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WHEW I mean, it can't do much for Minnesota's winter tourism/real estate market :-P However, you may have a very good niche market idea here...two-packs of lip balms, with different formulations, to sell to people in northern climates....take the second-guessing out of whether your Burt's Bees...

I have Argan from two different places and it all smells terrible. I hesitate to get another. I am very surprised by the temp, yes! Considering that the world record for cold temperatures is in the Antarctic and it's -135F. Coldest temperature on record for MN is only -60F (1996, Tower)...

Let me get this straight....USPS *gives away packing material* and it is *operating at a loss*. I think I see the problem here.....

Just looking at old posts for a new lip balm recipe (I know, there's only so much you can tweak) and was interested in @GemstonePony's use of Argan...does anyone else use Argan oil? Mine is so stinky that I can hardly stand it. Also did you say that you encounter -130F temperatures in...

Good news: I finally found a cardamom essential oil that I felt I could afford ($25 CAD for 30ml), from a Canadian company, even. Bad news: The bottle smashed sometime in transit. Good news: Amazon refunded it immediately, as well as the cost of the other items in the package (pinto beans, and...

I started with--and still use--1L/quart cream or 500mL egg white cartons. I cut the tall ones halfway and use the egg ones as-is (sans roof). This gives me a cubic "loaf" that I'm still able to try swirls, embeds, or techniques in, without committing to a big batch. I also try out recipes...

I concur with the others: keep it simple the first time. I didn't: my first loaf had 3 colours and an unknown FO and guess what? It accelerated and got lumpy and was stressful and not as lovely a product as it could have been. There's a lot to be said for making an uncoloured, unscented soap for...

Agree with the others...I think that if you intentionally stole a recipe, a scent/design combo, and a name, and then also marketed it as your own original idea, then people might get up in arms, but other than that, you're probably good. @Carly B has given you something more likely to worry...

My uncles who make wine have those rinsers and they're great, especially for big bottles. Given that I purchased my StarSan almost 2 years ago and finally got around to using it on one 60mL bottle yesterday, I'm going to put myself solidly in the rinse and wait camp.....:-P

I've still got the bottle drainer from when the kids were babies, but we use it by the main sink, since it's so useful for drying dishes. Hmmm I don't remember it being that cheap....maybe it's worth buying one for the soap kitchen. This one has lasted 14 years, so I know it's durable...and I do...

NP. Us Prairie girls gotta stick together! :-P

Skin cracks....eeek, *so painful*. And they never heal....some sort of mystifying dark magic cut that is immune to the skin's normal procedures! I get them on my thumbs each and every winter and the things that don't work are: any lotions, including Heel Balm; any medical ointments with bandaids...

Thanks @Tara_H ...how do you ensure that you cover all surfaces inside the bottles though? (the bubbles were persistent and weren't breaking, even after shaking and turning the bottles in different directions, so I got impatient and blew into the bottle with a hair dryer. That burst the bubbles...

Welcome! I loved your story because it VERY closely mirrors mine; I just started a few years earlier, so have hundredsof bars sitting around. Just one thing....friends ALWAYS think you should sell. They are very proud of you and kind of can't believe you're so good at this new thing, as it's a...

Well, I bought my Star San in July 2019 and I have just cracked it open to use. I guess this whole time I've just been a little bit dirty? I thought I knew what I was doing from my previous research and reading the label, but have a concern: when I soak the bottles in SS solution and then drain...

If it were me, @soapSuds , I would isolate the one thing I liked best about this soap and then try to replicate that one piece, then perhaps add others. So if you like the semi-swirls, go for ITP swirl. If you like the lines, do a spin swirl. (Both of these will have swirl all the way through)...

My approach is a little different ..I buy an FO, forget it discolours, act surprised, make a second batch trying to work it in to a black/brown colour scheme, then finally decide to only use that FO in lotion or body butter :-P (also, if you really like the scent and really want some sort of...

It looks a bit like my spin swirl, which goes all the way through.

The guy at the end of the bar is looking at my expectantly with a ball in his mouth.

Especially if you're making smaller batches (under 1kg), the amount of lye you're mixing won't generate much in fumes. One thing to be careful about is not to spill the granules on the floor (or counter) where a pet would come and lick up the "crumbs".