Make It Soap!

Discussion about phthalates has increased lately due to a recent report in the Pediatrics Journal. This report in the Journal of Pediatrics involved a study of 163 babies (a very small sample) that used fragranced baby care products on a daily basis. None of the baby care products were even tested for phthalate content, only the urine of the babies. The arguments surrounding this report challenge the veracity of any conclusions published in the report due to the flawed science, inaccurate testing procedures, and small sample size. You can read this challenge at the Cosmetic Cop.

It boggles the mind at how many of the promulgated ‘reports, studies’, etc are so incredibly flawed. Even someone with interrupted recall of high school science experiments remembers how one needs a reliable sample, the set up of a control, and proper testing that excludes exterior influences on the study in question. Worse, I have actually read some entities using this Pediatric report as a basis to stop using fragrance oils altogether… to switch to only essential oils. I LOVE essential oils, and I LOVE fragrance oils. But to ME, essential oils are precious, limited resources. Essential oils are commodities precious as gold, even the inexpensive ones like Sweet Orange essential oil. Additionally, essential oils are just not appropriate for everyone.

Essential oils, scent material or not, are still powerful drugs. There are some patients that just absolutely can not be subjected to essential oils, and are safer with either unscented or fragrance material for scent. There may still not be enough research on the safety and long lasting effects of phthalates to satisfy those saying phthalates are unsafe, but there is enough evidence to show that adverse drug reactions from essential oils and prescriptions can cause harm, even death.

I go back to my original philosophy of balance & moderation. I do not want  Sandalwood essential oil at the price of our limited resources of being compromised. I do not want any essential oils at the cost of great swaths of land being taken from the poor for a paltry sum, pittance of wages, or their resulting dependency on our SuperConsumer’s appetite for ever increasing demands of aromatherapy essential oils. I like the sense of feeling that a balance of natural essential oils and synthetic fragrances allow for a moderated stewardship of our resources.

It was this mix of both natural and synthetic that actually shattered the very essence and concept of fragrance in 1905 also… Francois Coty was trying to pimp one of his tiny vials of perfume to a ritzy department store. They turned him down because they were not all natural perfumes like were the ‘du rigour’ at the time. He purposely dropped one vial in the department store and the scent drew the masses (quite literally, and this is what we call “guerilla marketing“). The combination of natural and synthetic is what has allowed scent to become available to the masses.

The Pediatric Phthalate study frustrates me especially because they completely disregarded the environment of what the babies in their SMALL sample were subject to. There are phthalates in all the plastics in the hospitals we use. The IV tubes, the bags blood and Saline are stored in, the cups that the pills are administered in. Homes are surrounded with phthalates… from the plastic shopping bag, milk jug, laundry detergent jug, the plastic bottles that formula is poured into. This study concludes that phthalates in the babies urine is the result of using fragranced baby care products, yet these same baby care products were never actually tested for phthalates, nor are any of the phalates used in plastics also used in fragrance oils!

We will have formulators though that will want to formulate and advertise that they are not only “Paraben Free”, but also “Phthalate Free”… and it is with this end that Southern Soapers Fragrances has made the P-Free™, or Phthalate Free Fragrance Category visible to the buying public. You don’t have to ask, you don’t have to justify, they are there “front & center” visible for all the buyers to make their own choices based on their formulating needs, marketing needs, and their client base needs.
 

Southern Soapers Fragrances has fragrance oils custom formulated to specifications that allow our fragrances to perform extremely well in Cold Process soapmaking. Our fragrances also perform beautifully in toiletries, other forms of soapmaking (M&P, Hot Process, etc.), perfume making and even candle making. However, our fragrance oils must pass the Cold Process soapmaking test with flying colors for us to consider them as future Southern Soapers Fragrances. This is because the sodium hydroxide used in the Cold Process soapmaking destroys many fragrance oil materials, leaving you with soap that has no scent, little scent, or problematic batches due to the incompatibility of the fragrance materials when subjected to sodium hydroxide.  

Southern Soapers Fragrances opts for P-Free™ aroma materials whenever our fragrances will allow. We work closely with our manufacturers chemists and compounders with feedback on our fragrance testing to get the best performance using aroma materials that are ‘right’ for that fragrance oil. Whenever it has been possible we have requested Phthalate Free materials as the basis of our fragrance formulations. Currently, Southern Soapers Fragrances has approximately 200 fragrance oils in stock, with approximately 110 identified as P-Free™, or Phthalate Free.

Here is a partial list of the Southern Soapers Fragrances that are P-Free™ Fragrances: 
 
Tassi Lavender
Creme De Cassis
Blue Chamomile
Sakura Cherry Blossom
Lily of the Valley
Grapefruit Cassis
Mandarin Lime Clementine
Juiced Lemons
Georgia Peach
Lime Margarita
Calypso Cay
Young Hyson Green Tea
Tuscany
Chocolate Serendipity
Bourbon De Vanille
Pussywillows
Ethiopian Myrrh
Hot Chocolate
Ambergris & Civet
Almond Silk
Bamboo Zen Tea
Blooming Tulips
Big Sur
Geisha
Midnight in the Garden
Texas Pink Grapefruit
Fresh Orange Slices
French Lilacs
African Red Bush Tea
Jonquil Fleur
Ginger Lemon Honey
Perfect Peony
Passionate Pomegranate
Naturewalk
Global Gardens Plumeria
Lemonhead Candy
Mineral Salt Spa
Ultimate Christmas
Aromatic Sandalwood
Gluwein
Nag Champa
Rainy Days
Sicilian Olive Blossom
White Clover Tea
Vetyver
Old Thyme Herbs
Guns & Roses
Pink Peppercorn
Linden Vert
Tropical Fruit Slices
Kiwi Melon
Big Apple
The Real Magnolia
Norwegian Woods
Black Mission Fig
Reign of Violets
Hope Chest
Chypre Rose
Lemon Verbena
Cinnamon Sticks
Honey Bee
Gypsy Rose
Himalayan Bamboo
Polar Express
Chardonnay
Italian Granita Ice
Hana No Kaori
Pêche De Miel
Caravan Spice
Chai Tea
Egyptian Dragon
Stephanotis
Oriental Lily & Muskmelon
Trippy Hippie
Truely Patchouli
Figgy Pudding
Melon Ball
Gingermilk
Hooah!
Peppermint Vanilla
Della Robbia Wreath
Cotton Candy
Mint & Herbs
Bayberry
Midori Champagne
Holiday Spice Pomander
Sugar Cookies
Hot Cocoa
Blueberry Festival
Earl Grey Tea
Raspberry Bombe
Tranquil Spa
Green Chai Tea
Black Tea & Rose
Trillium Glen 

P-Free™ Fragrances are Phthalate Free Fragrances. Controversy has raged in recent years about the use of ‘phthalates‘ in cosmetics, fragrances oils, and medical equipment. The FMA (Fragrance Materials Association) and the FDA (Federal Drug Administration) have determined that the phthalate used in fragrance oils, diethyl phthalate, also known as DEP, is safe for use in fragrance and cometics. We have made available both The Truth About Phthalates (FMA, Nov. 11, 2007) and All About Phthalates (Phthalates.org) pdf’s. Just click on either link for more information. Southern Soapers Fragrances will begin notating on each fragrance description page whether that fragrance is phthalate free and group them in a P-Free™ Fragrance category for those looking for phthalate free fragrances to formulate with.

 Southern Soapers Fragrances currently has over 100 P-Free™ Fragrances.    

Kelly Norman, of Coconut Cottage Soap Company has a wildy unique soap…. it is her Parrot Poop Sea Salt Bar. Kelly did not set out to create Parrot Poop soap, but the opportunity presented itself and she seized the moment.

Originally, Kelly was working to formulate a Sea Salt Soap recipe. Between swirling colors, siezing fragrance, and salt water separation, the resulting batch looked destined for the rubbish heap. Definitely not anything like she had mentally visualized.

Well, with a bit of ‘Waste Not - Want Not’ attitude, Kelly stirred it all up again and just slapped it all into a slab mold. She could still discard it later if need be.

After removing her soap slab and slicing it though, Kelly decided there was still hope for this batch. She really liked the way the small bits of color showed up randomly in the putty grey soap background. So, she whipped up a label to reflect her company business name, theme, and style. Coconut Cottage Parrot Poop Sea Salt Bar was born!

Now that is not just making lemonaide from a lemon, that is SQUEEZING that lemon first in order to make the MAXIMUM amount of lemondade possible from the situation!

P-Free™ Fragrances are Phthalate Free Fragrances. Controversy has raged in recent years about the use of ‘phthalates‘ in cosmetics, fragrances oils, and medical equipment. The FMA (Fragrance Materials Association) and the FDA (Federal Drug Administration) have determined that the phthalate used in fragrance oils, diethyl phthalate, also known as DEP, is safe for use in fragrance and cometics. We have made available both The Truth About Phthalates (FMA, Nov. 11, 2007) and All About Phthalates (Phthalates.org) pdf’s. Just click on either link for more information. Southern Soapers Fragrances will begin notating on each fragrance description page whether that fragrance is phthalate free and group them in a P-Free™ Fragrance category for those looking for phthalate free fragrances to formulate with. We currently have over 100 Southern Soapers Fragrances identified as P-Free™ Fragrances.  

I am just kicking myself! I got the Blooms Zirklz and I wish I had got the Supremes Zirklz! I will have to go back for more now (these are just SO COOL!). I am referring to the adorable magnets on the A Wild Soap Bar website. These unique and clever magnets are made by Aubrey, the 8 year old granddaughter of the proprietor and soap bartender for A Wild Soap Bar. Aubrey collects interesting paper and arranges six coordinated graphics as the basis of each themed Zirklz™  set. 

Not only is Aubrey getting a rich lesson in business, management, and responsible stewardship (all her paper is recycled from magazines, advertisements, etc), but she is also learning about giving as well as receiving an income. Aubrey is donating $1.00 from each $6.00 Zirklz sale to the Kids Cafe Program supported by America’s Second Harvest, the most expansive child-feeding program in the nation.

These magnets are STRONG too… they hold a lot of stuff up on my refrigerator… all those PTA papers, art my 6 year old brings home from school, Cell phone number for where ever my 18 year old senior is gallavanting off to, you name it!

You can find these One-of-A-Kind creations in Beach themes, Rockabilly themes, Baby themes, Love themes, at Aubrey’s Marbelous Zirklz™  collection page. 

Look what I found!  The Full Bloom Tea Company! Some of you will know why I am so excited, grin…. My last name is “Bloom” and just last fall Southern Soapers Fragrances released a Blooming White Tea fragrance oil! Blooming White Tea  is a delightfully aromatic flowering white tea with notes of aramanth and jasmine flowers, with tendrils of sweet lychee. Our Blooming White Tea fragrance embodies the essence of the delicate white teas that are hand picked from the first flush of immature tea leaves, carefully fashioned and tied into artistic bundles with fragrant and beautiful flowers intricately tied in the center. When these teas are steeped the bundle ‘blooms‘ into the most gorgeous work of art in the teapot! This lovely flowering white tea fragrance is as exquisite as these precious bundles.

 I am ordering up a few of these Blooming Teas today and can hardly wait to get them!

I have never been to a Soap Gathering. I never went to the Ebay Live Conventions when I was a Powerseller on ebay either. Not because I was not interested, but because there just never was the time. The Army seemed to always conspire to put my husband on PCS (Permanent Change of Station) orders early spring, with a move in the summer, which commited my next 6 - 8 weeks to unpacking and reorganizing home and business in a new location. We’ve moved 11 times during the last 14 years. It never failed that the years we did not move to a new duty station my husband would be deployed overseas during the time frame Gatherings or Ebay Live took place. I used to accuse my husband of an Army Conspiracy because he was always called away during the summer, leaving me to always have to mow the lawn for him! Being a military family often puts one in communities that you have little family network to fall back on and just leave your five children while you take off for a 3 - 4 day jaunt also.

But this year, April 2008 to be exact, I get to attend a Soap Maker Gathering for the very first time! I am SO EXCITED!  Not only am I going to attend, but I am also going to demonstrate how I prepare a soapmaking formula on a LARGE scale. Southern Soapers Fragrances will even have a booth/table at the Georgia Spring Fling also!

I am really looking forward to meeting and putting faces to the many names that I have come to know in our Soap Community.  If you have not already signed up to attend then April 18 & 19, 2008 Georgia Spring Fling, than I hope you can consider it! I hope to see you there!

I sure do!  Southern Soapers Fragrances very first scent to sell was a fragrance called Chocolate Truffle. The fragrance information was provided to us from Cindi Read of Cape Hope Soap. Cindi and I did a one-on-one swap in 2004, and when I received her box of soap I almost fell out of my chair over one of the soaps she sent to me.

In the box was a three layer bar called Chocolate Jones. One layer was fragranced with a deep, fudgey, chocolate truffle scent. Middle layer was a luscious, red mica tinted tart raspberry, and the top layer was a non-discoloring coconut fragrance. That top coconut layer was set up with a few peaks, like on a cream pie. The Chocolate Jones bar was to die for! Just an incredible olfactory scentsation, but I had to know where she got that chocolate fragrance. Cindi kindly shared that source and gave permission for Southern Soapers Fragrances to carry and distribute this as our Chocolate Truffle fragrance. The flashpoint is so very high on this fragrance that we can even ship it to most international destinations by USPS International also!

Later, Southern Soapers Fragrances assumed distribution of Andree Terry’s fragrances that she uses for her Andree’s Essential Soaps, Inc. business. One of the best selling fragrances she passed to Southern Soapers is the Chocolate Serendipity. Chocolate Serendipity has an almost identical scent to Chocolate Truffle, perhaps a bit more “Fudge Brownie” however. Customers repeatedly comment that their families demand brownies, or believe that brownies are being hidden from them, every time Chocolate Serendipity is used. Chocolate Serendipity though differs from Chocolate Truffle in that it has a very low flashpoint and can not ship by USPS at all, even domestic.

Both of these fragrances make the most luscious chocolate cold process soaps, candles, and bath & body products. Both are luxurious blenders with other scents, and perfumers use both the Chocolate Truffle and Chocolate Serendipity as an affordable chocolate accord in some of their perfume blending.

The photo at the top of this blog entry shows L. Annette Wilkins interpretation of beautiful Chocolate Valentine Hearts in cold process soap. L. Annette did a blind swirl to achieve the blond and dark swirls, as both Chocolate Truffle and Chocolate Serendipity darken to a milk chocolate shade of brown, as appropriate for this fragrance.

L. Annette’s soaps remind me of the fine Guylian Belgian Chocolates that my husband always brings home for me when he returns from one of his military deployments.

A beautiful autumn morning all to myself!  Teenage daughter is at her SAT testing, husband and son are at a first Cub Scout Camp Out. It is so quiet here I am not quite sure how to act! 

I will spend this quiet morning in a creative reverie working on the three new BloomWorks product lines.

Here is a sneak peek at our Bodacious™ Body line. We just got notified by the USPTO that our Bodacious trademark has been approved!

Then, we have a face care line called Facetious™ Faces. Hopefully I will get these items available for the BloomWorks website soon. We waited until the USPTO approved all the trademarks:

We also have a Blooming Florals™ line for this coming spring. Again, I am so tickled because the USPTO just let us know that the trademark was approved!

Today the Saponifier released their first annual Readers Choice Awards for suppliers in our soap & candle manufacturing industry. Southern Soapers Fragrances & Supplies is thrilled and proud to have been voted First in Favorite Fragrance Oil Supplier, First for Favorite Online Soap/Candle Forum, and voted an Honorable Mention for Favorite All-Round Supplier!

We would like to thank all our customers for their support and vote of confidence. Southern Soapers will continue to strive to provide you with quality products and quality customer service.

Who is your favorite fragrance oil supplier and why?

Again, the list of suppliers who were mentioned was large, covering both widely known and obscure companies, but the top three had nearly the same number of votes. The top votes went to Southern Soapers, with Brambleberry coming in close behind them and Oregon Trails bringing it to nearly a three way tie. What did respondents like about these companies? They loved the quality and selection of the oils. “Kelly has a huge selection, and I love the quality of her oils,” remarked Pat Tyson of Pitterpat Skincare. Brambleberry and Oregon Trails customers described how much they appreciated the testing these companies performed on their oils; the reported results let users know exactly what to expect from the products (such as discoloring, accelerating, and other effects oils can have on soaps) and even list the throw and other qualities important in candle making.

What is your favorite soap/candle online discussion list or forum, and why?

This is one area where almost everybody expressed a favorite—or two. We seem to like our online resources for information and assistance, and thus the internet provides us with a multitude of lists and forums to get involved with. The attributes people often mentioned looking for are knowledgeable, friendly people, with discussion mostly centering around soaping/candle making, and where flaming is not tolerated. The runaway favorite in the soap category was Southern Soapers, for chandlers, it was Candletech hands down.

Who is your favorite all-around supplier?

If it were possible to order everything you use from one supplier, who would it be, and why? Incredibly, fifty-eight suppliers were voted as favorites, with voters citing such qualities as selection, price, and fast shipping. Proximity was an important factor to many, an understandably important factor not to be underrated. Still, the one that garnered the most votes is none other than… 1. Wholesale Supplies Plus, 2. Bramble Berry 3. Kangaroo Blue

Honorable mentions: Soapers Choice, Southern Soapers, and Lotioncrafter.  

Lavender Sprig

Gerbera Daisy

Aloe Vera

Holiday Swag

I have my Stack Jars from Patrice, ALL 19 BIG boxes of them here, lol! 

Some are triple stack jars, and some are double stack jars. Take a look at these babies:

On the menu today is
1. Neopolitian Scrub set (trio stack set):

Top Layer Jar : Fresh Picked Strawberry fragrance
Middle Layer Jar: Valhalla Vanilla fragrance (switch this to coconut and it is Naimo Jar after those Naimo candy Bars!)
Bottom Layer Jar: Chocolate Truffle (or Chocolate Serendipity) fragrance

2. New Years Bash Scrub & Foaming Bath Salts (double stack set):

Top Layer Jar: Sparkling Champagne Scrub
Bottom Layer Jar: Sparkling Champagne Foaming Bath Salts

3. Toe the Line Foot Care Stack set using Orange Eucalyptus (Fresh Orange Slices & Down Under Fragrance oils) double Jar Set :

Top Layer: Orange Eucalyptus Foot Cream
Bottom Jar: Orange Eucalyptus Exfoliating Salt Scrub

4. Bath Salts Sampler Pack (triple Jar set)

Top Jar: Relaxing salts in Inishmoor fragrance
Middle Jar: Invigorating salts in Texas Pink Grapefruit Fragrance
Bottom Jar: Romantic salts in Rosemilk Fragrance

I only brought 4 jar sets home today, and I just LOVE these puppies. I will try to get photos of my own creations done today so that I can get these jars available for others to purchase on Southern Soapers Fragrances right away also!  We had some family business eat up most of my weekend so I did not get them on the website yet.

It is my experience that there is a time and place for hand sanitizers. I would much rather have those available when nothing else is available, regardless if the sanitation is only temporary.

When I go to public fairs, where there are animals to be petted (or other unsanitary environment), sometimes water is not immediately available. With small children, these sanitizers are expedient to get the germs that can spread disease immediately off. One can then make the leisurely journey to a soap and water facility to clean up more traditionally. All in all, and this is just my nickels worth, hand sanitizers are incredibly valuable for their limited purpose, as long as they are used as a temporary solution. Cost wise though, it is also my humble opinion that they are not really worth the time and effort to make homemade at home for resale when they can be purchased so inexpensively as 1.00 for 16 oz at the Dollar Tree, etc.  The return on investment, opportunity cost of time is the ONLY real reason I see not to make them at home, not their lack of efficiency.

You guys do know that the Large Manufacturers do not sterilize their containers, right?? Not only that, but should you try to sterilize many plastic containers, they will not survive the type of heat needed to effectively sterilize, and will release noxious gasses at certain heat points…

As long as your utensils, bowls, mixing equipment etc are all sterilized and you boil your water phase at the requisite temp/time, and you heat your oils to kill any dormant/latent mold spores, and use all purpose Good Manufacturing practices (no food in the area, hair net, gloves, mouth/face guard, and ingredients that are fresh as possible, INCLUDING your preservative) you should have no problems NOT sterilizing your containers.

Introducing water at all with your containers actually increases the risk of contamination. Those water spots are showing up because your water is depositing minerals on the surface of your bottles/jars. Those contaminants were not there before you ’sterilized’ them.