Our candle making class in NYC will teach you how to make and sell your own line of natural wax candles. If you have been search for a professional candle making business class, look no further! Our February 17 Natural Waxes Candle Making Class in the Upper West Side of Manhattan will help kickstart your candle business. If you are developing a line of candles you understand that there is much research and education that needs to happen prior to selling and launching your candle line for the safety of consumers and for the liability of yourself and your business.&nbs ..read more

The Amazon boasts some of the most impressive plant butters and oils in the world, rich in vitamins, minerals and healing plant energy. The formulas in this post make beautiful gifts for self-nurturing, which is much needed in the world today. As you learn more about these oils and butters, pay attention to which ones beckon a deepening in your own studies of plant medicine. Source: World Atlas When sourcing these specialty oils and butters look for companies who sustainably source their ingredients. Some of t ..read more

Our hands-on workshops are back in session this month in New York City. Join us for a week of evening workshops in our natural skincare diploma course, Make Your Own Beauty & Skincare Diploma Course, NYC - May 17-21. Or choose to attend just one or more classes that align with what you would like to learn. Classes begin May 17 and are held at 6-8:30 p.m. nightly in a private classroom inside Little Shop of Crafts, located at 711 Amsterdam Ave. in the Upper West Side of New York City. It is one block east of the 1, 2 and 3 trains at 96th and Broadway. The following courses are runni ..read more

Are you being proactive during this time and reaching out to business colleagues via phone, text or email to just check in?  I'm working on planting seeds with current and potential business colleagues. I'm also reaching out to businesses that I made a connection within the past year or so to see if we might be a good fit for new concepts. I've scored some opportunities that are a win-win for both businesses. I'm also sending out emails to my retailers, not to ask for an order, but to check in and say hello hope you and your family are healthy and okay. People appreciate it. Either way, yo ..read more

The buzz in social media soapmaking groups during past few days has been that a favorite online lye calculator, Soapcalc, has been down for unforeseen reasons. There are speculations that Soapcalc is being upgraded, but I haven't been able to confirm it. Quick research on WHOIS shows that the domain is still registered to a Portland, Oregon ISP address. Soapcalc had been online since October 13, 2008. The domain name expires on October 13, 2020 and was last updated on September 21, 2019. Soapcalc has been owned by Botanie Soap Inc. since July 2016. Many soapmakers rely on Soapcalc to determi ..read more

Recently several of my natural beauty formulation students from India have asked where they can purchase supplies in their own country. I'm publishing information here on my blog to help out other indie beauty formulators from India who also may be looking for suppliers. Please note that I have not personally ordered from nor have had any contact with any of these companies, so I cannot speak from experience for quality of customer service, turnaround or shipping punctuality or ingredient quality. If you live in India and have ordered from any of these companies please feel free to commen ..read more

When I launched my skincare business in 1998 I didn't have the slightest idea of how to blend essential oils. I made and sold soaps and skincare products with single notes of lavender, lemongrass, tea tree, peppermint and so on. At the time I didn't have any competition, as there were maybe a handful of us making and selling bath and body products in Massachusetts. However, as the years progressed and more entrepreneurs began launching bath and body businesses around me, I realized I needed to implement multiple changes to stay relevant. One change I made was teaching myself the art of es ..read more