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This month we cannot
avoid all of the weddings going on! One example is Ashley
Ledoux, shown above and below. She is one of our new assistant editors
and marketing strategist. Ashley came to know the Mabel White
Company while desiring to learn how to make soap, lotions and candles as
a new homemaker. Ashley is a major influence in the world's
largest martial arts magazine and still contributes,
although she had to move a few thousand miles away. She is now
enjoying Seattle, Washington where the new groom is stationed. He
just returned from a She is so beautiful we did think of putting her in a bottle to sell! On another note, my hair dresser, who loves making cold process soap also, just had a wedding as well, as did countless other people I know. Their gifts to those who attended were very unique and personalized. We have photos of the favors below from Ashley's wedding and Marsha, my hair dresser. Home made soap in cute little bags being just one. We do everything we can at Mabel to avoid commercialization. The photo on the lower right is Ashley's sister holding a 6 ounce gold tin container with sentimental items Ashley made hidden inside.
Lynda Williams, our food and Dip Mix Division in Mississippi, is finally done after two years with our dip mix line. The recipes were tested throughout the nation to make sure they were the best. Her hallmark, as we discuss below, is her cheesecake dips offered in several flavors. They are great for baby showers, football events or just any party. Lynda also secured the highest-grade beeswax for us to use. Chef Greg Engelhardt came up with some fabulous Vinaigrette Dressings using our flavored oils (recipes below,) one being Raspberry-Pistachio Vinaigrette. He is now a chef in a real palace which is his dream job. Yes, this is all making me hungry. On a craft note, Deborah Dolen, in conjunction with Dr. Ashok Patel, a Biochemist in Minnesota, is introducing hair conditioner and shampoo pearls so that customers do not have to pay for shipping of 90% water. We're also introducing a Cold Process soap base for those who want to rebatch without dealing with lye. We've also secured a deal with a chemical company to drop-ship very high-quality lye. Since Red Devil is no longer a real option for us as soap makers, securing a source for lye has been a challenge now solved. Deborah is now working with a Beekeeper's Association on a book for recipes to make use of all of the by-products of bees since no book presently exists on the market. This book should be announced mid-February. Any suggestions are very welcome and credit will be given unless the sender prefers to stay anonymous. Another book she is working on is dedicated only to rebatching of soap. That book is due out in May. Deborah and Leane are also working on a DVD detailing the CPOP (Cold Process/Oven Process) method of making soap and one on making candles. We hope to have this wonderful, hands-on DVD tutorial available by this summer. Last but not least, Soytanicals, a finished product retail line we have been working on for years is celebrating its first products. Please see www.soytanicals.com. Wishing You the Best! Mabel White
A Bed Style Fit for a Queen with a Small Purse by D.R. Dolen
While the
old mattress was donated, I had a few days before the new one came in.
I thought, well, I will spend
"Creative minds have always been known to survive any kind of bad
training."
Dips and Chili Mixes: Get Ready for the Super Bowl! by Lynda B. Williams
Wholesale Dip Mixes Dot Com
is finally ready. Based out of the small town of Monticello,
Beyond
the dessert sector, we spent two years developing a unique line of dip
mixes themselves. Our staff all
"If a man watches three football
games in a row he should be declared legally dead." Rebatching Soap by D.R. Dolen
For those faint at heart of dealing with lye, we understand. That is why many people prefer to "rebatch" already cured soap. Consumers with small children also have their reasons for preferring to skip the lye step. I used to love simple melt and pour until I dared engage with lye. The old fashioned soap is far superior, I now only use melt and pour glycerin soap for limited purposes such as the coffee kitchen deodorizer bar. I typically am making the old fashioned lye soap at home. Enter rebatched soap. It is basically the art of taking already cured cold/hot process soap, grating it and cooking it in a crock pot with water and whatever additives you desire. Some people stop at grating and use this soap for laundry recipes and the like. But as far as soap making, rebatching is also known as "double" or "triple milled" soap. Soapmakers tend to simply use a designated crock pot to rebatch. What are the advantages? Well, you do not have to deal with the lye step, the soap tends to be much harder and is considered a "higher quality" soap, and your additives such as essential oils tend to really be more present. Leane, our Essential Oils expert, sent me some round Castile soap balls that she made. They were so hard and made such an awesome lather, I went nuts over them. After pressing her on what made them so hard and luscious, we isolated it to the fact she rebatches her scraps and makes them into hand-milled soap balls. I did not know that is just a normal thing for her to do. Basically, if you experience a good rebatched soap, you will be so spoiled! One of the few drawbacks in rebatching is that you had better have your molds ready when your soap is ready (if you're using molds, rather than hand-milling.) I think that cutting them at random is fine and adds to the natural appeal of the soap. Pictured above is highly aromatic Bulgarian Lavender, Vanilla Clove, underneath those is Carrot and Rose Geranium. The soap stuck in the middle was just a left over piece of Castile. In the very front is one of the wedding soaps with corn meal as an exfoliate, molded in a tart tin. At Mabel, we simplify older recipes touted by other toiletry makers once we learned the basics. Like, we use a blender, we do not sit there and hand mix anything with a spoon for hours--as well as a microwave for most natural products--not the old double broiler method. We are after what we call "QANEEC" pronounced "Kawneek" meaning: Quick, Affordable, Natural, Easy, Effective, and Cool. This term was created by Mabel White. We will offer 2 Pound bricks of soap that can be rebatched as we have time to make it. Click here to purchase soap to rebatch.
Lotion and Conditioner Pearls: A Maverick in the Market!
We have isolated some very
magical ingredients in the shampoo, lotion and conditioner market.
Shampoo Base: Same principle as the other two products above. Simple, easy to make, and the consumer is not paying to ship 90% water. In fact, this base can also be used to make bath bars and bath bombs that bubble! It can be used in just about anything as the sole lathering agent. Click here to hear more about our pearls.
All About Soy Wax by Deborah R. Dolen
One day about ten years ago, someone making pizza stuck a wick in hydrogenated soy wax flakes they used for making pizza to see if the energy from that oil would burn. It did! It burned clean, fairly soot free and was immediately recognized as much better and cheaper wax than the main candle wax used at the time, paraffin. Best of all, soy beans are made in America and does help the American Farmer. Most major candle companies were so invested at the moment in saying "Paraffin" was still great, they had to make a slow and smooth change over. Some are still making that change, some prefer to stick with paraffin. We do not like Paraffin that much. Cargill, one of the world's largest privately held food corporations began a study in conjunction with a few soy bean interested persons and invented a stronger soy wax flake designed for candle use. The wax they set out to isolate from the soy bean components that would not melt as premature as pizza dough oil, and thus would not drown the candle prematurely. They aimed to keep it all natural and did so. This process of research cost money and they did successfully come up with a few great all natural formulas for candle use. Therefore it had to be a bit more expensive than pizza dough oil. Cargill then moved to successfully patent such formulas and we feel those patents are the best on the market today. Other companies soon followed with their own versions, but could not copy the Cargill patent, resulting in what we feel are by far inferior mixes. We tested them all as we had written books about soy was since day one. Cargill had it right. Their name brand is NatureWaxTM. Some companies opened up from out of the blue and called pizza dough oil their "brand" as if it was comparable. Figures.
To identify ours as only purchased from Cargill, patent holder of NatureWaxTM, we created the SoyWaxTM mark as an identifier that our soy wax is designed for candle use and purchased exclusively from NatureWaxTM as well as to identify purity in our use for the manufacturing of lip balm. The Mabel White company was the first company to introduce and test the use of soy wax in lip balm as well as lotions and crèmes' as a far cheaper ingredient than beeswax. No one can dispute this. We love beeswax, but we found SoyWaxTM reduced the cost of making lip balm dramatically, while still maintaining an "all natural" component. Competition went nuts with the Mabel White formula that was not protected by any copyright or legal measure and began selling Mabel's idea as an ingredient in lip balm on a mass scale. It is true, there was nothing the Mabel White Company could do about that. This is because we published a free recipe on the internet. Actually a lot of free recipes about this. The Mabel White Company turned to protect at least its material purity with the blue and green mark above, that symbolizes a high grade soy wax for candle as well as cosmetic use only bought from Cargill. This need for clear distinction arose when some of the people in a rush to steal the idea did not question the actual soy wax they bought--was not the soy wax used by Mabel or in her recipes, (only NatureWaxTM was.) The copy cat companies usually offered a cut version of soy wax that could include fillers such as arsenic! Thus, a clear distinction had to be made. In no manner does this mark mean any person has to purchase soy wax for candle or pizza dough making from us. A heavy debate did ensue, to be sure, brought on by those who were defensive because most were selling a cheaper soy flake designed for making pizza. They created false letters and attempted to conduct a lot of confusion. All they ended up achieving was sending us new business. No company that sold a quality higher melt point soy wax had issue with it and are busy and successful with their own companies. They do not have time for idle gossip. At Mabel all we care about is the consumer and quality materials for our own personal use. Yes, soy wax may be a bit more expensive than our peers, but you can be assured it is because we are paying premium prices and not cutting the product in any manner to save a dime. The only way you can really test your grade of soy wax is to see what temperature it actually melts at and demand a materials spec sheet in writing before you purchase. Quality was the only point to the mark, period. We will only sell Cargill's brand period. *We have recently been able to reduce the price of our soy wax because we are now able to buy in much larger volumes, please click here for the latest prices. Canker Relief: C-4 by Deborah Dolen
He was totally amazed and now uses this gargle religiously. This is a gargle, not a drink! This is very important to remember because we do not recommend ingesting Essential Oils, since they are extremely potent. He then asked me to make a lip balm formula and felt that helped also. I simply put just four drops of the oil mixture in a 1/4 pot of balm base and mixed well. This Essential Oil blend is so great I named it C-4 and decided to offer it to our customers. It is a proprietary mix of pure Essential Oils, and is intended for adult use only as directed. Click here to purchase the C-4 blend in a one ounce size.
Step by Step Making Soy Candles by D. R. Dolen
In the first photo I am anchoring the wicks with my glue gun, although that is not necessary at all. I just want to make sure these are centered. I chose to make Bulgarian Lavender, Geranium, Tea Tree and Lemon Sage.
Saving
Chocolate That Melted by Deborah Dolen Someone bought me four pounds of plain chocolate truffles that melted on their long drive from up north. They felt really bad about it, and suggested I throw them out. Little did they know I already squeezed every bit of them out of the bag and set them in a bowl in the sun. Within four hours I had melted the chocolate in a uniform and gentle manner. I then had four pounds of what looked like chocolate soufflé. I took the chocolate and let it cool enough in the air conditioning to roll it into balls again, using cocoa powder and or cinnamon to coat the balls. I used some to frost the cake shown on the right. With the truffles, I was even able to add flavor oils to some before rolling, (lime and raspberry). My friend was amazed and I ended up with a better product. I love chocolate so much you will see that as a melt and pour item in the future. Speaking of that, Chef Greg said just use Nestle chips if you are hard up to make dipping chocolate. The dipping chocolate sold in most stores is mostly wax. I know, I tried it once.
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session in Iraq. Ashley spent time with me in product development,
but could not wait for him to return. The nuptials were done faster than
we could attend. We welcome Ashley as a great new asset to our
company. She adds a new facet and perspective we believe we cannot
be without as we grow.
Activities of other staff
include Leane Ketcherside, Missouri, who recently bought a
machine that helps mold bath
bombs. Her goal is to create
Aromatherapeutic,
all natural
seltzers with decadent Essential Oils, and she has had so much fun her husband has not seen her since
the box came in. 
Another unique offering
of the site are the Gourmet Cheesecake Dessert Dip Mixes, served
with fresh strawberries, pineapple, vanilla wafers, apple
slices--whatever you like!Just mix well with 16 ounces of sour cream. Our
cheesecake dip mixes are very simple to make and come in several popular
flavors. These are just perfect for weddings, baby showers
or home parties. We are even willing to re-brand them for
fundraisers, Dude Ranches and the like. Just ask!
Why are they magic? The crafter simply adds up to 10% of our
pearls to 90% hot
water and/or other aqueous solutions and the result is some great lotion,
shampoo and/or conditioner. This saves the craft-maker a fortune on not
having to ship water. One of our leading bio-chemists
maintains you do not even need a
blender, which he refuses to own, but we find it to be helpful for
the lotion and hair conditioner systems. We plan
to create a book of recipes around all of these discoveries, but our base
products are so great, anyone can apply their own creativity. All of
these products are due in February, and we plan to have ingredient spec
sheets ready as well as suggested uses. We will refine them to
include more soy lipids over time.
Conditioner Pearls: We
have avoided conditioner materials for years because many people like us
have highly processed hair and need gentle and pure ingredients.
Mabel White's Conditioner Pearls are so very simple to use, and completely
customizable. It is a great detangler, and makes a wonderful leave-in conditioner. If my three daughters were
still young, I would jump on this. I was always using Keratin to
detangle. Now I cannot find I anywhere on the market. I am
thrilled we have something like it here and it also can be enhanced after preparation.
The recipe is much like the lotion pearls above. 
NatureWaxTM
is soy wax as not to confuse consumers. But it is a stronger form
of hydrogenated soy oil designed for excellent and more demanding candle
making melt points. An issue did arise, as we saw it, when some
companies were selling "pizza dough" soy flakes that looked a lot like
the soy flakes meant for candles--but was almost half the price.
(They did not like the price of the real patent product.) This did
cause a lot of Mabel customers to ask why they made a candle that
ultimately drowned and never did burn all the way down. Was it our
fragrance oils? Did they use too much fragrance? No.
It was traced back to where they bought their wax and their whole
project was wasted. All we could suggest was to add a little
beeswax to save their project.
As
I have always maintained, making soy candles is one of the easiest and
most rewarding projects on the planet. Below is a step by step
example if you need to gain confidence. Click the thumbnails to
get a better view. This evening I decided to make soy travel tins
using essential oils. My containers were 6 ounces each and I found
I used 2/10ths of an ounce of Essential Oil to fragrance each one. 
Butters:
The uses of flavor oils are convenient and the possibilities are endless.
Adding one tablespoon of flavor oil to one pound of butter makes
the famous Strawberry butter, or turn to very gourmet
tastes such as Apricot, Blueberry, Cranberry, Mango, Peach, Triple
Sec (Orange), or even pumpkin depending on your region. For
example, Blueberry Butter would go over wild in Maine.