newbies

Vitamin E is NOT a preservative and you don’t have to add a preservative to an anhydrous product (updated)

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Vitamin E is not a preservative. It is an anti-oxidant. An anti-oxidant will slow down the rancidity of your oils. A preservative prevents the contamination of your product by things like bacteria, yeast, or mold. Vitamin E will not prevent contamination of your products, but it will retard the rancidity of the oils in your...

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More posts for beginners!

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I’ve noticed that quite a few beginners are visiting the blog – welcome! – so I thought I’d put together some beginner level posts to help you get addicted…ahem, I mean interested in this wonderful hobby of making bath & body products. I’ll be adding this permanently to the newbies section of the blog, and...

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Question: Can I add glycerin to a lotion bar?

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In this post on lotion bars, anonymous asks: How can you get glycerin to mix in a lotion bar? Do I heat to a certain temperature? Mix the wax and glycerin first before I put in my heated oils? Help I love glycerin in all my products. If you are wondering if you can mix...

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Weekend Wonderings: Learning to make substitutions for ingredients and using decyl glucoside as a surfactant

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I have to ask this question as well – if you are a beginner, why are you trying to make products from scratch? I’ve been getting quite a few e-mails and comments from people who are creating their own recipes and wondering why they won’t work. Please please please find a tried and true recipe...

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Weekend Wonderings: Back to basics with glycerin and preservatives in anhydrous products

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In this post on making a body butter, Tessa asks: Why is glycerin part of the water phase and not of the oil phase? What happens if I increase the percentage of glycerin? If I’m going to make castor oil and mineral oil, vitamin E and titanium dioxide part of the recipe, in which phase do I...

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