Fresholi | Melting Pot Café

Hello there..... I am currently studying VTCT 1 Year Diploma Complimentary Therapies and would like to start making and selling skincare products alongside it.

I understand that I need safety assessments after I decided what to make and have made them to a professional standard..... BUT!!!..... where do I start????  ???

Buy a book, look on the internet, recipes, ingredients, packaging..... etc.....and more.... and etc....Obviously, money isn't growing on my trees this year  :P and need some expert starting point advice to get me on the right track. I am selling my silversmithing tools from a course I did many years ago to fund this.

Please help, my brain is quite fuddled with it all!

Hi Silky, research research and more research.  Welcome to the site, you will love it here x

Hello and welcome.  Do lots of research and then experiment to find out what you like best....

That's the thing... I don't know where to look. I have just scoured the internet for the UK to find suppliers, that's no problem... I have too many now  ::)

Next thing I need help with is with a book that will take me through basic foundations - cleansers/moisturisers/night cream/body butter/foot cream. That's all I want to do for now, just those, nothing else.

I want to be able to use the basic recipe and add my own blends of essential oils/fruit powders etc and maybe change some of the original oils for other more exciting ones.

Is there such a foundation book that is around?

Just to let those who might be in the same position as me, I have found a book by Jan Benham called 'The Creamy Craft Of Cosmetic Making' which looks great. It has the basic formula's for lots of various skincare and cosmetic products. Now for lots of reading when it pops through the door  ;D

Hello and welcome!  :buttrf:

As the others have said it's all about research and more research. Books and google will be your friends. Most of us have spent years on research and testing. It comes down to what properties you want from the finished product. Learning the properties of your ingredients is a good thing.

Another thing is to make sure your supplier/s have MSDS documents for the ingredients you buy and that they quickly give them to you or have download links.

Then you need the safety assessment. We have a great and very helpful SA person here on the forum, Scott and his assistant Rachel. Check out 'Resources' for a link to his SAs.

Hello and welcome.

Research is important, but you need to decide what sort of products you are going to make. The one thing with books if you want to make soap, is to run everything through a soap calculator. You will find plenty of information here on the forum, and don't be afraid to ask questions. A lot of us use Scott for our SA's.

Hi and welcome to forum  :)

I can completely understand that it's overwhelming, there's a lot to get your head around.  I reckon the best place to start is by creating a very simple balm (using a formula that you might fancy on the web).  Learn all you can about those few ingredients that are in the balm (not only about their benefits/contraindications but also how they behave when working with them, how to get the best from them, what happens when you increase/decrease the % within a formula).  Then begin to add in other ingredients gradually.  Remember, record EVERYTHING (regardless of how successful the end product).  That's how I developed my understanding :buttrf:

Some suppliers have Recipe sections which are most helpful. Or Google "bath and body recipes"
Welcome to Fresholi :)

Hello ns welcome.

Check out the pages in this excellent blog - also has downloadable info.

http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.co.uk/2009/03/lotions-emulsification-whats-that-then.html (http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.co.uk/2009/03/lotions-emulsification-whats-that-then.html)

Hi nice to meet you  :buttrf:

Hi and Welcome



All of the above ;)

It really is a case of research and finding out what you want to make.

If you're thinking of buying a book you could put a message on the board to see if anyone's got it and also look in the reviews section to see if it's been reviewed

A couple of books/authors spring to mind 'A Green Guide to natural Beauty' by Karen Gilbert. Lots of people on the forum had fun with this book making their versions of the products, this is a link to the thread http://www.forum.fresholi.co.uk/index.php/topic,16259.0.html (http://www.forum.fresholi.co.uk/index.php/topic,16259.0.html)
the other is Melinda Coss who's written several books

Don't worry about asking questions, we all ask lots and usually someone comes along who can point you in the right direction

 :buttrf:

Hello Silky & welcome.

Re making products - it does seem an awful lot to get your head round to start with but you will get there! I also recommend Karen Gilbert's book, it is lovely with beautiful photography and really inspires you to make the products. It covers making loads of different types of products from cleansers & moisturisers to soap, so it's a great starting point. (Karen also has a blog which I think she maybe has a couple of recipes on from the book). Swift's blog which EJ mentioned is also great, it can look kind of confusing at first but she has a free beginner's e-book you can download for info/instructions on making creams & lotions. Good luck!

Thank you for the book suggestion, I will have to have a mooch at that one now too  ;D

An update to this thread though... I have all my raw ingredients, sample pots packaging and my own version of a few recipes so it's all good to go.... except now I have a cold so no making just yet.

One question that you might be able to answer is.... when do I decide to get my certificate? Is it when I am pleased with the results of the samples that I am going to give away to my friends/family/colleagues? How long should I wait? How long is a piece of string I suppose  ???

Depends on what you are making.  I generally give the advice of 'make your products for at least a year before you start selling'... creams can separate and grow things (even when a preservative is used) 6 or 10 months down the line, lip balms can get grains eventually, soaps can get DOS, shampoos can separate and do other weird things, certain EOs or FOs can morph, certain oils can go rancid and screw up your whole product, etc.  A lot of things can go wrong 6+ months after you've made a product, so it's good to have a bit of each thing you make sitting around for 6-12 months to see what happens to them so that you know they will hold up when you sell.

If you still need resources for learning, swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com is  REALLY good resource, and she has a number of ebooks that are the bible of many people who do small scale cosmetics formulating and production. 

good luck!