things left to make, but I’m done for the day. I hope you have a fantastic weekend and hope your house smells as amazing as mine right now!!

A little bit of work

It was storming heavily last night, so I didn’t have the lure of Netflix or the computer since I unplugged them to be safe. I am feeling a little better, so I figured I’d slowly get some products made.

I filled my Mom’s order for stocking stuffer 1 ounce lotions. I was getting ready to pour some holiday scent 4 ounce lotions, but after making the 1 ounce ones for Mom I really liked the idea of having some sample or travel size lotions to offer. Plus it’s a great size to put in baskets. So I made 1 ounce lotions instead and since I had warmed a nice amount of lotion base to make several 4 ounce ones, I was able to make a whole lot of lotions. I ended up with spiced gumdrops, hot apple pie, spa, south pacific waters, and gingersnap cookies. All but one spa were for Mom’s order, but I made eight of almost everything. I have several options to go into the Christmas sampler now!

I also made several oils. I made a wintergreen EO oil that smells amazing and gave a really neat feeling to my skin when I tried it. You know what feeling I mean? That really fun and tingly mint feeling? Of course, my body reads skin sensations somewhat differently than the average person due to the Fibro. I also made a mint cocoa that I love to huff. *grin* I blended chocolate mousse and peppermint EO. I’m looking forward to using this blend during the winter. I love burning a candle with that scent profile, so when I’m really in the mood to indulge and pamper, I have a new go-to. I made pumpkin buttercream lotion in September and finally got around to making the oil version, which smells heavenly!

I need to make some labels and price tags for the new stuff, plus decide on a few names. I don’t know if I’ll leave as spices gumdrops and stuff like that. I also need to make some Christmas scented room and linen sprays to include in the baskets and as individual options for buyers. One extra spray that I hope to do while I have the multipurpose spray mixed up (it is a concentrate with a formula for combining with purified water). I really like the idea of a sleepy time spray. It’s a blend of EOs that are thought to help with relaxation and combat insomnia. I think that should (yeah, I know that I throw around should a whole lot lol) be a good seller.

I have a few items left, but am feeling pretty good about what I’ll have available at Saturday’s event. It’s a great start on the event in a few weeks in CA that I’m shipping my stuff to, also. (A friend is going to be selling quilts and cross stitches, and offered to sell my products for me at it, too.) Realistically I know that there will be plenty of leftovers even if my stuff is wildly popular. *smile* I’m still not positive if I’ll send much to the CA event, but I figure this weekend should give a good idea if it’s a good opportunity. I have to take into account how much it’s going to cost for shipping, especially if not much sells and has to be shipped back to me.

Anyway, I won’t get much done today or tomorrow, but I’m in the final stretch. Now I can start consulting my lists and gather the stuff I’m taking. My prime priority is to get my website updated and type up the update spreadsheets to take with me. (I know, I know. Me and my spreadsheets. *grin*) Time to start getting excited! By the way, any ideas on how to hang my banner at the booth? I still haven’t figured out how to. Lol. Anyway, have a great day and I’ll keep updating as things progress.

Progress

I pushed myself and made some progress Tuesday while Larry was installing some insulation in the attic. I don’t typically work on products on his day off, but I pushed myself to take advantage of having some alone time to hit a few more goals. I made 6 bottles of lotion. I realized while doing inventory the other night that I didn’t have enough lotions to make the Twilight lotion combos for the event, so I made up a few of Edward’s Kiss. After that I decided that I really wanted a Cherry on Top lotion. Wow! It turned out absolutely fantastic! I’m tickled. *grin* The maximum amount of the cherry FO under the guidelines, which I technically don’t have to fully follow yet try to, is .3 ML per every 2 ounces of lotion, so I was really nervous that I wouldn’t be able to get the scent that I wanted. However, I did the math and added up to just below the max, and balanced the chocolate mousse and maraschino cherry FOs wonderfully. *happy sigh* I unmolded the soaps I made yesterday and actually remembered to update my inventory spreadsheet too. Rock on!

The little dessert cake soaps came out kind of cute in their first stage. I got a dark devil’s food cake color with the clear soap base, so I managed to avoid the unwanted pastel that I accidentally made during my first effort. Lol. I’ve been debating between making a complimentary scented sugar scrub and using my mini melon baller to scoop a tiny bit on top of the cakes to look like a la mode, then drizzle the soap glaze down the whole bit. I’ve been mentally running pros and cons of scrub or doing a small pour of soap and making the ice cream out of it after it does the first set up. I am leaning toward scrub since it is more forgiving than soap. With some force scrub can be manipulated rather well. I might spend some time making shapes with the scrub when in the shower. I’m not saying that I do, but I might. *cheesy grin*

I was preparing to make another batch of acne soap when I heard a crash in the living room. Larry came through the ceiling part way and my couch was covered in the nasty, crumbling, old insulation and chunks of the sheetrock. I ended up cleaning that up instead of finishing the soap. Man was there some impressive timing. I hadn’t heated or poured the soap, so no loss and I can jump right into the batch tomorrow or Thursday. Plus, if I hadn’t pushed myself to work on soap I would have been buried under the fallen ceiling and insulation. I recognize the blessings. Larry is banged up, but I’m fairly well experienced with pain management, so it won’t be too bad. Things could have gone a lot worse. I also now am thankful that I’m preparing for the event. Lol.

One last part before I post and head to bed. I made a coffee and cocoa face mask today. It requires milk to be added to it, to make a paste. I have been going through stocking stuffer-like product options and have been itching to start some coffee products. I mixed up the powdered ingredients and put into cute little plastic bags with a holiday print on them, then twist tied them (metallic red twist ties to stay in theme of course *grin*), and will print out instructions to attach to the bags. I personally would be irritated to get just one treatment in my stocking. I really that it sounds bratty, but it’s more of a desire to make sure I can duplicate the good results before I buy the replacement and stick with the line. It may not sound logical to people, but it’s my logic and I’m cool with that. *grin* In light of my own preferences I put a double batch in each bag. The customer just pours half out into a bowl, stirs in some milk to make the paste, and applies to cleansed skin. I’m going to put a little side bar on the instruction sheet. I personally couldn’t stand having it sit on my skin for a full fifteen minutes (supposedly that’s how long it takes for the ingredients to firm, tone, and soothe the skin, but seriously? That’s rather subjective in my opinion and I’m not going to listen to the governmental person that decided to tell crafters how long their customers should leave stuff on for. Buh.). I used it more as a thick scrub and decided to finish cleaning up, and then rinsed it off while I was all ready in the water. I’m going to mention that option. I did one side and not the other, and there was a true difference that could be felt. Not to mention that I loved smelling what is basically a mocha. Ohhhhh yeahhh. Okay, I’m done cheesing. Anyway, I was talking with my mom and she’s absolutely delighted to hear about this new product. She wants me to start with at least 6 bags at the event. Whatever doesn’t sell she’s going to buy for Christmas gifts. *grin* If they all sell, then I have to make another batch pronto. Lol. I absolutely love when people are excited about stuff that I make! It brings back that elation that I use to get from doing poetry readings and competitions, or when I did my artwork. It’s small, but you touch someone’s life, and have a good impact. That’s such an awesome gift for both people. I’m all ready blessed to know that you will be reading this and interested in my little adventures. *smile* On that note, I hope that you have such a blessing today!