Great Cakes Soapworks

If you are interested in how Great Cakes Soapworks got started, you can read all about my story at the Essential U blog where I answered Kayla Fioravanti’s interview questions. Kayla is an amazing entrepreneur. Her company is Essential Wholesale in Clackamas, Oregon. Essential Wholesale has one of the largest selections of natural and organic unscented cosmetic bases in the world along with a huge selection of soap and toiletry making supplies. And they are having a “Super Bowl Widow Sale” this weekend – love it!!

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Tags: essential u blog, essential wholesale, Great Cakes Soapworks history | Category: FYI, Just for Soapmakers | 3 Comments »

Last December I posted about the Holiday Swap I participated in with the Creative Soapmakers group in Facebook. What I didn’t mention was that there was a prize involved for the best packaging. Stacy Herrod of Day Star Candle & Soap Supply donated a $20 gift certificate to her store where she sells fragrances of every imaginable variety! I’ve purchased fragrances from Stacy before, so I know how wonderful they are. I’m not even sure how they picked the winner, but it was me! This was the soap I contributed that won the prize:

Yesterday, I received my prize. Having been inspired by the Amber Body Butter I received in the swap, I chose a 16 oz. bottle of Cioccolato Ambrato (their dupe of B&BW Chocolate Amber) as well as 16 oz. of Melon Balls fragrance. Both of these fragrances are in her clearance section, and there are lots more to choose from if you are needing some great scents for less! I know I am itching to make more soap now!

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Tags: day star candle & soap supply, fragrance oils for soap, soap swap | Category: Just for Fun, Just for Soapmakers | 3 Comments »

I am very excited to announce that Kari at Mothering my Miracle Multiples has offered to host another Great Cakes Soapworks giveaway! Starting NOW, you can enter to win one of the new Sweet & Sassy soaps, plus one soap of your choice, plus one lip butter of your choice – and have them all arrive in time for Valentines Day! Simply leave a comment on her blog (not this one!) stating your favorite Great Cakes Soapworks product. She has also given you easy ways to earn extra entries, so don’t be shy! Comments will close in just one week!

P.S. There are only 11 Sweet & Sassy soaps available for purchase!

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Tags: handmade soap giveaway | Category: Giveaways | No Comments »

Last night at the dinner table, our family got to talking about the upcoming Parent-Teacher Conferences this week. My husband said something to the effect of,

Last time we went to visit your teacher, she said stuff like, ‘She always listens and is very polite. I never have to ask her twice to do something.’ And we said, ‘Are we in the right room?’

And my younger daughter (age 6), completely serious said,

“Were you?”

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Tags: funny kids, kids quotes | Category: Just for Fun | 2 Comments »

Technically the Lavender Lemon soap isn’t new, but it’s been out of stock for several months, so there you go! Super fresh scent, super scrubby texture – made with pulverized corn cob and fine pumice.

All pre-orders for the Sweet & Sassy soap will be mailed out tomorrow. If you are still in need of a unique Valentines Day gift or two, these are now available with the rest of the soaps. If you need more than a couple, be sure to take advantage of the Handmade Soap Combo Deal – get any four soaps for just $20!

There are plenty of other options available. Here is a list of soaps that are currently available at Greatcakessoapworks.com:

Apples & Spice – just one left at the bargain price of $4.00
Cherries & Chestnuts – smells amazing! beautiful colors too!
Citrus Sunrise – just two left, only $4.00 each!
Clarifying Facial – great for oily or acne prone skin
Creamy Castile – simple olive oil & fresh goat’s milk soap
Dead Sea Spa Bar – loaded with Dead Sea minerals and clay
Jasmine Rose – just three remaining at $4.00 each!
Lavender Meadows – all natural, with ground oats and fresh goat’s milk
Moroccan Spice Coffee Soap – made with coffee grinds to exfoliate and remove odors
Oatmeal, Milk & Honey – ground oats, fresh goat’s milk and local honey
Patchouli Beer Bar- super conditioning, perfect for patchouli lovers!
Peanut Butter – yep! smells like peanut butter!
Peanut Butter & Chocolate Swirl – smells like a peanut butter cup!
Peanut Butter & Jelly – your kids new favorite: peanut butter with grape jelly
Sandalwood – fresh goat’s milk soap with an earthy, spa scent
Stress Relief – all natural, mint & eucalyptus

More soaps coming soon!

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Tags: lavender lemon soap, valentines soap | Category: New Products | 1 Comment »

Just in time for Valentines Day! After applying the same principle to the Lip Butter as the Whipped Shea Butter, it appears that the Lip Butters have returned to their fantastic, super silky smooth selves. I am more than relieved. If anyone finds one that isn’t, I want to hear about it right away, ok?

To celebrate these new batches of silky greatness, I decided a make-over was in order. All the labels have been re-designed, I’ve added a few new options, and discontinued a couple of flavors.

What’s New:
Lavender – I know Lavender sounds a little bit different for a lip flavor, but I had a request for it – and I’ve actually heard of other natural skin care companies making it. There are only 11 of these, so if this sounds interesting to you, by all means, grab them up!
Watermelon – Smells just like watermelon gum! These are also a limited edition flavor, with just 11 available.
Nourishing – NO flavor added. For those who just want some great moisture without the flavor. Limited edition – 10 available.

Orange Creamsicle is back, but just a few for now because it was requested by a friend.

These best selling flavors are back in stock and I will do my best to keep them that way:
Coconut Mango
Limeade
Peppermint Ice
Strawberry

Discontinued flavors:
Berrylicious (the last one sold yesterday)
Vanilla Latte – at least for now. There is ONE left, and when it’s gone, it may be awhile until I make it again.

So if you are ready to get your hands on some super silky smooth Lip Butter, head on over to Greatcakessoapworks.com. I’m keeping the price at a very reasonable $3.00 each. Read testimonials here.

P.S. There is ONE lonely Limeade Lava Lip Gloss available for just $2.00. These will not be restocked!

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Tags: handmade lip balm, lip butter | Category: Featured Products | 2 Comments »

Every year for the past three years, my girls and I have participated in a Midwinter Hug hosted by the Lotions, Potions, and Soaps yahoo group. After you sign up, the hostess matches everyone up to send out a fun present (handmade or otherwise) to one other person. One year it was a one-to-one swap, but usually the person you send to isn’t the same person who sends to you. Anyway, it’s always great fun!

This year, I received a package from JoAnne Farrell of Country Lane Baskets & Herbal Soaps:

Ok, now I have to tell you about each item, because they are all fantastic! The second ingredient in the soap is Monoi de Tahiti oil – a special coconut oil that has been infused with Tahitian gardenia petals – very elegant, and an ingredient that I’ve never bought myself. It also has avocado, sweet almond, rosehip, and evening primrose oils. All very high end – I can’t wait to use this one on my face! (Did you notice the glittery butterfly stamp as well?)

The lip balm came shrinkwrapped with a regular lid on it, but this fabulous lanyard lid came with it, beaded and charmed. How cool is that? JoAnne calls it Lip Balm Bling – “Never lose your lip balm in your purse or pocket again. This handy little bead chain will always keep it within reach.” I’ll say! Did I mention that it smells absolutely dreamy?

And last, but certainly not least – the 100% Natural Soy Candle. Candles are one product that I don’t make, and don’t plan to make, but I sure do enjoy! It smells fantastic without even lighting it – can’t wait to burn it!

My girls got some fun things too. My older daughter received three handmade heart-shaped Bubblegum scented soaps with a white washcloth and a scrubby. My younger daughter didn’t get anything bath related – she received a cute little Disney princess puzzle, a Princess mug, some cute little roller stamps, a doll, and two little beaded bracelets made by the 8-year-old girl who sent the gifts.

Of course we had fun putting together the packages we sent out as well. Just hope the recipients enjoy them! It can be tricky sending something to someone you’ve never met, but we’ll find out soon….

Stay tuned tomorrow for the Lip Butter reveal! I was forced to change my plan a bit, but it’s still good! The sun is supposed to shine tomorrow, so I can take some good photos. Definitely looking forward to that!

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Tags: handmade swap, soap swap | Category: Just for Fun | 1 Comment »

I am working on re-stocking the lip butters – I made a test batch the same day I made the Whipped Shea Butter, and so far it appears that the grainy problem has been solved there too!! I’m working on my “lip butter plan” which includes designing new labels. Hoping to reveal all that in the next couple of days…

Also wanted to share that Old Navy stores will be having a huge sale this Friday and Saturday – 30% off everything! No coupons required. This might throw a kink in my lip butter plan. Just in case you don’t hear from me right away, you’ll know where I’ve gone.

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Category: FYI | 1 Comment »

I tried a new method for making Whipped Shea Butter today – and it turned out so beautiful!! I’ve been making this product for at least four years with varying success. Seems like every time I change suppliers for the shea butter, something changes in the end product. This time I was having some issues with graininess – a fairly noticeable problem with the Lip Butter, and not so noticeable with the Whipped Shea Butter. I happened to be reading through some of my favorite blogs this morning, and came across some directions for whipping shea butter from the folks at From Nature With Love:

…melt and heat the Shea Butter to approximately 175 Degrees Fahrenheit. Holding the melted Shea Butter at this heat for twenty minutes will allow tiny crystals in the butter to fully melt, allowing a smooth, even texture to form when the butter has cooled.

This was my “ah ha” moment! After heating the shea butter, cocoa butter and jojoba oil in a pot, I poured it into my KitchenAid mixing bowl, placed it in an ice bath, and started whipping with my hand mixer to start out.

Once it was mostly set, I added some vitamin E and transferred the bowl into the stand to whip it good!

It came out so creamy smooth, I had a brilliant idea to pipe it into the jars for a photo shoot. I got out my great-grandmother’s cake decorating tips. They are enormous for frosting, but perfect for whipped shea butter!

Final product:

I like to call Whipped Shea Butter the dry skin remedy. It’s great for feet, knees, elbows, cracked knuckles – you name it! Get your Whipped Shea Butter at Greatcakessoapworks.com! Available in a 1.75 oz. jar for $5.00 or 3.25 oz. jar for $8.00. (Vanilla Hazelnut also available in the larger size.)

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Tags: whipped shea butter | Category: Featured Products | 9 Comments »

I LOVE the hair conditioner that I made last week! Even though it’s runny and I have to spray it on my hair… The main thing I’ve noticed is that I am losing less hair every time I wash it. Less hair comes out when I comb it after washing, and there are fewer hairs coming out when I apply mousse. Not a dramatic difference – I probably used to lose 20-30 hairs every time I washed it (not sure how you would really count them), and now I’m estimating 10-15. I don’t know why it works that way, but it’s enough to be noticeable from using it for less than a week.

If you missed my post a couple days ago about how I made the first batch of hair conditioner, you will want to refer to it here – because I made another batch of hair conditioner yesterday which turned out much better, and I will be referring back to the original methods and recipe to let you know what I think went wrong.

Last time, I threw all the ingredients (except the preservative, fragrance and color) into a pyrex cup and heated them all together. This time I warmed the water and oil phases separately, then combined. By the way, when the supplier website warns you that the BTMS heats up quickly, they aren’t kidding! My digital thermometer maxed out and just said “HI” – as in too high to read this temperature, not “Hi, how are you doing today?” Because it would just be creepy for a thermometer to talk to you. Anyway, the odd thing about the BTMS is that it also sets up solid again real quick, so even as I poured the oil phase – which was too high of a temperature to register on my thermometer – into the water phase, it left quite a bit in the cup. However, the conditioner DID set up and behave the way I would have expected it to the first time.

So what went wrong the first time? Obviously, my BTMS hasn’t gone bad. I was really starting to wonder, since I had never smelled BTMS before and it was a bit rank, to be quite honest. So I asked my soapmaking friend April if it’s supposed to have an odor, and she responded, “Yes and it is not a good one!” That made me feel a bit better.

Here’s my conclusion as to why the first batch did not set up: the high percentage of dimethicone (a silicone oil that adds extra lubrication and de-tangling properties) mixed in at the beginning. This time I added the dimethicone and silk extract after the emulsion had cooled a bit, which seemed to work just fine.

I am already planning my next batch. I want to try putting the aloe juice, panthenol, BTMS and extra virgin coconut oil in a cup together to melt, and I’m feeling pretty confident that it will work. As long as I add the dimethicone and silk extract after it has cooled to 120 degrees, then add preservative and fragrance (and perhaps color) after it has cooled under 100 degrees.

Is anyone else inspired to make their own hair conditioner now?

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Tags: Making Hair Conditioner | Category: Making Hair Conditioner | 6 Comments »