I took a few minutes yesterday to make some fresh Shea Butter lotion for Mom, who needed something soothing. I used some extracts and allantoin for their healing properties, and I scented it with Chocolate Raspberry. Today it's a bit on the Raspberry side, so I may need to add more Chocolate. (It still smells delicious!) Our Shea Butter lotion makes our skin sooooo soft... I find myself using it even when I really don't need lotion, just for the extra healthy feel of my skin after I use it.
Today's batch will be a lighter lotion with Wheat Germ oil. I'll let you know how it goes! :-)
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Monday, August 15, 2011
Autumn S.O.A.P. team time!
Whoa, time flies, doesn't it? I can't believe it's already been a whole season since the last S.O.A.P. team was chosen and did their testing. Bramble Berry is accepting blog entries to choose the new team, and I'd love to be chosen to be on the panel!
Believe it or not, my favorite product from Bramble Berry is still the water resistant label paper! This paper is awesome! I've gotten the paper wet on accident and wondered what would happen, and unlike some other "water resistant" paper, you can't even tell that anything happened. It's also not glossy (which I liked because it looks more natural) and not pre-sectioned, so your labels can be whatever size you choose. Okay, maybe that's a bit boring of me to choose the same thing I did last time, so I'll show you the mold that's a favorite around here- the Wave mold! It's a great, and stylish, all-purpose bar mold- the best thing about this mold is that the soap it makes stays in your hand and keeps its wave shape down to the very last ounce of soap.
I really enjoyed reading all of the entries for the past few panels- everyone did their testing so thoroughly that it seems a bit daunting to try to think of new ways to test the scents, but I'd really love to give it a shot! I have a few ideas that are different from what others made, so I didn't want to pass up the chance to volunteer. My fellow potential scent testing participants (aka, my family!) are helping me get my ideas together, and we are excited about the challenge of testing on a larger scale than what we're used to. Autumn is our favorite season (here in San Diego even the weather seems to agree that it would much rather be autumn than summer!) and we'd love to participate in testing the new autumn/winter scents.
Thanks for reading, everyone! It's great to be part of the ever-friendly and ever-enthusiastic soaping community- here's wishing the best to everyone who gets chosen, and we look forward to reading your entries! :-)
Believe it or not, my favorite product from Bramble Berry is still the water resistant label paper! This paper is awesome! I've gotten the paper wet on accident and wondered what would happen, and unlike some other "water resistant" paper, you can't even tell that anything happened. It's also not glossy (which I liked because it looks more natural) and not pre-sectioned, so your labels can be whatever size you choose. Okay, maybe that's a bit boring of me to choose the same thing I did last time, so I'll show you the mold that's a favorite around here- the Wave mold! It's a great, and stylish, all-purpose bar mold- the best thing about this mold is that the soap it makes stays in your hand and keeps its wave shape down to the very last ounce of soap.
I really enjoyed reading all of the entries for the past few panels- everyone did their testing so thoroughly that it seems a bit daunting to try to think of new ways to test the scents, but I'd really love to give it a shot! I have a few ideas that are different from what others made, so I didn't want to pass up the chance to volunteer. My fellow potential scent testing participants (aka, my family!) are helping me get my ideas together, and we are excited about the challenge of testing on a larger scale than what we're used to. Autumn is our favorite season (here in San Diego even the weather seems to agree that it would much rather be autumn than summer!) and we'd love to participate in testing the new autumn/winter scents.
Thanks for reading, everyone! It's great to be part of the ever-friendly and ever-enthusiastic soaping community- here's wishing the best to everyone who gets chosen, and we look forward to reading your entries! :-)
Total lunar eclipse in Tajikistan
I saw this on APOD and wanted to repost- I think very few of us have seen a total lunar eclipse, so my jaw dropped when I saw this. We all love astronomy! Hope you enjoy it too! (And do watch it in full screen if you get the chance! :D )
Here's the description from APOD: "If the full Moon suddenly faded, what would you see? The answer during the total lunar eclipse last month was recorded in a dramatic time lapse video from Tajikistan. During a total lunar eclipse, the Earth moves between the Moon and the Sun, causing the moon to fade dramatically. The Moon never gets completely dark, though, since the Earth's atmosphere refracts some light. As the above video begins, the scene may appear to be daytime and sunlit, but actually it is a nighttime and lit by the glow of the full Moon. As the moon becomes eclipsed and fades, the wind dies down and background stars can be seen reflected in foreground lake. Most spectacularly, the sky surrounding the eclipsed moon suddenly appears to be full of stars and highlighted by the busy plane of our Milky Way Galaxy. The sequence repeats with a closer view, and the final image shows the placement of the eclipsed Moon near the Eagle, Swan, Trifid, and Lagoon nebulas. Nearly two hours after the eclipse started, the moon emerges from the Earth's shadow and its bright full glare again dominates the sky."
Here's the description from APOD: "If the full Moon suddenly faded, what would you see? The answer during the total lunar eclipse last month was recorded in a dramatic time lapse video from Tajikistan. During a total lunar eclipse, the Earth moves between the Moon and the Sun, causing the moon to fade dramatically. The Moon never gets completely dark, though, since the Earth's atmosphere refracts some light. As the above video begins, the scene may appear to be daytime and sunlit, but actually it is a nighttime and lit by the glow of the full Moon. As the moon becomes eclipsed and fades, the wind dies down and background stars can be seen reflected in foreground lake. Most spectacularly, the sky surrounding the eclipsed moon suddenly appears to be full of stars and highlighted by the busy plane of our Milky Way Galaxy. The sequence repeats with a closer view, and the final image shows the placement of the eclipsed Moon near the Eagle, Swan, Trifid, and Lagoon nebulas. Nearly two hours after the eclipse started, the moon emerges from the Earth's shadow and its bright full glare again dominates the sky."
Monday, August 8, 2011
SLS vs... SLS?
Looking at the websites of a couple of skin care companies today, I noticed that both of them mentioned that they one, don't use surfactants, and two, stay away from anything with the words "lauryl" or "laureth" in it (Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulfate, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate, etc). The thought came to me that these statements could mislead some who had never heard the terms... So, having done a mind-boggling amount of research on these terms, I thought I'd post a few links and give some information to help arm you when reading the label of that soap/shampoo/bath bomb/toothpaste etc. Please see the links below to do more research on your own. :-)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)