Luscious Lotion Bars!

With sandal season in full swing what better time than now to add lotion bars to your line? These great little gems pack some big punch for extremely dry skin and are simple to make. We have a few recipe ideas for you to try from making them from scratch to using our base and a few simple added ingredients. They will make a lasting impression on your customers and their skin!

I had a few friends and family test these out for me. They all LOVED them! The comments I heard most were that their feet & elbows looked immediately better and stayed that way with daily use! If I had the pick of ONE item for my beach bag (other than SPF 80 Sunscreen, I am a blond hair blue eyed Norwegian folks! LOL) I would most certainly pick these. There is nothing I love more than the look of my feet freshly pedicured! With these the need for that pedicure decreases immensely! These work EXCELLENT on any patch of very dry skin!



Lotion Bars from Scratch!

• 1 Part Beeswax 

• 1 Part Shea Butter

• 1 Part Oil (I personally used avocado for this but others will work as well! Try the variable oils as they will change the outcome of this!)

• Essential or Fragrance Oil 1-2% OR leave it unscented, this is so natural it may be most appealing that way.

Melt the wax and butter in a double boiler or the microwave. If using the microwave melt using 30 second burst just until its melted. You don't want to over heat oils & butters! Once melted add the liquid oil and any fragrance or color desired. You can lightly color these using our Mica Powders!

INCI Ingredients list for labeling:
Beeswax, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter),Persea gratissima (Avocado) Oil and then you would add either the fragrance or EO here and the mica if used at the very end.

Lotion Bar Recipe Using BC Lip Balm & Lotion Bar Base with Added Beeswax

• 90% Lip Balm & Lotion Bar Base

• 10% Beeswax

• 1-2% Fragrance Oil

Melt the wax and base together in a double boiler or the microwave. If using the microwave melt using 30 second burst just until its melted. You don't want to over heat oils & butters! Once melted add any scent or color desired. You can lightly color these using our Mica Powders!

INCI Ingredients list for labeling:
Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil, Cera Alba (Beeswax), Helianthus Annus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter) Fruit, Tocopherol Acetate (Vitamin E). If you add scent or color add that to the end.

Lotion Bar Recipe Using BC Lip Balm & Lotion Bar Base with Added Steric Acid

• 85% Lip Balm & Lotion Bar Base

• 15% Steric Acid

• 1-2% Fragrance Oil

 Melt the wax and base together in a double boiler or the microwave. If using the microwave melt using 30 second burst just until its melted. You don't want to over heat oils & butters! Once melted add any scent or color desired. You can lightly color these using our Mica Powders!

INCI Ingredients list for labeling:Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil, Steric Acid, Cera Alba (Beeswax), Helianthus Annus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter) Fruit, Tocopherol Acetate (Vitamin E). If you add scent or color add that to the end. 

All of these shown to the left are made from the above recipes. The top left Lotion Bars from Scratch! recipe. I actually did not color that, the beeswax is very yellow that I use thus the color. This I scented with Spearmint EO. The Top Right is the Lotion Bar Recipe Using BC Lip Balm & Lotion Bar Base with Added Beeswax I did color that gently using some mica I had on hand to show the colored version. I scented this with Fruity Loops and I believe that has since disappeared into a certain teen age daughters room. And the bottom is the Lotion Bar Recipe Using BC Lip Balm & Lotion Bar Base with Added Steric Acid In that I used no color and scented lightly with the BNL Warm Vanilla Sugar. mmmmmm!

I used the new 2 oz. Lotion Bar Molds for all of these. These are great because they are a. inexpensive b. can be sold with the product to protect it during shipping and on store shelves and c. the bar can be removed from the mold and placed back in between uses. They are one of the best ideas I have seen in years! I then made a simple fold over topper for the bag using my home PC and card stock and used our 4" x 6" Resealable Cello Bags.

Give one of these recipes a try and you too will never know how you survived without a lotion bar! :)

Happy Crafting!
Flicker

Yankee Doodle Dandy!

This month with the 4th of July coming up, I decided to do something colorful and fun! Melt and pour chunk soaps in Red, White and Blue! Yankee Doodle would be proud of this soap! This project is simple and fun!

What you will need:
White and Clear Soap Base Also sold at BCN
Blue and Red Dye
For best results use Non-Bleeding dyes!

Mold
Fragrance: Black Cherry

Instructions:

Make three full size bars of soap. One white, one red and one blue. Cut up 4 weight oz. of white soap base per bar and microwave on medium heat in 30 second bursts just until melted or until the majority is melted, add .10 oz fragrance & dye and stir well. Pour into the mold, and spritz liberally with rubbing alcohol.
*For best results I recommend using only GelTones Non-Bleeding dyes for this project!

Allow the bars to cool and cut bars into chunks using a cutting board and very sharp knife. Do not use a serrated knife as it will leave marks on the soap chunks.

Pour a very thin layer of soap into the bottom of each mold and liberally spritz with rubbing alcohol. Allow to cool.

Place the chunks in the molds and again spritz liberally with rubbing alcohol.
Finally melt the clear soap 8.5 weight oz for four bars by cutting it up and melting in the microwave on medium heat in 30 second bursts just until melted and add .2 weight oz of scent. Pour over the chunks very slowly, moving around the bar to ensure no voids in the soap.

Allow soap to cool and remove from the molds and wrap tightly in Stretch Wrap or Shrink Wrap to prevent sweating.

This is a great project for any skill level and the perfect product to do for summer craft shows!

Happy Soap Making! Have a safe and fun 4th of July!
Flicker!

Here fishy, fishy!

With the summer carnivals and craft shows in full swing and summer fishing in general I thought it was the perfect time to do some "Fish-in-a-Bag Soaps" Remember as kids going to the County Fair, doing the ring toss and the prize was a sweet little goldfish in a bag? This brings back those childhood memories and these fish don't die! :) Great to get little ones (keep in mind these are for children OVER the age of three due to the small size of the fish) to take a bath and lather up or just use it as an adorable bathroom decoration! These are excellent sellers!!

Supplies List:
Clear Melt & Pour Soap
Ocean Mist Fragrance
Plastic Fish
Clear Cello Bags 4" x 6"

First melt 4 oz of soap base then stir and add fragrance (always weigh your soap AND fragrance on a digital scale for accuracy). Place your bag inside something like the plastic saver I have shown here to keep the bag from falling and pour in enough to cover the bottom 1/2" to 3/4". After and before EVERY layer and at the end, spritz the soap with rubbing alcohol in a fine mist spray bottle. This will get rid of bubbles that will form on the surface as well as allow the layers to adhere seamlessly to one another. Allow to cool enough to place fish in without having them sink to the bottom.

Allow to cool enough to place fish in without having them sink to the bottom. This part will take some time, be patient.

Once the first layer is fully set pour in enough soap to cover the fish completely. Remember spray layers before and after to prevent bubbles and aid in adhesion. ;)

Now go ahead and pour a very thin layer of soap and allow it to get hard enough to set the last fish in so he stays in place.

Go ahead and melt another 4 oz of soap now and pour that over the top.

Once that has cooled enough for you to handle it, lift the bag out of the bowl and twist to remove any air and place a rubber band around the top.

You will use 8 total oz of soap and .25 total oz of scent for this project. Go ahead and make a few for your next shows. People will LOVE them and the will prove to be a great conversation piece as well!







Happy Soap Making!
Flicker

Carpet Fresh!

Carpet fresh is one of the easiest products to make and it sells great and of course smells simply fantastic too! What will you need to make it? Baking Soda and Fragrance Oil! Yes, that is all! It's the simple things that are great, right?

There are two ways of making it and I only do one since my dedicated to smelly stuff food processor died. The first obviously is to use a food processor to incorporate the scent into the baking soda, the second is to use a stick blender in a bowl and as a soaper I have have plenty of those :)

Materials:
Baking Soda.
Fragrance (I used Citrus Splash)
Packaging (See below for packaging ideas!)

First, pour your baking soda into a large bowl designated for smelly things. I don't recommend plastic since it will absorb scent. Glass and stainless are preferred. Second, drizzle on your scent. It doesn't take much at all. I get about 8 lbs of Carpet Fresh out of an ounce of fragrance oil.

Then mix the scent in using the hand blender by moving it around to mix the baking soda and the fragrance oil together. Be careful, it will make a mess if you pull the moving blades out of the baking soda. :)










Now package! There are a few different ways that will work great! Use the Pint Mason Jar and the vented Smelly Lids with discs, the Tin Tie Bags in either white or Kraft, the Shaker Jar or the Stand up Pouches! A simple idea that will yield great profits!

May Flowers!

In the May newsletter will be a special on Metal Votive Cups and also on my favorite floral scent of all time...The BNL Sweet Pea! It's simply intoxicating! I decided this month to combine my love of making and burning votive candles with my love of Sweet Pea! This simple project takes very little skill and is simple enough for even a novice!

What you will need:
IGI 4794 Votive Blend
Pink and Green Candle Dye
44-24-18lt Wicks.
BNL Sweet Pea Fragrance
Metal Votive Cups

Once you have your molds together, wick them and then begin to melt your wax. I recommend heating the wax to about 190-195 for the first layer. Since you are working with smaller amounts, it will cool faster than normal in the pour pot. Melt exactly 12 weight ounces of wax for 6 votive candles. I recommend scenting it all at once to make this easier.

For the first layer, I used 3 weight oz of wax dyed with 2 Drops of Kelly Green Liquid. Pour into the molds equally. After the wax starts to cool, move the wick around to keep it centered in the mold.

Next heat your wax back to 190* and make another pot using 1 drop of Red/ Dark Pink liquid Dye per 7 oz of melted weight wax. Pour this on top of the green layer once you are sure it is solid enough to not melt as soon as it is poured. I poured a thin layer first then waited a few minutes and poured the rest, again filling the molds equally. After the wax starts to cool, again move the wick around to keep it centered.

Once the candle wax is cooled and has fully shrunk you will need to do your final pour. I did not color this layer. Before pouring this layer be sure the wick is completely centered.

After the wax has cooled completely, remove it from your molds. This usually will take overnight. If they do not come out easily, pop them in the freezer for a few minutes to release them. This is a simple project, something easy enough for anyone to do! :)





Happy Candle Making!

Enjoy!
Flicker