What to do with GlitterSniffer Pigments

There have been several questions about what to do with GlitterSniffer Cosmetics pigments that, for whatever reason, are not going to be used on the eyes.

Here are a few suggestions from the Facebook page about useful ways to employ them, provided you are not holding on to them for refund or testing.

As we have been made aware, the dyes/pigments used in GS that have caused eye issues are SOAP pigments. SO what we are going to do here is make us some hand soaps!! These are NOT for your face, not for your body or sensitive areas. Handsoaps ONLY. OK maybe feetsoaps too. But that's it! No arguments! I'll pull this car over right now, missy!

I am also NOT recommending you resell these to ANYONE. Personal use is best, or you could all trade between each other or people who know what the dilly is.

I will be including pics for you to look at Step-by-step going about this. Easy peasy puddin pie!

So here are a list of things you will need to buy or scavenge (flea market, neighbors trash, neighbors house, heh :)

Plan on ANYTHING you use, not EVER using it again for food. In fact it's probably a good idea if it never was used for food, most of this stuff is super cheap anyway (DOLLA DOLLA store Y'all!)

WHATCHA GONNA NEED:

1. Disposable Forks/Spoons (easy to clean, you CAN reuse them - and your food won't taste like soap!)

2. Molds - You really can use pretty much anything shallow plastic/silicone - I prefer the silicone ice cube molds (because they are easy to flex and release) which I get at the Dollar Store, Amazon.com, Ebay, Michaels, Hobby Lobby, Ben Franklins, Party City, etc yaddyadda. You can also use chocolate molds, candy molds, jello molds really anything that is a thick plastic.

3. Melt and Pour Soap Base- These come in a variety of bases (Goats milk, clear glycerin, honey, olive oil) and most of them are vegan! Always double check with the manufacturer (you can sometimes google it too). I know for a fact that "Life of the Party" Essentials you can purchase from Michaels is all vegan except for Goats Milk base and Honey (I called the company for you!!) You can purchase these from Micheals, Hobby Lobby, Ebay, Etsy, or online. Personally I get mine from Michaels since I haven't been doing large batches and use my 40% off one item coupon that I get online every week. Hobby Lobby and a few other craft stores put out a coupon online as well, never hurts to check the website before you go! It ends up being about the same as ordering online (around 4.99 or so for 2lbs) but you don't have to pay the shipping.

4. Fragrance - OK so here's a few things about fragrance you need to know. You want to use ONLY fragrance/essential oils. You can pick these up in a pinch from your local natural food places but more than likely you won't ever need/use as much as they sell you and selection is a bit limited. What I LOVE to do is get samples of peoples fragrances via ETSY or directly from Saveonscents.com (you want their sniffies samples) and use them. They are generally enough for a small batch of soap, and I can test my soap scents before I dedicate to getting a bigger bottle. So for what we are doing here, they are Grrrreaaat! SaveonScents.com in particular has most of the MSDS safety data on the scents they carry (and you can call them if it's not on their site yet) and they are very careful of letting you know if something can cause a skin irritation.

DO NOT USE PERFUME/LOTION. EVA. PERIOD. Perfume and the like can cause bad reactions in the soap causing it not to solidify, plus it will all end up smelling like grannies Eau de' Alcohol after a few weeks. It's not pretty.

So pick out what scents you like! A lot of people carry Designer scents (oils that smell like CoolWater, and Bath and Body Works stuff) and Novelty scents (I like the bacon one) and you can even buy single scents (ex: I love Pomegranate, Lime, and Gardenia) and mix them together to make your own special blends!!

5. A plastic or glass measuring instrument WITH a spout - make sure it's at least twice as big as the amount of soap you plan on making at one time and that it fits in your microwave.

6. Microwave- Kinda obvious I guess. You can use a double boiler if you want but that's a little extreme and messy for me. Don't use a direct stove-top pot (will burn your soap) or a toaster over (will...toast your soap) or a lighter (will, um...not do anything but give you finger burns).

7. GLOVES (2 pair at least preferably disposable) - Seems silly since you are making soap for yourself right? This is because you are using undiluted fragrance oils, they can cause skin irritation if applied on the skin full strength, just a drop is enough to give you an itchy rash or more in some cases. After the oils have been diluted in the soap they are fine, but I use caution beforehand (plus I make it for other peeps and I like being sanitary! You can totally eat off of my soap...um...*grins*) You can get these at Walmart, Sallys Beauty, Pharmacies, and stores of that nature for pretty cheap. Sallys tends to have smaller sized gloves that feel better and fit our hands nicely.

8. Metal/Plastic tray - This is a messy process and it's easier to get soap off of one area, than off of...everything. Nothing sucks worse than scrubbing soap out of your carpet (OK I can think of a few other things, candle wax being one) cause it never stops foaming. Never. Try getting one with a lip (yep, dollar store again!!) that is pretty sturdy, that way if you have to move cooling soap, it's steady. And if you make a spill, whala! It's contained.

9. Knife - That's not a knife. This, THIS is a KNIFE! I like a smooth small pairing or fruit peeling knife for this, sooo much less to hurt myself on, and the thin knives kinda glide through the soap. Cheap and non-serrated is what you are looking for.

OPTIONAL Shtuffs!!

1. Wire whisk - It helps break down the pigments a little easier. Since your not JUST using soap pigment it needs to be broken down a bit harder. Smaller ones are available, they work great (I just get the cheapos). A fork is just fine, but it might take a bit less time with a whisk.

2. Digital Scale - Since your soap is pretty much broken down into 1oz squares when you get it you really don't NEED one, but they do help if you are trying to get exact measurements.

3. Embellishments/additives - You can make a foot scrubbie bar with apricot or blueberry seeds, you can add glitter, you can add sequins, you can add bunches of things if you want. The sky is the limit there.

That's really it! All ya need! Woohoo!! NOW GET TO WORK. :)

Calculating soap volume for your mold:
To find out how much soap you'll need to melt to fill your mold, pour some water in the mold cavity all the way to the top. Then pour the water in a measuring glass. If each cavity is a different shape you'll need to measure each one, and write the measurement somewhere (I write mine on the bottom of the molds in sharpie). Add or multiply and you have the amount you'll need! ALWAYS ADD 1/2 oz more than you need in soap TOTAL to make up for lost soap that gets stuck to the side of the glass.

Instructions!

1. Gather together your Tray, Soap Base, Measuring Glass, Knife, Fork, Fragrance, Pigment (Your GS eyeshadow ;), and Gloves. Put your mold to the side for now.

2. Put on your Gloves. Place your Measuring Cup and Soap Base in the tray. Take your Knife and SLOWLY cut off a square one by one (1 square = approx. 1oz).

3. Place Soap Base in measuring glass.

4. Move Measuring Glass with Soap Base to Microwave But DON'T turn it on just yet! Just stick it in there (or near there) and walk away for a bit, you have some other things to do first. Take your Fork with you. A paper towel would also be good to have to lay your fork on if needed.

5. Get you Mold setup in the Tray. Make sure you have your Pigment and Fragrance open and ready to go.

6. NOW you can go back to the Microwave! You want to start it off at 40 seconds, but WATCH IT LIKE A HAWK. You are wtahcing it to see if it starts expanding. IF YOU SEE IT EXPANDING like a marshmallow TAKE IT OUT, it's ready. Don't leave it, don't go grab a magazine, don't even look away from it for a second!!! I promise you it will explody all over your Microwave if you do. Not fun to clean. Take it out and see if it's melted by swirling it around in the glass. Take your Fork and mix it up. if you see chunks, pop it back in for 10 second intervals until it's melted. Your goal is to get it out before its starts expanding, because expansion causes air bubbles, and they don't hurt anything - they just don't look very pretty.

7. It should look like this picture (or clear if you used glycerin).

8. Have your Fork ready (or you can leave it in the glass) and grab your Pigment and start adding it gently. TAP it in with your finger. Tappy tap tap!!

9. MIX it up with yer Fork!!

10. Add your Fragrance drop by drop (I normally do 2-4 drops per 1oz) and smell it to see if it's strong enough. Don't go over 6 drops per 1oz or it might not harden correctly. Mixey, mixey mixey again!!! Mix it for about 30 seconds until it's uniform.

11. Pour your Soap into the Mold GENTLY. Treat it like it was a newborn baby kitten, freshly hatched. Pour at the deepest part of the mold. Try not to 1/2 pour and then pour more, it can make weird layers and bubbles. The gentler you are to it the less chance you'll have air pockets or bubbles.

12. Leave it ALONE! Don't pOKe it/prod it/shake it/bake it/play pattycake with it for at least 30 minutes (for a Larger pour mold like 5oz each an over, give it an hour or more). You can take off your Gloves now too.

13. Since you're bored now, and sitting around waiting for soap to harden is pretty mind numbing, go soak your Measuring Cup and Fork in HOT WATER for a few minutes and then clean them up, and WASH your hands LOL! Really just use your hands to clean off that soap and you'll get a little of that happy good soap feeling.

14. Go back to your Soap after awhile and check it with a Gloved hand. It should feel solid in the center, there should be no "bounce" to it. If it still has "bounce" to it give it a little longer to cool. If not, move on up to the next step!

15. Lightly pull the edges around the mold. Then take your fingers and gently press in the center of the mold on the backside. It should pop out easily. Some molds like hard plastic are a little more ridged and require a bit more plying and pushing on the backside of the mold. Patience young Jedi, keep working at it and it will come free.

16. Gently lay you soaps on your tray. One by one, take your finger and run it around the edges to remove any excess soap and smooth down the edges.

17. It should look like this! When they are done, set them aside to "cure" for 3 days. You CAN use them immediately if you really really want to, but I always like to let them sit for awhile and harden up a bit to extend the life of them.

Caring for your soap

After you let them sit, use them! But when you are done using them, rinse the lather from them and put them on a "soap rest" and let them dry out after each use. If you are not using them for awhile you can store them in a cool dry place. Don't let the little buggers get warm or stand in water or you'll have a big puddle of gooey mess.

Summing up

It may sound like they are trixy to make, and I know I may make it sound harder or more complicated than it actually is. It's really really easy once you get the hang of it. And they are ADDICTING to make. You have SOOOO many options and you'll totally come up with new interesting things in no time!!

 You can read about "frankening" nail polish here, here, and here.

Thanks to everyone for sharing!