Took my first crack at making some face cream today and I'm happy to say that it came out fantastic. I flavoured it with lavender essential oil because that's all I really had so it will make a rather soothing night cream.

I dropped the water volume by a bit because the batch that our instructor made at the course I did came out rather thin. This batch, however, has come out really thick and creamy and I can't wait to start using it. I need to put an order in for a whole range of essential oils I think. I've only got a few right now and I'd like to see what kinds of combinations I can come up with. Should buy a book on aromatherapy so I can learn about the qualities of each of the oils I buy. I also need to put a Bamix on the list coz the cheap stick mixer I have puts masses of bubbles in the cream, which is a nuisance.

I made 3 new batches of soap yesterday.

1. Lemon myrtle and oatmeal in vegetable and coconut oil soap
2. Cedarwood and organic kelp in olive oil soap
3. Vanilla and cinnamon in vegetable and coconut oil soap

Unfortunately with soaps I have to leave them to saponify for around 6 weeks so the finished product won't be available for a while. I might make some more batches over the next few weeks so that I don't have to wait 6 weeks to have more available.

I told a girl I work with today and she has requested that I make her some fragrance-free extremely mild soap for her partner who has very sensitive skin. So I'll see what I can find for that. I don't mind making a batch of special soap if I already know someone is going to buy it. :)

Fees + fees + more fees.

I put all of ebay's assorted fees into a spreadsheet and you really need to be selling expensive or multiple items for them to not significantly eat into any profit you might make from the sale. A test run produced no bites but quite a few views so people are definitely looking.

It was suggested to me that I should instead start up a website of my own so I can display and sell my products when they are available. It'll also give me a site to direct people to, which I'm sorely lacking in right now. Its a bit hard to promote yourself when you've got nothing to show. I know I like to browse a website before I make a purchase so I expect its the same with most people.

So, I've put out a call for help to a good friend who is rather proficient in web design and e-commerce. I'm completely in the dark when it comes to this sort of stuff so a bit of advice will go a long way I'm sure.

In the meantime I should get back to work and make some new products. I'm rather disappointed that I can't seem to source some reasonably priced geranium essential oil still. My best provider in Tasmania is indicating that they're taking longer and longer to fill orders so I might need to place a bulk order of an assortment of things and start a few other projects while I wait.

For now, I think a new batch of soap and some moisturiser is on the cards.