Thoughts and ideas from the world of Majestic Mountain Sage.

Yearly Archives: 2022

Marshmallow (Althaea officinalis) is a plant from which we use both the leaf and the root in herbal applications. It is said to be emollient, conditioning, and anti-inflammatory. Its specialty is said to be soothing irritated tissues. Marshmallow extract is sometimes added to creams and used to treat inflammatory skin […]

Marshmallow Body Butter

June 16, 2022 in Lotions and Creams by Denise

Silk is an amazing ingredient for skin care! After doing some research online, I have discovered these as the most frequently mentioned benefits. Silk is a skin barrier booster. Its proteins create a shield that helps seal in hydration and boosts the protective aspect of the skin barrier. In replenishing […]

Single Ingredient Focus: Liquid Silk

June 15, 2022 in Featured Product / Thoughts from The Sage by Denise

It seems like people are of two minds when it comes to vanilla. One camp sees vanilla as plain and uninspiring, while the other sees it as rich and wonderful. I’ve been on both sides of that thinking, but today I’m going to make a vanilla lotion that I hope […]

Lotion with Natural Vanilla Oil

June 14, 2022 in Lotions and Creams by Denise

This fragrance is a blend like none other. The twist of frostbitten berries, a high mountain meadow, a snip of spice, and a lingering evergreen are all wrapped up into one. It’s the perfect scent for clearing the air at home or work. I even think this will be my […]

Fragrance Friday: Alpine

June 10, 2022 in Fragrances by Denise

When you set out to make lotion, you must have an ingredient that allows you to make a stable blend of the water and oils in your formula. That ingredient is an emulsifier. Most personal care products are emulsions. That includes lotions, creams, moisturizers, shampoos, and conditioners! Today I’m going […]

Single Ingredient Focus: Emulsifying Wax

June 9, 2022 in Featured Product / Lotions and Creams / Thoughts from The Sage by Denise

I’ve been enjoying the combination of Grapeseed Oil and Liquid Shea Oil in lotion, a soap, and in a scrub that I made last week. What other things could I make with this combination of oils? Oh, I know! A lip balm! I’ll have to add some beeswax as well […]

Grapeseed and Liquid Shea Lip Balm

June 7, 2022 in Lip Balms by Denise

Lemon Zinger has been a favorite of mine for decades – we’ve had this fragrance in our catalog a very long time, and for good reason! The catalog description reads: “Summertime is the time to get refreshed with lemonade! A fun citrus that we have blended with other fruity scents […]

Fragrance Friday: Lemon Zinger

June 3, 2022 in Fragrances by Denise

This week’s been focused on salty things. We did a salt scrub fragranced with Sea Salt Fragrance Oil, a Soleseife (salt brine) soap, and today we’ll do a salty scented lotion, again using Sea Salt Fragrance Oil. The salt scrub we made on Tuesday contains grapeseed oil, liquid shea oil, […]

Sea Salt Lotion

June 2, 2022 in Lotions and Creams by Denise

Soap made with salt has always fascinated me, but I have never tried to make it. Today that will change! There are two ways to make soap with salt. The first way is to simply add salt to the soap batter for a scrubby bar. This works well using fine […]

Soleseife (Brine) Soap

June 1, 2022 in Cold Process Soap by Denise

This week we’ll consider all things salty. To begin, I’m making a salt scrub scented with Sea Salt Fragrance Oil. It’s a simple place to start. Scrubs are a great way to bring the spa experience home. I find that my extra dry hands love a quick wash followed by […]

Sea Salt Scrub

May 31, 2022 in Scrubs by Denise

We often are asked about how to create a lotion formula. Today I’m going to discuss what goes into lotion. The five necessary components are: • water • oils • emulsifier • humectant • preservative Everything else is optional and either added for label appeal or specific properties. WATER Water […]

Bones of a Lotion Formula

May 25, 2022 in Lotions and Creams by Denise

I set out yesterday to make soap, but what I made was a mess. Because this might help someone else, I’ll share my experience here. The recipe I used was just fine, and I ran it through our Lye Calculator to determine how much water and lye needed to be […]

Soap On A Stick – DRAT!

May 24, 2022 in Cold Process Soap by Denise