Mad Scientist

I was feeling a smidge crabby this morning when I woke up. (I know some of you who read this know I am not a morning person anyway.)

It's Saturday, you know, and I'm supposed to sleep in! The kids are big enough to get breakfast and to let the dog out, but somehow I am forced to get up to assist or remind them (read: scold) that the dog needs to go outside after being in the house locked up all night long and she needs to go BEFORE you bring out the laser pointer to get her all wound up and excited.

Well this morning I decided to channel my irritation into mad work in my laboratory. By the time I had the floor and counters cleaned, I was starting to feel better. Some tender care disinfecting the instruments and I could feel my mood softening. The bright winter sun warmed the room for me and filled the room with light reflecting off the snow. Sunlight makes me feel better than Prozac.

I started with a batch of Agave Sugar Balm, which I needed to make to fill an order. Then I turned the lab time into MY time. I worked on the perfect solid lotion recipe. It's amazing how much my scientific brain loves this stuff. You see you have to balance the oils, waxes, and butters to make the perfect consistency. Too much oil and it's a goopy mess. Too much wax and it's like a crayon. What you want to achieve is a solid that melts slowly when it comes in contact with your skin.

Once the consistency is figured out, then you can experiment with the different ingredients, swapping one oil for another or deciding which oil should get top billing. Or which wax or which butter. . . The possibilities are endless!

Keeping in mind my goal for Osmosis products to draw moisture to your skin, I'm trying to use ingredients like those in the lip balm. I want there to be some Castor Oil in the mix. The Castor Oil is a humectant and does the job of drawing water to your skin. The other oils and butters I considered needed to be emollient, but not greasy or glossy.

So I have 3 versions of my solid lotion recipe for me to try in the next weeks. I am hoping to find something as fabulous as Osmosis lip balm to use on my hands. This is the best time of year to do the testing. The air is cold and dry. My hands are constantly being washed to keep from the many germs looking for a place to call home. Combine it all together and my hands can get downright flaky or worse - my skin actually can hurt.

I'll let you know how it goes and if there is any potential for a new product from Osmosis in the future. If anyone wants to volunteer to test the solid lotions, let me know!