Pomegranate Peach Minis on sale!

The Pomegranate Peach Minis have reached 300 "favorites" on Etsy, so they'll be on sale for two weeks! Hope you'll try one of this fun flavor while they're only 79 cents!

***  Sale ends Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2014 ***

Another Milestone, another sale!

I don't care what anyone says, the opposite of Vanilla isn't Chocolate, it's Peppermint! Think about it- vanilla is calm, seemingly simple, soothing. Peppermint is complex, energizing and in-your-face. I think that's why this flavor blend is such a surprise to people... these two flavors are polar opposites, but they blend like they were meant for each other. (Because they were!)

And, here at Canfield Crafts we're pleased to say that since the Vanilla Mint Minis have reached 150 "favorites" on Etsy, they're the next balm to go on sale for two weeks! :-) Starting today, they'll be on sale for 79 cents. Hope you'll try one!

SALE!

Woohoo! It took a while, but the "Earl Grey with a Slice" Minis have reached 350 "favorites" on Etsy! They'll be on sale for the awesome price of 79 cents for the next two weeks, so we hope you'll think about giving one a try! :-)

(The sale will end at midnight on August 13, 2014.)

https://www.etsy.com/listing/112238570/earl-grey-with-a-slice-shea-cocoa-butter

Samples from Majestic Mountain Sage!

I received a note on twitter that MMS would be sending me a sample of the Lemon & Basil lip balm that Taylor made on April 29th and I was thrilled because I have always wanted to make a more 'savory' lip balm, but wasn't sure exactly where to start in terms of how much of each essential oil or sweetener to use. Their recipe is a great starting point!

This balm is yet another example that there are many different (and awesome) formulas for different occasions! The balm doesn't go on thick or sticky, so it's perfect for everyday use; smooth texture, very light but still moisturizing. I didn't expect to like the flavor of basil in a lip balm, to be honest- I tend to associate it with our Basil Aromatherapy sticks, I think. But I really liked it! Basil is a complex flavor- you taste a strong herbaceous flavor (not quite "Italian food", but close) first, but that quickly disappears and you taste the "fennel", "black licorice" notes. The last thing you taste is a very mild herbaceous note mingled with lemon. Very nice! I noticed that I reapplied a couple of times to catch the different 'notes' of the flavor- I like that! It shows what a complex blend you could create with a few different 'savory' essential oils. I agree with what Taylor said on the blog- if I made this blend, I'd make the lemon more of the 'main' flavor, with Basil the background flavor. (Ooh, I wonder what Orange would taste like with Basil?) It had the perfect amount of sweetener, too, since it was just used in the recipe as a flavor enhancer. I'll try to remember not to overdo it on the sweetener when I start experimenting. :-)

Thank you again to the lovely people at MMS for sending this sample! We have a really nice starting point to experiment with savory lip balms now!

The second item in the picture above is a lotion sample we received in a recent order. This is very moisturizing for a light lotion and doesn't go on greasy, so if you're looking for a light, ready-for-summer lotion base to fragrance, it's worth a try! I was surprised to find that I like the tropical-but-not-suntan-lotion-tropical Green Mango fragrance in the lotion, even though I didn't like the scent 'out of the bottle'. My boss here at Canfield Crafts loved the lotion and fragrance so much that she stole it and I haven't been able to try it since... ;-)

Bee-Free Balms are officially in the shop!

We've been working on Beeswax free lip balms for a while now, and since we got a request recently to make some in two of our most popular flavors, we thought it was time to officially add them to the Etsy shop! They are perfect for anyone who does not like to use animal products or has an allergy to bee products.

We decided to make the balms with Soy Wax, as it is readily available and doesn't add any flavor to the balms. The only difference is that the texture of the balms is a bit different- they feel more noticeable when you're wearing them but it's not unpleasant. In fact, since it's now Winter it feels pleasant to feel that extra protection on your lips.

Here are the first two flavors that are officially in stock- but keep in mind that you can order any balm and send a note asking for the Bee-free version and we'll take care of the rest!

Earl Grey with a Slice
Pure Vanilla

New Chocolate Balm in the store!

Last year sometime I was given the task of making a Chocolate Orange lip balm- well, it's finally done and in the shop!

It took a while- first, because life kept getting in the way, and second, because we had thought "hey, let's try a different Chocolate balm formula!" After a long trial-and-error-but-mostly-error testing period we decided to put that on hold for a while and make a Dark Chocolate Orange using our regular formula. The pre-shop popularity of this flavor shows once more that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

We hope you'll try one of our Dark Chocolate Orange balms! (Remember, if you're interested in a bulk assortment of Minis, we do offer different discount levels. Send us a note anytime!)

Dark Chocolate Orange:
Clear tube - Black tube - Oval tube - Mini tube

A note on Minis

We got a note today and the person was wondering if we'll ever lower the price of the Minis from $.99... For various reasons, we can't offer our lowest price for individual Mini Aromatherapy or Lip Balm listings, but we offer bulk pricing at any time.

If you would like to place a bulk Mini order, please feel free to contact me. We do charge a single fee per custom listing of twenty cents to cover the fee Etsy charges us to create a listing, but the savings are definitely worth it. :-) We'll be sure to give you an update if the prices ever change for bulk batches of Minis.

Remember that you can also order Minis with custom labels! Contact us for details.

Today's additions - Lip balms galore!

Three new additions today- classic flavors Vanilla Mint, Raspberry Earl Grey, and Chocolate Raspberry are in the shop in Clear tubes, Black tubes, and Oval tubes! We've had several requests to make full tubes of these popular flavors, so we hope you'll check them out now that they're here.

Within the next week the long, long, long awaited new flavor will be here, in Minis and full tubes! We're excited about how well it turned out but... you'll have to wait a few more days to try it out! ;-)

PS- The addition of these three flavors in full tubes means that all of our lip balm flavors are now available in full tubes. Thanks to all who requested flavors!

Happy accident!

I had to make a change to one of the new lip balm flavors after I had poured them, so I had to de-tube them (not a word). I am glad I did! One of the balms had no base! I usually check that carefully but this time around I had missed one. :-( Whatever poor person had gotten that balm would have been sadly disappointed, twisting and twisting away! I had to empty it with a metal skewer and some help from the microwave (but not at the same time, for obvious reasons).

Now that I think of the subject, here are some things you can do with a lip balm tube when it's empty. (Best idea... ever? LED Flash light.) Please Reuse or Recycle your leftover tubes!

Review by the Lip Balm Wrangler!

Our mini balms, aka "Bullet Balms", were featured today on Christina (the Lip Balm Wrangler)'s blog, and we are thrilled that our lip balms received 5 out of 5 twists! Thank you, Christina, for the absolutely lovely review!

Check out her review of 5 flavors at her blog.

Be sure to subscribe to posts at LipBalmWrangler.com or visit Christina's Facebook for her thoughts on lip balms and glosses of all sizes and flavors!

Quick update

Our Facebook is still down due to some security issues, but we contacted FB and hope they are resolved soon. We'll keep you posted on twitter about shop updates until then. :-)

The Lip Balm That Will Not Go The Way We Want It To is slowly coming together! We'll be very glad when it does and we have a viable, easy-to-duplicate formula!

(Randomly, I also wanted to say hello, or "hei" to all the Finnish-speaking visitors we've been getting on Etsy thanks to the ravelry.com forum post mentioning our Lavender & Ylang Ylang Aromatherapy Sticks! Shout-outs are always welcome!)

What I've been up to & Projects for next week

I spent yesterday and the day before making and pouring 265 mini lip balms (including a flavor that will be familiar to friends, but hasn't been in the shop yet) and aromatherapy balms!

I have a bulk batch of lotion to make and THREE batches of soap to cut this week. They all turned out so well, but I still get nervous when it comes to cutting them. We're working on a cutting rig that will do the whole block at one time. When we get them cut I'll post pics. :-)

I ordered a bottle of Crisp Apple Rose from Bramble Berry to use in... everything. It's crisp, clean, sweet, light, fresh, fruity, and floral all in one. I'm such a fragrance oil junkie- (maybe I shouldn't say that, it makes me sound like I drink the stuff!) I keep telling myself I have enough, but... then I tell myself that's an awful lie and that you can never have enough fragrance oil. My next fragrance oil purchase will include MMS's Dream (type) Fragrance and Rustic Escentuals' Green Irish Tweed. Both of them are awesome "Well Dressed Man" fragrances! Can't wait to soap with them!

Lip balms coming up next week will involve more Ghirardelli chocolate... I won't say any more about them until the experimenting is done..

Drumroll, please!

I am happy to share our two newest additions to the Lip Balm lineup: Pomegranate Peach and Orange Coconut! They were created by Natalia of Across The Verge Marketing Specialists from Marrickville, NSW, Australia. Both have already been a huge hit with friends, family, and customers- I had to save some aside especially for the Etsy shop!

Both are available in Clear, Black, and Oval tubes, as well as the awesome Mini sample size.

Visit the shop to try one!

New item... Chocolate Peppermint Lip Balm! And a stock update

I'm happy to say that Chocolate Peppermint Lip Balm has finally arrived in the shop! In addition to our usual mix of shea butter and apricot kernel oil, this lip balm also has cocoa butter and REAL Ghirardelli chocolate, as well as a healthy dose of Peppermint Oil. We hope you'll try some!

The "Earl Grey with a Slice" Lip Balm samplers are also back in stock... but who knows for how long? Half of them were snapped up by the end of the first day they were back! (Not that we're complaining! *grin*)

We also have two soaps to add to the shop- Almond, and Red Clover Tea. As soon as we get some good photos (cloudy day) they'll be added as well.

Take care, everybody! :-)

Items out of stock...

Just a quick note to let you know that the Bergamot Lemongrass Samplers are out of stock (they found homes in Georgia and Singapore) and the Pure Vanilla and Cucumber Melon Lip Balms are out of stock (they found a home in Brazil).

I'll update as soon as they're in stock again! :-)

Shop update

There have been a bunch of new items added at the shop, and I wanted to give you the rundown here. Just a quick note- if you do decide to add our shop to your favorites, or to "like" us on Facebook, we'd like to send you a "thank you" in the form of 10% off your first order! Send us a note and we'll send you the coupon code!

Tea. Earl Grey. Hot. "Earl Grey with a Slice" lip balm!

Now for the new additions:
Aromatherapy Balms: Basil (also comes in a sampler size), Lavender & Ylang Ylang (also comes in a sampler size), and Bergamot Lemongrass (also comes in a sampler size, but they flew out of stock very quickly!)
Lip Balms: Cucumber Melon (in Oval, Black, Clear and Sampler tubes), Earl Grey with a Slice (in Oval, Black, Clear and Sampler tubes), and Pure Vanilla (in Oval, Black, Clear and Sampler tubes).

Cucumber [Canteloupe? Honeydew? Watermelon?]

Just finished pouring 18 tubes of Cucumber Melon lip balm (plus samplers) and our kitchen smells delicious! I was wondering though- what kind of melon in Cucumber Melon is it supposed to be? I've tasted ones that were distinctly Honeydewish- this one tastes slightly Watermelonish. It's good. (I wonder if it depends on the supplier you buy from...)

Now I've just got to make labels, photograph them, and get them on the site...