The Natural Beauty Workshop

Pistachio Butter

Soft, creamy Pistachio Nut Butter is made by hydrogenating pure Pistachio Oil along with Vegetable Oil.  The result is a smooth, spreadable butter that can lend a pleasant texture to balms, salves, and lotions.  Pistachio Nut Butter can also be used in soap making to add moisturizing qualities.  Because it penetrates the skin easily, it makes a wonderful ingredient for massage lotions or butters, and can be included in all-over body care products.

Ode to Calendula

October's birth flower is Calendula, one of the most commonly used herbal flowers used in natural skin care and medicine.  Calendula is a very useful ingredient.  It's soothing properties make it a favorite for use in everything from bar soaps to salves, serums, and lotions.  Here are some lovely photos from our Flickr Photo Pool that are making great use of Calendula.

Flowers & Herbs by Hello Crafty

Fizzy Bath Bombs by MorganStreet

Earthly Goods Complexion Bars by Aroma-Herbals

Calendula Blossom Soap by Herb Friend

Kiss My Tattoo Healing Balm by MeaCulpaBodyandBath

Comfrey.Calendula.Herblovers.Castille by AquarianBath

If you have photos of your handmade bath, body, and skin care creations we would love to see them!  Share them with us at The Natural Beauty Workshop's Flickr Photo Group.

Food for Thought at Beauty by the Batch

Our recently launched web site, Beauty by the Batch, provides a great service by showcasing bath & body artisans in an easy to navigate directory.  You can search for an artisan by specialty, product, or simply by browsing photos on the home page.  In addition to this valuable service, Beauty by the Batch also provides a growing library of full length articles on natural and handmade personal care. 

You could literally spend hours pouring over the wealth of information available in Beauty by the Batch's Personal Care Article Library.  It touches on a wide range of subjects including Skin Care, Beauty, Massage, Health, Pet Care, Aromatherapy, and more.  Some of my favorite recent articles include:

Why are "By the Batch" Personal and Home Care Products Better?
This article provides valuable food for thought for both consumers and artisans. 

Introduction to Essential Fatty Acids
This article contains basic information necessary to understanding how and why these ingredients are so important to your health and to your beauty.

Beauty by the Batch's Guide to Purchasing Vegetable Soaps
A little background information on how handmade soap is created, and what you should look for when purchasing it.  This informative guide answers many questions that clients often have when buying handmade soap for the first time.

Be sure to check out the Personal Care Articles at Beauty by the Batch to learn more about natural and handmade personal care.

Reader Question - Scent Help

As I am working to develop my product line, I find that I am stuck with the number of scents to offer. I would like to have a nice range of scents that cover earthy, floral, fruity, exotic, masculine, feminine and fresh, which will probably be unisex. Do you have a recommendation of a maximum # of scents and also, do you recommend a way to go about signature scent development? ~ Amber

Dear Amber,

Thanks for contacting me with your question.  Developing custom scent blends sounds like it would be a great solution for you.  It helps to set you apart form the crowd, and creating the blends can be lots of fun.  It will take a lot of experimentation to develop blends that you and your customers love, but it can also be very worthwhile. 

We have a great article on blending custom scents on our log. I'll give you the link so you can check it out.

Building an Aroma

As for how many scents to add to your line, that is up to you and your customers. Many businesses start out with a smaller number of great scents, and expand the line as the popularity or demand grows, but having a larger line of scents has its advantages too.

Do you have any tips for Amber on how to develop her line of scents?  If so, please share them with us in the comments below.

Trick Or Treat - Mini Scrubs

These miniature, single serving Salt Scrubs will thrill your friends and family this Halloween season.  This assortment of cute, candy scented scrubs look adorable packaged in colored tissue paper, and are sure to be a big hit with kids and adults alike.

This project starts with a very basic Salt Scrub recipe.  This base recipe is made in one batch, and then split into smaller portions to create a variety of scents and colors.

Trick or Treat Scrub

Makes about 6 ounces

Basic Scrub Recipe
3/4 cup Sea Salt, Fine
2 ounces Fractionated Coconut Oil
Assorted Micas and Fragrance Oils

Directions
In a small mixing bowl, combine the Sea Salt and Fractionated Coconut Oil to create the basic Scrub.  Next, take 1 mounded teaspoon of scrub at a time and color and scent it individually, in disposable paper cups, using the following combinations of Mica and Fragrance Oil:

• 1/4 teaspoon Milk Chocolate Fragrance Oil & a few pinches of Copper Mica and a pinch of Black Mica
• 1/4 teaspoon Bubble Gum Fragrance Oil & 1/16 teaspoon (or less) Pink Glimmer Mica 
• 1/4 teaspoon Caramel Apple Fragrance Oil & 1/16 teaspoon (or less) Jewel Tone Topaz Mica
• 1/4 teaspoon Pomegranate Fragrance Oil & a few pinches of FDA Red Mica and FDA Blue Mica and a pinch of Black Mica to deepen
• 1/4 teaspoon Raspberry Fragrance Oil & 1/16 teaspoon (or less) FDA Blue Mica (add a pinch of FDA Red Mica to achieve a more purple tone)

The micas go a long way so add a pinch at a time and stir to see how the color disperses. Use small pinches of the Black Mica to deepen the chocolate color and the pomegranate as desired. 

Usage & Packaging
Package each of your mini scrub in a 1 Ounce PET Jar.  Seal the lid with clear tape to make sure that there won't be any leakage.  Cut a 6 inch x 8 inch piece of of colored tissue paper for each jar,wrapping them individually.  Twist the ends to look like candy wrappers. The finished jars should resemble wrapped pieces of candy!  To dress these up even more, top them off with decorative Halloween stickers.