Tips

Demythifying the myths: You don’t need to pH test and adjust your formula after the addition of every ingredient!

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It feels like there’s a lot of misinformation being spread about how to test and adjust pH when making a formula – emulsion, cleansers, body washes, shampoos, conditioners, and so on – and I thought I’d share some good information with you. Related section: pH & information about pH meters, always found under the “resources”...

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Don’t worry about bubbles in your lotions: Mixing, emulsifiers, and the soaping effect!

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I’ve noticed quite a few people worrying about their lotions having bubbles in it when they’re mixing it after combining the heated oil and water phases, and the message in this post is don’t, there’s nothing to worry about! The bubbles will be gone soon enough. You’ll do more mixing when you add the cool...

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If you only read one thing today, read this: Please please please follow the instructions to achieve success!

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I can’t stress enough how vital it is to follow the instructions as written for a formula. When I create a formula, I share the exact instructions with you. These aren’t guidelines, these are what you need to do to achieve success. Deviating from them can result in epic fails – epic, epic fails. Don’t...

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Let’s talk about temperature: How cold affects our ingredients and products!

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A collage of four photos. Upper left shows the temperature is -17°C. The upper right shows a bottle of yellow body wash. The lower left hand photo shows three bottles of lotion with different coloured cap with a thermometer. The lower right shows two bottles upside down, the contents frozen.

We talk a lot about the importance of heat in our products – Get a bloody thermometer already! Equipment review – but let’s talk a bit about the impact of the cold! It’s so cold!  It’s super cold where I live right now – -17˚C (1.4˚F), but with the wind chill, it feels like -26˚C (-14.8˚F)...

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Why do we wait until products are cooled before packaging? Evaporation, contamination, volume, viscosity, and more!

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I’m sure you’ve seen it in all my formulas – after making the product, wait until it cools to room temperature (20˚C/68˚F) before packaging – but why is that thing? Let’s take a look at a few reasons why we should wait to bottle! I definitely know how tempting it is the package an emulsion...

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