Tips

Q&A: De-ionized or de-mineralized water? Substitutions for liquid surfactants for oily hair? Corn starch in Neal’s Yard Products?

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I’m working my way through the August Q&A now, but it’s hard to answer in short paragraphs when I see all the wonderful things you’re asking that send me off down rabbit holes! In the August Q&A, Melanie asked, I used to be able to buy distilled water easily, now it is almost impossible where I...

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Formulating tips & techniques: Substituting oils, butters, and esters for other oils, butters, and esters

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In this post, Let’s formulate: Chamomile & aloe botanical summer time body butter (formula), Andrea asked: Can I leave isopropyl myristate (IPM) out (don’t have any) and add a different oil? Or just leave it out? The short answer is yes, you can substitute it. The longer answer is that unless I indicate otherwise in...

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Discussion: How do you handle your large (and growing) inventory of formulating ingredients?

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In the July Q&A, Marta asked, I was wondering how you handle your large (and growing) inventory of formulating ingredients. Do you truly discard them when they are beyond the stated shelf life? Perhaps you just know which ingredients you can store for longer than recommended. Or, perhaps everything is refrigerated (seems impossible). In knitting we...

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Discussion: How do you keep track of your formulas? (Originally on Patreon)

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In the December Q&A, Terri asked: My question is about recipe management and keeping ingredient inventories low but adequate to cover a given time period. I have been using a digital cooking app called Living Cookbook to create recipes and ingredients because it allows me to quickly scale them and create a shopping list when...

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Subscribers’ Q&A: Can we cover our containers while heating and holding? Is colloidal silver a preservative?

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In the June Q&A, Charlette asked: I never hear other people doing this–but does anyone ever cover their water phase while it’s being heated/held? I have a small glass sauce pan cover that I wash real well and swipe with alcohol so it’s clean and use it to cover the water phase. I have also used...

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