Sh-Sh-Sh-Shaving Cream?

Who is old enough to remember that goofy radio show that used to be syndicated on Sunday nights, where all they played were goofy songs?  I can't remember the name, but I do remember one song about "I was hit, and fell into a big pile of sh-sh-sh-shaving cream!

And that is today's project.  We have been selling a men's shaving cream (check it out here) that has been incredibly popular.  I am about to start selling a ladies' version scented with strawberry (Strawberries and Cream) and have been looking for second scent to use in the product.

My choices this time were between Mystery Fragrance Nos. 3, 6, and 8.  Because I use lavender oil in the cream, I wanted something that would blend well with lavender.  I eventually settled on No. 3.

This also gave me the opportunity to use Brambleberry's Orchid Pink Island liquid colorant.  I used just a small amount of color, and was very happy to end up with this pretty light pink.

This was a great scent for the shaving cream.   Here's a picture of the finished product, coming soon to shop.willowtreesoapcompany.com.

Men!

They certainly are frustrating, but all of that can be forgotten when they smell really good!   Mystery Fragrance No. 9 is one of the best "masculine" scents I've come across in a long time.  It is very light, and very sexy.  I decided to use it in a pre-shaving sugar scrub for my husband.   This is a great product for exfoliating in general, but in particular for men who have a problem with shaving bumps.

While I was making the scrub, I kept bringing the bowl over to my husband and asking him to smell it. His usual response is "It smells good.  It smells like Kool-Aid."   This time, I got an actual "That does smell good!".  Here is a picture of the finished product, packed in an adorable bail jar from Bramble Berry:

The scent doesn't change at all in the finished product.  I am very much in love with this one!

What I Need

What I need is a really good bubble bar recipe.   Lush makes incredible bubble bars, and it seems so easy ... but, I guess like many things, it is not.

I used Mystery Fragrance No. 7 to make a batch of bubble bars.  I actually made two batches, the first of which ended up all over me, my walls, and my work table when my attention was diverted from my mixer.   The second batch did not fare much better, but it did make it into the molds.

The essential problem with making bubble bars is finding the right balance of moisture.   Glycerin is wonderful for moisturizing skin, but add a tad too much and you've got glop.  That is basically what I ended up with:

The good news is that after a day or two, the bars did dry enough to stay together.  The even better news is that Mystery Fragrance No. 7 is amazing!  It smelled good in the bottle, and the scent stayed true while mixing it in the product.   But, oh my goodness, when these bubble bars hit water, the scent was heavenly.  There is a kind of grapefruity note in the bottle that seemed to disappear in water.   I will  perfect my bubble bar recipe, and will definitely be using this scent in it.

Melt

I have been wanting to make bath melts for some time now.   They are great in the fall/winter, not so great in the summer, particularly if you live where the temperatures can reach 90.  The opportunity to test Brambleberry's fragrances gave me the perfect excuse to try a batch.

I love bath melts.  They are filled with silky, skin softening goodness (the ones pictured below are made with shea and tucuma butters).   And don't let the name mislead you - they work just as well in the shower.  Just break off a small piece and rub it into your skin.

I used Mystery fragrance No. 2 for this batch.  The fragrance is a bit heavy, and my step daughter swears it smells like a perfume she has at home.

Here are our bath melts while still in liquid form:

And here is a picture of the finished product (with a piece broken off for testing purposes!)

The fragrance did really well in the finished product.  It smelled exactly like it does in the bottle.

Overall, I was very happy with how these turned out.   The same cannot be said of my next project, which I will talk about tomorrow ... when I finish cleaning up :)