What's Happening Wednesday-New Projects

This past year I introduced several new Essential oil (EO) blends into the Unique Garden Essences line. Coming up with names and informative descriptions for these new blends is really a daunting task, but one came pretty easily because it seemed to yell it. I am talking about the Embrace blend.  I feel like grabbing the wearer and just.....well, embracing them! Lol. In fact, the Embrace label is a photograph of my Daughter-in-Law and Son, standing on the beach, sun setting behind them, right after they got married, and guess what they are doing. Yep, you have it, they are embracing! It's a gorgeous label for a gorgeous fragrance. Anyway, it was the Embrace that really got me back into a creation groove, and truly motivated me. I dug out some old recipes, create some new ones, and expanded the product line!

I developed a (new) Solid Lotion Bar recipe, and packaged it both naturally, and in a twist up (deodorant) type container. But I still wanted more products to highlight this new Embrace, so, as the twist up and bars of Solid Lotion  hit the shelves, I began thinking about how else I could highlight this fragrance. Since I already make several personal, oil based fragrances, a solid one seemed like a natural progression. Although they really don't fit the definition of "perfume", that is still what most people would call them. So I now have all of my personal fragrances available in oil based and solid bases. The solid ones come in a blue, twist up tube so that you won't accidentally grab it when reaching for your lip balm. And those are delivered in colorful boxes.

I also changed up my soap presentation. Although the show soaps are still sold naked, ordered soaps are boxed and come with a plantable (both herbs and wild flowers) strip of hand made paper. The label in the picture is NOT the label I am using, this picture was of a mock up, when I was deciding on the presentation. The new label has a blue and brown theme, with a pop of flowers (check out the boxes, the flowers are like those). And I was so excited when I found some cool boxes that have an almost identical pattern. Since these changes all happened during the holidays, they are still new and haven't been formally rolled out, just kind of casually added!

So now I am working on liquid soap (from scratch), shower gel and shampoo. I am close to finalizing  the liquid soap and gel recipe, but am still formulating the shampoos. Naturally they will be packaged in the cobalt blue, just as everything else is. I believe they will all be consumer ready in February! I am really excited by these new products, and it has been so much fun trying something brand new. All the other products have properties that I have worked with for so many years, it seems less of a challenge to create with them. But liquid soap is an entirely different beast I assure you! There isn't a lot written about formulating your own, and what there is can be confusing and contradictory. So making my own recipes has been very challenging, and very rewarding as well! These recipes represent the first time in my career that I ever walked away from a project to collect myself after I pulled some hair out! Lol You may be thinking this was terrible, but actually, this was great! I love a challenge and I really needed it. I believe that these products will show all my effort in the end, and be worth every strand of hair pulled! Lol

What's Happening Wednesday-New Projects

A friend of mine sent me their recipe for a pain balm a while back. I decided to make it for a Christmas gift, but when I got out all the supplies I realized that I had misread an ingredient and didn't have another that I thought I had. Then I began thinking that this may work better, and that might be a good addition, and oh, that would soooo work. Lol I ended up reworking that recipe until it barely even resembled the one I was sent. But then I needed to know if I worked it right out of being the helpful balm that I wanted/needed. So, off for family trials! While my friend's balm was really an oil rub, I made mine stiffer and that was a plus for my tester. I also added an essential oil blend of pain management and anti-inflammatory oils, where my friend left hers unscented (except for the coffee smell of coffee butter). All in all, only two ingredients were the same and they were not used in the proportions of the original recipe, so I was greatly concerned that the integrity of the recipe may be missing. It seems though, at least according to my family test subjects, that the balm works well. In fact, I have already been requested to make more. I still want to send my blend off to m friend so that she can tell me if mine works as well as hers, but for now I am into stage two of my testing, the friend phase. then I will send samples with surveys to customers and, based on all of that, decide if I want to introduce this balm into my line. I have to say though, early guestimates would bet on this being added in the next few months!

Aside from the usual cp soap that I spend most of the Winter and early Spring making, another project currently in the works is liquid soap making. I made some shower gel for a Christmas gift and have now set my mind to making shampoo, liquid soap and shower gels for a regular product line. I even got a nice 7 quart crock pot for Christmas, from my wish list, just for liquid soap making. Currently I have some paste saved from my last batch and am getting ready to make another. I think I am moving out of dabbling and into the realm of a substantial line. I am already considering the various types of additives good for various hair types. So look for these items to be added in the coming months as well!

Another new soap project is whipped soap. This soap has to set, in the business this is called "rotting"  terrible wording I think, but anyway, it needs to set for about 6 months. So what I am making now will be ready this summer. The great thing about whipped soap is that it can be colored and fragranced in small batches as you need/want it. So you make a large batch and then color and scent as you get orders. And, of course the whipped soap is so pretty! I think of it as cool whip for the body! Lol

And finally, the last "What's Happening" thing is another give away from Mountain Rose Herbs! If you can't wait for my post on Friday, go ahead and take a peek now. I don't blame you! But I will be posting all about their cleaning supply ingredients give away this Friday. And hopefully, I will be winning those supplies for myself! I am so excited by this one, that I just may want to loose the hemp milk ingredient give away! Lol