In the meantime, here’s a fun clip that just aired on our local station (KVOS). We filmed the entire thing in one long take with no script. This is the outcome of our frantic late-night project designing from this post.
Tutorials on soapmaking, bath fizzies, lotions and more
Filed Under: Bramble Berry News
In the meantime, here’s a fun clip that just aired on our local station (KVOS). We filmed the entire thing in one long take with no script. This is the outcome of our frantic late-night project designing from this post.
Filed Under: Bath Fizzies
I’m a fan of Vancouver, BC based Pich Posch. I’ve blogged about them here and here. And, I’m a fan with good reason. This cool indie business makes good by selling products that are well formulated, healthier than most and cheerily bright.
Sometimes, this cheeriness doesn’t serve Pich Posch well. Despite this um, little set-back in the video below, I’m still a fan of Pisch Posch. But, might I humbly suggest a different color (maybe black mica?) or maybe just less of it for the future formulations of this product?
Tiger Tiger is a blend of Licorice and Creamsickle. According to the hang tag that came nicely affixed (in an orange ribbon, natch), it’s impressive ingredient formulation includes normal bath fizzy stuff (citric acid and sodium bicarbonate) and also epsom salts, sea salt, sweet almond oil, and jojoba oil. All this skin-loving gunk makes for a happily moisturized body upon exiting the tub.
But …. as I alluded to above, not all was well in the land of Tiger Tiger BathTime – unless, of course, you like bathing in murky blackness.
Watch the video and then, before you think negative judgmental thoughts about Pich Posch, mentally review YOUR product line. What product do YOU sell that requires an explanation, or doesn’t work quite the way you want it to, or generates actual customer complaints.? Use this experiment as a call to action to improve your own formulations and your own product line.
Filed Under: Bath Fizzies
I’m a fan of Vancouver, BC based Pich Posch. I’ve blogged about them here and here. And, I’m a fan with good reason. This cool indie business makes good by selling products that are well formulated, healthier than most and cheerily bright.
Sometimes, this cheeriness doesn’t serve Pich Posch well. Despite this um, little set-back in the video below, I’m still a fan of Pisch Posch. But, might I humbly suggest a different color (maybe black mica?) or maybe just less of it for the future formulations of this product?
Tiger Tiger is a blend of Licorice and Creamsickle. According to the hang tag that came nicely affixed (in an orange ribbon, natch), it’s impressive ingredient formulation includes normal bath fizzy stuff (citric acid and sodium bicarbonate) and also epsom salts, sea salt, sweet almond oil, and jojoba oil. All this skin-loving gunk makes for a happily moisturized body upon exiting the tub.
But …. as I alluded to above, not all was well in the land of Tiger Tiger BathTime – unless, of course, you like bathing in murky blackness.
Watch the video and then, before you think negative judgmental thoughts about Pich Posch, mentally review YOUR product line. What product do YOU sell that requires an explanation, or doesn’t work quite the way you want it to, or generates actual customer complaints.? Use this experiment as a call to action to improve your own formulations and your own product line.
Filed Under: Bramble Berry News
Or the best way to weasel into my good graces … Thank you Amber for making fabulous cupcakes and bringing them to work. They truly are the breakfast of champions.
Filed Under: Personal Ramblings
We are honored that crafty e-zine Whip Up has accepted and posted two more of our Soapy Ideas. Head to the links to learn how to make these fun projects. And, if you get to talk to Nicole on the phone this week at Bramble Berry, be sure to compliment her on her soapy sculptures in the Play Dough Moldable soap. Didn’t she do an amazing job?
Secret Message Soap: A bribery idea
Filed Under: Lotion
When you pour your massage candles, you’ll want the wax to be a cool temperature, almost slushy. If you don’t pour the Container Wax Lotion Bar Hybrid cool enough, you will end up with pitted candles. Pitted candles work just fine – they just don’t look so great. If you end up with an uneven surface or cratered look on your candle, just zap the top of the candle with a heat gun to remelt the top layer of the candle to ensure a smooth look.
For these candles, I prefer the WU250 wick over the 450. I find that the wax pool is much better with the 250. A large wax pool is a necessity for Massage Candles.
Pour the Wax Oil combination and center the wick. The wick has a tendency to flop over. You can easily prop up the wick in between two pens or chopstick.
Unlike yesterday’s recipe, which was a little oilier, today’s recipe is somewhat waxy and harder. It would do well as a travel candle or in warmer climates. The recipe below uses a larger portion of soy wax and absorbs into the skin more slowly than yesterday’s recipe.
For this Massage Candle, you will need:
1 oz. of Avocado Oil
2.5 ounces of NatureWax C-3 (container) Soy Wax
.75 oz. Cocoa Butter
.75 oz. Shea Butter
Skin Safe Fragrance
Candle Tin
Wick
Pyrex Container
Spoon
Hint: If you don’t have Avocado Oil (or just don’t like it), you can substitute another liquid oil such as Sweet Almond Oil or Olive Oil for the Avocado Oil.
Check back tomorrow for the final recipe.
Day One – Introduction
Day Two – The Fine Print
Day Three – The First Recipe
Filed Under: Personal Ramblings
Thank goodness for the kindness of virtual pals. Joanna from my much beloved Product Body sent me a goody package! And it arrived just at the perfect moment. We had a snowstorm in Whatcom County last night that seemed to dump solely on my house and our office. And, I was spent another fruitless 30 frustrating minutes on the phone with United to not solve my original ticketing problem, yet again. With that portent of trouble, three people called in sick today at Bramble Berry leaving a skeleton crew frantically filling our orders to keep our goal of 24-hour-turnaround time. I had the privilege of pouring orders, manufacturing Labcolors and pulling this afternoon. It was a fun change of pace though now my normal workload is a bit behind. Thankfully, I have this gorgeous gift from Joanna to perk me right up!
She sent my husband’s favorite scrub, Butter Scrub. He loves it because it has just the right amount of grit and not too much oils so it rinses away fairly easily. It also comes attractively packaged in a bail jar so it looks very high end and swank.
Joanna also sent a new one of her creations, Crush on You, in Pecan Praline. The sugar sprinkles and sugar cube add fun texture and color to the scrub. It smells delicious, like a wonderful food product, and I can’t wait to try it.
Thank you for the goody pack and nice card, Joanna. You totally made my day.
Filed Under: Lotion
Making Massage Candles is similar to making a lotion bar. It’s a certain ratio of fats, waxes and oils. This creates a lotion candle hybrid that supports the flame of a candle.
In our experiments, we designed three recipes that all burned well and created a nice massage product.
Today’s recipe is the least hard and most oily of the three recipes. It would do best in cooler climates or if you like a massage oil that melts into the skin faster.
You will need:
Spoon
Heat Safe Container (Pyrex)
Skin Safe Fragrance oil
C-3 Naturewax Container Blend
Cocoa Butter (natural or deodorized)
Shea Butter
Avocado Oil
Wick
Candle Container (we used the Bramble Berry Candle tins which are just $.40 at their bulk price)
Recipe:
1 part C-3 Naturewax
1 part Cocoa Butter
1 part Avocado Oil
1.25 parts Shea Butter
In ounces, this looks like:
1 ounce C-3 Naturewax (Soy)
1 ounce Cocoa Butter
1 ounce Avocado Oil
1.25 ounces Shea Butter
Fragrance: .25 ounces
ONE: Add 1 ounce of Naturewax and 1 oz of Avocado Oil and 1 oz. of Cocoa Butter to heat safe container.
TWO: Melt in short 45 second bursts in the microwave, stirring between each microwave burst
THREE: Once fully melted, add the Shea Butter to the heated oils and wax. Hint: smaller chunks of Shea Butter melt more quickly than one big chunk.
FOUR: Once the Shea Butter has fully melted, add the skin safe fragrance. Stir in well.
FIVE: Keep stirring until the wax is cool and getting slushy (slightly opaque and appears to be minutes away from setting up). This ensures that the entire batch stays smooth and does not separate in the containers.
Check in tomorrow for a second recipe and also information about wick choice and pouring.
Previous posts on Massage Candles
Day One – Massage Candle Introduction
Day Two – Massage Candle Fine Print
Filed Under: Lotion
As discussed yesterday, the reason massage wax candles work is because soy wax has a very low melt point. This means that you can pour the melted wax directly from the candle onto your hand with comfort. The wax is not much warmer than bathwater. Of course, just to be on the extra safe side, always pour the wax into your hand and not directly into the small of someone’s back.
We tried many recipes before coming up with the three that we’ll go over in the next few days. But first, some basic safety and starter tips.
Safety Considerations:
Ingredients Listing – Since these are meant to use on the body, they fall under normal labeling rules with skin products. Full ingredients must be listed using either common names or INCI names. Ounces and place of manufacture must be listed.
Skin-Safe Ingredients– You cannot use candle fragrance or color for massage candles. All items used must be skin safe. Bramble Berry Container Soy Wax is skin-safe and can be used for massage products. Not all soy candle wax is safe for use on skin so be sure to double check with your vendor if you’re not using a Bramble Berry wax. The skin safety requirements mean that you can only use colors approved for burning (no micas, no Labcolors) and for skin. That leaves only a few color options and really, do you want to have a colored massage anyways?
In order to start this project, you will need NatureWax C-3 blend (all natural soy skin safe wax), a skin and candle safe fragrance (all of the Bramble Berry soap fragrances can be used in soy candles), a tin or candle container and an appropriately sized wick. The only equipment needed is just a Pyrex container and a spoon.
Tomorrow, we’ll go over the first easy recipe. It only contains four ingredients so it’s the easiest of the recipes to make.
Filed Under: Bramble Berry News
Flint River Soap Company was inspired by my little Pineapple Broken Cake experiment and made her own totally perfect, beautiful confection. Click here to see her successful yummy cake.
We are so honored – Whip Up has included one of our fun soap tutorials on their crafty compilation site. Click here to go see the How-To on making this fun Airplane soap.
Filed Under: Bramble Berry News, Business Musings
The most screamin’ deal *ever* – these adorable little candle containers are just $6. 00 for a full case of 24. These are the same glass containers from the sad candle experiment and the more successful beeswax project. We got incredibly lucky and bought them as a one-time deal from a candle company who discontinued their container line.
They hold 10 to 16 ounces of candle wax. I found that it took a full 16 oz. of beeswax to fill the candle glass but slightly less of the Soy Wax.
Buy them here (and buy them fast because they’re not a permanent addition to our line).
Also, an opportunity to improve your business: Seth Godin has a wonderful audio posted on his site hereabout marketing in 2008. If you’re busy cooking, soaping or just answering email, it’s worth streaming for the hour program.
Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Melt & Pour Soap
Here are some photos of the newly cut Red Lychee Tea soap. I’m very happy with how the batch turned out, especially the dark vibrant blue.
Colors used:
Non-Bleeding Pink Pigment (liquid)
Non-Bleeding Blue Pigment (liquid)
Non-Bleeding Purple Pigment (liquid)
Sparkle Gold Mica
I roughly sketched out the Profit & Loss of this loaf on the back of a napkin. The rough economics behind this loaf of soap look like this:
COG (cost of good sold) – the price you pay for the raw materials
4 pounds soap = $7.40
2 ounces fragrance = $3.00
color = $1.30
total: $11.70 for materials
Mold: suggested retail around $30; if the old is used 30 times, this works out to $1 per use
The soap loaf makes approximately 12 bars of soap. At $5 per bar, that works out to $60-$70 retail value.
Gross profit for the loaf, sold at retail, is approximately $53. Gross profit is the retail price less the COGS (materials). Afte
If fixed costs are taken out of the Gross Profit number, such as the cost of the mold ($1), wrapping ($1), overhead ($3) and labor ($15), the net profit works out to about $33.
That’s a pretty good return for such a wondrous creative outlet of expression.
Filed Under: Lotion
What’s a Massage Candle? It is NOT pouring burning hot wax all over your body. Taking a wild guess, this probably doesn’t sound relaxing to most of us. A massage candle is a blend of skin safe waxes, oils and a bit of fragrance that melts at a very low temperature, making it an enjoyable alternative to cold massage oils.
Massage Candles started growing in popularity in 2006 with the rise of soy wax as a mainstream paraffin wax alternative. The Massage Candle pictured at the right is one of the more economical brands on the market, selling for $10. Pricing for these unique candles goes up to $40 depending on the claims made and essential oils used. Alternate names in use for these burning amusements are Lotion Candles, Body Wax and Body Candles. Other uses for Massage Candles are a cuticle oil or an all-purpose heavy duty lotion for elbows, knees and feet.
The wax for making Massage Candles needs to be all-natural soy wax. The secret to making a Massage Melt Candle work is the low melt point of this wax.
What is a melt point? It’s the temperature at which the solid wax becomes liquid when exposed to a heat source (normally a flame).
Soy wax melts at a lower temperature than paraffin wax, making it a fit for this romantic gift. The instructions are simple: light the candle, wait 30 to 45 minutes so there is a wax pool to draw from, blow out the candle, pour the warm wax in your hand and, begin the massage.
This week on the Soap Queen blog will discuss over massage candles. We’ll make them, design some recipes and also give hints for designing your own recipes.
Filed Under: Personal Ramblings
Last week, I met Senator Patty Murray. I was so excited to meet her, I practically hyperventilated. Senator Murray ran for office in 1992, as a “Soccer Mom in Tennis Shoes” and has slowly risen to a position of prominence and respect in congressional leadership roles.
Senator Murray spoke to the Bellingham Herald Editorial Board. I’m lucky enough to be on the board and found her smart, funny and poised. She answered all the questions of the Board questions quickly, with a clear grasp on a wide range of issues.
I was inspired by her grace, humor and brains and came away more educated on a wide range of issues.
On a more soapy note, I apologize for not posting the photos of the Red Lychee Teasoap yet. I’m traveling this weekend and the photos are locked up in my computer at work. I will do my best to post them Sunday and also start the Massage Candle Tutorial.