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... ;-)

Scent samples a hit!

I just wanted to stop in to say how happy I am that everyone is so pleased with our scent sample offer! We've had great responses from everyone who has tried it in person and from our Etsy page. So, here's a HUGE "thank you" to everyone who has tried them and given us feedback!

If you're thinking of trying a set of 10, please remember that we also recalculate the shipping for every order to make sure our estimate is correct. So if you order a set of scent samples with a soap or lotion you'll end up paying less than the cost of a stamp for the scent samples.

Remember, too, that if you decide you like one of the scents you order, the first time you order an 8 oz lotion from our shop made with that scent you will receive a discount equal to the amount you paid for the 10 scent strips. If you're in the US, that will be 65 cents off the price! Here is a link to the 8 oz. lotion.

Lotion update

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! :-)

Windburn prevention lotion

I've never tried a recipe with Allantoin before, but since we're going to be in a very windy stadium this weekend I'm trying a light moisture recipe that will hopefully prevent (or at least soothe!) some of the windburn I know we're all going to get. :-)

80 gr. water

10 gr. palm kernel oil

6 gr. stearic acid

5 gr. em. wax

5 gr. rice bran oil

5 gr. wheat germ oil

2 gr. vit. e

2 gr. wheat protein

2 gr. sodium lactate

1.5 gr. Optiphen preservative

2 gr. allantoin

2 gr. ivy extract

fragrance

This lotion recipe is usually very light on the skin. I need to add the allantoin after the lotion is cooling, when it's at about 90 degrees. I'll let you know how it goes!