Category: formulas

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Lotion Formulations – 01 Feb 2021

These are the formulations presently being tested:

Lotion No. 10a is made with meadowfoam, mineral, and jojoba oils, isopropyl myristate, stearic acid, BTMS, and allantoin. Scented with Litsea Cubeba. Litsea is a refreshing, rejuvenating essential oil with a lemony aroma.

Lotion No. 11a is made with macadamia nut, hempseed, and jojoba oils, stearic acid, BTMS, and allantoin. Scented with a blend we call Musk Rose.

Lotion No. 12a is made with fractionated coconut oil, monoi butter, isopropyl myristate, stearic acid, and BTMS. Scented with Monoi. Monoi oil is derived from the Tiare flower, also known as the Tahitian Gardenia.

Lotion No. 13a is made with fractionated coconut and tamanu oils, isopropyl myristate, olive squalane, stearic acid, BTMS, and allantoin. Scented with rosemary. The tamanu oil has a unique earthy smell of its own.

The Tamanu oil, used in No. 13a,  is reputed to have special healing qualities, as does olive squalane. That said, all of the oils we use are chosen for some skin friendly quality.

Lotion No. 14a is made with walnut, olive, and jojoba oils, isopropyl myristate, stearic acid, emulsifying wax, and allantoin. Scented with  Rockrose (Cistus ladanifer essential oil).

Lotion No. 15a is made with cocoa butter, fractionated coconut and jojoba oils, isopropyl myristate, stearic acid, emulsifying wax and BTMS, glycerin, sodium lactate, chamomile hydrosol, calendula extract, and allantoin. Scented with a blend of German and Roman chamomile and helichrysum essential oils.

Lotion No. 16a is made with shea butter, walnut and jojoba oils, isopropyl myristate, stearic acid, emulsifying wax and BTMS, glycerin, rose hydrosol (rose water), silk amino acids, and allantoin. Scented with sandalwood essential oil.

Lotion No. 17a (samples only at this time) is made with karanja, shorea, andirobab, and nigella seed oils, isopropyl myristate, stearic acid, emulsifying wax and BTMS, glycerin, rose hydrosol (rose water), and colloidal oatmeal. Scented with rose geranium essential oil.
(Note that although we are sending this out for testing I am concerned that some may not care for the unique smell of the karanja and nigella seed oils. It may only be that I smell them because I know they are there. I won’t sell this though until we get some feedback. If you like the smell of rose, which is evident in both the rose water and the lovely Bourbon variety geranium we use, you may really like the powdery feel of the colloidal oatmeal coupled with the skin-friendly glycerin. Nigella seed (aka black cumin seed) oil is supposedly very healing, by the way, and Karanja too. – John)

  • Vitamin E and a preservative/germicide is added to each lotion.
  • All (at this time) have a medium consistency, neither thick nor thin, although there is some variance between them. ANY lotion we make can be thickened if desired.
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Lotions – More – 29 Nov 2020

Here are the latest updates for Lotions now available for sale…

Lotion No. 11a is made with macadamia nut, hempseed, and jojoba oils, stearic acid, BTMS, and allantoin. Scented with Musk Rose, which smells clean and fresh.

Lotion No. 12a is made with fractionated coconut oil, monoi butter, isopropyl myristate, stearic acid, and BTMS. Scent is provided by the Monoi butter, which is derived from a tropical flower similar to plumeria or gardenia.

Lotion No. 13a is made with fractionated coconut and tamanu oils, isopropyl myristate, olive squalane, stearic acid, BTMS, and allantoin. Scented with rosemary. The tamanu oil itself has a clean earthy smell.

The Tamanu oil, used in No. 13a,  is reputed to have special healing qualities, as does olive squalane. That said, all of the oils we use are renowned for being especially skin friendly.

Lotion No. 14a is made with walnut, olive, and jojoba oils, isopropyl myristate, stearic acid, emulsifying wax, and allantoin. Scented with Rockrose (Cistus essential oil).

  • Vitamin E and a minimal amount of preservative/germicide is added to all our lotions.
  • All have a medium consistency, neither thin nor thick.
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Lotion Update – 18 Nov 2020

Now available for sale is Lotion No. 10a which is made with meadowfoam, mineral, and jojoba oils, isopropyl myristate, stearic acid, BTMS, and allantoin (see link below). We add vitamin E and a minimal amount of preservative to all our lotions.

This batch is lightly scented with litsea cubeba, which is a refreshing, rejuvenating essential oil with a lemony aroma. We will have unscented lotions available as well.

No. 10a is a moderately thick* lotion. It absorbs moderately quick and leaves a soft powdery feel. Hands stay comfortable even after washing.

*Update – 29 Nov 2020: I would no longer classify this lotion as thick. Like all of the lotions we have made recently this one is about right in the middle, neither thick nor thin. – John

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Ongoing Testing of Lotion Formulations

I want to take a moment to explain why, after numerous formulations, we continue to test lotion recipes and have not yet settled on a single one or two. The simple answer is that we want to make the best lotion there is, using natural ingredients as much as possible, and feel like there is still room for improvement.

Since we formulate everything here it is easy to make changes, send product out for review, and compare the feedback to previous results. We will continue doing this into the next few months.

We really appreciate the enthusiastic response we get from our testers. Thank you always for your support.

— John

18 Nov 2020

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New News on Lotions – Allantoin

We recently made our first batch of lotion using an ingredient called allantoin. I wanted to post a little information about it so you would know what it was. The following description is from one of our suppliers…

Allantoin is a synthetic, free-flowing hygroscopic powder widely used in cosmetic, dermatological and pharmaceutical formulations for its soothing and anti-irritating properties. Allantoin has a moisturizing and keratolytic effect, increasing the water content of the extracellular matrix and enhancing the desquamation of upper layers of dead skin cells, increasing the smoothness of the skin; promoting cell proliferation and wound healing; and a soothing, anti-irritant, and skin protectant effect by forming complexes with irritants and sensitizing agents. Allantoin stimulates healthy, normal tissue formation even at low concentrations.

While allantoin is present in botanical extracts of the comfrey plant, it is generally chemically synthesized to meet worldwide demand. Our Allantoin is a nature-identical, synthesized product made to USP specifications. It is non-toxic, non-irritating, and non-allergenic.

Allantoin has been classified by the FDA as an Over-The-Counter (OTC) Category I (safe and effective) active ingredient skin protectant. It is FDA approved for this use at 0.5% to 2.0% in formulations. If you include it in your formulations and on your ingredient labels, but make no drug claims for it, it remains a cosmetic ingredient and need not be declared as an “active ingredient.”

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Now Testing Liquid Lip Balms

We are now testing a series of liquid lip balms. This bulletin is posted for those doing blind testing who did not receive a printout of what may be in any of the numbered samples you received.

Any of them may contain: Lanolin oil, Macadamia Nut oil, Mineral oil, Squalane (derived from olive oil), Arnica oil, or Mixed Tocopherols T50 (natural vitamin e). All of them are blends.

A friend commented recently that he loved the Balm No.3, but that he had to apply it relatively often. I said I would get him a little baby dropper bottle of what I used on my own lips, and that is how this began.

I myself use the Balm No.3 mainly on my hands. The single largest ingredient in No.3 is Shea Butter, followed by Macadamia Nut oil, Beeswax, and Jojoba, with T50 (vitamin e). It absorbs well, at least on my skin, and is non-greasy. It is because it absorbs well that regular application becomes necessary.

Every test pack also included a small dropper of Organic Unrefined Hempseed oil. It will not have a long shelf-life and should be used up within 6-8 weeks. Apply to cuts, scrapes, or dry skin and see if it lives up to its hype or not. It has a beautiful dark green smell and color.

– John

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Bath Salts Added to Store!

We now have Bath Salts listed on the website. I made a dozen versions or so in the beginning, testing regular sea salt, Dead Sea salt, and even Epsom salts. We finally settled on No.3, with Lavender oil, and that is what is listed. No.3 uses regular sea salt.

There is also a fresh batch made of our famous “Balm No.3” (the lip balm I make in the large tubes). Labeled for the first time, I still haven’t gotten it listed on the site yet. I never really knew what to sell it for so I usually just gave it as gifts. What makes it so good is that it’s made with shea butter, macadamia nut oil, beeswax, and jojoba, with a few drops of vitamin E. I usually put a few drops of essential oil in it too. This time I used some lemon and bergamot, although I may not add any at all next time.

I received some nice compliments recently regarding the lotions we continued to make through last year, and wondering if they were still available. They were excellent lotions, I thought, and a lot of research went into them. I never understood why they were not a bigger hit, except that I think lotion must be a pretty personal thing. Then again, you may be saying that this is the first you have heard of them. I’ll tell you more about them in a coming post, and need to get these too added to the website. Labels are now made.

All present orders should be filled and on their way by tomorrow and we will be caught up for the first time in a while. I have really appreciated the orders… Thank you. ❤️

More to come…
John

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Alma-Clean Now Offered in Thieves Blend!

When doing our original formulating and testing of Alma-Clean in 2018, our own Thieves blend (formula #4) was one of the original scents that went out. It tested well, but in the interest of keeping things simple I chose to offer Alma-Clean initially in two choices: Original Tea Tree, and Basil & Thyme. Both are about equally popular, even if most customers have a definite preference for one or the other.

While taking orders this season however I had some unexpected queries of, “What happened to the Thieves?” In truth I had some on the shelf that I had held back for special requests, and we had all the oils necessary to make more. So we generated a “Thieves Blend” label, got some bottled, and were pleased to fill these orders.

Alma-Clean Thieves Blend – has now officially been listed for sale as well. Ho ho ho!

Thank you for your business, and Merry Christmas!

John

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Pre-Holiday Update

We are pouring bunches of great new soaps, and it’s a good thing too — If you have visited the website recently it looks like we are out of almost everything! Let me tell you a little of what’s going on…

We are making a bunch of new coffee soap in our shea butter recipe (No.10), and lots of different mint soaps that are almost to die for.

We have updated our “Ginger” soap to formula No.10, have made a few loaves so far of Almond-Oatmeal, and are pouring a new scent that we haven’t even given a name to yet. We’ve got Tuberose in a new Q formula, and of course are pouring lots and lots of both Sandalwood and Goat Milk soaps, two of our best sellers. Oh, and lots of Lemongrass!

We are trying to offer a choice of bar size in more soaps, so that you can make your own decision on that, and will be simplifying the number of offerings on the website, working on that while soaps cure.

We were thrilled this summer to receive the last of Claire Hall’s calendula petals, grown right here in Wabasha, Minnesota. They are so much more vibrant and alive than the ones we would normally use, and look like petals of orange gold in each bar of No.08 with Calendula, of which we are pouring many slabs in the next few days.

I have personally been hiding a few pounds of expensive lavender essential oil for a special occasion, large glass bottles of Bulgarian and French oils, some organic… and you have never truly smelled lavender until you smell these. I think that all the lavender No.08s and No.170s we are about to pour will use these oils, just in time for Christmas. I think we will use it in the No.11s with yogurt that will be poured too.

That’s just some of what we are working on, and we will be posting new pictures to the website as soaps get cured and prepped. We also happen to make outstanding lotions, by the way, and bath salts too. We simply have not gotten to marketing those yet. They have certainly been tested. (smile)

Sorry for this long post. I started to write just a few sentences, and the more I wrote the more excited I got!

Thanks to all of you who have been so supportive this year, and helped us prosper. Our soaps really do continue to get better and better, with your help, and it is a fact that we would not exist without you. Thank you especially for your patience when it takes an extra day or so to get orders out, or when the website doesn’t seem to be working right, or when one of us fails to respond promptly to your comments or suggestions. You are much appreciated, and you have blessed us with your kindness.

Have a great weekend!
John