Adventures With The Sage

I apologize for the delay of these photos. I hope they help!

Liner removed from the caps Pressing the caps together. Using the drill bit to make a hole in the caps. Screwing the caps onto the full jug.

Using the epoxy glue on the caps. Caps and drill bit. My final hole is ready to be cleaned up. The jugs draining.

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I use many of our bases for my own personal use as well as for the blog. I hate leaving extra lotion in the gallon jugs, but it can be very difficult to empty the jugs. The I came up with an idea for when I have just a little lotion left and I want to use every last drop. This method will work if you put pumps on your gallon jugs like I do.

Remove the caps from both jugs and pull out the paper lining. Glue the caps together. I like to use a food safe epoxy glue to make sure the caps won’t slip. Drill a hole through the caps and then screw the caps onto the full gallon jug. Tip the mostly empty jug onto the caps and screw onto the caps until tight. Leave overnight. Come back in the morning and remove the gallon jug on top. Yippee! Now we have an empty jug and a full one! Remove the caps and then place a pump on the jug.

Have fun!

Note:
I’m having problems with my camera, so I will post pictures tomorrow!

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Last week, I took a phone call from a customer looking for Grapefruit Seed Extract. She wanted to use the Grapefruit Seed Extract as a preservative in her lotion. I’ve done some research in the past about Grapefruit Seed Extract and I have discovered that it has little preservative abilities. After I explained to the caller that a preservative is different than an antioxidant, I thought it might be a good idea to share information on the differences between preservatives and antioxidants.

An antioxidant helps slow down the oxidation of any substance that will be damaged by exposure to oxygen.

A preservative acts by preventing the growth of yeast, bacteria and mold. Preservatives are desirable to keep our creams and lotions from becoming walking Petri dishes.

I hope this helps!

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I just got a request from Pat about making summer time sugar scrubs. She wanted to find a substitution for the oil in an oil and sugar scrub that wouldn’t leave her shower floor so slippery.

If we remove the oil and add something like aloe juice, the potential for microbial growth is increased. This is reason for concern because a preservative is now a required use. So, our recommendation is to use a lighter oil like coconut oil fractions (as opposed to olive oil) or clear jojoba oil. These lighter oils don’t leave the skin feeling so heavy.

So now we still need to do something about the shower floor. I purchased a bath mat for my shower that looks like river rock pebbles. The one I chose is clear. I purchased it from Bed Bath & Beyond. Click here to see a blue version.

Clear items are so hard to photograph. Click this link in case you want to see the clear version.

This style of bath mat is a drain through version. This is not a drain over the sides style mat which I find can be slippery if an oily product is used. I find this mat to be easy to care for, it gets a bath in the washing machine once a month. It gets a weekly spray off cleaning with Clorox Clean Up. It dries in no time, thanks in part to the dry Utah climate. I’ve had no discoloring of the mat and I haven’t had a bad fall either.

It was a bad fall that got the mat in the first place. It would sound logical that an oil/sugar scrub was what made the floor slippery and therefore was the root cause of my fall. It wasn’t. I just happened to be shaving my legs and found that the shelf provided as a foot rest was not properly attached. Falling with a razor in hand is very scary indeed. My head hit the shampoo dispenser, it broke. I got a nice goose egg on my head and a small cut. I had a slight nick from the razor and bruises from head to toe. My shower was also sporting these new mats by that afternoon.

So, bathe carefully. Check the shelf. Get a bath mat. And above all, enjoy the shower.

Best!

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I have started giving the pronunciation for various MMS products, and now it is time for the fixed oils! Don’t forget, if you have other products you would like to hear the pronunciation, e-mail me and I will add a pronunciation to the blog.

Borage Oil: Bor-ij. Have you seen the flowers of the borage plant? They are gorgeous! The plant is prickly and can be considered a weed. It originally was cultivated for medical and culinary purposes, which included candying the flowers and brewing teas to help fevers. Today it is primarily cultivated as an oilseed. The University of Arizona has a great description of borage on their extension website. Borage is frequently used in creams that are made for helping psoriasis and eczema. This is a fabulous oil and can be used in any cream you desire!

Calendula Oil: Kuh-len-jew-luh. Calendula is also called Pot Marigold or Scotch Marigold. The plant has been used medicinally, in culinary dishes, or as dye for fabrics, cosmetics and food. This oil has been used for its anti-inflammatory properties as well as combating rough or scaly skin. Wouldn’t this be excellent for a foot cream?

The Euphorbia in our yard.

Candelilla Wax: Kan-dl-ee-uh. Candelilla is a vegetable wax that is often used to replace beeswax. I have found this to be useful and the great thing about Candelilla Wax is that you only need half of the amount that you would have used in Beeswax. Candelilla is also used in the food industry as a glazing agent or a binding agent for chewing gum. Candelilla is derived from the Euphorbia plant. It is very beautiful plant in any yard!

Carnauba Wax: Kahr-new-buh. Carnauba is derived from the leaves of the carnauba palm. You can find carnauba wax used in various products such as automobile waxes, candy corn, dental floss, mascara, frosting, chewing gum, and even for coating medicine. I have used Carnauba Wax for the various lip glosses I have shown on the blog.

Jojoba Oil: Hoh-hoh-buh. This oil always makes me think of laughter from Santa Claus and that has caused this pronunciation to stick very clearly in my mind. Does it work for you? Did you know that until the 1970s, jojoba was only used by the Native Americans who harvested it for its burn healing properties. Jojoba is actually not an oil, but it is a liquid wax ester.

Shea Butter: Shey. This butter is great either by itself or in any other products you can think of. The shea tree is indigenous to Western Africa and it takes approximately 15 years of growth before the tree begins to bear fruit. It is used for food products as a substitute for butter. Shea butter is also called African Karité Butter. Did you know the book “Roots” by Alex Haley talks about the shea nut tree?

Tamanu Oil: Tuh-mahn-oo. I remember when we were testing the Tamanau Oil, and since I have some of the driest hands around the warehouse, I was asked to test the Tamanu Oil on my hands for two weeks to see how it worked. It helped my cracked knuckles in no time at all! Tamanu is derived from an evergreen that is native to East Africa, southern coastal India, Malaysia and Australia. It smells just like butter pecan ice cream! Yummy!

On Monday, I’ll show how to make soap petals! These are so much fun to use for yourself or give to others!

Don’t forget about the Food Soap Show & Tell for Father’s Day. I’m looking forward to seeing your bacon soaps!

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