Just a quick note to say I’ll be closed on Monday the 27th January. It’s anniversary day here in Tauranga so I won’t be coming in. As always, I’ll still be contactable via email.
Hope those in the Auckland/Upper North Island have a great holiday!
– Kirsty
Coming back to work after the Christmas holidays can sometimes be painful, but on my first day back this year I got a delivery of new fragrance oils! I’m sure I’ve said it a hundred times before, but I LOVE fragrance oils! Every time I get a new shipment in it’s like Christmas opening up the box and smelling them for the first time.
Needless to say, my first day back was not the nightmare it normally is!
I’ve got some delicious summery scents available…
This yummy fragrance starts with Tahitian vanilla, rich creamy butter and ripe blueberries atop a crumbly biscuit base.
This fragrance reminds me of a brand of skin care products I used to use when I was a teenager, from memory I think it was called “Simple” but it was so long ago I can’t be sure! It’s such a fresh aromatic blend of ripe cantaloupe, with base notes of juicy cucumber and fresh green notes. This fragrance will be perfect in body products as well as candles.
I have to say, I’m not a fan of pear. I only ordered this fragrance because a customer requested it. When I first opened the bottle I was shocked. I LOVE IT! This is a seriously delicious scent, it makes me want to go out and eat a bunch of pears. I think it’s the vanilla that really brings this to another level. It’s a delicious blend of French vanilla and juicy sun ripened pears. If you live in the Tauranga area, come in and smell it for yourself. You won’t regret it!
Hansel & GretelStrictly speaking, this isn’t exactly your typical summer scent, but who says you can’t love the smell of ginger kisses all year round! Beginning with top notes of orange, lemon, and bergamot; middle notes of ginger, nutmeg, honey, and clove; and well-balanced with base notes of vanilla bean and cocoa. Yum!
Don’t forget about the old summer favourites, Beach Bum, Butt Naked, Creamy Coconut and Ocean Mist
I hope you all had a relaxing Christmas break! I managed to have a couple of days off and the weather has been stunning here in Tauranga for the most part.
My regular hours of Monday to Friday 8.30am – 4.30pm resume on Monday 13 January 2014.
The the rest of this week (Wednesday 8 Jan – Friday 10 Jan) I’ll be open from 10am – 1pm.
If these hours don’t suit you, I’m always available via email so just let me know what time you’d like to come in and I can usually open up for you 🙂
Thank you to all my loyal customers these last few months. I’ve enjoyed meeting and getting to know each and every one of you! I hope you all have a safe and happy Christmas and I look forward to seeing you all again in the new year.
– Kirsty
Our factory shop will be open certain days over the Christmas break. These are our December hours. I’ll be posting the January hours next week.
Wednesday 18th – 8.30am – 4.30pm
Thursday 19th – 8.30am – 4.30pm
Friday 20th – 8.30am – 3.30pm
Saturday 21st – CLOSED
Sunday 22nd – CLOSED
Monday 23rd – 9am – 1pm
Tuesday 24th – CLOSED
Wednesday 25th – CLOSED
Thursday 26th – CLOSED
Friday 27th – 9am – 1pm
Saturday 28th – CLOSED
Sunday 29th – CLOSED
Monday 30th – 9am – 1pm
Tuesday 31st – CLOSED
If you need to come over to the factory shop outside these hours, just flick me an email and we can sort something out.
Merry Christmas!
It’s that time of year when the courier companies are going completely mental trying to get everyone’s Christmas parcels delivered on time.
I’ve just had a chat with my courier driver and I’ve been told that the final dates for parcels to be collected this year are:
South Island – Thursday 19 December 2013
North Island – Monday 23 December 2013
If you place an order for delivery after this date, it won’t leave the courier depot until Monday 6 January 2014. Which means you’ll have to wait a week or so to get your items delivered.
If you place an order that is super urgent, flick me an email and I’ll see if I can figure something out with an alternative courier company in the interim.
If I was only allowed to have one beauty product for the rest of my life, I would choose lip balm. I can’t stand having dry lips! Which is why over the last 20 or so years I’ve spent a fortune on various lip balms. It feels like I’ve tried every flavour and brand out there!
A little while ago I decided to try making my own for the first time. I was kind of shocked at how easy it was, and a bit miffed that I’d spent so much money in the past buying commercial products which have ingredients that I can’t even begin to pronounce, when I could have been making my own, natural product, all along.
I have a few different lip balm recipes which I make depending on the season, but this is my all time favourite…
Ingredients
(makes 10 metal slider tins)
10.5g Beeswax
4g Palm Oil
10.5g Cocoa Butter
3.5g Mango Butter (if you don’t have mango butter, just use all cocoa butter)
28g Castor Oil
3.5g Sweet Almond Oil
Mica (optional)
Flavour (optional)
10 metal slider tins, or lip balm pots
Directions
Combine the Beeswax, Palm Oil, Cocoa and Mango Butters in a heat safe container.
Put in the microwave and heat in 30 second bursts, stirring in between, until the oils start to become liquid. Be careful not to burn! Once the oils and butters are nearly melted, keep stirring the mixture until it becomes completely liquid. Put back in the microwave for 10 seconds if you still have any lumps.
Add your castor and sweet almond oils, they will start to harden the mixture as the cool oil hits the warm oil, just stir this in until it’s combined. If you can’t get rid of all the lumps by stirring, put the container back in the microwave for 5-10 seconds until the mixture is nice and smooth.
Add your flavouring and mica and mix well until there are no clumps.
Pour into your lip balm containers. If you find your balm is too thick to pour nicely, put the mixture back into the microwave for 5-10 seconds until it becomes slightly more liquid.
Tip: For a nice smooth finish, gently go over the tops with a heat gun on low, or a hair drier until the lip balm is nice and shiny.
Let the lip balm harden, then enjoy! These little lip balms are fantastic stocking fillers, wedding favours, or a perfect treat for yourself.
When you’re first starting out a new hobby, all the information on the internet can be daunting and overwhelming!
That’s why I made up a small instruction sheet for my customers who want to make their own soy container candles.
Download the PDF from the link below and have fun!
Back in the early 80’s when I was still a small child, my Mum used to sprinkle epsom salts in my bath. Now, the next generation on is doing the same thing to their kids! It’s long been known that epsom salt has abilities as a natural remedy for so many ailments. Exfoliating, soothing and moisturizing, it’s the perfect addition to scrubs, soaks and soap.
This recipe “jazzes” up the old epsom salt slightly, making bath time a little bit more fun!
Ingredients
1 cup epsom salt
1/4 cup baking soda
1/4 cup citric acid
1/4 tsp fragrance oil
Food colouring (optional)
Directions
Measure your dry ingredients into a mixing bowl and combine with a whisk until there are no lumps.
If you want to colour your bath salts, add a few drops of food colouring and mix with your whisk immediately. When you add the colouring the mixture will start to fizz. This is a mini reaction between the water in the food colouring, and the baking soda/citric acid. Mix the colour in well until the colour is even and there are no lumps. Use your hands if you need to – it’s kind of like mixing the butter into the flour when making scones!
Add your fragrance oil and mix thoroughly with your whisk.
To package the fizzy bath salts, spoon the mixture into a plastic bag, twist the top and secure with a piece of cellotape. Tie a cute little bow with a piece of ribbon and voila!
These make a great little gift for someone, or to use for yourself. You can make any different colour or fragrance combination. This is an inexpensive, fun project which the kids will love!
Now for the really fun part… testing!
Since I don’t have a bath in my workshop, I had to settle for a giant bowl. I sprinkled a small handful of the fizzy bath salts and this is what happened…
You get all the benefits of the epsom salts, with a little bit of fun added in too!
Enjoy!
Two of my closest friends are expecting babies in the next couple of weeks so I though I’d come up with a recipe that might help their growing tummy’s! It’s not just good for expectant Mums either, this recipe is full of butters and oils which are known to be excellent dry skin healers.
Because this is a 100% oil and butter recipe with no water, it can tend to feel a little on the greasy side. Personally, I only use it on my really dry areas such as my heels and elbows and stick to a lighter lotion recipe for the rest of my body, but this is such an easy recipe you’ll have to try it out for yourself!
Ingredients
Fills 2 x 200g containers
150g Cocoa Butter
150g Shea Butter
40g Olive Oil
25g Sweet Almond Oil
1Tbsp Tapioca Powder (optional, it helps to cut down the greasy feeling)
1tsp Fragrance or Essential oil (optional)
Directions
Weigh out your olive and sweet almond oils into a heat safe bowl.
Add your cocoa butter and melt in the microwave on 30 second bursts, stirring in between, until the cocoa butter is almost melted.
Add your shea butter to the rest of the melted oils and heat in the microwave for 30 seconds. Stir thoroughly to combine. You may need to put your oils back into the microwave for another 30 seconds. Be careful not to over heat the shea butter as it can leave your body butter feeling grainy. Melt until the shea butter has softened (not completely melted.)
Add your fragrance or essential oils and tapioca powder and mix until combined well.
Use a stand, or a hand held mixer to whip your oils until they’re combined. Start out on low speed so you don’t have oil splatter everywhere!
If you find that your oils are too liquid, put the bowl in the fridge for 5 or 10 minutes to help the butters solidify. If you have a thermometer, check the temperature. The butter starts to whip really well at around 16 degrees Celsius.
Once the butter starts thickening, slowly increase your mixer speed to medium and whip until all the butters are completely combined and the mixture starts to look light and creamy. Kind of like pudding!
Pour into containers and allow to harden before use. This will melt as soon as it touches your skin and is extremely nourishing for your skin.
Welcome to our brand new and improved website!
We’ve updated our look and added a ton of new products to our range. Over the last few months I’ve spent hours and hours sourcing new suppliers so I can sharpen our prices and bring a whole new set of products at wholesale prices to everyone from the hobbyist to the professional soap makers.
We now supply a huge range of bulk ingredients that can be used to make cold process soap, bath and body treats and cosmetic products. All of our ingredients are of the highest quality and 99% of our range is sourced from a local NZ distributor, which means you can support our local economy by buying NZ made.
If you’re looking for a particular product and can’t find it on our website, contact me and I’ll see what I can do. More often than not I can find any ingredient that you’re looking for at wholesale prices which are then passed onto you.
If you’re new to soap making, check out my Recipes & How to’s page for inspiration and pointers.
Enjoy!
