Soapy Hints and Tips
This is a monthly collection of tips,
knowledge, and just plain good advice.
Hair Tips
When I perm double processed (especially bleached) hair I use a perm made
specifically for perming bleached hair. It's very important to rinse
the neutralizer off exactly at 5 minutes.. that's the part that fries hair..I
rinse with the rods still on, then take out the rollers.. just for future.
For now, I would get to a matrix salon, ask them for a hair treatment and then a
'prisms'. It's a semi permanent color gloss (I use the clear) and it
will smooth your hair back down, condition and protect it.
If you can't afford that, get a deep conditioner.. Joico's Kpak Reconstructor (that
stuff is awesome), or Matrix's conditioning balm (it's heavy, but will be
perfect for a week or 2 til you get it back in shape). Mix the conditioner
with a tbsp of honey, and slather that in your hair, bag your head and wrap a
towel around it to keep heat in. Leave as long as you can stand; no
less than half an hour.
if you know a hair dresser that can get you a bottle of clear prisms, try! That
stuff's awesome. I have very easy to damage fine hair, and I use prisms right
after I color (and on those who I color and perm) and again in 2 weeks. It keeps
me shiny and gives great body.
~ Peg the hairstylist
I have used a conditioner from Kenra called 'intensive emollient treatment'.
It is "advanced moisturizing formula for dry and chemically-stressed
hair", as they put it on the front. It does work.
Before I had my hair cut short just to start over, I was in beauty school and
had my hair colored several times, stripped twice in the process, and if I
did not use a good conditioner, had what felt like and looked like straw. Not
just an exaggeration here my friend, I could have been the scarecrow's sister.
Sometimes salons will have sample sized tubes, ask around. Before I played
around with the chemicals, aside from the white sneaking thru, I had really good
hair. It was pretty much destroyed. I used this stuff and my hair felt
almost normal and looked pretty good too. How much conditioning it does depends
on how long you leave it on. I've also
used it as a sort of leave on conditioner in small pea sized amounts. Just
squeeze a bit out of the tube and rub it all over your palms and then work it in
the hair lightly starting with the worst parts. This
works to regain control when it starts to give you trouble. It's a
wee bit pricey but it works. You don't need that much as it is quite
concentrated. I would have kept the hair as it was finally growing out but
I had a bad cut and decided it was time to start over so I got it cut short.
~ Ilene
Experimenting
What about having a main "line", and
then allow yourself an experimental batch once a week/month/???, to play with?
Major companies do this all the time - it's called product research. As such, it
is tax deductible... and who knows? It could end up being the end all and be all
that you want to ADD to your line. New scents, new colors, new kitchen
chemistry... it's not bad,
but perhaps it needs to be on a limited basis?
~ MaryB, List Co-Moderator
I have started to do this. I label those products as Limited Edition, that way I
don't feel forced into making them again if I don't like the results. I have
found many scents though that I thought I would play with and they ended up
being one of my best sellers (Bonsai comes to mind). I think the customers
really enjoy it overall too because there is almost always something new on my
table that they can try out and play with. Win win situation....
~ Erika
Powdered Aloe Vera Gel
The powdered is concentrated freeze-dried gel, you reconstitute it to
make a liquid, if you want it "thicker", you need to add xanthan gum
or other thickener. When you see Aloe Vera Powder 100x, for example, that tells
you that you need to reconstitute using 99 parts water to 1 part aloe vera
powder.
~ Becky, Listmom
Additives at Trace
Stick Blender and Trace
My concern is to get additives well blended before the soap gets too
thick. I also do the egg-yolk method for clays, ground herbs and mud, but I work
very fast and allow no interruption at that point; a bit nervous.
Another thing I've finally realized after all this time is that using the
blender too long and too hard will bring about a sudden, very thick trace. Duh!!
Was it you, Camille, who once said that the soap keeps blending away in the pot
even after you've pulled the blender out? I am learning to keep my cotton-pickin'
hands out of the pot and just allow the soap to take its time. Nothing raises a
sweat like a 10-kg batch going hard in the bucket. Milk soaps are the worst for
that. But those bigger batches haven't done that in a long time - I realized
it's because I don't stir them so much. The electric drill and squirrel cage
stirrer weigh a ton in the hand and I don't like leaning over the bucket
stirring so much, unlike the light stick blender which is so much fun to
whiz around and around.
~ Miriam
lol...stick blender stories....I have a lot
of observations. It can be used for good, but it can be used for evil, lol. Yes,
it was me, and I also
mentioned that to know where you really are in a trace is to alternate the
stick with a stainless steel whisk....if there was not a real trace going
on, the whisk will tell you that in about 6 or 7 good stirs. Particularly in
milksoaps, I think relying on the stick less and the whisk/hand stirring more
helps a LOT. : )
~ Camille, Listmom2
EOs and Diffuser
You should be able to use those soapmaking eo's. We've used a number of
the essential oils we've purchased for soaping for therapy purposes within the
family. My father in law puts several drops of the lavender on a mask and
wears that whenever he has problems with migraines. I like to use the tea tree
and carrot seed eo in lip balm for healing. My wife makes a blend of peppermint,
rosemary and eucalyptus that we like to put in the humidifier and run at night
whenever the kids (now the grandkids) are stuffy and having a hard time
breathing.
~ Duane
Coffee Kitchen Soap
~ Denise in PA, List Co-Moderator
Room Sprays
Personally, I prefer an alcohol-based formula for room sprays...it's
fast evaporating, so you aren't left with soggy furniture and carpet. With
linen
sprays, unless you are talking about using the liquid in the steam chamber of
the iron itself (in which case ONLY distilled waters or hydrosols should be used
to avoid clogging the vents), I would also recommend an alcohol-based formula,
but this is to be used only after the sheets are on the bed, not as an actual
spray to be used when ironing (the fumes are even more flammable than the
alcohol itself)!
Oils and water don't mix as we all know, so adding fragrance or essential oil to
distilled water you risk staining the fabric, unless you use an
emulsifier of some sort. I know many people use polysorbate 20 to achieve
this, but I have no experience using it, perhaps someone else on the list can
help.
Another list member inspired me to do some experimenting (thanks, Ruth!) ;-)
I am experimenting with using isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) for use in
linen and room sprays. I am using 91% instead of 70%, which is strong
enough to emulsify any oils added to it while maintaining a clear emulsion if
distilled water is added. It is relatively inexpensive as well, but the
problem lies with the odor of the denaturant. I have tried filtering it numerous
times through activated aquarium charcoal
packed in a paper coffee filter inside a funnel to remove the odor, but it is
still present, although to a lesser degree. I have also combined the
alcohol and charcoal in a bottle where it will
"steep" for a few days to see if that removes the odor...
If this works out, this would be a great (and cheap!) source for
legal-to-sell alcohol...I will keep everyone informed! ;-)
~ Cat
