Mad Oils vs Bramble Berry Colorant Quality?

[reinbeau]

Yep that's my story and I'm sticking to it

My oldest is 34 n my youngest is 28, and my oldest grandchild is 16...sometimes I feel downright ancient geez

31 and 35 year old 'boys' here, no grandkids yet, but I do have a granddog We're only as old as we feel, some days I feel 30. Others....well, we won't talk about it.
http://www.soapmakingforum.com//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/

 

[newbie]

Carrie, a couple things to contribute. I have many of your micas and on nearly all of them, the mica name has worn off. I handle my jars and bags with regularity but it doesn't seem excessive and most jars are still very full. Thanfully I can id most of them by sight but sometimes I still want to know which purple is which or which green I just used if I like it particularly well. Your logo tends to stay longest but I'd rather have the mica name stay on. Also, I would get ideas for other logos. The old computer font one isn't as eye catching as I think a logo could be and the computer font looks dated. If you were a retro company, I could see it but it doesn't really seem to reflect anything about the company.

I noticed your background immediately and love it!

 

[Cosmo]

Hi Newbie! I think you may have micas with the old labels. Our new ones are much different. I will post a pic soon. Someday the logo may change and I agree with you. However, logo changes require an amazing amount of relabeling, etc. When it changes I will definitely have to be prepared!

 

[snappyllama]

Carrie,

I love the changes to the site. The wish list button is perfect. The background picture really makes the whole site feel more alive and boutique-like. I haven't noticed any of my mica jars' labels rubbing off although that could be that I portion out my colorants first while my gloves are still dry. I do love that your FO containers have the flashpoint listed on them and your mica containers state which ones are lip safe right on the container. Including that information saves me from having to head back to the pc to look them up (and I'm lazy - so I just end up using your micas for my lip balms).

 

[Cosmo]

I tried to insert an image of the new labels. Fingers crossed that it works!

Snappy, that info is actually required per regulation to be on colorant labels. Those who don't include it are breaking regulation. I had to buy a fancy new printer to be able to print so many variants of labels, as ordering them would have been astronomically costly. I think this may be why some others don;t do it.

And thank you! I really like the new feel of the site, too. Without this thread it wouldn't have happened.

 

[Spice]

Is it official....there will be a sniffie "chain letter"? I'd love to participate, and while we're at it how about a color "lookie"...small chips of soap with a description of the colorant used?

When I ordered micas from Nurture and Mad Oil I didn't have the patience to try them one by one....so I made 1lb loafs with 6 - 9 colors in them to test them out. It would be easy to take the end pieces and "chip" them to add to the envelopes.

And, that might be a less time consuming way to sample the fragrances....soap chips after they've been soaped. There's be a lot less packing, plus - you'd smell the fo after their soaped/morphed.

Just an aside; comparing Nurture and MO, my experience with NSS is that "what you see is what you get", (got about a dozen NSS micas). The one mica from them that morphed was clearly stated it would do so and exactly what it would morph into (forgot the name...nice blue mica, morphed into a wonderful denim color for manly soaps! MO, slightly less success but nothing I'm displeased with. In fact I just did Twilight mica, and the final color was not as dark or vibrant...but was beautiful....I'd purposely go that shade again. (for Salty Mariner).

The tone of MO's website has more "energy" and "fun" than NSS. But, I'm on a budget...and NSS with all of their detailed information I know exactly what I'm in for and know my money is well spent.

When I'm able to be more frivolous, I try Mad Oils. However, while their micas look and sound more complex....most of what I got was virtually identical to what I had from Nurture.

And I'm one that is extremely turned off the more sexualized names, titles and pictures of shirtless men. Shoot...I can't even shop on MO website with my little one around....who's very involved with every step of soap making....for fear of what she'll see/read. I hope NSS doesn't go that route.

I haven't tried fo's from either.

I went to MO and was looking at, Indigo Girls Blue, this also said, "Not good for lips." What would this mean? Any one know?

 

[snappyllama]

Not all micas are approved for use around eyes or lips though they might be fine for soap.

 

[Cosmo]

I went to MO and was looking at, Indigo Girls Blue, this also said, "Not good for lips." What would this mean? Any one know?

The FDA breaks down color regulations into categories. Colors may not be cosmetic grade and don't have an FDA specification in that case. If the FDA does approve a color for cosmetics, it is in at least one of three categories: Safe for lips, safe for eyes, or safe for external use (i.e. nails). When something has not been approved for lips most suppliers will state that it's not approved for use on lips. You can read the FDA color tables here: http://www.fda.gov/Cosmetics/Labeling/IngredientNames/ucm109084.htm

 

[Spice]

The FDA breaks down color regulations into categories. Colors may not be cosmetic grade and don't have an FDA specification in that case. If the FDA does approve a color for cosmetics, it is in at least one of three categories: Safe for lips, safe for eyes, or safe for external use (i.e. nails). When something has not been approved for lips most suppliers will state that it's not approved for use on lips. You can read the FDA color tables here: http://www.fda.gov/Cosmetics/Labeling/IngredientNames/ucm109084.htm

This was good, thanks for the info.:wave:

 

[rparrny]

I can't thank you all enough for the wonderful information in this thread! I think companies pay big bucks for this kind of info, and all of you were kind enough to share it for free. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I will be making some other changes soon. If anyone would like to contribute pictures of colors in soaps I would love to be able to add it to the product page to give some artistic flair.

Also, I would be happy to contribute to a sniffy chain letter! We are making lots of little samples now and I think it would be really fun!

Hey Carrie! Thank you so much for listening!
One thing I would love to see is fragrances divided into groups that would help me in my soap making....How about Swirl Superstars...fragrances that don't accelerate? Or Color Me Crazy...Fragrances that discolor that I might want to use for a particular look?
Can't wait for my order to arrive, thanks again!

 

[dibbles]

Hey Carrie! Thank you so much for listening!
One thing I would love to see is fragrances divided into groups that would help me in my soap making....How about Swirl Superstars...fragrances that don't accelerate? Or Color Me Crazy...Fragrances that discolor that I might want to use for a particular look?
Can't wait for my order to arrive, thanks again!

I think the way the fragrances are shown is fine. There are less than 20, and they are all on one page. The performance in soap is in the description, with reviews from users posted, and it doesn't take long to read through them all. That would be a good suggestion if there were tons of fragrances offered. And if you had a fragrance that didn't accelerate but did discolor, which group would you put it in?

 

[newbie]

The other problem with stating an FO is a superstar is that FO's may behave differently in different recipes or with different soaping temperatures. And I think we've all had the experience of using something twice but having something happen that we didn't expect and can't figure out exactly why. If a site says an FO behaves X way and someone has a different enough experience but bought a lot based on a statement from the seller, that would lead to a lot of dissatisfaction with the seller that isn't necessarily warranted. Having a subcategory of discoloring FO's may be helpful but as a supplier, I personally would not put my neck on the block by categorically stating that these FO's don't accelerate.

 

[snappyllama]

I can attest to many factors contributing to acceleration on my last batch. Used 1 oz ppo of MO Lemon Unhinged (smells sooo good btw) at 33% lye concentration. I split it into different colors.

TD: slight
MO Lemon Cupcake mica: none
MO Flashdance: slight
MO Tahitian Teal mica: holy soap on a stick Batman

Now, the Tahitian Teal has chromium green in it which I've seen accelerate things somewhat in the past... but it was nothing like what I've ever experienced. If I hadn't seen the behavior of the other colors, I'd think the FO was speed racer.

ETA: a filter for discoloring would be nice though.

 

[reinbeau]

Amaranth Pink stopped my spin swirl in its tracks. I still love it, though. Now I know

 

[rparrny]

The other problem with stating an FO is a superstar is that FO's may behave differently in different recipes or with different soaping temperatures. And I think we've all had the experience of using something twice but having something happen that we didn't expect and can't figure out exactly why. If a site says an FO behaves X way and someone has a different enough experience but bought a lot based on a statement from the seller, that would lead to a lot of dissatisfaction with the seller that isn't necessarily warranted. Having a subcategory of discoloring FO's may be helpful but as a supplier, I personally would not put my neck on the block by categorically stating that these FO's don't accelerate.

Ahh...well I get that...I have only used a few FOs so I had no idea about the differences with different ingredients. It would make it pretty impossible to formulate a list. Having had acceleration issues with one of the FOs I tried, I was hoping for a way of picking one that wouldn't cause issues...and I read the reviews and the one that caused problems had lots of reviews that said there were no problems with acceleration...

 

[Punkin2x74]

I know I'm a bit late to this Party but I just have to say I ordered about $150 worth of micas from BB when I first started soaping. I was really mad at myself for doing that when I found Nurture Soap Supplies and Mad Oils.

NSS I love their molds and their colorants. I haven't been disappointed with any of them. Their quality and price is very nice. The saturation of Carries micas are unbelievable! And where as with BB I would have to use a tablespoon mixed in a carrier I don't with NSS. Anyone want to discuss "Really Red Mica"? *bows to Carrie*

Mad Oils -- I have ordered micas and FOs from them I know that their pricing is higher but the fact that compared to BB where I would have to use maximum usage on BB FO's I use about 1/2 of what I would have to in the MO's FO.

 

[moonbeam]

I am a huge fan of Mad oils, I also like that they get the orders out right away, I hate having to wait 3 days before they even ship it out and then more time on top of that!

 

[rogue]

Glittery CP

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Also, I love the Sparkle Plenty Glitter *in* the batter, when I use it I use a plentiful amount in dark colors. In solid/one color soaps, in particular, it makes the soap look like black granite, green granite, etc. It really is a pretty effect.

LOVE the sparkle plenty in batter. Especially if I'm using it as my 'white'. I've seen a similar one from a small seller called BeScented. She sellers a GoldDust I think. Makes a beautiful glittery pale gold in CP.