This year has gone by so fast, I can’t believe we’re past the mid-way point and almost into the Autumn-Sasja’s birthday-Raymond’s birthday-our anniversary-my birthday-Christmas-New Year’s stretch! I’m not great at planning for any event, but we just bought our first Christmas present. (In my defence, it was a perfect one-of-a-kind thing for someone we absolutely adore. Let the guessing begin!)
In the meantime, it’s the height of blueberry season, so I spend most of the day eating these gorgeous berries, and the rest of the day washing the purple stains from my shirts and hands! I wish there was a way to capture the crisp, sweet, slight camphor-y taste of these fresh-from-the-fields berries in our products, but the preservation issues are a nightmare. Instead, I’m using things like blueberry fruit essence from Lotioncrafter (INCI: Vaccinium Angustifolium (Blueberry) Fruit Water and raspberry seed oil to create some fun summer lotions using local ingredients!
Did you know that most of the berry seed oils start out in Abbotsford, the big town west of me? They produce so many berries!
Normally, I avoid the workshop like the plague in the summer, but this one’s been a bit milder – no smoke filling the skies for days on end, no 35˚C days that feel like 42˚C days thanks to the humidity – so I’ve been able to get back there and play a bit, which is awesome as the samples from reps I met at In Cosmetics, Shannon from IMCD, Roxana from Chemsynergy, Mark & Anne of Save on Citric, Mary from Grant Industries, Jen from Lotioncrafter, and more are arriving at my house daily, which means it’s time for some experimenting fun! I generally like to wait quite some time before creating and sharing with you. but I’m so excited about all the possibilities, so I’ll be writing some Experiments in the workshop posts, where you’ll know when I made it and some stuff about stability.
I’m having such a blast with the gums Shannon sent me and a few from Formulator Sample Shop. I have so many now – xanthan Gum, two types of carrageenan, gellan gum, and locust bean gum, to name a few – and I’ve been using them for so many things, from thickening surfactants, creating foams, gelling cleansers, thickening lotions and creams, and it’s fascinating to see how textures change with 0.1% of this or 0.2% of that. You’ll be seeing these posts shortly as we pick up on the topic of rheology modifiers!
You know I’ve been loving the cold emulsifiers I shared with you in the most recent e-zine, 10 minute lotions, and I have even more formulas to share with you. These are perfect for August workshop fun as we move into the warmer time of the year with potential temperatures up to 35˚C! Eek!
And I’m having a blast working with oil thickeners, like the thickening clays – which I finally have working for me – as well as things like Sapogel, Sucragel, and so many others.
Yeah, it’s hard to figure out what to play with each day, but I think I’m getting a handle on it!
At some point in August, I’ll be taking a week or so off to get some serious workshop time in as I have so many new ingredients for which I’ve been creating formulas, and I want to make as much as I can to share them with you. I’ll let you know when that’s happening. I’ll still have posts to share here, but I’ll intersperse those with things that I’m doing that day, if you’re interested.
For all members, thanks for continuing to join me here on the blog! And don’t forget about the Member-to-member super happy wonderful sharing & caring post (August 2019), open to everyone!
As we do every month, if you’re a $3 subscriber or higher, click here to see the duplication request post!
If you’re a $5 subscriber or higher, click here to see the month’s Q&A post!
If you’re a $10 subscriber or higher, you’ll get the e-zine for the month – which is issued on the 25th or later-is – as well as coupons for these companies…
Windy Point Soap Making Supplies
Voyageur Soap & Candle (to be updated soon)
Make Your Own Buzz, Chemistry Connection, and Save on Citric
I hope you’re holding up well in August, whether it’s summer or winter for you! Are you making anything fun? Preparing for the holiday season yet? Share your thoughts!