mother's milk

wanted to make some soothing bath milks for my mom, whose body has taken a beating and a half, recently.

ordered a shit-ton of coconut, whole, goat and yogurt milk powders, and have come up with a rather nice standard recipe for a bath treatment that combines the emollience of milk protein structures, the relaxing and detoxing properties of sea and epsom salts, and the soothing silk of colloidal oatmeal.

i decided not to scent it, at first, b/c everything i know about chemo says the more invisible the scent, the better. so.

but it's such a great thing, how can you not play with scents, too? so i made another batch, this one with bulgarian and 40/42 lavenders.

i think, once i knock out the remainder of this one paper, i will make a vegan vanilla milk, b/c i got my vanilla oleoresin in, today, and garp was right... once you let the bourbon evaporate out, it really is DIVINE.

Picture Post

i have been incredibly busy w/ work and school and worrying about my mom that i haven't made much, haven't packaged much, and certainly haven't photographed much lately. but i made some time to stamp some soap, slap some labels on junk and take a couple of pictures. nothing too fancy. more of those "transitional" labels that are okay in a pinch but far from fabulous. but here you are, all the same.

Desdemona Soap

(scented mainly w/ jasmine and a touch of musk)

Othello Soap

(w/ african black soap mashed in, hence the weird texture. scented w/ frankincense, myrhh, sandalwood and another touch of musk)

OGMH Soap

(unscented, and natural colorants only-- oatmeal, carrot puree)

Land of Buttermilk & Honey

(buttermilk, honey; scented w/ sw milk & honey-- very, very sweet. used .7oz ppo, but could probably stand to use, like, half that.)

Salt Soap III

(This is the salt soap I made w/ a REGULAR recipe-- low coconut. doesn't lather at ALL. I scraped the tops up significantly to get some sort of scrubby effect. Scented w/ Lavender, Rosemary & Eucalyptus, i think-- i have to check my notes)

Geranimot! Sugar Scrub

(Emulsified sugar scrub w/ EO blend featuring geranium, bergamot, lemon, orange, pink grapefruit, tea tree, lavender and peppermint. i love it b/c of how it feels on my skin, for its amazing natural scent, and b/c it looks like a lemon slushie! yummm!)

Marisol Lotion

(A tweaked version of Bandi's OOH lotion, scented w/ bergamot, petitigrain, pink grapefruit and bulgarian lavender)

Bare Butt(er) III

(Very rich cocoa butter cream, unscented apart from natural cocoa butter scent. based on early attempts at a belly balm for my professor, but tweaked w/ help from jadelyn. thanks again, ma'am.)

Honey-Grapefruit Lip Balm

(my regular base, w/ honey and flavorings from MMS-- delish!)

Marisol EO Pick-Me-Up

(First attempt at an EO perfume roll-on. I can't get the scent to linger! So I'm not calling it a perfume. I'm calling it a pick-me-up-- something quick and pleasant to bring a smile and lift your mood... and then let you get back to work. Same EO blend as the Marisol lotion, above.).

I've got more stuff awaiting labels, but that'll have to wait until i'm done with these damn novels... so that's it for now. Enjoy!

Scrub-a-Dub

tonight: Geranimot! Sugar Scrub-- for body and, yes, face, too!

success. i think i like it better than bohunk#14 (although i should give that one another try).

this one uses polysorbate-20 to improve rinsability and eliminate the oil slick-- SO, the shea and fractionated coconut oil soften, the sugar scrubs, the EOs do their thang, and the whole thing rinses well enough that even a greasy skin feels soft and smooth and slick-free afterwards. i tried it out on my face after making, and did not need a separate moisturizer, but i'm not greasy, either. it's a winner!

and the eo blend has been serendipitous, to say the least. i think it's a keeper. mild enough for troubled skin, but, if you believe the books, healing, too. the geranium is the most outspoken note, but it marries very well with everything else. the end result is bright, but mild and mellow, and hovers between citrus and floral. it's GOOD. i'm doing labels now, and will take pics tomorrow.

so, the things i've cranked out recently, w/o yet putting them up on the site:
- desdemona soap
- othello soap
- omh (vegan) soap
- omh (natural scent & color) soap
- marisol lotion
- bare butt(er) III cream
- marisol eo pick-me-up roll-on
- leaves of... fragrance roll-on
- geranimot! sugar scrub w/ shea butter and essential oils

time only allows only 1 small batch of each, so i'm reluctant to put things up on the site just yet

experimenting, see

but i do need to sell some stuff, so i probably should start selling some stuff again...