What Bath & Body Thing Have You Done Today?

[AliOop]

Today I saved not one, but two bottles of foundation that were too dark for my skin. I had already tried mixing the two bottles together, to no avail. By adding TD, the mixture was lightened to the correct shade for me. WIN! I love not throwing away money on stuff that didn't work as originally projected.

Much credit goes to @Mobjack Bay for the method she shared to ensure good TD mixing (massaging it to death with some light oil in a zip-top baggie, while sitting in a Zoom meeting at work.). Without this baggie massage technique, I would have been showing up to work with TD streaks on my face.

Bonus: squishing out those lumps was even better for stress relief than popping bubble-wrap, which is waaay to loud for Zoom meetings.

 

[Shelley D]

Today I saved not one, but two bottles of foundation that were too dark for my skin. I had already tried mixing the two bottles together, to no avail. By adding TD, the mixture was lightened to the correct shade for me. WIN! I love not throwing away money on stuff that didn't work as originally projected.

Much credit goes to @Mobjack Bay for the method she shared to ensure good TD mixing (massaging it to death with some light oil in a zip-top baggie, while sitting in a Zoom meeting at work.). Without this baggie massage technique, I would have been showing up to work with TD streaks on my face.

Bonus: squishing out those lumps was even better for stress relief than popping bubble-wrap, which is waaay to loud for Zoom meetings.

So win-win!

 

[Misschief]

I labelled these lotions today. The soaps aren't quite ready for packaging just yet but labels are ready. I decided to try matching lotions and soaps this year. I'll have three in total, these two as well as Rose Quartz.

 

[AliOop]

Shampoo bars were on the list today; we were down to the last bit of the last one in the house. Quelle horreur!

This is the hot-pour DIY B&B recipe, with added mallow extract, hydrolized silk protein, and Fresh Ginger Lime FO by CC.

 

[AliOop]

Today's B&B was a test batch of a Cetaphil Dupe from Humblebee & Me. It turned out really nice! The best part happened while I was reading an article she suggested about how to adjust pH, found on SkinChakra.EU. The writer was talking about how important it was to keep notes so one could speed up the process "after many trial and horror sessions."

I read that to my husband and we roared with laughter. Yup, trial and horror, that's a great description of me messing around in my soap cave while wearing my safety glasses, particulate mask, hairnet, and grease-stained clothes.

 

[not_ally]

I soap at the dining room table, which is in full view of the glass doors which run the length and height of the side of the house which faces the street. I do wonder if people see me in my mad scientist get up and think there is some kind of Breaking Bad scenario going on in the heart of this quiet little beach community.

I made my second batch of pull throughs today and am excited to cut them tomorrow. They really are so much fun to cut.

 

[Maple_Street_Bath]

I do wonder if people see me in my mad scientist get up and think there is some kind of Breaking Bad scenario going on in the heart of this quiet little beach community.

When I lived in a small MidWestern town, this happened to me in a roundabout way. I didn't realize that my neighbor across the block could see directly into my dining room where I was making soap. It was the talk of the morning coffee group for several weeks until the cafe owner who was coincidentally my cleaning lady - love small towns - finally took them out of their misery and told them I make soap, not drugs. I wish I could have been there because the re-telling of the story was fantastic.

My project for this week is figuring out a leave-in conditioner for a friend who has a lengthy beard. He's given me some feedback after trying out my lotion as a leave-in conditioner so I'm not completely starting from scratch. Reading a lot of resources for the tweaks [to the lotion recipe] without ordering ingredients I will likely never use for anything else. I'm at the point where I think I may have to look through all of the recipes I've collected, pick the simplest, and order what is needed. (Read: my brain hurts)

 

[AliOop]

A friend texted and asked me to make a batch of lip balms that she could add to the Valentine's Day goodie bags for her staff tomorrow. Y'all, normally lip balms are just such a pain, and I dread them! But tonight, it was almost a zen experience. Measure the three ingredients, melt them in the microwave, add the flavor, and pour into the tubes. This time I thought ahead and used packing tape to seal off the part of the tube-holder that wasn't being used. Not sure if you can see it in the picture, but the tape worked very well to keep any drips from escaping out of the open holes at the end.

It was all done and cleaned up in no time. The balms are now all capped, labeled, and waiting by the front door for her to pick up on her way to work. I also threw in a foaming sugar scrub for her (pink, of course!) because she's really good to her employees and deserves a treat for herself.

 

[Misschief]

A friend texted and asked me to make a batch of lip balms that she could add to the Valentine's Day goodie bags for her staff tomorrow. Y'all, normally lip balms are just such a pain, and I dread them! But tonight, it was almost a zen experience. Measure the three ingredients, melt them in the microwave, add the flavor, and pour into the tubes. This time I thought ahead and used packing tape to seal off the part of the tube-holder that wasn't being used. Not sure if you can see it in the picture, but the tape worked very well to keep any drips from escaping out of the open holes at the end.

View attachment 76515

It was all done and cleaned up in no time. The balms are now all capped, labeled, and waiting by the front door for her to pick up on her way to work. I also threw in a foaming sugar scrub for her (pink, of course!) because she's really good to her employees and deserves a treat for herself.

What a great idea!

 

[dmcgee5034]

This time I thought ahead and used packing tape to seal off the part of the tube-holder that wasn't being used. Not sure if you can see it in the picture, but the tape worked very well to keep any drips from escaping out of the open holes at the end.

That is brilliant!

 

[AliOop]

Thanks, I am definitely happy with that hack. As explained over on the Anchor v. Pyrex thread, I'm also very happy with the French Pyrex (real borosilicate) glass measuring cups that I purchased based on @artemis' sharing the purchase link here. The pouring was perfect - no drips!

 

[Maple_Street_Bath]

I'm also very happy with the French Pyrex (real borosilicate) glass measuring cups that I purchased based on @artemis' sharing the purchase link here. The pouring was perfect - no drips!

I've also noticed there is a difference from pouring from a 1 cup Pyrex and a 4 cup Pyrex. My lip balm tray holds 48 tubes, so that's typically what I make at a time. The lip balm fits perfectly in the 1 cup Pyrex with enough head room for stirring, but pouring was an absolute disaster. One day, out of sheer laziness because my 1 cup needed to be washed but the 4 cup was clean, I used the 4 cup Pyrex and it was a perfect pour. The 4 cup is complete overkill, but for the lack of headache when pouring, I've used it every time since. I think it has to do with spout size/depth - whatever the reason, it was a game changer for me.

Update for my search for a leave-in beard conditioner for my friend. Looking back through my notes I found a simple ingredient recipe from HumbleBee and Me, that after reading through her substitution notes I realized that I could easily make with on-hand ingredients. My one switch was instead of BTMS I used Varisoft EQ even though her notes advised that it may not be suitable, I had some on-hand from a 2-in-1 shampoo bar recipe that I had tried. I didn't care for the shampoo bar, so tried it in a conditioner bar but found it too waxy. After talking to my friend, we thought the waxiness might be more suitable for his beard. The recipe came together beautifully, and I handed it off to my very excited friend last night. Also, bonus points to me for finding 5lbs of BTMS that I forgot I had while looking for the ingredients to make the conditioner. I was about 5 minutes away from ordering more...

 

[AliOop]

Also, bonus points to me for finding 5lbs of BTMS that I forgot I had while looking for the ingredients to make the conditioner. I was about 5 minutes away from ordering more...

"Wow, that has never happened to me because I always know exactly what I have on hand."

- said no member of SMF, ever.

 

[AliOop]

Today I dropped off three gift sets to a friend who asked for donations of auction items for their annual Soroptimist luncheon. Each set included a lotion, a scrub, a bar of soap, and a lip balm. The tubs were from Dollar Tree, as was the crinkle cut paper inside them. My sweet neighbor-friend who makes wreaths not only donated the ribbons, but also made the bows for me (since I lack that skill). My friend who received these was pretty jazzed.

 

[Misschief]

Today I dropped off three gift sets to a friend who asked for donations of auction items for their annual Soroptimist luncheon. Each set included a lotion, a scrub, a bar of soap, and a lip balm. The tubs were from Dollar Tree, as was the crinkle cut paper inside them. My sweet neighbor-friend who makes wreaths not only donated the ribbons, but also made the bows for me (since I lack that skill). My friend who received these was pretty jazzed.
View attachment 76673

Those look amazing!

 

[VikingChick]

Today I dropped off three gift sets to a friend who asked for donations of auction items for their annual Soroptimist luncheon. Each set included a lotion, a scrub, a bar of soap, and a lip balm. The tubs were from Dollar Tree, as was the crinkle cut paper inside them. My sweet neighbor-friend who makes wreaths not only donated the ribbons, but also made the bows for me (since I lack that skill). My friend who received these was pretty jazzed.
View attachment 76673

I love them!

 

[AliOop]

Thanks, I was pretty happy once I found those cute little tubs in the gardening section at Dollar Tree!

Yesterday's B&B thing was to make a refill of my dark-circle eye cream. I've been happy with the results from this and didn't want to run out. WELLLLL..... I was almost done with it when DH came home and poked his head in the soap room door. I know better, but we started chatting. Then I realized that I didn't know if I'd just put in the preservative, or the active. ACKKK. The batch was only 100g, but that active ingredient is soooo expensive, so tossing it and starting over really hurt.

Oh well, time to start on Batch #2. This time everything went perfectly, and I poured it into two containers while still liquid. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that those two containers had spray tops, not pump tops (the tops look identical so the type of output isn't obvious). Didn't have any pump tops that fit those containers, either. By the time I figured this out, the product had cooled into a thick cream.

One of these skinny spatulas allowed me to laboriously transfer the cream out of one spray container (blue) into a pump container (clear). Since that took almost 30 minutes(!!), I've decided to leave the other spray container as-is. I can spray the tiny amount needed into my palm before applying to the under-eye area.

Now it's time to reorganize my containers to be sure they are more clearly labeled for the future.

PS - these are for personal use only, hence the minimal labeling.

 

[not_ally]

Then I realized that I didn't know if I'd just put in the preservative, or the active.

On my last batch of cream I realized that I had forgotten the preservative right after I finished. Then I set the jars (which I had made to send to a couple of friends, plus one for me) aside. THEN I FORGOT THAT I HAD FORGOTTEN THE PRESERVATIVE. I blithely sent the cream off to said friends and opened up my jar last night to find a layer of green mold all across the top. Urgent messages sent, hopefully they did not mistake the green for some kind of interesting botanical.

It was the first time I have ever seen mold in anything I've made, a testament to Phenonip, Optiphen and Germall Plus! It was interesting, albeit somewhat disgusting.

 

[AliOop]

Yikes, hope you caught it all in time!

 

[Misschief]

I've been making small batches of Zany's MSM Cream for myself and my husband and it was time to make more. That's what I did this morning.