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Sunday, April 25, 2010

We're Back In The Saddle Again!

Do you ever feel like your "to do" list is so long you can't keep up and something has to give?    The past couple of weeks soap making has had to take a back seat to personal responsibilities.  You know, things like husbands, houses, kids, pets, and full time jobs.   Well, I'm glad to say that the break is over and we are getting our grove back.

I made a big batch of body butter and sugar scrub today.   Have you ever made body butter or lotion?   If not, you should try it.   You will be amazed at how easy it is.   Very soon I will put a little tutorial up.

I love Sugar Scrub!  I wish I could climb into a bath tub full of it!    Did you see the last several posts and the Sugar Scrub survey we did with some of our friends?    We posted several recipes for you to try.

For soap making, body butter or sugar scrub supplies you can visit us at www.etsy.com/shop/alittlebarofsoap or www.artfire.com/users/alittlebarofsoap

To give you a sneak peak of some upcoming posts, here are a couple that we will be focusing on.

French Milled or Hand Milled Soap or Rebatching Soap
Creative Ways to Wrap Your Soap
How to Swirl
Body Butter Tutorial

Until next time.....Soap On!

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Scrub E Results

This scrub makes a solid scrub bar!  You can pour these scrubs into shaped molds for a different look (silicone baking molds work very well).

Ingredients
15 ounces of Cocoa Butter
7.5 ounces of Shea Butter
.8 ounces of Stearic Acid
1.3 ounces of Polawax
.7 ounces of Beeswax
2.4 ounces of Avocado Oil
2.5 ounces of Sweet Almond Oil
.6 ounces of Cyclomethicone
.6 ounces of Dimethicone
.3 ounces of Fragrance Oil, if desired
32 ounces of sugar

Directions
Phase 1:  Melt the butters, stearic acid, polawax, beeswax and oils in a double boiler until all the ingedients are melted.
Phase 2:  Remove from heat and add the cyclomethicone, dimethicone and fragrance oil.
Phase 3:  Add the sugar and mix well.  Allow the mixture to cool until it becomes thick and almost solid.
Phase 4:  Pour the mixture into a mold and put in the fridge or freezer until set.  Let sit for 24 hours before using.


Here is what are raters said....

The scrubs were rated on Appearance, Texture, Feel of Skin After Use and Overall Rating.  The rating scale was A-F.   A - being Extremely and F - being Not At All. (we had 5 participants in the study)


Appearance    A - 3, B - 1, C - 1, D - 0, E - 0, F - 0

Texture     A - 0, B - 0, C - 2, D - 2, E - 0, F - 1

Feel of the Skin After Use    A - 1, B - 1, C - 2, D - 1, E - 0, F - 0

Overall Rating    A - 0, B - 1, C - 3, D - 1, E - 0, F - 0


Comments:
 "I loved the idea of a scrub soap but this was too crumbly.  It fell apart while using it, into chunks, VERY greasy too."

"Kind of rough on skin, but loved it afterward!  Love it for my feet."

"I felt it was way too rough. I like the idea of having a scrub in bar form, though.
Scrubs C,D and E left my bathtub VERY slippery."

"He was gone before I was done!"


Saturday, April 10, 2010

Scrub D Results

This sugar scrub uses brown sugar for a different look and feel!


Ingredients
28 ounces of Brown Sugar
1.4 ounces of Ground Oatmeal
.3 ounces of Liquid Glycerin
3 ounces of Sweet Almond Oil
4.2 ounces of Liquid Soap Base
Fragrance Oil, if desired

Directions
Phase 1:  Use a food processor to grind the oats to “oat flour”
Phase 2:  Weigh the brown sugar and ground oats and combine into a mixing bowl.  Set aside.
Phase 3:  Weigh all the liquid ingredients into another bowl.  
Phase 4:  Slowly add the dry ingredients to the liquid ingredients and stir until completely blended.
Phase 5:  Fill your containers with the scrub.


Here is what are raters said....

The scrubs were rated on Appearance, Texture, Feel of Skin After Use and Overall Rating.  The rating scale was A-F.   A - being Extremely and F - being Not At All. (we had 4 participants in the study)


Appearance    A - 0, B - 0, C - 0, D - 4, E - 0, F - 0

Texture     A - 1, B - 0, C - 0, D - 2, E - 0, F - 1

Feel of the Skin After Use    A - 1, B - 0, C - 2, D - 1, E - 0, F - 0

Overall Rating    A - 0, B - 1, C - 2, D - 1, E - 0, F - 0


Comments:
 "The only dislike was color - otherwise LOVED IT!"

"The appearance of the scrub did not appeal to me.  It looked "dirty."  As I placed it on my skin, a lot of it fell off.  It also was greasy to the tub and did not rinse off the tub easily.  My skin felt nice at the end but the experience wasn't "spa like" at all."

"Didn't care for this one at all. Left my skin too oily and didn't glide on well."




Friday, April 9, 2010

Scrub C Results


Ingredients
4.2 ounces of Shea Butter
2.9 ounces of Stearic Acid
6.4 ounces of Coconut Oil (76 degree melting point)
1.9 ounces of Avocado Oil
.5 ounces of Polysorbate 20
16 ounces of granulated sugar
.2 ounces of Fragrance Oil

Directions
Phase 1: Combine shea butter, stearic acid oils and melt in a double broiler.
Phase 2: Once melted, add sugar. Allow to cool.
Phase 3: Once cool, add fragrance and polysorbate 20.


Here is what are raters said....

The scrubs were rated on Appearance, Texture, Feel of Skin After Use and Overall Rating.  The rating scale was A-F.   A - being Extremely and F - being Not At All. (we had 5 participants in the study)


Appearance    A - 5, B - 0, C - 0, D - 0, E - 0, F - 0

Texture     A - 1, B - 2, C - 2, D - 0, E - 0, F - 0

Feel of the Skin After Use    A - 1, B - 2, C - 2, D - 0, E - 0, F - 0

Overall Rating    A - 1, B - 3, C - 1, D - 0, E - 0, F - 0


Comments:
 "Appearance was fine but I felt a little too "greasy" after this one and my tub did too."

"Didn't glide over skin like A and B.  Left my skin too oily."

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Scrub B Results


Scrub B is an example of an “emulsified” scrub.  I chose to use dendritic salt for this scrub but you can use sugar if you prefer.


Ingredients
1.55 ounces Stearic Acid
1.97 ounces Emulisfying Wax
2.96 ounces Apricot Kernel Oil
2.11 ounces Avocado Oil
1.27 ounces Cocoa Butter
1 cup of dendritic salt
Fragrance Oil

Directions
Phase 1:  Combine oils, stearic acid and emulsifying wax and melt in a double broiler.
Phase 2:  Once melted, add sugar.  Allow to cool.
Phase 3:  Once cool, add fragrance if desired.


Here is what are raters said....

The scrubs were rated on Appearance, Texture, Feel of Skin After Use and Overall Rating.  The rating scale was A-F.   A - being Extremely and F - being Not At All. (we had 5 participants in the study)

Appearance    A - 4, B - 1, C - 0, D - 0, E - 0, F - 0

Texture     A - 4, B - 0, C - 1, D - 0, E - 0, F - 0

Feel of the Skin After Use    A - 2, B - 3, C - 0, D - 0, E - 0, F - 0

Overall Rating    A - 3, B - 2, C - 0, D - 0, E - 0, F - 0


Comments:
"I loved scrub A for it's carressness but I love Scrub B for it's creamy, buttery feeling.  Loved the mild smell and my skin felt great!  Each A & B offer a unique scrub depending on what you want for that bath exeperience!"

"Didn't have as much "grittiness" as I would've liked, but was a good texture to glide over the skin when putting it on. It left my skin a little oily, I probably would like to use in the summer when I've been in the sun or the pool alot and need the extra moisture."
 

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Scrub A Results

We chose to use a large sugar known as “Turbinado Sugar” for this scrub. You can find turbinado sugar in your local grocery store and it looks like this:

Here is the recipe for Scrub A (makes 32 ounces of product)

Phase A:
Shea Butter 1.5 ounces
Avocado Oil 2.45 ounces
Sweet Almond Oil 2.25 ounces
Rice Bran Oil 1.5 ounces
Emulisfying Wax 1.5 ounces
Polysorbate 80 .04 ounces
Optiphen .10 ounces

Combine all of Phase A and heat to 170 degrees. Remove from heat.

Phase B:
23 ounces of Turbinado Sugar

Add the turbinado sugar to your melted oils from Phase A. Allow the mixture to oll to 80 degrees.

Phase C:
.30 ounce of Fragrance Oil or Essential Oil

Add your fragrance and mix well.

Scoop into jars.


So, how did our raters like Scrub A? Here are the results!

The scrubs were rated on Appearance, Texture, Feel of Skin After Use and Overall Rating.   The rating scale was A-F.   A - being Extremely and F - being Not At All. (we had 5 participants in the study)


Appearance    A - 3, B - 0, C - 1, D - 1, E - 0, F - 0

Texture     A - 4, B - 1, C - 0, D - 0, E - 0, F - 0

Feel of the Skin After Use    A - 3, B - 2, C - 0, D - 0, E - 0, F - 0

Overall Rating    A - 3, B - 1, C - 1, D - 0, E - 0, F - 0


Comments:
"I loved the feel of my skin after this scrub!  It felt like pearls gliding over silk!  My skin was so smooth and smelled wonderful!"

"Love for Feet"

"My skin feels really silky after using this scrub.  Even though it is a little coarser than other scrubs, it doesn't feel rough at all."
 

Monday, April 5, 2010

Sugar Scrubs Revealed!


If you have ever wondered what is the difference between a sugar scrub, a salt scrub and an emulsified scrub, you’ll want to stay tuned over the next week as we examine a variety of scrub recipes and techniques.

Here’s a little preview of the 5 scrubs to peek your curiosity…


We made each of these five scrubs pictured above using a variety of techniques and ingredients.  We gave samples to all some of our dear friends and family and asked them to rate the scrub based on a variety of factors – appearance, texture, etc.  We are looking forward to sharing the results with you during the next week.  Here is what you have to look forward to each day - we will post a scrub recipe, a picture of the scrub and the feedback/”grade” the scrub received by our friends and family.

We hope you will enjoy this feature as much as we have so stay tuned and...  
Soap On….