Floral Frenzy

     I know it may be getting cold out, but some nice florally scents never go out of season. These are my last two non-Christmas or seasonal soaps. This of course means that means several holiday themed posts are coming!!

     My first floral soap is a Baby Rose scented soap. It is a pretty basic design because most florals move fairly fast. I have soaped this scent before and it did just that! Well of course it soaped great this time around but still it was nice to go back to basics. Now that I had a short ramble on the inconsistency some fragrances we can get back to the actual soap. The light pink curls were shavings of my old rose soap batch. The toppings were my favorite part, originally I was just going to do the rose petals but I had just gotten the sugar pearls and it looks amazing!

     The second flortastic scent is a classic, lavender (essential oil). I am so proud of this one because it is my first successful drop swirl! I know the drop swirl isn't the most difficult technique but I tend to try that this technique with fast moving scents:(. But this time it worked and I think it looks great! What do y'all think?

Thanks for stopping by and happy soaping!

~Anna Rose 

S.O.A.P Panel Results part II

 Hi again! Today will be the second half of the S.O.A.P panel results. I used the same set up for this as I dies with the last group, the post is here (and the initial S.O.A.P post here).

Mystery Fragrance #5

Trace speed- slow to average tracing speed

Color of Bar- a light beige

Post Soaping Scent Fade- stayed strong at 1/5 oz per pound of oil.

Summery- Its a very nice manly scent. It reminds me of the forest floor, it has a mix of green notes with maybe some some musky notes. I also think it may have a touch of damp dirt notes.

Mystery Fragrance #6

Trace speed- Average trace speed.

Color of Bar- light brown, maybe one or two shades darker then mystery fragrance #5

Post Soaping Scent Fade-stayed strong at 1/5 oz per pound of soap.

Summery- Also a very manly scent, similar to mystery fragrance #5. It is a bit sweeter than #5 tho, and it has more spicy notes. 

Mystery Fragrance #7

Trace speed-Average trace speed. it may have gotten a little ricey towards the end.

Color of Bar- off white, with a tinge of yellow

Post Soaping Scent Fade- stayed strong at 1/5 oz per pound of soap.

Summery- This is a very sweet fragrance. A sweet fruit type scene, not a sweet vanilla type scent. It reminds me kind of a strawberry baby bottle pop, but with a bit of added tartness maybe.

Mystery Fragrance #8

Trace speed- slow trace speed

Color of Bar-a light ivory

Post Soaping Scent Fade- stayed very well at 1/2 oz per pound of soap

Summery- Grapefruit. I am 98% sure it is grapefruit is is AH-MA-ZING. It is tart yet sweet and is it possible for a soap to smell juicy -cause this soap does! it is lake sticking your nose in a ripe grapefruit! (now that I say all of this the scent will be something totally different than grapefruit...)

Final rating for second half

1.   Mystery fragrance #8

2.   Mystery fragrance #7

3.   Mystery fragrance #6

4.   Mystery fragrance #5

Thanks for stopping by and happy soaping!

S.O.A.P panel results part I

       Hey y'all! I just realized i haven't blogged in over a month (Yikes!).  If you have followed my blog long enough you know I was homeschooled for migraines for a year and a half and this is my first year back at a "normal" school. We started late August and it has been a bumpy ride. I have been at school but I also have stayed home with awful migraines at least once a week, but averaging 2 days missing. So as a result I have spent every waking hour doing home work, in bed sleeping off a headache, and/or making up missed school work. Long story short I am so sorry I haven't blogged in a while, and I missed y'all so much! On to what you all are here for, my test results for the SOAP panel scents! (HERE is my first impression post)
      I will start us off with the recipe I used for each test, all the variables are identical except for the fragrance oil and the mica swirl on top (which corresponds to the fragrance use).

via brambleberry.com

     All the bars are gelled but the little pumpkins are not gelled, Sadly not all of my tests got a pumpkin (don't ask what happened to them, even I am not sure where the went) also all the batches had .5 oz of the sample fragrance added into it, with nothing else but lye, water and oils.

                                                       

  Mystery Fragrance #1

Trace Speed- Slow to average, very easy to work with.

Color of Bar- Tan to light brown.

Post Soaping Scent Fading- stayed strong at 1/2 oz per pound of soap.

Summery- It is a defiantly a sweet, vanilla, bakery type scent. In the soap it developed more and into a snickerdoodle-y scent.

Mystery Fragrance #2

Trace Speed- Average, easy to work with.


Color of Bar- a light beige


Post Soaping Scent Fading- Stayed strong at 1/2 oz per pound of soap.


Summery- It still rings Christmas forest to me. Not as christmas tree like as it was out of the bottle but just a nice pine forest, maybe with a touch of sugar.

                                                             

Mystery Fragrance #3

Trace Speed- Average, again easy to work with.


Color of Bar-  a very, very light yellow.


Post Soaping Scent Fading- stayed strong at 1/2 oz per pound of soap.


Summery- I still think is ylang ylang, it has lost some of its herbal-iness and the floral notes are more upfront.

Mystery Fragrance #4

Trace Speed- Slow to average, very easy to work with.


Color of Bar- tan to light brown,just a tinge darker than mystery fragrance #1.


Post Soaping Scent Fading- stayed strong at 1/2 oz per pound of soap.


Summery- This is a very sweet, fruity type fragrance. It has mellowed out in to a b=much more pleasant scent than it was out of the bottle. I would guess it is a cherry candy inspired fragrance.

Final rating for the first four fragrances

1.   Mystery Fragrance #2

2.   Mystery Fragrance #3

3.   Mystery Fragrance #1

4.   Mystery Fragrance #4

     Tomorrow I will post the second set of data and the final ratings. Can you I really am trying to make up for my absence? Three posts in two days and hopefully a post at least once a week from here on out as long as I'm not making up 50 different assignments! Then coming this week the Soap Queen blog should have a post combining pertaining to the SOAP panel! 

Thanks for stopping by and happy soaping!

S.O.A.P Mystery Fragrance No. 1

   Hi guys! I finally made my first test batch a few days ago and now that has discolored some I thought I should share my results y'all. By no means has the soap reached its final color, I will do another post when I am done with all the scent and they have cured, Any way now on to the fun part! I will be testing all the fragrances the same way, short, sweet and to the point. Today I am doing mystery fragrance #1 and to refresh your memory here were my initial thoughts "It is a very sweet bakery type scent, I get a hint of vanilla. Maybe its a vanilla cake type scent?"

The color of the fragrance oil is, as you can see, a light golden color. I originally assumed it would change the batter color yellow. I used it it at .5 onces per pound of soap, and you will see how it turned out in a second.

     For all the test batches I am using the same recipe. To make the process go faster I am using Bramble Berry's basic quick mix oils. I am doing a simple one pound batch (I think I will put the recipe in my final round up post). This fragrance soaped wonderfully! It did not speed up but it did turn the soap a nice pink!

the soaps color in the pot

    I put most of the soap into my one pound silicone loaf mold and did a color coordinated mica-oil swirl (Black= mystery fragrance #1) and wrapped it up to gel. The last little bit I put into a seasonal pumpkin mold and set it aside to see how the fragrance acted in non-gelled soaps.

In the mold right after pour

     Two days after the cutting and I am now ready to judge the scent and share with you what I think of the scent now that is is in the soap! I still get the sweetness and a now thinking it is a butter cream frosting type scent, with maybe an under note of a really light spice? *update* I now am thinking it is snicker doodle! Like all the scents it smells so familiar it is just so hard to figure out what it reminds you of, I just thought of another thing it could be, a cake maybe? I don't know but I like it more now that it is soaped but still it is a food/bakery scent (the one thing I am 100% sure it is) and they aren't my favorite scent family so it still isn't my favorite.  Soaping wise and for other people I am sure It is great!

bars are gelled pumpkin is not gelled

     These are only three days out so I am sure they will discolor more but I will keep you updated, probably after they are all cured and I round them up!

Thanks for stopping by happy soaping!

S.O.A.P Fragrances First Impressions

     

     This morning to my surprise I got my S.O.A.P Panel mystery fragrances in today! It was wrapped in yellow tissue paper with the S.O.A.P logo. The package was completed with a Soap Queen notepad that excited me a little to much. For my first installment of my SOAP series I am just giving y'all my first impression and my which are my favorite by ranking them from 1-8 1 being my favorite and 8 being my least favorite. I will try to feature a post on each scent as they are made and a cumulative post at the end with all my findings. Sadly I have to wait for my lye and oils to come in before I start but as soon as they are here I will start soaping! 

• Mystery Fragrance #1- It is a very sweet bakery type scent, I get a hint of vanilla. Maybe its a vanilla cake type scent? Ranking-8
• Mystery Fragrance #2- Christmas. That was the first thing I thought when I opened it. This smells like a christmas tree yard it is one of my favorite FOs of this batch. Ranking-2
• Mystery Fragrance #3-This is a fairly heavy floral I am thinking ylang ylang with some other underlying floral/herbal notes. Ranking-3
• Mystery Fragrance #4- It smells like a tart candy. I think it smells like chewy sweetarts or maybe a cherry or strawberry laffy taffies. Ranking-6
• Mystery Fragrance #5- It smell reminiscent of a forest floor. It has some green musky and maybe some earthy spices. To finish it off it may have some dewy, moist soil. Ranking-5
• Mystery Fragrance #6- Very manly. It is similar to #5, but less sweet (even though 5 wasn't sweet). The main note is SO familiar but I cannot place it! Maybe it is similar to tobacco and bay leaf, but what ever it is I like it. Ranking-4
• Mystery Fragrance #7- This also has a candy type smell to it. It reminds me of a strawberry baby bottle pop, remember those things?  it has been ages since I had one but this scent just made me think of them. Ranking-7
• Mystery Fragrance #8- My favorite scent! I am 90% sure it is grapefruit an its amazing 'nuff said. Ranking-1

Thanks for stopping by and look out for my testing, it should start this coming week!

I'm a S.O.A.P panelist!!

 I was chosen! I am so excited and I can't wait to get the FOs!!! I am so honored and my fellow panelists look super talented and great. I should be getting my package in the mail by the 16th and will share my first impression as soon as I get it. Finally I am open to any suggestions on how to test them I already have a good idea on how I will do so but any ideas would help me 1,000,000%! here in the link to my original post on the S.O.A.P panel and the SoapQueen post with the links to the 7 other panelists.

Thanks for reading and happy soaping!

Wine Soap- Spring Soap Crafting Club Part III

     Hey y'all! Sorry I haven't Posted in a while but I just finished my second week of school and to say it has been a big adjustment would be an understatement. And yes I am very behind with the soap crafting club, I already have two unmade summer SCC in my soaping room but I just signed up for new designs not for the private message board thing.

     The last installment of the Soap Crafting Club was a wine twist soap. It was scented with wine berry fragrance which was a bit sweet for me and sped up a little bit but besides the it all went according to plan. I used some old, past its prime red wine made by my grandfather (love him but the wine is usually not good... at all) so no fine wine was killed in the process. Before mixing the lye with  the wine I boiled it down then froze it in a plastic bag and then crushed it up into manageable chunks.

    The design itself was pretty basic, in the vertical loaf mold (with divider in) I poured the red on one side and white, well more of a beige, on the other side. Then before I took the divider out I twirled it 180 ̊ and pulled it out. My only issue was my batter got thick a bit to fast so the swirl wasn't as crisp as I wanted.

     As you can see I got glycerin rivers all though out and the circles aren't centered but besides that I like the results and will try this technique again!

Thanks for stopping by and happy soaping!!

...and happy birthday to my little Bee, who has had more than her share of experiences in her first year

Hoping for the S.O.A.P panel!

     Hey guys! After soaping for around 2 years now (and have been researching even longer) I have finally decided to try to join Bramble Berry's S.O.A.P panel! If you don't know what the S.O.A.P panel is, it is when Bramble Berry chooses a few lucky soapers to send out new mystery fragrances to do a test! I have wanted to do this for years but have never thought I was ready until now!

Favorite Bramble Berry Product

     My favorite Bramble Berry product is probably my wooden molds, with their silicone liners! the silicone liners is what really is amazing, it used to be that my soaps never had nice sharp corners with the freezer paper but now with the liners my bars always turn out perfectly. I also love all their fragrances! I have only ever had one of their FOs seize on me (see here) which was during the winter soap crafting club. After that mess (literally and figuratively) they ended up giving us a gift card to replace the cost of that batch, which reminds me their customer service is AMAZING! To finish my rambling I will say that all of Bramble Berry's products are my favorite it is just so hard to choose, I just wish I could buy every thing! Now that I think about it the soap crafting club has to be one of the best products I have gotten from BB, it has taught me so many new thing and let me try new FOs that I never would of picked but ended up being some of my faves (wasabi anyone?)
just to recap my faves are (in no particular order)-

1. Wooden molds with their silicone liners
2. All their fragrances, such as wasabi
3. soap crafting club
4. and last but not least EVERYTHING THEY HAVE EVER SOLD!!!

Why I Should be Chosen for the S.O.A.P Panel 

        I know there are tons of other very talented soaper trying to get on this panel as well so I won't say I am the most amazing soaper ever 'cause I'm not but, I do have two years of soaping under my belt, and almost all I have learned is from the soap queen herself. I have been a loyal BB customer since I started soaping, I bought all of my supplies to start soaping from them and even to the is day I swear by their products(they are the best quality around). I am also not scared to try new things, including new scents and I would love to test out these scents, and after seeing a lot of people blog about their testing I am fairly confidant on how to test these scents the best possible way. I also think being a younger soaper (15 years old and 13 when I first made CP), makes me a bit different and have  a scent palette (is that how you say that??) then some others. Finally this would just be a fun, great, new experience for me and I would be so so honored if I were picked for the S.O.A.P aka the Soap Opinion Awesome Panel!

Some of my favorite soaps made with BB products (for more post featuring Bramble Berry check here)

scented with dragon's blood cybilla

from this spring's soap crafting club

scented with cranberry fig, a fave of mine

one of my two well used 2 lb loaf molds

scented with honeysuckle surplus (my mothers favorite she may die if it gets discontinued) 

Thanks for stopping by (and thanks for considering me) and happy soaping!

PS and trust me I have a post for you soon just with getting ready to go back to school and I haven't edited my pictures yet, but its coming!

Yuzu Salt Soap

 


     A few weeks back I made my first ever salt bar! Salt bars are soaps that have a large amount of salt in them- any thing from 50 to 100% of the oils. Salt bars also have a high amount of coconut oil, because it is the only oil that will produce a bar that lathers in salt water. This leads into the difference between the bar and your average soap, coconut oil on its own is VERY drying so instead of the usual 5-7% superfat we  superfat at 20%. So not only is this a salt bar it is a break the rules soap.

1) Single oil soaps do not perform as well as a well balanced blend of oils.
 2)Any recipe with over 30-40% coconut oil is to drying for the skin.
 3)If you superfat a soap at 10% or over you will have to many free oils that will lead to DOS (dreaded orange spots).

    My soap fits squarely into this BTR soap as I uses a 100% coconut oil soap, and here is the recipe:

     I used Wholesale Supplies Plus' yuzu fragrance at .5oz per pound of oil, just like as if I made it with out the 2 pounds of salt. I made it in my Bramble Berry 9-bar slab mold since another aspect of 100% coconut soap is it gets rock hard in an hour. If you try to cut it to late it crumbles, and to late comes way to soon, so not needing to cut is a perk. I unmolded it after 2 of three hours and when I went to bevel the edges crumbled, so the bars were to hard even to bevel.

    I just tested these bars out and its bubbles are rich and creamy, the bar is rock hard, like diamond hard, and it is mildly exfoliating but my sister thinks it is a bit rough so depends on what you like. I will make a side note because of the salt this stuff burns fresh shaves legs, I exfoliate after I shave so I rubbed this on my leg and oh my god it burned! I should have known better though because when I was little I cut my self and being the youngest I fell for my sister telling me salt helps stop the pain....

Thanks for stopping by and happy soaping!

Man Soap Monday: Dragons Blood Soap

     So for this addition of MSM I again made soap for my grandfather (my father just has to use our girly soaps). This is actually a remake since I loved the first soap so much I did it again, but with a new and improved design. This design was my first attempt at the June soap challenge club but as you can see it sped up so the hanger didn't give as fluid of a swirl as I would have liked.

     For my new design I added a touch of red, and did a hanger swirl. For some reason I decided to replace my usual shea butter with cocoa butter so my recipe went way faster then usual. So for colors I used black and natural for the scented portion, and red with the unscented since with the high vanillin content would turn my pretty blood red a muddy brownish red. I also did some gold mica lines, which I LOVE in any soap it will fit in design-wise.

     I won't go into super detail because guess what? I actually have the video all prepared at the time of posting! Just don't get to used to it......

Thanks for stopping by and happy soaping!

Soaping Videos II

     Hey y'all! I finally got a new computer and have transferred al my data, pictures, and videos to my new mac. This means I am now back on schedule, so to start off my return to blogging is a bunch of videos. As usual these videos will also be posted on there original post AND I will like the corresponding post to each video. Finally a little side note is that expect all my videos will not have a cosistant style for a while because I now have to get myself comfortable with iMovie '13 it is way different and more confusing then the '08 edition(PS if y'all have any tips or tricks on how to use iMovie '14 I would love, love, love your input)

                                        Find original post HERE

                                                      This has no post (and excuse the awful breakout going on)

                                  Find original post HERE

     What do you think of my videos? and if you like them and want to see more subscribe to my youtube channel and help me get to 50 followers! Finally feel free to like and comment away on my videos 'cause I love all y'alls input!!

      P.S. There are two more videos coming in the very near future (the first one will be on monday  maybe(;) along with their blog post.

Thanks for watching and happy soaping!

Happy 4th of July!!

     To all of my American visitors I would love to wish you a happy 4th! And of course in the American way we celebrated with colorful explosions!!

    

Thanks for stopping by and comment if you want to see a short firework video and maybe an inspired soap ;)

A Short Absence

      Hey y'all! I just wanted you to know that I won't be posting for a while. I am not sure for how long but my computer is broken so I either need to get it fixed or more likely get a new one. Today I am just using my phone but I  can't really post (good) photos and long post on a smart phone! So bye for now...... But hopefully not to long!

     (Ps would leave you with a cutepic or something but they are all on my computer, so ya...)

Spring Soap Crafting Club Part II∼ Coffee Ground Soap

     This month's (well May's) soap was the coffee ground soap scented with Turkish Mocha. I have been meaning to make a coffee soap ever since I started making soap but, I had never gotten around to it until now.  I replace five ounces of water with a strong brewed coffee and soaped the rest as normal.

     First thing is this soap has NO COLORANT!  that blackness is from the fragrance and the light brown is from a lesser concentration of the turkish mocha then the black half. I will say I do not like this scent at all it has some of that fake chocolate notes to it, but it looks like I was in the minority. I wish they gave us their new ecpresso scent, but it is not in the book but what are you going to do?

     This soap was super simple, to one half we added a touch of the FO and one Tbs of used coffee ground and to the other half was the rest of the FO. I swirled the divider but ended swirling it to the same position and the with a long skewer I did a few passes across the bar which gives it a similar look to a hanger swirl if you went across the bar(in a typical loaf mold), not up  and down like my last post.

*****Added 7/27/14

Thanks for stopping by and happy soaping!

Hanger Swirl Soap ∼ June Soap Challenge Club

 
Hey guys! today I will be doing a post on my first official soap challenge. Every one and a while I do the the months's design but I have never actually signed up.... Until this month. This month was the hanger swirl, but you could also do the feather swirl. I did the plain old hanger because there was no way I would be able to to a feather swirl under pressure, but one day(probably soon) I will try it. The soap I am showing you today though was not my first try. My first try was a dragon's blood soap that for some reason went faster then usual for me. So the hanger swirl didn't swirl, it does still look pretty cool so I will be doing a post on it next Man Soap Monday.

     Since the 4th of July is coming up very soon (in soapers time) I decided to do a patriotic soap! I had no "Patriotic" scents (but really what is a patriotic scent, apples???). So instead I went for lemongrass essential oil, since I know it doesn't speed up and it still kind of go with the theme. The colors. of course, are red, white, and blue. to achieve the colors I used titanium dioxide, ultramarine blue, and for the red I used a combo if red oxide and electric bubblegum  pigment.

     Now on how I got the look! I spit the batch into 3 about equal portions and colored them their assigned color. then I poured them into less then equal, not so straight layers. I then raked through my modified hanger in up and down, then side to side motions. Then I poured stripes of the extra colors on top, swirled them with a chopstick, and then to complete the soap I added some glitter ('cause what else screams USA).         

                                 

*****Added on 7/27/14

     

Thanks for stopping by and I will update y'all on how I did once I find out!

My First Lotion- a School Paper

 

    Hey everyone! I wanted to do a very quick post on lotion making. You may not know but I am in high school and recently had to do a paper on learning something new and writing instructions for it. I already had Bramble Berry's lotion making kit so I of course decided to learn how to make lotion! I thought I might as well share my paper with y'all but, remember I am no expert at all! So if you have made lotion I would love some feedback on the essay and if you haven't made lotion and want to I highly suggest going to the Point of Interest! blog which is such a wealth of info and where I looked to as a guide in my lotion making journey. Oh! and a very exciting side note is that after about a year and a half homeschooling due to chronic daily headaches I got accepted to a small privite school that I will hopefully attend next year!!!!

Now on to my paper:

PLEASE READ THRU ALL INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE EVEN PREPARING FOR THIS RECIPE

Heated Water Phase (combine these in the ~16 oz Pyrex)
Amount	Ingredients
18 oz	DISTILLED Water

Heated oil phase (combine these in the ~32 oz Pyrex)
Amounts	Ingredients
1 oz	Stearic acid
1 oz	Avocado oil
1.2 oz	Shea butter
1.2 oz	Emulsifying wax (AKA E-wax)
1.7 oz	Sweet almond oil

Cool Down Phase (combine in one of the small bowl/ shot glass)
Amount	Ingredients	Optional
.2 oz	Phenonip (a Preservative)
.1 oz	Fragrance oil or essential oils	X
½ tsp	Mica or liquid color (NOT food coloring)	X

1.     Sanitize all tools that will make direct contact with any ingredients, lotion batter, or the final product (so basically every thing but the scale).

  ***To sanitize put all tools (except for bottles) in the dishwasher on the sanitize cycle. For the bottles spray or put a bit of at least 91% rubbing alcohol in the bottles and swish it around and then place the bottles upside down so the excess alcohol can run out and evaporate.

2.     In the larger Pyrex measure out your ingredients for the heated oil phase  (the ingredients you should put in here are labeled Heated oil Phase in ingredient list). You must do this by weight since fluid ounces are not accurate. Before adding the ingredients to the bowl you may want to measure them out individually in one of the small sanitized bowls before putting it in the larger bowl (because you can’t take away a certain liquid if its already mixed with another)

3.     In the smaller Pyrex (I used a 16oz model) measure out (again by weight) 18 oz of water. It has to be distilled bottled water; the lotion will go bad otherwise. PS, yes the 18 oz of H₂O will fit into the 16 oz Pyrex.

4.     Next you will heat up both the oil and water phase. To do this you will put them in pots half-full of water. The catch is they can’t touch the bottom of the pot. You can put a rack in the bottom of the pot, but I found that if I just hooked the handle over the edge of the pot they will not touch the bottom.

· You will heat them both up  

to 170^o F and then hold 

them at that temperature 

for 20 minutes; this step is called “Heat and hold”.

5.     While you are holding the heat on the oils and water phase, it is time to prepare the cool down phase. It is just as simple as steps 2 & 3, just measure out preservative, fragrance (I used sunny herb garden), and color in one of the sanitized small bowl. The main component of the cool down phase is the preservative. The others are optional. You cannot make a lotion without a real preservative!!! Vitamin E and grapefruit sees extract are not preservatives, they are antioxidants. It is unsafe, if you want an all-natural product you cannot make lotion safely.

6.     After your 20 minutes of holding is up take both Pyrex containers off the heat

7.     Slowly pour the water into the oils. To reduce air bubbles pour the water down the stick blender that is already submerged in the oils.

8.     Now stick blend this for three to five minutes and then let it sit for ten minutes and repeat the process until your lotion is under 122^oF

9.     Once the mixture is below 122^oF add the ingredients labeled cool down in the box above. It is important to wait until the mixture has cooled before adding these because these ingredients are heat sensitive.

10.  Insert the sanitized funnel into the bottles (be sure all the alcohol has evaporated out first) and fill the bottle with the lotion. Repeat this with the rest of the bottles

11.  Finally let the lotion cool to room temperature before adding the tops, which should have also been spayed with alcohol. You now have finished homemade lotion that is ready to use!!

********************************************

     So that is my paper the copy I am sending in has more pictures but I couldn't really get the paper on the blogger format easily but I think we all know what a scale and the ingredients look like, right? I will add a few notes here for just y'all, I used Bramble Berry's sunny herb garden fragrance oil, which is really light in the lotion at .1 oz. The mica I used was apple green from The Conservatorie and to be honest I did not actually measure out the amount I used I just used like half a spoon full or something like that. Well thanks for stopping by and feel free to give me feedback on this tutorial paper I wrote!