Adventures With The Sage

When making a sugar scrub, you need to choose the oil you want to use. Wait a minute! How do make a choice with so many different options out there? Our technical support staff helped me determine the three weight categories of fixed oils. The categories are as follows, light, mid-weight and heavy. How do we determine the weight of an oil? We figure the weight of a oil by the texture and feeling as the oil is rubbed into the skin.

Our personal evaluations gave us Coconut Oil Fractions, Colorless Jojoba, and Macadamia Nut Oils as our light oils and leading into the mid-weight were Rice Bran and Sesame Oils. The mid-weight oils are Almond, Apricot Kernel, Grapeseed, and Sunflower. The oils between the mid-weight and heavy are Golden Jojoba, Olive and Wheat Germ. That leaves the heavy oils which we determined were Aloe Extract, Avocado, Hemp, or Shea Oils.

Each oil you test will vary. I like to test new oils on the inside of my arm when I receive them. I write down in my notebook the feel of the oil. Did the oil feel light, velvety, or oily? What did the oil smell like? What date did I test the oil? The last question is important because an oil that I find nice and soothing in February will probably feel too heavy in August, the most humid month for us.

I’ve chosen Colorless Jojoba and Olive Oil for my comparison project. Now what about the sugar? You can use any sugar that you want. We usually recommend using a white granulated sugar. You can use either brown sugar or white sugar.

If you use brown sugar, I highly recommend that you use a fragrance oil that will work with the molasses scent of the brown sugar. Whoa! Did I just say something that didn’t make sense? Ok, try this. Imagine the nice warm smell of brown sugar and then someone adds a fragrance like Cool Water or Lilac. These fragrances simply do not mix with the molasses scent of the brown sugar.

Fragrances that work with the molasses scent would be some with spice notes like Apple Jack, Gingerbread & Spice, and Welcome Home. You could also use fragrances with vanilla notes like Warm Vanilla Sugar or Vanilla Cream.

Lastly, you could use fragrances with a simple citrusy note and create a wonderful baked dessert smell. For example, Raspberry would make a great raspberry oatmeal bar with a crumbly top or Cranberry for a cranberries and brown sugar glaze. I should stop because I’m making myself hungry.

Just try not to combine brown sugar with blue/marine scents or green/herbal scents.

You will need:

Granulated sugar of your choice (I’m using white)
Fixed Oil of your choice (I’m using Colorless Jojoba and Olive Oil)
Fragrance oil (I’m using Oatmeal, Milk & Honey)
Mixing Bucket or Heavy Zipper Style Bag
Spoon if you use a bucket
Transfer Pipettes
Containers to fill with finished product

Set out your mixing bucket. Measure 2 cups of sugar into the mixing bucket. Now we can add 1 cup of oil. Stir or knead the sugar and oil together. Once the oil and sugar have been mixed, you can add the fragrance oil. I added 2 mL of Oatmeal, Milk & Honey. After the fragrance oil has been thoroughly mixed into the scrub, you can now fill your containers.

See! I told you it was easy!

FAQ and Interesting Tidbits

Did you know sugar is a humectant? Now before you think I’m using some weird foreign language, a humectant is simply a substance that promotes the retention of moisture.

Next week we are going to work on cold process soap. Don’t forget any supplies!

Items that I used were:

1-Scale
1-Beaker
1-Small Transfer Pipette (for the fragrance oil)
1-4 oz frosted HDPE bottle
1-Frosted Disk Top Closure
1 ounces Sesame Oil
1 ounces Macadamia Nut Oil
2 ounces Sweet Almond Oil
.04 ounces Hinoki Wood Fragrance Oil. (You can substitute for any of our
fragrances).
Shake or stir mixture well to blend all of the oils together.

Now it is your turn to try this wonderful product on your clients, and hopefully it will work as well for you as it has for me!

–Kandie

Need ideas for spa related gifts for yourself and your friends? Next weeks blog will focus on spa gifts you can make.

Since I’m such a junkie, I thought I might as well share my addiction in a cream so yummy that I think it has been hanging out at the local coffee shop!

The things we will need to make this drool worthy Coffee Butter Latte Cream are listed below. We are making the regular recipe and a light version of the recipe. The fun part of testing a recipe with slight changes is that we can compare finished products. It is amazing how much slight changes in formulation will cause major differences in the finished product. The original recipe is heavier and more like a durable gardening cream. The lighter version is smoother, and silkier. Both look liked whipped cream in a jar! If the waxiness of the cream is too much and you want less of a gardening type cream, then reduce the Stearic Acid by up to half. Each reduction will cause changes in the final cream and you will want a test batch of each to compare. We try for initial test batches of 100 grams if you want to do some playing. Above all, keep good notes for your comparison tests, you will find that slight changes can make a cream go from OK to WOWIE-ZOWIE!

Coffee Butter
Avocado Oil
Red Raspberry Seed Oil
Liquid Glycerin
Conditioning Emulsifier
Stearic Acid
Distilled Water
Vitamin E Natural
Sodium Lactate (Used for the Light version)
Isopropyl Myristate (Used for the Light version)
Preservative of choice (I’m going to use Optiphen)
Fragrance Oil of Choice (I’m going to use Chocolate Mousse)

Scale
Immersion Blender
Beakers or containers for weighing and melting ingredients
Microwave
Small Transfer Pipettes
Jars and lids

Place the beaker on the scale and then tare the scale. Measure all ingredients into the beaker except the Vitamin E Natural, Optiphen, and Chocolate Mousse Fragrance Oil. We will add these ingredients when the mixture has cooled. Microwave to heat the primary ingredients in our beaker. Using the immersion blender, pulse until mixture is emulsified. Once blended, let the mixture cool until it starts to thicken. Now we can add the Vitamin E Natural, Optiphen and Chocolate Mousse Fragrance Oil. After all ingredients are mixed, we can pour into the containers of our choice.

If you receive samples from this post, you will receive one sample of the regular batch and one sample of the light batch. Test to see which one you prefer, then send in your comments.

I did what?!

I made this batch a total of 5 times. The first time I made the original recipe to test my understanding of the project and used the experience to help write my blog text. The second time I made the original recipe with no changes, this was to get photos to be in the blog. The third time I made it, I was going to make the light version, but I followed the original recipe again! After that, I figured I’d be smart and just double the light version of the recipe for my fourth attempt. This would help me have an even number of samples. However, I made one tiny mistake when I forgot to check my math. I forgot to double my water! At this point I was very frustrated with myself, and I decided to write out the recipe step by step. Yippee! Success at last! The moral of this story is to check your math and make sure you don’t make silly mistakes. I will be sending samples of my half water – whoops version. You can laugh along with my mistake. Who knows! You might decide you like this version the best.

–Andee

Need ideas for spa related gifts for yourself and your friends? Next weeks blog will focus on spa gifts you can make.

March 10 2009 Edit: I’ve had some people sending me messages about the recipe for this cream, and since we seem to be having some issues with the link at the top I would add the the complete address here. http://www.thesage.com/recipes/recipes.php?.State=Display&id=190 I hope this works for you!

Today I’m using the Mango Butter Lip Solutions Gift Kit with Black Cherry Flavor Oil and I’m going to give it a faint color using Ruby Lip Balm Color.

You will need:
one jar Mango Butter Lip Solutions
four 10 packs Clear 1/4 ounce Jars
four 10 packs White Lids, Size 33
a pack of Small Pipettes
Black Cherry Flavor Oil
Labels
Ruby Lip Balm Color (optional)

Take the lid off the jar of Lip Solutions. I like to melt it in the microwave, but you can also melt it in a sauce pan of water as long as there is a wire rack for the glass jar to sit on. The amount of time you microwave the Lip Solutions will vary on the microwave you are using. I microwave in
short time bursts to prevent making the Lip Solutions too hot, because if the Lip Solutions is too hot it could melt the pipette.

Once the Lip Solutions is melted, add the flavor and color. Draw the tip of a clean pipette through the lip balm color and then transfer the color to the lip gloss mixture with that pipette. Use another pipette to add the flavor oil. I’m going to add 6 mL of Black Cherry Flavor so I can keep a light flavor. Stir the Lip Solutions to blend the flavor and color.

Now that the Lip Solutions is all mixed, we can put the mixture in the jars. After the lip balm cools, we can cap and label the jars.

Wow! Aren’t they adorable? They are very easy to make.

You will need:

Castor Oil
Carnauba Wax
Strawberry Swirl Flavor Oil
Ruby Lip Balm Color
Silver Mica
Small transfer pipettes
Lip Brush Pens
Scale
glass beaker or jar
Microwave

Recipe:
100 grams Castor Oil
1 gram Carnauba Wax
2 to 4 grams Strawberry Swirl Flavor Oil
MMS Lip Balm Colors of your choice

First, we need to measure the Carnauba Wax and Castor Oil. After measuring the ingredients, microwave until the wax is melted. I prefer to add the color and flavor after the wax is melted, but you can add all ingredients before melting in the microwave.

Add flavor. For this recipe, we recommend using between 2 and 4 grams of Strawberry Swirl Flavor, this can translate to milliliters as well.

Add color. I like to draw the tip of a clean pipette through the lip balm color and then transfer the color to the lip gloss mixture with that pipette. I think that looks right, so I’m going to add the mica. I dip the pipette into the mica and use the tip to scoop a little into the lip gloss.

Fill the brushes with the still warm mixture. Leave them standing upright until they have cooled. If the mixture gets into the small metal tube before it is cooled, the metal can cause the mixture to solidify over the opening and material can never be advanced into the brush.

Aren’t these great? We now have fantastic lip brushes that will go to some lucky customers! (And you now know how to make perfectly kissable lips.)

Equipment that we will need for Cold-process Soap Week:

Safety goggles, anti fog are helpful
Heavy duty gloves
heavy duty plastic buckets (I’ll be using two 87 ounce buckets)
Plastic Spoon
Scale
Thermometer
Work clothes with long sleeves and closed shoes
Saran Wrap or Mold Release
Molds
Vinegar
Microwave for heating oils
Immersion blender, optional but very helpful

Ingredients

Sodium Hydroxide
Distilled or soft water
Coconut Oil or Palm Kernel Oil (suggested: 5 or 10 lbs)
Hydrogenated Soybean Oil (suggested: 10 lbs)
Choose at least 2 of the following oils: Olive Oil*, Almond Oil, Sunflower Oil, Sesame Oil, Grapeseed Oil, Apricot Kernel Oil, Rice Bran (suggested: 1 gallon sizes) * Preferable if this is one of your 2
Choose at least 1 of the following oils: Avocado Oil or Butter, Shea Oil or Butter, Mango Oil or Butter, Cocoa Butter, Hemp Oil or Butter, Almond Butter, Olive Butter, Macadamia Oil or Butter, Lanolin, or Coffee Butter (suggested: 1 lb sizes)
Fragrance Oils of choice, optional but most soap makers consider this mandatory (suggested: 1 fl oz sizes, a total of 4 fl oz is plenty for our week of soap)

Each day will give 2 or 3 recipes for soap making, you can make one, all or skip a day.  The focus of this week is to look at each piece of equipment and each technique to learn WHY we do what we do.

Where do I find Sodium Hyrdoxide?

Check with a local Lowe’s or Home Depot store if you only need a few lbs. Lowe’s carries Roebic Brand Drain Cleaning Crystals. Under that title it says 100% sodium hydroxide. This is fine for soap making. This brand is a 2 lb can and will be plenty for our week of soap. If you need more than a few lbs try calling a few companies listed in your phone book under Cleaning Supplies or Chemicals. If you can’t find anything there call the local high school or college and talk with a chemistry teacher. They are usually able to direct you to a chemical supply in your
area that offers small quantities of lye. It make take a few hours of phone work but you will save the Hazardous Materials shipping fees AND support your local economy.

A word about scales:

You must have a scale for making soap. You do NOT need an expensive scale or one that measures in 0.1 gram increments. You do need 1 gram readability for scales that have grams and ounces, or 0.1 ounce readability for scales that only offer ounces. My hope is you can get one that has 1 gram readability. If you intend to make lotions and lip balms, in quantities suitable
for a family of four, not communities of 40,000, then I suggest you consider a scale that has 0.1 gram readability. The benefit of making your scale dual purpose is to cover the soap making AND personal care products like lip balm, lotions, creams and serums. If the scale is only for soap choose the higher readability.

The price of a scale corresponds to the number of steps each scale offers. A step is readability times capacity. A scale that has a readability of 1 gram and a capacity of 100 grams has 100 steps. A scale that has readability of 0.1 gram and a capacity of 100 grams has 1000 steps. The second scale will cost more than the first. We hope this has helped you consider the scales available to you. If you have questions along the way give us a call or send an email.