When Bath Bombs Go Wrong...and Right!

Look at this, would you?  May I introduce to you the world's ugliest bath bombs?

Sad, but unfortunately true.  Cracked, crumbly, warty.  What happened?  Let's take a look...

Your basic bath bomb recipe is:
2 parts baking soda
1 part citric acid
Distilled water in a spray bottle. 

Yep.  That's it.  Mix that together and you get a lovely, strong bath bomb that fizzes like an insanely effervescent mega Alka Seltzer but that's as exciting as it gets.  No fragrance, no skin-loving oils, no pretty colors.  NO GLITTER.  Can you say boring?  BORING!

So, I went ahead an added a bunch of stuff.  Coconut oil to moisturize the skin.  Colorant to make it pretty.  Vitamin E and yummy skin-happy Juniper Aloe fragrance oil.  Glitter, of course!!  And spritzed with distilled water to make it all stick together.  I mixed it all up to a nice damp-sand texture.  I got out my handy-dandy stainless steel bath bomb molds and started molding.

As I put them one by one on the table to dry and set, I noticed some weird little bumps growing on the surface.  What on earth...?  I tried pushing them back in with my finger. 

Nope, that didn't help.  I left them alone but eventually they totally bottomed out. They went flat and smooshy.  I wish I had a photo for you, but I couldn't look at them any longer.  So...let's get to the point.  What went wrong?

The ingredients themselves were not the problem.  The problem was...too much liquid.  I sprayed way too much distilled water into the dry ingredients and it set off the fizzing action prematurely.  It was fizzing in there as it was drying.  Eek!  The other issue was not enough pressure.  My wimpy little arms just couldn't do the job.  Without resorting to buying expensive equipment, I got the next best thing.  My husband graciously offered to make my bath bombs for me from now on.  Trooper!   

Here we go.  Round Two.  This is how bath bombs are supposed to look.  Smooth.  Round.  Un-warty.

Wanna know what we did with the ugly ones?  3 mins, 41 secs of super glittery fizzing power!! 

Flattery.com.au

I have to introduce you to Tracey of Flattery.com.au.  Tracey was introduced to me via a mutual friend in Australia (Hi Lara!) and she asked Fairy Cute to design lip balms for her business.  Check out what she does!  She makes the most amazingly gorgeous, earth friendly cloth nappies/diapers.  Good for baby, good for the planet.  Looky...this one has to be my favorite!

And for baby boys...

And this one is called Fairy Floss!

Tracey gives her Flattery labelled lip balms as a free gift to every diaper customer.  I hear they are quite the hit with some folks trying to collect-them-all!  We have some really fun new flavors in the works for her this year and her fans have been trying to guess the new flavours on her Facebook page.  Who knows?  Maybe there's something extra in it for the winners?   

So if you are a new mum or know someone who is, be sure to pop on over to Flattery for beautifully handcrafted, colourful, earth-friendly nappies...and a free lip balm! 

P.S.  I tried my best to use Aussie spellings throughout this post.  It's been 11 years since I lived there...it's not habit for me anymore!  :(

Rainbow Day

"What comes after Wednesday?"
"Thursday"
"Yes!  What comes after Thursday?"
"Rainbow Day!"

Every day should be Rainbow Day!

Soap Gum Balls

This weekend I played around with some new techniques.  Made a total mess but had soooo much fun.  And they really are the size of a real gum ball!  Need a good soap dish for these little suckers.  They just want to roll, roll, ROLL!

Sea salt in your soap?

I am a bath addict.  I would take one every night if I could.  Most nights, I can and do.  Bath salts are one of my true life savers.  You know, the sprinkly kind of deliciously scented bath salts you scoop into the tub and let dissolve while you soak all the stress headaches, pains and anxiety away.  Even the sound of the salt chunks hitting the water is soothing to me. 

So, I wondered.... what about sea salt in soap?  I have to admit, I found this concept rather strange but I had to try it.  A few weeks of researching, testing and designing bring us to...THESE BEAUTIES!

Green Apple, Lemon and Pomegranate Sea Salt Shea Butter Soap
www.fairycute.com

The salt adds a beautiful texture to the glycerin soap and acts as somewhat of a buffer.  To combat any kind of dryness, I added a beautiful shea butter base behind the coloured layers.  Perfect combo of smoothing and moisturizing ingredients.  Try it and see!  If you don't love it...I'll take it back and keep it for myself!  ;)

Fruity Cute #1

Now that I'm (kind of) coming down from my royal wedding high, I've been back in the kitchen with lots of yummy, fruity fragrance oils and dreaming up some new soap designs.  It also helps that it is getting inspiringly (yes, that's a word) warm outside and summer is upon us here in Phoenix, Arizona.  My husband and I are massive sweet tooths (sweet teeth? ) and love desserts - maybe a little too much.  Figured I'd make one of our favourite desserts in soap form!  So here's the first in the 2011 Fruity Cute series...Lemon Meringue Pie!

Lemon Meringue Pie Soap
By Fairy Cute

The coolest part about this soap?  It really, truly smells like the real thing...right down to the crust.  Delicious...and completely calorie free!  Now if only we had Smell-a-vision... 

I just had to.

I vaguely remember watching Lady Diana Spencer become the Princess of Wales.  I was only 5, but no one could forget the images of that day.  Unfortunately for my parents, this triggered my passion for all things royal.  By the time Prince Andrew married Sarah Ferguson, I was in a full blown obsession.  I taped it on our VCR and I watched it over and over...many times.  I was intrigued that she changed from a floral headpiece to the diamond tiara after signing her marriage certificate.  I loved that she had the letters A and S embroidered in the train of her dress.  I even had their wedding photos ripped from magazines on my bedroom walls.  It wasn't Princes Charles or Andrew who stole my heart...it was the women in all their diamond, silk and taffeta covered glory!

So, it only makes sense that I would once again - with the rest of the world - be swept up in all the romance of another fairytale, British royal wedding.  Cute little mischievous page boy Prince William is now all grown up and marrying the bride of his dreams.  Delightful and I can't wait! 

K & W soap - Tudor Rose fragrance, of course!

- Rachel

Butterflies are coming...

If you're girly like me, you love all things pink, glittery, whimsical...and butterflies!  I love how these butterflies "float" inside the soap.  Next time we'll throw in some unicorns for ya.  ;)

Twig the Fairy

Every year Twig the Fairy flutters into the Arizona Renaissance Festival entertaining and mystifying the crowds with her mischievous giggles and sprinklings of fairy dust. It was a pure delight to meet her this year. For me, it was like meeting a celebrity. I'm not ashamed to say that I was completely star-struck! Absolutely, positively, enchantingly, sparklingly, mischievously, delightfully perfect is Twig the Fairy and we love her to bits!

Little Natalie gave her a secret fairy gift bag...

...and Twig graciously took time to open it and open it while we all looked on.

We think she liked it!

Then she played a little tune on her magical fairy pipe...

And gave Natalie a very special fairy stone with a sprinkling of gold fairy dust!

I hope it is a memory that Natalie will remember forever. I know I will.

Springtime Trio

Spring brings new baby animals.  When I was little, I witnessed a goat giving birth to twin kids early in Spring.  The whole thing grossed me out, but totally fascinated me.  Once the babies recovered and were cleaned up, they were SO cute!  Tightly curls in their soft white fur.  Makes you want to just nuzzle them and take a happy nap. 

Every spring I think of them and all the new baby animals that are born all over the world.  In our part of Arizona, it's common to see baby quail walking single file behind their mothers, their little head-feathers bouncing around.  Baby bunnies that fit in your hand hop around cautiously but you can tell they are just little balls of happy, fluffy goodness.

In short, Spring is my favorite season.  It only makes sense that I honor it with these cutie little springtime soaps.  Shameless plug...yep.  I'll leave it at that.  Now please bring me some Peeps!

Spring has definitely sprung!

Now that I am well and truly accustomed (well, pretty much) to Phoenix, Arizona summers I now can't handle the outside temperature being below 75F.  Ridiculous?  Yes.  My blood is very thin these days.  Brrrr!

So, when Spring rolls around in March I am a HAPPY little lamb.  I love the sun being up before I am.  I love the pastel colors coming out in all the decorations and flowers.  The images of bunnies and chicks and lambs... so cute!  It makes perfect sense that I have been surviving through winter to create and release this gorgeous little soap.  I've been waiting for months to show you!!



Isn't it sooo cute!?!  Those are little glittery Easter eggs inside!

 Let me know what you think!  Available now at our Etsy store! 

Oh, and I also love Cadbury Creme Eggs season.  To...die...for!

Fairytale friends - so Fairy Cute!

Have you seen our new Fairytales glycerin soaps?  If not...here they are:



Magical Unicorn, Frog Prince and Fairy Princess

 Totally in love with PeachPops Clipart designs.  Aren't they adorable?  These soaps are now available in our Etsy store.  Let us know what you think!  

Valentine's Day - 2011

Valentine's Day is my second favourite holiday.  I love seeing all the pink, white, red and hearts everywhere, the cute little mailboxes kids put on their desks for their friends to fill with V Day notes...and I can't forget to mention all that chocolate!   Since I'm not in school anymore and I shouldn't eat as much chocolate as I really really want to, I made this cute glycerin soap instead. 

This project was so fun!  In the center is a solid, glittery heart and the bottom layer is a gorgeous glittery red base.  And the citrus strawberry scent is to die for!  I think I'll make some bath salts to match!

I'd love to see your handmade goodies for Valentine's Day! 

(By the way, my first favourite holiday is Halloween but we'll get to that in October. :) ) 

An Eye Candy Event Details Giveaway

When Laura from Eye Candy Event Details called for collaborators on her Facebook page, I'm not sure she knew what she was in for!  Honestly, neither of us really knew how a giveaway would work between us as we were coming from completely different angles - she designs party printables, I make lip balm.  But we put our heads together and the end result was delightful!  Check it out!  




Label design by Laura.  Lip balm by Fairy Cute®

 

The "KISS ME" damask party giveaway included postcards, love notes, gift tag/ toppers,napkin wraps, printable pattern paper, frameable artwork.  Such a unique design and so fun to be a part of!

Congrats to Traci from Sampler Village - winner of this year's Valentine's Day package!   Woo hoo!