Because I was attacked without my name being directly brought up  in the following blog I would like to clear up a few things.

First the steps of reborning are not totally correct.  Having done this myself and I have done extensive research I know there is some old information and should not be used by anyone.

Yes many sellers claim it's not for child's play anymore.  But let me explain why.  It's not because they are unsafe.  It's because a lot of time and energy has been put into transforming this doll.   The paints used (if using an appropriate method) is perfectly safe and won't come off. Yet there are some people who use cheap and poor methods where the paint will flake off.  But that's another story.  But it's because they need special care.   The hair needs to be cared for so it does not become a matted mess.  Also they are weighed.  The heads needs to be supported just like a real babies because it has been weighted inside before reattached to the body.  The body and limbs have also been weighted.   The limbs are also attached with the same joints used in teddy bears but with the added weights if pulled on it could cause the joints to loosen or pull off.  (But they do snap right back on.)  Just like if you were to pull on a teddy bear arms that has the same joints.  Pull hard enough and they will come off or become lose.   But it's not because they are unsafe.  It's because of the time and effort put into creating them.

Yes some people do buy them who have lost a child.  I have had one customer buy my bottles because she couldn't conceive a child and adoption was to expensive so this gave her comfort and peace.  She was not unstable but it's what worked for her.  So it's terrible to cut people down because they are doing what they need to do to cope in a bad situation.

Yet there are many people who buy them just because they are doll collectors in general.  And that alone is a million dollar industry those that buy dolls of all sorts just for the purpose of collecting.  This is just another type of doll to collect.  So is this a bad thing.  To transform an object into something more beautiful.   I don't think so.   How is it different if someone takes a plain coffee cup and hand paints beautiful roses on it and scripts the drinkers name onto the side of the mug?   It's the same process just the medium is different.

But these dolls have been known to do so much good and heal the soul and sooth the mommy in some women.  I'm talking about some women (could be men as well)  who have dementia or Alzheimer's in nursing homes or who live at home yet.  Women who go back into time when their babies were babies..........  Many people buy them for their loved one to help them cope with a situation they can't deal with.  It fills a void for them, when they find it hard to express themselves and don't understand the changes they are going through.  And for the families that love them.   I have worked with such women.  Granted that was many years ago now, and they used a simple doll.  But it served it's purpose and did more good than harm.  And so i can see why a reborn doll would be a better choice for them.

Yes I do make the accessories to go with these dolls.  Bottles and pacifiers.  But most of my buyers are also buying these items for their little girls to play with.   My items are all child safe and made of non-toxic ingredients so even if the nipple was cut and opened it would not cause anyone any harm if they drank the entire contents.   I do not use water, paint, fabric softener or bleach like so many others.  I have been making these for several years now and have done a lot of homework trial and error experiments to find the best and safest way to make them while keeping things very real looking.

And I personally believe the number of people who request these dolls to be made after a child that is no longer with us is small percent.  Or some may decide to do it later as a tribute as a memory keep sake.  But each to his/her own and their decision on the best way they need to use to cope to get through a horrible situation.  What you would or would not do for yourself doesn't make it appropriate or another person.  It's very individualized. 

I love to do research about the products that I make.  And I found this interesting little article that is worth sharing.

Moisturizers: What They Are and a Practical Approach to Product Selection

Indexed by the US National Library of Medicine and PubMed      

J. N. Kraft, BSc (Hons)1 and C. W. Lynde, MD, FRCPC2
1Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2University Health Network (Western Division) and Department of Dermatology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Humectants

Humectants (see Table 3) are able to attract water from two sources: they enhance water absorption from the dermis into the epidermis, and in humid conditions they also help the SC to absorb water from the external environment. Many humectants also have emollient properties.3 The most effective humectant is the trihydroxylated molecule, glycerol.16 Immature corneocytes are fragile but mature into more resilient and protective cells as they migrate through the SC.7,17 Glycerol hastens the maturity of corneocytes through the activation of residual transglutaminase activity in the SC.18 Also, by facilitating the digestion of desmosomes and subsequently enhancing desquamation, glycerol reduces the scaling associated with xerosis.19

Found in the NMF, pyrrolidine carboxylic acid hydrates the skin, and has been shown to improve xerosis.20 Urea is another important humectant. In double-blind studies moisturizers with urea have been shown to reduce TEWL in atopic and ichthyotic patients,21,22 and reduce SLS-induced skin irritation.8

Alpha hydroxy acids (e.g., lactate) are effective agents for the treatment of dry skin; following treatment with lotions containing D-, L-lactic acid, the SC prevents xerosis more effectively.23 Lactic acid, particularly the L-isomer, stimulates ceramide biosynthesis leading to higher SC ceramide levels that result in a superior lipid barrier and more effective resistance against xerosis.

One major drawback of humectants is that some of them can increase TEWL3 by enhancing water absorption from the dermis into the epidermis where it can then be lost into the environment. For this reason, they are almost always combined with an occlusive agent. Occlusive and humectant ingredients work together to enhance epidermal hydration and barrier function.

whole article can be found at : http://www.skintherapyletter.com/2005/10.5/1.html

i am adding the folowing about TWL since it's mentioned just above.

Transepidermal Water Loss (TWL) is a term associated with dermatology and connected sciences.

It is defined as the measurement of the quantity of water that passes from inside a body (animal or plant) through the epidermal layer (skin) to the surrounding atmosphere via diffusion and evaporation processes.

Transepidermal water loss in mammals is also known as "insensible water loss" as it is a process over which organisms have little physiological control.

Measurements of TWL may be useful for identifying skin damage caused by certain chemicals, physical insult (such as "tape stripping") or pathological conditions such as eczema, as rates of TWL increase in proportion to the level of damage. However, TWL is also affected by environmental factors such as humidity, temperature, the time of year (season variation) and the moisture content of the skin (hydration level). Therefore, care must be taken when interpreting the meanining of TWL rates.

just thought I would share this interesting information.

Moisturizers prevent and treat dry skin, but that's not all they do. They can protect sensitive skin, improve skin tone and texture, and mask imperfections. In fact, you can probably find a moisturizer that claims to address whatever concerns you, from dull skin to clogged pores. But can a simple bottle of moisturizer meet these high expectations?

On the most basic level, moisturizers hold water in the outermost layer of skin. They also act as a temporary barrier, allowing damaged surface cells time to repair themselves. Many moisturizers contain some combination of humectants and emollients, as well as other ingredients.

Humectants (urea, glycerin, alpha hydroxy acids, lactic acid, others). These are substances that absorb water from the air and hold the moisture in the skin. Humectants need very high humidity levels to be effective. Humectants are also useful in softening thickened or scaly skin.

Emollients (butyl stearate, glycerin, lanolin, mineral oil, petrolatum, others). These ingredients fill in the spaces between the cells in the skin, helping replace lipids and thus smoothing and lubricating rough skin. Emollients are either oil based, which means that a small amount of water is dissolved in oil, or water based, which means they are primarily water and have a light, nongreasy feel. Oil-based creams leave a slight residue on the skin and have more staying power than water-based creams do. Water-based creams are easier to apply and don't leave much of a residue, but they don't have as much staying power. Most creams and lotions on the market are water based (for example, Vanicream and Cetaphil). Eucerin is an example of an oil-based cream.
 

Fragrances. Most moisturizers include fragrances, which give the product a fresh, pleasing odor and cover up the smell of other ingredients. Fragrances in skin-care products are the most likely cause of skin irritations or contact allergies. Fragrances that tend to cause skin reactions include cinnamic alcohol, hydroxycitronella and isoeugenol.

Preservatives. Any product that includes water and oil must contain one or more preservatives to help prevent bacterial contamination after the product is opened. These ingredients can sometimes cause skin reactions. Preservatives that seem to cause problems for many people include quaternium-15 and imidazolidinyl urea.

Moisturizers may include other ingredients as well, such as vitamins, minerals, plant extracts, sunscreens and sunless tanners. Some also contain ingredients that claim to boost your body's production of collagen and elastin, diminish stretch marks, smooth out wrinkles, paralyze muscles, unblock pores, and exfoliate dead skin cells. Many of these claims are unproved.

Keep in mind that there's no guarantee that any moisturizer will live up to all of its claims or even contain its advertised ingredients. Moisturizers are considered cosmetics, so the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates them in a different manner than it does drugs. This means that products don't need to undergo rigorous testing for safety and effectiveness before going to market.

If your thinking I wrote the above, I did not. I used the copy and paste option.   You can find this very article on the mayo-clinic web site.  Which is a world wide well known hospital.  And well respected as well for it's treatment and research and leading doctors.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/moisturizers/SN00042

Glycerin May Help Skin Disease, Study Finds

To quote a read "At one stage it was thought that glycerin could draw water out of the skin, instead of the other way round, but this idea has now been shown as unfounded."

Found on this link http://www.dermaxime.com/glycerin.htm

However one also has to look at the source where this came from.  It's a company who uses it in their products. (in South Africa)    

But glycerin is also cheap which is why it's also so commonly used.  On most lotions its the second or thrid ingredient showing you that your lotion contains a high % of that ingredient.  

Stearic Acid also ranks very high as well because it's a thickener.  And they can get away with cheap ingredients that won't do your skin much good.

But back to the glycerin topic.......   There are many people are are becomming more aware of this and why more people in dryer climates are avoiding these products that contain glycerin when the humidity is low.

And why more people are finding their skin is extra dry when they use a lotion made with glycerin.  Because there is no water in the air to draw from, so it must draw that moisture from your skin.

look at the actual ingredients in your products your skin will thank you.

No the FDA has not done any extensive expensive research on this that I am aware of.  So make your own decision.   If you live in a dry climate and you use a lotion with glycerin how does it make your skin feel, 20 minutes later, an hour later ?  

HUMECTANTS

The main purpose of any cream is to keep the skin moist. Many conventional chemical creams form a suffocating film on the skin to prevent moisture loss. Even a natural humectant, glycerin, actually attracts water from the air and surrounding tissue. It keeps the skin moist as long as there is sufficient moisture in the air. In a dry climate it actually draws moisture from the skin. Collagen, elastin and keratin enjoy some popularity as humectants. Whilst they are compatible with the skin and deposit a protective film, they are usually sourced from animals and are able to be called natural, however, they cannot be termed “cruelty free”. Some skin care companies would like you to believe that your skin can use special animal proteins to rejuvenate and replace aging cells. This is nonsense! The size of the molecules, even when broken down (hydrolysed), are far too large to penetrate the skin. Even if they could get in, they would be immediately rejected as foreign matter and attacked by the immune system. Aaaahhh the market men again!

Ed's Note: Can you believe the hype you hear on TV? You know it's absolutely amazing but true... 98% of the consuming public believe what they are being told if the message is repeated often enough, especially if it is reinforced with endorsements by prominent celebrities. The money that is being made in this incredibly profitable industry is beyond the ability of the general public to comprehend. Where else would the billions come from to advertise with the voracity that the skin care and cosmetic companies can, unless it was being funded by an extremely gullible public actively seeking out these so called "natural" and "organic" "youth in a bottle" magic potions? The general public funds this massive look good feel good consumer market to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars world wide.

Natural phospholipids, from lecithin, are fantastic humectants. An important benefit of phospholipids is that they are hygroscopic (attract water from the surrounding air) and hold water where an increased level of hydration is needed. Therefore, phospholipids increase the hydration levels of the skin without being occlusive (forming a film to prevent water loss, and preventing normal cellular function). A recent study proved the value of topically applied phospholipids in skin care. It found that environmental factors (sun, wind, pollution) and the detergents and solvents, found in most skin cleansers, actually stripped the natural phospholipid content from the top layer of skin. This loss resulted in a rough feel and a pitted appearance under a microscope. Importantly, the phospholipids in the uppermost skin layers cannot be replaced by natural cell function, as the top layer of cells no longer metabolise; they serve only as a protective barrier.

Remarkably, the study showed that topically applied plant phospholipids restore the barrier function of the skin, protecting it from substances such as bacteria and harmful chemicals.

Some Synthetic Un-"Natural Humectants

1. Propylene Glycol – causes irritation and contact dermatitis
2. Ethylene/Diethylene Glycol – causes irritation
   and contact dermatitis
3. PEG compounds (eg Polyethylene Glycol) –
   may contain the toxic by-product dioxane

Some natural Humectants

1. Lecithin
2. Panthenol (pro-vitamin B5)
3. Glycerin

If you want to read more on glycerin please read my last post.   There are many people who live in dry climates that say they notice the difference when they are using a product with and without glycerin.  So it's up to you to decide for yourself.  Maybe that's why the lotion your currently using doesn't seem to be working as well as it should.  The air humidity is to low and it's actually drawing moisture from your own skin.

Glycerin has always been thought of as a humectants which draws moisture from the air to the skin.   It’s always been considered a plus when used in lotions and creams.  

But after doing some research this statement isn’t quite true.  And it also makes glycerin a product that is not desirable in a lotion or a cream.   As well as other topical products that are not meant to be washed off the skin.  This is very true for some people.

For those that live in humid climates and don’t have to worry about the humidity level, glycerin is wonderful for your skin.  But if you have seasons or periods of time when the humidity level drops you may want to avoid these topical products that contain glycerin.

But for many of us, the dryer air comes with the winter seasons.   This is when our skin feels the need to be moisturized and we reach for the bottle of lotion.   But did you know if your lotion or cream contains any glycerin it will simply make the problem worse?

Sadly this is true.   The reason is this.  Glycerin naturally has a need to attract moisture, and this usually comes from the air.   But when you have the problem of dry air, the glycerin seeks out any moisture it can find.  This is where the problem lies.   The glycerin will now look for moisture that is present in your skin if it can’t find any in the air. 

“Glycerin draws moisture from inside the skin and holds it on the surface for a better feel.  Dries the skin from the inside out.”

However when glycerin is used inside the mouth it’s acting as a true humectants to help retain the moisture there. 

So if you live in a dry climate or have a dry winter air, you may want to think twice about using products that are topical (not to be washed off) on your skin.    You may find yourself doing your skin more harm than good.

If you miss this youtube video you missed a cute laugh.  It's an important topic but this due thought they would sing a song about it.

I went into my
proctologist's office for my first rectal exam.

His new nurse, Evelyn, took me to an examining room and told me to get
undressed and have a seat until the doctor could see me.

She said that he would only be a few minutes.

Gonna have to click to read the rest.........................

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This is how the fight started...

I was on my way to work this morning and I rear-ended a car.

So there we are alongside the road and slowly the driver gets
out of his car. . . (You know how sometimes you just get so stressed out
and some of the REAL life-stuff just seems funny?)

Well, I could NOT believe it . . . he was a DWARF!
He storms over to my car, looks up at me and says, "I AM NOT HAPPY!"

So, I look down at him and said, "Well, which one are you then?"

. . . and that's when the fight started . .

I was shocked that he would dare to tell me this.  I wanted to know just what on earth was wrong with my new recipe.

His reply to this was that he

LOVED IT !!!

My new recipe contains a better blend of oils but more importantly it contains raw silk !!!  

The silk gives it a very silky feel to it, so amazing.

He used soap made with heavy whipping cream and mango butter and other delicious oils.

Have you ever used soap with silk in it ???

after the boycott i'm going to list some on ebay and on my own web site.

Yesterday I spent much of the day making my cold processed soap.   Infact I made 4 batches yesterday for about a total of 12 pounds of soap !!!  

Here's a picture of my new soaps.  But this is now what they will look like when they are fully cured.  They need 3-4 weeks to cure and the coloring will become even.

But I have done something different with these soaps. 
I have added raw silk !!!!!

I'll go through the soaps scent by scent since they all vary slightly.  But all these soaps have been created to be a nice hard bar of soap, clean well (by removing the oils from the skin without over stripping the natural oils), condition and moisturize the skin, have have lots of bubbly lather and creamy lather.

First Kiss

This soap is made with Aloe Vera Juice, Goat's Milk, Unrefined Shea Butter, and Silk.

Take a walk back in time to this fresh, herbal, slightly romantic aroma!  This wonderfully blended fragrance begins with top notes of juice pomegranate, guava and starfruit.  Middle notes follow, providing this fragrance with herbal notes of aloe vera, white tea, green tea and chamomile.  Bottom notes of fresh greenery.

Gardenia

This soap is made with Aloe Vera Juice, Heavy Cream, Mango Butter and silk.

A floral blend of gardenia and jasmine with a strong orange flavor bottom note.

Juniper Breeze

This soap is made with Aloe Vera Juice, Heavy Cream, Mango Butter and Silk.

A bath and body works type scent.  An ozony balance of floral, green and fruity notes with a slight musk undertone.

Cinderella

This soap is made with Aloe Vera Juice, Goat's Milk, Unrefined Shea Butter, and Silk.

A romantic aroma of amber, musk, vanilla with base tones of fresh cut violets and lily of the valley.

From each batch I'll get 12 bars of soap.

A story is told about a soldier who was finally coming home after having fought in Vietnam. He called his parents from San Francisco. "Mom and Dad, I'm coming home, but I've got a favor to ask. I have a friend I'd like to bring with me." "Sure," they replied, "we'd love to meet him." "There's something you should know," the son continued, "he was hurt pretty badly in the fighting. He stepped on a land mine and lost an arm and a leg. He has nowhere else to go, and I want him to come live with us." "I'm sorry to hear that, son. Maybe we can help him find some where to live." "No, Mom and Dad, I want him to live with us." "Son," said the father, "you don't know what you're asking. Some one with such a handicap would be a terrible burden on us. We have our own lives to live, and we can't let something like this interfere with our lives. I think you should just come home and forget about this guy. He'll find a way to live on his own."

At that point, the son hung up the phone. The parents heard nothing more from him. A few days later, however, they received a call from the San Francisco police. Their son had  died after falling from a building, they were told. The police believed it was suicide. The grief-stricken parents flew to San Francisco and were taken to the city morgue to identify the body of their son. They recognized him, but to their horror they also discovered something they didn't know. Their son had only one arm and one leg.

The parents in this story are like many of us. We find it easy to love those who are good-looking or fun to have around, but we don't like people who inconvenience us or make us feel uncomfortable. We would rather stay away from people who aren't as healthy, beautiful, or smart as we are. Thankfully, there's someone who won't treat us that way. Someone who loves us with an unconditional love that welcomes us into the forever family,  regardless of how messed up we are. 

~Author Unknown~

Sometimes having a child with a disabilty can be a struggle. Having two with special needs makes you want to pull your hair out at times.

But sometimes its the little things that make it worth it.

My youngest has PDD-NOS a form of autism, and she turned 4 in November. She drew this for me this morning. But i'm just surprised her name isn't on it since she writes her name on everything!!! She learned to write her name about a year ago and hasn't stopped. She absolutely loves to write and spell her name. But she draws very well for her age, and she gets hung up on the details.

She's still drawing me 'valentines' even today. But this one touched my heart because she drew the both of us together. Something she hasn't done before.

Mom--The Standard Model

While the good Lord was creating Mothers,
He was well into his sixth day of overtime.

Then an angel appeared and said,
"You're doing a lot of fiddling around on this one!"

And the Lord said, "Have you read the specification on this order?

She has to be completely washable but not plastic....Have 180 movable parts, all replaceable...Run on black coffee and leftovers...have a lap that disappears when she stands up...and a kiss that can cure anything from a broken leg to a disappointed love affair. Plus she has to have six pairs of hands!"

The angel shook her head slowly and said, "Six pairs of hands!!?? Not possible!"

"Oh, it's not the hands that are causing me the problem," Said the Lord, "it's the three pairs of eyes that Mothers have to have."

"That's on the standard model?" asked the angel.

The Lord nodded. "One pair that sees through closed doors when she asks, 'What are you doing in there?' when she already knows...Another here in the back of her head that sees what she shouldn't, but what she has to know...and of course the ones here in front that can look at a child and reflect, I understand, and I love you' without so much as saying a word."

"Lord," said the angel touching His sleeve gently, "Get some rest. Finish this tomorrow."

"I can't" answered the Lord. "I am so close to creating something so close to Myself. Already I have one that heals herself when she is sick...can feed a family of six on one pound of hamburger...and can get a five year old to stand under a shower."

The angel circled the model of the Mother very slowly and sighed, "But it's to soft!"

"And yet she's tough" said the Lord excitedly. "You cannot imagine what the mother can handle or do!"

"Can it think?" asked the angel.

"Not only can it think, but it can reason and compromise!" answered the Creator.

Finally the angel bent over and ran her finger across the Mothers cheek.

"THERE'S A LEAK!" she pronounced. "I told you, you were trying to hard to put to much into this model! You can't ignore the stress factor."

The Lord moved in for a closer look and gently lifted the drop of moisture to His finger where it glistened and sparkled in the light.

"It's not a leak," He said. "It's a tear"

"A tear?" asked the angel. "What's it for?"

"It's for Joy, Sadness, Disappointment, Compassion, Pain, Loneliness, and Pride."

And the angel exclaimed, "You're a genius!"

The Lord looked somber and replied,..."I didn't put it there."

Do you know what’s in the lotion your buying?  It doesn’t matter if it’s purchased in a store or from another seller online?   Is it a store brand, handmade or a handcrafted lotion or cream?   I have seen many sellers call their handcrafted lotion handmade just because they buy a premade base and add a scent to it and bottle it to sell.  You can tell this because of the ingredient list they give out. 

But what’s really in that lotion or cream.

I have taken the following information from the snowdrift web pages.

http://www.snowdriftfarm.com/lotionmaking101.html

(begin quote)

Take a look at any bottle of commercially prepared hand lotion. I've borrowed a bottle of Barbie Kid Care Body Lotion from my daughter. Here are the ingredients, listed in order of weight in the formula, from most to least, per FDA guidelines.

Water, Isopropyl Palmitate, Cetyl Acetate, Stearic acid, Sesame oil, Dicaprylyl Maleate, Glyceryl Stearate, Fragrance, Cetyl alcohol, Dimethicone, polysorbate 80, sorbitan oleate, lanolin oil, acetylated lanolin alcohol, carbomer, triethanolamine, methylparaben, propylparaben, diazolidinyl urea, disodium EDTA, benzophenone-4, D & C Red No. 33, FD&C Red No. 40

What does this all mean?? Let's take these ingredients one at a time, determine what they do, where they belong within the formulation (ie, oil or water phase, or if they are the bridge that keeps them combined, known as the emulsification system) and if they are animal, vegetable, nut or mineral derived.

Water -- hopefully distilled or purified. (See Disodium EDTA, below.) This is the major ingredient. Water phase.

Isopropyl palmitate - fatty acid ester of palmitic acid. Unknown derivation. Probably industrially derived from palm oil. Light liquid wax - oil phase

Stearic Acid - fatty acid, probably animal derived - an emulsifier used in oil phase.

Sesame oil - from the sesame seed. Oil phase

Dicaprylyl Maleate - derived from maleic acid (which is made from catalytic oxidation of benzene over vanadium pentoxide). This is an inexpensive synthetic ingredient. A low molecular weight oil, it mimics low chain fractionated coconut oil (a natural oil). Oil phase.

Glyceryl Stearate - variable proportions of glyceryl monostearate and glyceryl monopalmitate. Emulsifier. Oil phase.

Fragrance – proprietary fragrance oil, skin safe

Cetyl Alcohol - Discovered by the French in 1813, it was then derived from spermaceti (whale oil) via saponification. AKA hexadecyl alcohol, this high chain alcohol is an emollient and emulsion modifier. Derived from a complicated industrial "secret process". Starting material is probably palmitic acid. Probably veggie derived. Emulsifier in oil phase.

Dimethicone - silicone oil. Mineral derived. Increases absorption rate of the oils, and cuts greasy feel. Oil phase.

Polysorbate 80 - an oleate ester of sorbitol (a sugar), co-polymerized with 20 molecules of ethylene oxide for each molecule of sorbitol. Could be vegetable or animal derived, most likely veggie derived. An emulsifier in the water phase. Water soluble.

Sorbitan oleate - almost the same as polysorbate 80. Difference is it hasn't been reacted with ethylene oxide. Just a fatty acid ester of a sugar. Water soluble emulsifier. Water phase.

Lanolin oil- sheep from sheep. Animal derived, for sure. No sheep are killed to obtain lanolin. The product is removed from wool shearings. The oil is a fraction (low end molecule weight) of the whole. Oil phase.

Acetylated lanolin alcohol - Lanolin that's been reacted with acetic acid with a small amount of lye (as the catalyst). Emollient. Animal derived. Oil phase.

Carbomer - a thickening agent. Most carbomers are high molecular weight homo- and co-polymers of acrylic acid crosslinked with a polyalkenyl polyether. Mineral derived. Water soluble. Water phase.

Triethanolamine - aka TEA. Made from ammonia and ethyl alcohol. An organic base used to neutralize the carbomer. Water soluble. Water phase.

Methylparaben - First made in 1867, this preservative is synthetically derived. It is highly bio-compatible (safe for use with humans) with very low toxicity. Oil phase.

Propylparaben - First made in 1887, this preservative is also synthetically derived. Methyl & propylparaben are often used in tandem to increase the activity of the preservative system. Oil phase.

Diazolidinyl urea - a broad spectrum anti-microbial of synthetic origin. Some reports of sensitization and allergic reaction have been documented. Completely synthetic. Water soluble, water phase.

Disodium EDTA - chelating agent (designed to capture metals to help in the prevention of rancidity and to facilitate the use of tap water as opposed to the more expensive distilled or purified water).

Benzophenone-4 - a UV absorber; also used as a fixative for heavy perfumes. Synthetic. Oil phase.

D & C Red No. 33 - FDA approved colorant for drug and cosmetic use.

FD & C Red No. 40 - FDA approved colorant for use in food, drugs and cosmetics.

To recap, not all synthetic ingredients are our enemies. Some have very useful properties and are bio-compatible.

Keep in mind that you absolutely need

1) a preservative system in place in order to sell your lotions or other water-based solutions to the public

2) A stable emulsifying system as the pivotal point of your lotion formula and

3) STERILITY COUNTS!

 (end quote)

Now that you have read that I’d like to take a moment to let you know what is in my lotion/cream that I make. 

The ingredients can vary depending on the consumers needs and I do make more than one kind of lotion.  I also tailor products to specific customer needs.  

But this is what is in the lotion that I have currently listed.

INGREDIENTS in alphabetical order :
Aloe Vera Juice
Emulsifying Wax
Fragrance (optional)
Germaben II E
Mango Butter
Rice Bran Oil
Stearic Acid
Unrefined Shea Butter
Vegetable Glycerin

I urge you to make sure you know what it’s in any bath and beauty and soap product that you buy if it’s not from an actual store produced in some factory somewhere.  

Know what you’re buying, because your skin is the largest organ on your body and does absorb all these things into it.   So know what you’re putting on your skin, or on the skin of those that you love.

You won't believe how creamy and rich this lotion is.   So creamy that I package it into a jar rather than a bottle.

I formulated this recipe for a client with MS.  But this cream would also be excellent for diabetics or others who have special skin care needs.  Or maybe you just have dry itchy skin from the winter weather.  

This is what my client had to say about it:  

My skin feels great! Usually when I take in injection it's like trying to push a pin through leather. But when I rub your cream on my skin first, its like pushing a pin through hot butter. Honestly its great! 

Or you can try my oatmeal milk bath which contains 80% real milk and oatmeal.  How many other sellers can make that claim!!!

So go ahead and click on the link to direct you to the listing.  I have many scents to choose from or you can have it made unscented as well. 

Give it a try you won't be disappointed........

~kris

When I first started making lotions and creams I wanted to make them as safe as possible for those that used them.   And so I began to research the topic and started looking to see what others were doing.  

It’s also important to remember when a preservative is needed.   If a product has any water content at all, (including sterile water) as well as if it contains many other types of liquids  it needs a preservative.  A few examples of this are lotions, creams, shower gels, liquid soaps, bubble baths, room sprays, floral waters, face toners etc……..

However products like shower scrubs also need a preservative because they will be used in and around water.  And because the chance of water being introduced is very high a preservative is needed.

Products like most whipped body butters that are 100% oils do not need a preservative because they are not used around water and do not contain water.   However it’s a good idea to include one into these products and I’ll tell you why.  As was suggested by another person their scenario.  What happens if your buyer takes their body butter home, and places it in their bathroom?    But their son, little Johnny comes in and goes to the bathroom, but he’s just a little boy and misses the toilet as many little boys do and a little urine goes on the floor.  And later mommy doesn’t know this, and is using her body butter that she purchased, and oops drops the lid on the floor.  And it happens to fall onto the drop of urine.  She doesn’t realize this and screws on the cap when she is done.   Or another way to introduce bacteria into the container is if little Susie see’s mommy’s new jar of body butter on the bathroom counter and decides to sneak some and try it out.  But she didn’t have clean fingers before dipping into the jar.  Now the risk of bacteria growing just increased.   So it’s just as important to add a commercial preservative in these types of products as well.  Because you have no way of knowing what will happen to it once it reaches the buyers hands.

If there was a safe natural way to preserve the products we make, you could bet your last dollar that everyone would know about it and we wouldn’t consider a chemical preservative at all.  Safety is at stake here, so please make the right choice.

First of all it’s important to understand that the FDA does not accept any form of a natural preservative good enough to preserve lotions and creams (and other products) from mold and bacteria.   And what many consider a natural preservative is in truth an antioxidant.    And that it’s required that if you’re going to sell a handmade lotion or cream you need to use a proper preservative. 

Another thing as a side note is that many sellers do not realize is that the FDA in fact controls even handmade products.  They determine what a seller can and cannot say about them.   For example a seller cannot say their face mask is an anti-aging product or helps cure acne.  Someone who makes lip balm can’t say it is for dry chapped lips.  Because that is making a medical claim about their product and that falls into the drug category of the FDA laws.  This requires a whole different set of rules.  So be careful of people who make drug claims about a handmade product.

But what is the difference between a preservative and an antioxidant? 

 A preservative needs to be a chemical preservative because there are no all natural preservatives.  Even if a seller makes this claim do the research for your own knowledge, and stay away from those products.   A preservative is what is needed to prevent mold and bacteria from growing.     And please do remember that mold and bacteria can’t be seen with the naked eye when it first starts to grow.   A preservative is needed to extend the shelf life of a handmade product, but it does not give it the same shelf life as a commercially made lotion.  And this is because commercial products contain a large amount of a preservative to accomplish this.

An antioxidant is not made to prevent mold and bacteria from growing.  An antioxidant is designed to prevent oils from going rancid or bad.   This is often confused and it’s sad to see how many sellers have this confused.

T-50 Vitamin E Oil, Rosemary Oil Extract (ROE) are two that are often used in error as a preservative.  They are infact antioxidents and will help the oils from going rancid but will do nothing to prevent mold and bacteria from growing.

Grapefruit Seed Extract (GSE) is also an antioxidant but many still believe it will prevent bacteria from growing.  (But what they don’t realize is that it does nothing for mold.)  This has been studied in a lab.  And the study found that it showed “zero preservative qualities”.

There are many that believe that some essential oils can work as a preservative.  While this is partly true, the flip side of the coin is that in order for this to work you would need so much of that essential oil that it would become unsafe to use.

And another group of people believe that potassium sorbate is a natural preservative as well.  And while it can indeed help with the growth of mold and yeast, it does nothing to protect against bacteria from growing.   And it is not at all effective in products that have a pH over 6.  (And most lotions do have a pH over 6.)    Now day’s potassium sorbate is made synthetically so it’s no longer a natural product.  (And as a side note it’s also believe to cause detmatitis.) 
 
While to some a all natural product is important, the only way to achieve this is to use a chemical preservative.  Or to make up a batch daily, and at the end of the day throw out any unused portion.  This is also wasteful. 

Do you know what’s in the lotion your buying?  It doesn’t matter if it’s purchased in a store or from another seller online?   Is it a store brand, handmade or a handcrafted lotion or cream?   I have seen many sellers call their handcrafted lotion handmade just because they buy a premade base and add a scent to it and bottle it to sell.  You can tell this because of the ingredient list they give out. 

But what’s really in that lotion or cream.

I have taken the following information from the snowdrift web pages.

http://www.snowdriftfarm.com/lotionmaking101.html

(begin quote)

Take a look at any bottle of commercially prepared hand lotion. I've borrowed a bottle of Barbie Kid Care Body Lotion from my daughter. Here are the ingredients, listed in order of weight in the formula, from most to least, per FDA guidelines.

Water, Isopropyl Palmitate, Cetyl Acetate, Stearic acid, Sesame oil, Dicaprylyl Maleate, Glyceryl Stearate, Fragrance, Cetyl alcohol, Dimethicone, polysorbate 80, sorbitan oleate, lanolin oil, acetylated lanolin alcohol, carbomer, triethanolamine, methylparaben, propylparaben, diazolidinyl urea, disodium EDTA, benzophenone-4, D & C Red No. 33, FD&C Red No. 40

What does this all mean?? Let's take these ingredients one at a time, determine what they do, where they belong within the formulation (ie, oil or water phase, or if they are the bridge that keeps them combined, known as the emulsification system) and if they are animal, vegetable, nut or mineral derived.

Water -- hopefully distilled or purified. (See Disodium EDTA, below.) This is the major ingredient. Water phase.

Isopropyl palmitate - fatty acid ester of palmitic acid. Unknown derivation. Probably industrially derived from palm oil. Light liquid wax - oil phase

Stearic Acid - fatty acid, probably animal derived - an emulsifier used in oil phase.

Sesame oil - from the sesame seed. Oil phase

Dicaprylyl Maleate - derived from maleic acid (which is made from catalytic oxidation of benzene over vanadium pentoxide). This is an inexpensive synthetic ingredient. A low molecular weight oil, it mimics low chain fractionated coconut oil (a natural oil). Oil phase.

Glyceryl Stearate - variable proportions of glyceryl monostearate and glyceryl monopalmitate. Emulsifier. Oil phase.

Fragrance – proprietary fragrance oil, skin safe

Cetyl Alcohol - Discovered by the French in 1813, it was then derived from spermaceti (whale oil) via saponification. AKA hexadecyl alcohol, this high chain alcohol is an emollient and emulsion modifier. Derived from a complicated industrial "secret process". Starting material is probably palmitic acid. Probably veggie derived. Emulsifier in oil phase.

Dimethicone - silicone oil. Mineral derived. Increases absorption rate of the oils, and cuts greasy feel. Oil phase.

Polysorbate 80 - an oleate ester of sorbitol (a sugar), co-polymerized with 20 molecules of ethylene oxide for each molecule of sorbitol. Could be vegetable or animal derived, most likely veggie derived. An emulsifier in the water phase. Water soluble.

Sorbitan oleate - almost the same as polysorbate 80. Difference is it hasn't been reacted with ethylene oxide. Just a fatty acid ester of a sugar. Water soluble emulsifier. Water phase.

Lanolin oil- sheep from sheep. Animal derived, for sure. No sheep are killed to obtain lanolin. The product is removed from wool shearings. The oil is a fraction (low end molecule weight) of the whole. Oil phase.

Acetylated lanolin alcohol - Lanolin that's been reacted with acetic acid with a small amount of lye (as the catalyst). Emollient. Animal derived. Oil phase.

Carbomer - a thickening agent. Most carbomers are high molecular weight homo- and co-polymers of acrylic acid crosslinked with a polyalkenyl polyether. Mineral derived. Water soluble. Water phase.

Triethanolamine - aka TEA. Made from ammonia and ethyl alcohol. An organic base used to neutralize the carbomer. Water soluble. Water phase.

Methylparaben - First made in 1867, this preservative is synthetically derived. It is highly bio-compatible (safe for use with humans) with very low toxicity. Oil phase.

Propylparaben - First made in 1887, this preservative is also synthetically derived. Methyl & propylparaben are often used in tandem to increase the activity of the preservative system. Oil phase.

Diazolidinyl urea - a broad spectrum anti-microbial of synthetic origin. Some reports of sensitization and allergic reaction have been documented. Completely synthetic. Water soluble, water phase.

Disodium EDTA - chelating agent (designed to capture metals to help in the prevention of rancidity and to facilitate the use of tap water as opposed to the more expensive distilled or purified water).

Benzophenone-4 - a UV absorber; also used as a fixative for heavy perfumes. Synthetic. Oil phase.

D & C Red No. 33 - FDA approved colorant for drug and cosmetic use.

FD & C Red No. 40 - FDA approved colorant for use in food, drugs and cosmetics.

To recap, not all synthetic ingredients are our enemies. Some have very useful properties and are bio-compatible.

Keep in mind that you absolutely need

1) a preservative system in place in order to sell your lotions or other water-based solutions to the public

2) A stable emulsifying system as the pivotal point of your lotion formula and

3) STERILITY COUNTS!

 (end quote)

Now that you have read that I’d like to take a moment to let you know what is in my lotion/cream that I make. 

The