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Autumn 2007
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Letter from the Editor: *Best
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Update October 30th, 2007 I am totally hung over from eating all the Halloween candy--and we have one more day to Halloween. I may give the kids the wrappers as the "trick." I wanted to do something different this year, so it will be a "Pirates of the Caribbean" theme at my place. In the Christmas isle, I found gold and silver foil wrapped coins, so I am making them the "treasure." Christmas candy is out and not yet costing a fortune--and the coins did not look branded to Xmas. I also bought some other color foils that look like "gems." I downloaded the themes off YouTube to blast in the house Halloween night. Sound tracks from Pirates of Halloween, and Disney's Pirates ride. While I was in YouTube, (pillaging) I grabbed Disney's Haunted Mansion & Ghosts and Halloween II sound tracks. You can play these on your PC and "loop" them. If you save them, and check box real Player or Quick Time to loop. Ringo, my Golden Retriever will be dressed like Johnny Depp. As long as he gets petted, he will do anything I want. This newsletter will be added to over the next few weeks-I am extremely busy. However a lot of neat products are coming in and I definitely want to share them as they arrive. First of all, I have a new laboratory I just love. Tables were adjusted for my short height, shelves adjusted too, and life is good. It was not my idea-and I did not know such adjustments could really be done. I no longer have to carry around a step ladder that is an inevitable ankle breaker. Previous, the environment ruled me, I did not rule the environment. Making space work for you is worthy to ponder. Ladies spray your Brooms! Those cinnamon brooms really "throw" in a room huh? For at least a good week anyway. They hide my after dinner smoking habit marvelously--I waive the broom around to hide the smoke wafting through the air. Not sure how I am going to handle Christmas--perhaps waive the XMas tree around. Seriously, for brooms, I do make my own refresher spray. It really brings out what cinnaminimum is still left on the broom. When I do spray, I stay in the cinnamon family. Like Apple Spice and Harvest. Note: A new ribbon often gives a cinnamon broom a new life. On another note, today, a lady wrote me perplexed about a scent a friend gave her. She described it as smelling like "trees and bushes." That was so funny, I thought I would share that. That description covers a lot of territory. I told her it is a scent known as "White Elephant." It made her itch and she wondered if she could add anything to reduce the itching. That is tuff. Calamine lotion anyone? It may be a brand called "Ivy" something. Truly, dpg tends to do that. Dpg, a cheap cutting agent of scents drives me nuts--I am so allergic. It is the reason most people "think" they are allergic to scent. Fragrances that just arrived that are beyond precious? Enchanted Apple and Vanilla Musk. My Autumn Walk has been reformulated, and so pleasing, I wake up every morning to smell it. The three above are made by a perfumer friend of mine. I created an Orange-Coffee fragrance here that is totally titillating and striking. It can make a home be far more "homey" or warm up an office. Orange-coffee is a scent people love but cannot figure out what it is. You could say it smells like Orange peel dipped in dark chocolate--but with a deep coffee roast edge. Autumn 2007, what would be orange and black in my world? Easy. Black Cumin essential oil and a gorgeous Orange Carrot Seed essential oil we just got in. We typically carry cold pressed carrot seed oil and that can vary from orange to green. I like both the cold pressed and essential oils for different reasons. The carrot essential oil is a beautiful orange. I like carrot products in general, they are so "fresh" and healthy smelling. The same goes for black cumin. Say Yes to Beta-carotene! Also, the price on the carrot seed oil has been lowered. Another new addition to Mabel Laboratories is Shea Oil. Shea oil makes the skin so soft it is definitely a superior oil in my book. I am using it in lotions, lip balm and just about any oil based formula I can.
Shea oil is a powerful anti-aging skin care ingredient. Produced
during the process of making shea butter, shea oil remains liquid
at room temperature. (Shea oil does thicken or become solid when
cold). It contains the antioxidant rich nutrients found in shea
butter but the oil is much lighter in weight, making it a superb
light moisturizer. A great deal more shea butter is produced
during the processing of shea nuts than shea oil, making shea oil
more expensive and rare.
Pure shea butter and moisturizers containing this nutrient rich butter and oil offers many superb anti-aging skin care benefits. These natural skin care ingredients are excellent choices for an anti-aging skin care regimen that also includes gentle cleansing and exfoliation. Shea butter works to keep skin looking radiant, healthy, and youthful naturally. In the food department I have resurrected my "Honey-O-Bit" recipe (below) and gobbling it now as I write. That is just such an easy recipe to make with kids, roll it out and even use a cookie cutter to make into shapes such as pumpkins.
CP Side note: If anyone knows how to achieve a royal purple and magenta bleed in CP soap-let me know. I heard it is by using ultra marine blue, and ph variance causes the pretty purple into magenta at times--but I have not had time to test it. I am also in a rush to make black cp soap if anyone has had luck with that coloration. I am not sure what black oxide does when it hits the ph of lye. You can write me here: mailto:mabelwhite@sbcglobal.com?subject=Purple Soap
Free Product: Making Gifts: Coffee Candles, Body Scrubs & Butter
Matching coffee scrub and coffee butter: Go
get some 4-8 ounce jars to make holiday gifts! Our
coffee Retail a nice coffee candle, 8 ounce body scrub and 6 ounce body butter would be well over $60.00. You can make high quality ones for perhaps 10% of that. Pumpkin & Lavender It is not the overrated pheromones that turn a guys head, it is pumpkin spice and lavender. This study is not new--but sure is new to me. A study was done to see what gets circulation going when it comes to men. Click here for the Hirsh study. The table at the very bottom is of most interest. I ran to my laboratory and mixed some up. I was expecting a scent really confusing to the brain. I blended 50/50. It was not bad--the pumpkin spice over took the smell of a woody lavender. I will sell it as a novelty scent.
Solution to Cloudy Room Sprays & Reed Diffuser: Clarity
Shea Oil
Shea oil is a powerful anti-aging skin care ingredient. Produced
during the process of making shea butter, shea oil remains liquid
at room temperature. (Shea oil does thicken or become solid when
cold). It contains the antioxidant rich nutrients found in shea
butter but the oil is much lighter in weight, making it a superb
light moisturizer. A great deal more shea butter is produced
during the processing of shea nuts than shea oil, making shea oil
more expensive and rare.
Pure shea butter and moisturizers containing this nutrient rich butter and oil offers many superb anti-aging skin care benefits. These natural skin care ingredients are excellent choices for an anti-aging skin care regimen that also includes gentle cleansing and exfoliation. Shea butter works to keep skin looking radiant, healthy, and youthful naturally. Click here for Shea Oil. Shea oil is the best oil I have ever worked with, as far as skin softening. It is a cloudy white. My first test was to just try it as a bath oil. I put a few drops into a running bath (1/2 ounce) -- afterwards my skin had never felt so soft. All night it was so soft--and I could not help touching my skin and thinking back as to what few things came close in my experimental past. I am always excited when one simple ingredient does so much. After some thought, the three past experiences were Emu Oil, and on a separate occasion a Soy Spa Dip a non-petrol product I invented a few years back, and another occasion any one of the body scrubs I made and used. Scrubs are great for baby soft skin, but you cannot do them every day. Body scrubs are designed to remove dead skin cells, so maybe twice a month. Soy Spa Dip operates like the Paraffin Dips if you know what that is. It is a wax like dip for hands and feet that penetrate heat to the skin and lock moisture in. As with body scrubs, wax dipping is also not a practical everyday ritual. Wax dipping has great therapeutic value and super soft skin is simply a side benefit. In my opinion, shea oil is like a body scrub in a bottle, or a hand/foot wax dip in a bottle. I am sure longer term soft skin can be achieved using shea oil just after a scrub, or coated on the skin just before a wax dip. I think shea oil is just fabulous for dry cracked skin and would be my leading choice for making lotion, lip balms, and lip jellies. I could see this my oil of choice if I was in grueling weather or snow skiing. For wicked weather, I would still use soy wax and/or Candelilla for a front line of protection in my formulas.
Babies Skin Care Formulations Diaper rash really is not the "norm." Beyond changing diapers as needed, (the first obvious culprit,) infants may be having a reaction to the band of diaper, or what they are ingesting. For babies bottoms I would use a paste made of titanium dioxide or zinc oxide with a little shea oil to make a paste. For "scent" I would select a few drops of Bulgarian lavender, rose flavor oil or honey flavor oil. And do not forget, 1/2 vanilla and 1/2 rose equal the scent of baby powder. You can do interesting variations of baby powder on the floral side such as Lilly of the Valley & Vanilla, Hyacinth and Vanilla. If you have read my previous work, you will know I love flavor oils, when possible, as my scent in most bath products and lotions. Flavor oils smell luscious and I know are gentle. Some I use straight in the bath as bath oil. People who are allergic to typical fragrances, do use the flavor oils as scent with no problem. I suspect they are allergic to the solvents used in normal fragrance processes.
RLS: Restless Leg Syndrome RLS is short for "staying up all damn night." When I was bed bound most of 2006 and part of 2007, I had it bad. Basically an annoying reminder you need circulation that starts just about the time a good movie comes on and the sun sets. That cleared up when I started living again and just getting out more. Back then I was taking super hot and cold baths hoping to "trick" my blood flow. I cannot say that did much, but it did distract me with the "ritual" of bathing. Still many people who work all day report they have that annoying phenomena. They ask me about it all the time. Number one, drop the coffee from the diet--totally. That is half the battle right there. And I found fairly good relief with a two ounce tube of cream meant for leg cramps that cost a small fortune. Like $12.95 for two point five whole ounces. You can use most any cream base, the active component is 1% menthol. I will make my own now that I am better--for next time. Made by Hylands Homeopathic. Gold bond came out with a crème that works great. Basically any heavy cream base, with 1% menthol oil and 1% vitamin B 6, also known as Pyridoxal phosphate. I am trying to get a hold of B6 now, which I understand is a powder. But these two ingredients are great to stop itching, and cool the surface of the skin, and most likely distract from the annoying RLS feeling.
Coffee Substitute: Postum: My Faux Coffee
I make a lot of variations with Postum, such as Vanilla Steamers (with our powdered vanilla) and a touch of Postum, and if I am going hog wild I make a latte (steamed milk) with Postum and throw on those mini marshmallows. I make Postum ice cream and so on. Look for it in your local grocery store, it is made by Kraft Foods.
Honey-O-Bit Recipe
I had some much fun making and eating this! It was fast, easy, and
for the most part healthy. If you can master this, you can also make
"nutritional bars" and add your own nutrients before it starts to
cool. I noticed I could just make honey stir spoons for coffee or
tea if I wanted to just dip the spoons! The spoon you see, cooled to
a solid mass. Be sure to spray PAM on the resting place of the
product.
How NOT to Make Lip Balm
Dear Deb: I'm a "former" kitchen-table cosmetic
maker/parfumier who kind of got discouraged and stopped making
goodies (sometimes life gets in the way,) but I'm back and just
antsy to get to creating again. Your articles get me
percolating with ideas.
I read on your site and in both of your books
(Bathroom Chemist and Self Apothecary) about making lip balm. You
made it sound soooo easy! I ordered some goodies from you, and in
all honesty, on the shelf they went. I was more than a bit fearful
to actually start.
However, one day I took a wild hair and said what
the hey, let's give this a try! Now, Deb, you will NOT believe what
I did. I have a container of your lip jelly, some flavors,
etc....and what did I use? Petroleum jelly. Yeah. I know. But I said
Self, you don't want to waste the good stuff while you're
learning...so just use this, it's pure and it's sticky and it will
be FINE.
So I dug out a little saucepan, a glass measuring
cup, said petroleum jelly, some almond oil, a pipette, a lipstick,
and a bamboo skewer - the kind you use for testing cakes or bread,
or threading meat, etc. Oh, I also dug out some metal measuring
spoons, the kitchen kind. So I plopped a heavy tablespoon full of
that petroleum jelly into the glass measuring cup, ran water in the
saucepan, and put measuring cup in saucepan and turned on the heat.
Oops. Out came the measuring cup and in went a couple of paper
towels in the bottom of the pan - forgot I need to protect that cup
from direct contact. (Did I mention I'm a dinosaur and don't have a
microwave? I'll get one. I promise.) Merrily I stirred that jelly.
You know, it didn't take long at all for it to "melt". Then I added
a tablespoon of almond oil (an equal amount, you know) and allowed
that to heat with the jelly. I added a heavy smidge of lipstick and
let THAT melt.....then I took all off the heat. I removed the cup,
set it on the counter (on a hot pad, thank you) and stirred while I
added a few drops of flavor.
Now the time had come! Oh, it was a beautiful
pink...and smelled GREAT. I happily poured it into a small container
- and another one - and another one - and finally got out a small
jar and just poured the whole "mess" in it.....those small
containers can be washed, you know. Now to let it cool to set and
try it out!
Well, I waited. And waited. And waited. And
"blessed" it so to speak. And waited. Finally stuck it in the
refrigerator. AHA....it set....but when it came out it promptly
reverted to - jelly. I tried it out anyway. I was so excited - my
own creation! What did I have?
Well, you all need to know that I wound up with a
small jar of pink-tinted, faintly flavored - GLOP....yep,
GLOP.....Now what to do? I had no clue. I looked at it over a few
days, and finally gave up. I pitched it. Yes. Out. Because I thought
and thought and re-thought, and realized I just could not use it.
What mistakes did I make? Several. First of
course was using a product that I normally did not let get near my
face......as it's petroleum and I don't want petroleum on my skin if
I can help it. Why did I do that? What was I thinking? No clue at
this point. Second was adding an equal amount of oil.....somewhere I
had read I needed to do that, but obviously that wasn't the case
here. Third? Well, adding the color was good, as was the flavor, but
maybe the container? I didn't figure how MANY small containers that
small amount of "glop" would fill.....
What did I learn? Pick a high-quality "base" to
start. Mabel's Lip Jelly and Balm Base would have been much smarter
choices..... Next, read the "recipes" or formulas, and make note of
how much oil, if any, to add to those bases....Do add color if you
wish, and add the flavor... Last but not least, have plenty of
containers!
So tonight I tried the "good stuff", and I'll
report on it to you later! Let me just say that it looks like REAL
lip balm!!!! Hooray!
Kathleen in IL
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I
like the idea of a chestnut looking candles for this fall. The
candles to the left were made by layering different strengths of a
brown colorant--until no colorant was used on the last pour.
Yes, it does require re-heating the wax. Real beans should only
be used at the bottom or where the flame will never get near.
These took about five pours and are gorgeous even if made into votives
with one pour. The scent was fun--I made Maraschino Coffee, and
Orange-Coffee, but other woody scents such as acorn, chestnut,
sandalwood would work just as well.
butter
I
created a solution to cloudy room sprays and
cleaning potions--we call "Clarity." People who have been
using polysorbate 20 were always challenged with murky waters and some
had to heat the formula to make it work.
Clarity is a very effective proprietary surfactant blend used
to incorporate essential oils and/or fragrances into water and
maintain a transparent, homogeneous solution with excellent stability.
It allows the user to get relatively high amounts of oil into water
(with no clouding) compared to other products. Solubility limits vary
from oil to oil but the typical formulation would be as follows: Add 1
part essential oil or fragrance oil to 4 parts of Clarity and
mix thoroughly to form your Water Soluble Concentrate (20% essential
oil/80% Clarity). The concentrate can then be added to water at
up to 20-40% depending on the oil in the concentrate. This product
intended for use in manufacturing of finished toiletry products, not
for internal use. Experienced formulators only please. NOTE:
Clarity is a proprietary blend of synthetic surfactants. It
is NOT a natural product. It is not possible to get a clear solution
of oils in water with natural products, only surfactants can
accomplish this.
I
call this "My Faux" coffee (pronounced Mo Fo)..(you guessed it)...and
I love it. Try
e-mailing a bunch of ladies who are "BRB" to get a cup of coffee--and
I cannot have any, is just sad. Roobois tea only goes so far when you miss
the taste of coffee. Well, that changed when I searched at the
grocery store for a "faux instant coffee" and found a good one. Made
from a special blend of roasted grains, Postum tastes just like
coffee to me. Actually it is flavored with coffee, just no
caffeine and far less acidic to the body than coffee. Postum is
a delicious, naturally caffeine-free alternative to coffee or tea.
