Happy anniversary, blog! Today is the 10th anniversary of the date I consider to be the starting point of the blog, the day I started writing exclusively about creating bath & body products. If you had told me on February 28, 2009, that this little blog would lead to a life of writing and teaching full time and travelling around to various conferences, I wouldn’t have believed you! My grand plan was never anything more than sharing my love of creating safe, effective, stable, awesome products with you, along with some chemistry and some random stuff about monkeys.
Thank you for continuing to support me (and Raymond and Sasja) on this journey by subscribing to the blog, purchasing the e-books and e-zines, reading what I write, attending the classes, and sharing your experiences with me through comments, email, and other messages.
By the end of today, I will have 3,626 published posts on this site with another 200 or so coming over from Patreon in the near future, which is an average of a little more than a post a day!
I’m asked all the time how I find time to do all of this, and the short answer is that I type fast. My mom bribed me with $100 to take a typing class in grade 10 and I paid my way through university as a legal secretary. Plus, I love all of this so much, I can’t not read about cosmetic chemistry all day long. There’s just so much to know, and I want to have it all in my head!
What’s different around Point of Interest in 2019?
I call what I create formulas, not “recipes”. We are formulators creating formulas, not kitchen chemists making recipes. I know it might seem like a small distinction, but this has helped me figure out where I fit in in the DIY – professional chemist continuum, and it demonstrates my commitment to science.
I think my pictures are getting better, less “taken with a potato” and more “toddler with an iPhone”. Technology has improved dramatically since 2019, so a lot of the better-ness of the photos are thanks to my wonderful phone as opposed to any mad skills I’ve developed. I’m not a very visual person – there’s always a dead fly or messy window in the background – but I’m working hard to give you an idea of what the ingredients we’re using and products we’re making look like. This is not where my talents lie, and in the time it takes me to take a good picture of an ingredient, I could have written a post, so it’s never going to be something that’s a priority, but I do my best.
Moving to a subscription model has made a huge difference in everything!
I have access to way more ingredients! I’ve managed to inventory about 2/3 of the workshop, and I’ve counted 525 ingredients so far, not including fragrance or essential oils, mineral make-up supplies, colours of any sort, and powders. Yeah, it’s ridiculous, I know it.
I have a workshop devoted exclusively to cosmetic chemistry, filled with beakers and other equipment to help me create. I have an incubator and viscometer along with a new fridge/freezer for oils and such along with a fancy new immersion blender (which may be too weak for thicker lotions). It’s not a pretty Pinterest workshop; it’s a working workshop that’s quite a mess most days, which is why you rarely see pictures of it.
I can afford all kinds of books and other materials so I can learn more and share it with you. I know I feel there’s a difference in how I formulate these days, and I think you’re noticing it, too. I’ve always explaining why I’m formulating the products with information on ingredients, but I’m sharing more about the basic chemistry of why things work the way they, and I’m so happy to see you’re enjoying it!
I’m able to afford to buy equipment so I can do some comparison tests. I have 10+ pH meters, and at least 5 little scales now along with all kinds of thermometers.
Of course, the biggest change is that thanks to you, my lovely subscribers, this is now my vocation, not a hobby, so I have all day, every day, to devote to researching, formulating, writing, teaching, and generally enjoying all of this so I can share it with you.
Thanks for joining me on this ride, whether you’ve been here from the start or found the site today. Thanks for challenging me, questioning me, pushing me to learn more, encouraging me to try new things, and making this a safe space where I can admit when I’m wrong without feeling attacked. Thanks for…well, thanks for everything!
Here’s to another 10 years, eh?