Recent content by Karri

Thanks for the input everyone. Still hoping someone knows the regulations or guidelines pertaining to my labeling questions? And the INCI names for teas/infusions? Karri

Yes and I would be willing to bet that within a few years the FDA will require a full ingredient list. In the meantime though it would sure be nice if there was a CLEAR standard for North American labeling of soap. Every time I think I have it figured out I find another inconsistency or gap...

:) Actually in Canada soap is considered a cosmetic so it's the law to list ingredients per very specific guidelines set out by Health Canada (including using INCI terms). In the U.S. it's optional but many soapers still prefer to list their ingredients as a courtesy to the consumer who...

Two questions: 1) How do you list infusions/teas per INCI standards? (I'm in Canada.) e.g. alkanet infused olive oil used at x% of the recipe (along with "regular" olive oil and other oils/butters). Or rosehip "tea" used for the water. 2) Marie Gale (in Soap & Cosmetic Labeling) recommends...

Thanks for sharing. That was fun to watch! Karri

I like to do "peaked" tops too but I usually gel my soaps. I find that if I pour at medium trace and start mucking around with a small spatula and move the top of the batter around to make peaks, it seems to work nicely and does *not* flop down after gel. The soap starts setting up as I'm...

I think some folks add sugar to help with bubble action in their final product. I personally like to use castor oil instead which adds nice conditioning properties as well and isn't that expensive. Honey is lovely in soap and is purported to impart humectant properties to the skin. That...

I've been experimenting with labeling and have to say that MS Publisher was by far the easiest to manipulate for this purpose. Basically to make a cigar band type of label you just set the page to "landscape" (so it's sideways) and then make 3-4 columns which will in effect be the "bands" you...

Oh wow. Congratulations on your new baby :) I've been eyeing that thing up almost from the beginning. If you go on YouTube you can see the gal from BeaconsCreations cutting soap loaf after glorious soap loaf with that thing. Makes me drool every time. Karri

Ninja indeed! HAHAHAHA! That's a good one :) I've had to go ninja more times than I care to remember with soap I was going to create beautiful, elegant swirls in ... then it traces too fast (or I stir too much b/c I'm paranoid about false trace) and well, my swirls become layers. Makes me...

That soap looks amazing. Truly. As long as it's "good" soap then overall this is a success anyway! (i.e. it's not separated or lye heavy or anything like that, right?) And if that's your 4th batch ever ... well, you're rockin' it from what I can see! Karri

They really are a great little machine Amy. And soooo easy to use. I was amazed at the quality vs what I got from the (crappy) webcam on my Mac. Here's a link to the one I got: http://www.theflip.com/en-ca/Products/m ... x#/?show=0 Karri

Video is a fantastic marketing tool and very "hot" with the search engines too. (YouTube itself is like a search engine.) You can buy a Flip HD video camera for $100-$200, depending where you buy it from (I got mine at Costco for $100). I used to do short video clips for my online consulting...

LOL! I had the opposite problem - for once my soap was staying at a nice light trace, like for a long time. I actually had TOO much time and couldn't get the nice peaks on top I usually do. I was so mad! Plus I made too much of the "swirl color" and then didn't have enough "base color" so had...

Soap Gremlins must be in full force this weekend! I sorta had a soaping night like that too. Had big plans for a big beautiful swirl and well..... plans change ;) I have to learn not to get my hopes up so high b/c soap has a way of taking charge! What happened with the TD? I only tried it...