Smart Lotionmaking: The Simple Guide to Making Luxurious Lotions, or How to Make Lotion That's Better Than You Buy and Costs You Less (Smart Soap Making)

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SPECIAL NOTE! -- ANNE WILL PERSONALLY ANSWER ANY QUESTION OF YOURS AFTER READING THIS BOOK. ASK ON HER WEB SITE, AND YOU'LL NORMALLY HEAR BACK WITHIN HOURS!

Do you love the feel of a good lotion but find yourself unhappy with the cost, or wary of the chemical ingredients? Do you ever wonder if you could make it for yourself at home? Are you afraid to try because the lotion might not turn out well, or might even be unsafe?

Anne L. Watson's "Smart Soapmaking" was the first book based on modern techniques that eliminate the drudgery and guesswork from home soapmaking. Now, by popular demand, she continues her handcraft cosmetics revolution with the first practical, comprehensive book on making lotion from scratch.

Whether you want to make lotion for personal use or to sell, Anne allays any fears with methods that are proven safe and approved by experts, yet simple and easy enough to perform in your kitchen. You'll soon be making lotion that's better than any you've been buying, and at a fraction of the cost.

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Anne L. Watson is the first author to have introduced modern techniques of home soapmaking and lotionmaking to book readers. She has made soap under the company name Soap Tree, and before her retirement from professional life, she was a historic preservation architecture consultant. Anne and her husband, Aaron Shepard, live in Bellingham, Washington.

"The definitive guide to lotionmaking." -- Donna Puizina, Ekoaromas, Lafayette, New Jersey

"Spells out everything and makes it easy to understand." -- Cheryl McCoy, Emerald City Soap, Haven, Kansas

"Anne makes it so much fun, and so easy." -- Mary Jean Hammann, Grandma Jean's Soaps and Lotions, New London, Ohio

"So logical and easy to understand that my first batch was a success AND a sell-out!" -- Susan Dinion, Holiday Farm & Handmade Goods, Berlin, Massachusetts

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CONTENTS

A FEW FIRST THOUGHTS

LIES AND LOTIONS
(Myths About Lotion and Lotionmaking)

LOTION LINGO
(Learning the Jargon)

WHAT IS LOTION, ANYWAY?
(What It Is and What Goes Into It)

THE TWO WAYS TO SANITIZE LOTION
(And How to Choose Between Them)

WHAT DO I PUT IT IN?
(Choosing Your Bottles)

WHAT DO I USE TO MAKE IT?
(Gathering the Equipment You Need)

Chart: Equipment Checklist

Recipe: Anne's Almond Lotion

STEP-BY-STEP LOTIONMAKING
(From Prep to Cleanup and Beyond)

TESTING YOUR LOTION
(Making Sure It's Safe)

MORE RECIPES!
(Different Lotions You Can Try)

Recipe: Anne's Walnut Lotion
Recipe: Shea Lotion
Recipe: California Lotion
Recipe: Sunflower and Avocado Lotion
Recipe: Star of the Meadow Lotion
Recipe: Almond and Cocoa Butter Lotion
Recipe: Almond and Coconut Lotion
Recipe: Autumn Lotion
Recipe: Rice Bran and Shea Lotion
Recipe: Hemp and Almond Lotion
Recipe: Shea, Silk, and Chamomile Lotion
Recipe: Ingrid's Magic Potion Lotion
Recipe: Suz's Light Lotion
Recipe: Milly's Body Lotion

MILK LOTION RECIPES
(Treating Your Skin to Milk)

Recipe: Linda's Goat Milk Lotion
Recipe: Deena's Goat Milk Lotion
Recipe: Almond Milk and Pistachio Lotion
Recipe: Goat Milk, Chamomile, and Jojoba Lotion
Recipe: Buttermilk, Hazelnut, and Honey Lotion
Recipe: Golden Lotion

DESIGNING YOUR OWN
(How to Create Great Recipes)

Chart: Properties of Fats

TROUBLESHOOTING
(Tricks, Tweaks, and Fixes)

MAKING IT A BUSINESS
(How to Go Pro, Not Bust)

WHY? WHY? WHY?
(Frequently Asked Questions)

WHERE TO READ MORE

WHERE TO GET TESTING

WHERE TO GET SUPPLIES

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FROM THE INTRODUCTION

I have no idea why anyone would buy lotion. It's a mystery.

Maybe it's because of another mystery: the lotions themselves. With even halfway decent lotions so expensive, they must somehow be hard to make, right?

Not really. If we all knew how easy it was to make our own lotion, the stores could clear a lot of shelf space. Who would buy what they could make better, and at a tenth of the cost?

The thing is, few people believe that lotionmaking could be easy -- not before they've tried it, that is.

It seems like it would have to be hard. It's hard to even read the ingredients, when you look at consumer labels. By the time you've plowed through methylparaben, triethanolamine, butylene glycol, glycol stearate, glyceryl stearate, disodium EDTA, aluminum magnesium silicate, DMDM hydantoin, and tocopheryl acetate, you're just about ready to give up -- and if that doesn't do it, you'll definitely throw up your hands at 3-iodo-2-propynylbutylarbamate. You wouldn't know where to get that stuff, much less what to do with it once you did.

"Honey, I'm running to the store for DMDM hydantoin and 3-iodo-2-propynylbutylcarbamate. Anything you need while I'm out?"

But, whatever manufacturers do to make bottles of lotion by the millions, handcraft lotionmaking is much simpler. It's a lot like making salad dressing. Of course, if you make lotion to sell, it will be regulated by law, just like food in a restaurant -- but making it for your own use is like cooking at home. You'll work clean, as you would for cooking, but you won't be held to commercial standards.

I'll show you how to make lotion for yourself in a way that's clean enough -- and how to check if that causes any problem. It isn't likely to. I've made lotion for myself for years, and never had any go bad.

In some cases, you should sanitize more thoroughly. So, this book will give two different methods for making lotion. Personal Technique is for simple lotion meant for your own use. This one is quicker and easier. Pro Technique is for lotion you mean to sell, or for lotion with perishable ingredients like milk, or for lotion with no preservative. This one isn't difficult either -- just more painstaking and precise.

But why the difference? After all, you wouldn't want something insanitary for your own use. Why wouldn't you follow the same procedure for any lotion?

The answer is that Pro Technique is designed to conform to common laws and regulations for commercial lotionmaking. These laws and regulations have to address almost anything that can happen. They have to prevent the sale of lotion made in filthy conditions by people who have no idea what they're doing. They have to apply the same way to everyone. And with all that, they're simply more than you need for most home use.

Still, the difference between the techniques isn't huge. And whichever you try, you'll soon be making lotion better than you're likely to find at any price.

GOT A QUESTION? JUST ASK ME! -- A NOTE FROM ANNE

Let's face it. No author can think of every single question you might have while reading the book. No matter how clear and complete it is, there's always a chance you'll find something you don't quite get or that doesn't quite fit your situation. So, what do you do?

If the book is one of mine, you can go to my Web site and ask me direct. I'll be glad to help! (But you might want to look through the rest of the book first, since the answer might come up later -- maybe in the FAQ at the end.)

I also use my Web site to describe new things I'm wondering about and trying and exploring. So, please do take a look!

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SOAP AND LOTION BOOKS BY ANNE L. WATSON

SMART SOAPMAKING: The Simple Guide to Making Traditional Handmade Soap Quickly, Safely, and Reliably, or How to Make Luxurious Handcrafted Soaps for Family, Friends, and Yourself. Whether you've made melt-and-pour soap and want to move on -- or you've made traditional soap with slow, outmoded methods -- or you've never made a bar in your life -- you'll find "Smart Soapmaking" practical, helpful, and refreshing. Written by a former professional soapmaker, this book explodes the myths about soapmaking and shows you how to make luxurious soap with the least fuss and bother.

MILK SOAPMAKING: The Smart and Simple Guide to Making Lovely Milk Soap From Cow Milk, Goat Milk, Buttermilk, Cream, Coconut Milk, or Any Other Animal or Plant Milk. Anne continues her soapmaking revolution with the first practical, comprehensive book on making milk soap. Experience the rich, soothing, luxurious feel of milk soap you've made yourself. Your skin will thank you for it.

SMART LOTIONMAKING: The Simple Guide to Making Luxurious Lotions, or How to Make Lotion That's Better Than You Buy and Costs You Less. After helping tens of thousands of beginners learn to make soap, Anne continues her handcraft cosmetics revolution with the first practical, comprehensive book on making lotion from scratch. Whether you want to make lotion for personal use or to sell, Anne allays any fears with methods that are proven safe and approved by experts, yet simple and easy enough to perform in your kitchen.

CASTILE SOAPMAKING: The Smart and Simple Guide to Making Lovely Castile Soap Quickly, Safely, and Reliably. Anne offers the first practical book on making Castile soap at home. With the secrets revealed in this advanced guide, you'll be making lovely, quick-curing, lather-rich Castile with no trouble at all.

COOL SOAPMAKING: The Smart and Simple Guide to Low-Temp Tricks for Making Soap with Milk, Citrus, Cucumber, Pine Tar, Beer, Wine, and Other Special Ingredients. Anne extends the low-temp techniques from her book "Milk Soapmaking" to making soap from a variety of special ingredients. Soaps that have long challenged home soapmakers will now pose no problem at all.