Remakes

So we have discovered that the metal tins we are using to store our bath salts are not doing a very good job of keeping them nice. Seriously - the salts have lost their color and scent both - the salts literally smell like the metal tins. 

We have two variables that we think might have had a hand in this - the first variable, of course, was the metal tin, as the salts now smell like the metal tins! The other variable we have thought of was the Grape Seed Oil we used in the salts. We are making the salts without the Grape Seed Oil for the time being and we have started packing the salts into glass Ball jars - adorable/pretty quilted "jelly jars" that look amazing with the salts in them!

We are going to see how the salts keep their color/scent with the glass jars & no Grape Seed Oil. We did make a batch of Lavender salts for a custom order that had the Grape Seed Oil in them, so we will ask the friend who ordered them a couple of weeks if the salts have lost color or scent. If they have, it is the Grape Seed Oil that is the culprit, as her salts were packed in a glass jar. 

A quick search for Grape Seed Oil in bath salts has turned up a number of recipes using Grape Seed Oil, so I have a hard time believing that the discoloration/loss of scent is due to the oil. I am more inclined to believe that it is the metal tins - as all the recipes including Grape Seed Oil have said to put the salts into a glass or PET container. 

Oh well, this is going to be trial and error - all we have to do is remake the salts, put them in the glass containers (the lids are metal, but have a lining on them because they are canning lids), and see how that fairs.

In other news a few new scents to add to the shop soon include:

Baby Powder

Lavender

Lavender Vanilla

Lemon Cupcake

Lemon Sugar Cookie (as soon as the fragrance oil arrives for this one)

Peppermint Sugar Cookie (as soon as the fragrance oil arrives for this one)

Peppermint Vanilla

Pumpkin Spice Cupcake

Sugar Cookie (as soon as the fragrance oil arrives for this one)

The Baby Powder comes in either pink (although it's a bit more red than I wanted LOL) or blue - and can even be made in baggies for Baby Shower favors! :) 

The available scents/colors page has been updated as well, so be sure to check that out! :)

Gathering Materials

Well, the first of the required materials has been gathered - I have sent off for my Iowa Sales Tax permit for The Candlelight Boutique. I am sincerely hoping that this doesn't nullify the Sales Tax permit for Eternal Stardust Designs, because it was not clear on the Iowa Department of Revenue website whether or not it would remove my Sales Tax permit for Eternal Stardust Designs.

I've also been gathering base recipes for the bath products I want to offer in the shop. By base recipes I mean recipes that people are offering for free that I can tweak to make my own. The biggest issue with these recipes is needing to find local suppliers for certain portions of the recipes. While I have no problem tweaking and seeing if other things will work, I do wish to actually be able to use the proper ingredients when possible. Such ask: finding citric acid for making bath fizzies.

I probably should make a list of "iffy" ingredients - meaning ingredients that may not be readily available locally - and do some store wandering. I have noticed that sometimes products I have seen at my local Walmart do not appear on the Walmart website. I have found a few of the "iffy" ingredients on Amazon.com, but I prefer to shop locally for these things if I can because I am finding that on Amazon I have to purchase a much larger quantity than I would like to.

However, I think the most obnoxious part of finding recipes to tweak and make my own is - well, writing them down. I'm using a spiral  notebook in which I copy down the base recipe and then will write down the proper "formulas" for each product I make. Meaning my "secret recipes" for how I make all my yummy smelling stuff!