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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!!

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. 🙂

Cyber Monday

I got my first Cyber Monday order. How awesome!! I wanted to write last night, but got distracted. *smile* If you’re reading this, thanks again Bro. *grin* There is something so delightfully exciting about the order being on such an infamous day. (Heaven knows it couldn’t have been on Black Friday because I was too busy shopping myself lol.)

I am tickled to have two new holiday orders and especially because I have lots of extra time in which to work on them, since I’ve been running on “sick slow mo” as I call it. Lol. I have several items in my pre-made stash, but still have some work to do. Mostly I need to get my new version of goat’s milk lotion made, so that’s Thursday’s project. I can’t even begin to tell you how amazed and honored I am that my lotion stands up, if not exceeds when I’m not trying to be humble *wink*, professionally branded lotions for severe chapping. Holy smokes!! Anyway, I have a goal to revamp the lotion with emulsifying wax to increase the moisturizing properties and beneficial time. It creates a thicker, creamier lotion that has more binding properties, similar in a way to those silicone glove treatments that were popular a few years back. I’m hoping that the extended treatment will reduce, if not eliminate, the need for people to cover their hands with plastic bags and socks or gloves to create a sauna atmosphere and increase how well the moisturizers work. Who wants to sleep with weird stuff crinkling on their hands? Plus, who says that a good thing is good enough? *grin* Saying it worked wonderfully is like issuing a challenge to try to make it better. Lol. I become way too curious about the benefits and ingredients, so I love to work on a new puzzle.

I also will be making a lot of dessert cake soaps. I’ll try the “ice cream” rolled in slightly cooled melted soap to see if I can make it a little less fragile. *crossing fingers* I’ve been toying with the idea of taking a few of my “ruined” soaps (the vanilla in the fragrance oils turned them brown before I learned about the additive to prevent it) and shaving little “chocolate curls”. Or at least try. *grin* I have a cheese slicer that might make nice little decorations and would LOVE to not have more waste than I must anyway. I know from being a billing consultant that you always have write offs, but even then, even when it was a write off to help a patient or when I knew that something really needed to be written off, I felt like I did something wrong. Lol. Like that balance in the column is saying that I’m that bad and wasteful. Isn’t it funny how the mind can work? Anyway, I try to find uses for everything and doubt that people want little brown soaps in their stockings this year. *grin* May smell great, but that visual…dude. Lol.

I need to look around for some basket wraps that conceal the baskets and product, so that the orders are ready to put from the box right under the Christmas tree. All of my wraps are transluscent. Bah! I then figured out that if I use a wrap on the baskets that I have, then I have to go up to the $10 shipping box all because of a couple of centimeters. So not happening! We all want the cheapest shipping possible and I refuse to let a wrap screw that up. Lol. Dang, that means I’ll have to go shopping…*grin*

It was amusing to me that both orders I got this week seemed simple at first. Then it became obvious that it was my business and got really complicated. Lol. “I want a goat’s milk lotion.” Okay, want 1, 4, or 8 oz? Want it in which scent? If you like that, you might consider this…and do you want the original or the new version? Oh, need some soap? Would you prefer a bubble wash instead of a bar soap…etc. So many options. Lol. I got a little overwhelming I think. I suspect that my need to be occupied and learn has created an overwhelmingly vast array of options for customers. I wonder if some of the people who have told others that they’ll be ordering were intimidated by the amount of options..? That’s a sad prospect.

In the meantime I’m writing my notes (and yes Z, I have a spreadsheet *grin*) while I have zero energy, so I’m ready with a game plan once I find some energy in my toes or something. Lol. I’ll let you know how the science experiment with emulsifying wax goes. Sweet dreams and a wonderful day to all.

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