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In Action
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Why I Do What I Do
by Melanie Skelton onI’ll never forget the day the doctor told me I needed to have chemotherapy. He said the tumor had started growing again. I was afraid, even though they assured me that the treatment would be successful. If I didn’t deal with this thing growing inside of me it would consume me. My husband has often [...] Continue Reading -
How to Make Lye from Ashes
by Melanie Skelton onLast year I had the opportunity to visit Cove Fort, a historical site in Utah, where there was a big pioneer event going on. Among the many fun things I was excited to see was this ash hopper, a tool that was used in pioneer times and back through history to make the lye needed [...] Continue Reading -
Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Alumni
by Melanie Skelton onWhat’s happening with SkinTastic Creations? Thanks to Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses, we have a new focus on our next stage of growth. Our products were ready to be on the shelves of other retailers a couple years ago, but we realized that it would be impossible to keep up with supply when we were […]
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Charcoal Soap Bar
by Dale Skelton onHave you heard about the benefits of charcoal soap? Charcoal is known for its ability to pull toxins. Because of this is it used in situations like when a person overdoses on a drug. But it can be used for so much more. When added as an ingredient in soap it is effective in helping […]
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Sabine’s Light
by Melanie Skelton onThis beautiful girl has an sad, but inspiring story. She is also outgrowing the equipment she needs to keep progressing. Sabine was shaken as a baby, which changed her entire life. It was a sad day for her family and over the years I’ve watched them move forward and deal with this tragedy in positive […]
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Lotion Making Day
by Melanie Skelton onI have seven new varieties of lotion on my SkinTastic shelf. Here you see the seven batches at the cooling phase. At this point I am stirring and using the stick blender to work them into that perfect consistency as the emulsion sets and becomes stable. What are the new fragances? Drumroll please… Red Roses […]
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Castor Oil Bubbles
by Melanie Skelton onWhen I re-batched the soap I talked about in yesterday’s post, I learned something. I needed to add the oil I’d forgotten to add when I first made the soap. I was initially going to use avocado, but had recently read something that reminded me that castor oil helps give great lather. When I read […]
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Saved Soap Batch
by Melanie Skelton onSeveral months ago I made a batch of soap and forgot to put the avocado oil in at the trace stage to superfat my soap. This is a pretty important step if you want a soap that is mild and not lye heavy. I don’t really want to be making “Grandma’s scary lye heavy soap”. […]
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Back to Soapmaking
by Melanie Skelton onOnce a soapmaker, always a soapmaker. Three years ago I made a really difficult decision to close SkinTastic Creations. I had to for personal reasons. The business had reached the point that I needed to hire somebody and let it get bigger or to make it smaller. In the end I closed it and sold […]
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