Showing posts with label mango butter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mango butter. Show all posts

Sunday, January 9, 2011

I made a batch of coffee soap. I can't wait til it's finished.

I made a small (4lb.) batch of coffee soap. I used my normal soap recipe but instead of water I used coffee. I read that it would smell bad when the lye is added and Ew!!! They were right but they said it wouldn't make the soap smell bad and so far I think they are right. I will see when I cut it. I only had a little coffee EO and I don't think it was enough to make the soap smell like coffee. I have had too many excuses for not getting things done, I just didn't want to wait any longer. Maybe the coffee, grinds and bean will enhance the scent throw. Also, I used coffee to make the whole batch of soap, hoping I would be able to lighten some of the soap, with colorant, enough to look like whipped topping. Well it is more like caramel-colored whipped topping, still looks yummy but not what I wanted. Next time I will make the whipped topping a separate batch with water and no coffee..

So why make a coffee soap, you say? Well I like to drink coffee (and love Starbucks) and thought it would be fun to make a soap made from coffee. I heard that coffee soap removes kitchen smells like onions and garlic from you hands. And for marketing purposes I looked up benefits of coffee on skin. I found that coffee is very beneficial to the skin. Supposedly, it is an antioxidant and has firming and tightening properties making it great for eczema and anti-aging. I put coffee grinds in for exfoliation and every ingredient is natural and vegan friendly.

I guess I will find out if these claims are true because as soon as it's done, I am using the first bar. I am currently out of some of my ingredients but as soon as I am able to place an order for supplies ( and when I get them), my next batch will be oatmeal, milk and honey. Another challenge I have been avoiding is the milk soap. But I am gonna try it with coconut milk instead of goat's milk, pretty much just to be different. I'll let you know how that goes.

Here they are after I cut them. Mmmm...Yummy!
Ingredients: Saponified Shea butter, Mango butter, Olive Oil, Palm Kernal Oil, Coffee essential oil, Coffee grounds, Coffee Beans. Oh and Coffee!

Sunday, February 28, 2010

I'm sooo excited!!!

The other day I was reminded that I'm supposed to be working on my all natural lotion formula. So yesterday I gave it another try. I used a recipe that uses beeswax as the only emulsifier. I only made a little because I am afraid it will not work. But this morning I checked on it and it is still lotion, (no separation back to oil and water). This is great!!! Because I didn't want to use emulsifying wax because of costs, availability and although it is plant based, I don't think it is all natural by definition.

Also, I have decided to try the flea markets again. I was discouraged in the past because of bad experiences that caused me to give up on that idea. I began to hope that I could just make my website work so that I wouldn't have to go out in public. But I am going to go for it again and see if I can make it work.

I have also formulated a shea butter hair care solution. I am gonna start marketing that soon. The last time I made it some crust or grit had formed. I read that the grit formed because the shea butter was heated to high for too long. So I just softened it and so far no crust. I made this yesterday so I will still give it time to make sure the crust doesn't form.

ok bye bye for now.