Cinnamon Lip Balm

I've been trying out some of the flavors I made samples of, and for the most part I really like them. The cinnamon one is a bit of a problem though. I love the cinnamon I have- it has a pure sweet cinnamon scent, without the woody earthiness a lot of cinnamon essential oils have. But I put way too much in the sample I made, and it made my lips burn. I'd still like to develop a flavor around it, but I'll have to cut back on how much I put into it. I want to make products that make people feel good, not ones that make them go "ouch."

I also like seeing how the different blends work in the lip balm base. Some of them smelled a little weird straight out of the bottle, but the base softens it up. It changes on the lips too, probably since it's just a thin layer. When I'm making perfumes, I usually start with either diluted materials, or I add the essential oils drop by drop into the alcohol, so I really don't get to smell the fragrances in non-dilute form. Seeing how a blend transforms in the lip balm is pretty interesting for me as a result.

Lip Balm Flavors

It's been a rather busy night for me. I've had several lip balm flavors I developed last month, and I've been so worried about which ones would actually work well. I didn't want to create borrowing flavors, since that would be too easy. I finally decided to just go ahead and make little samples of each. I had 12 flavors planned, and I added a few drops to a sample container, and then added some lip balm base I had whipped up. I had some extra base, so I went and created two "single note" flavors- rose otto and carrot seed. The flavors are all still cooling, but I'm excited to see how they work out.

Southern California Flowers

I have quite the black thumb and have pretty much given up on hopes of having my own garden. Living in a city apartment with an amazing view of the skyline is nice, but sometimes I miss a yard full of pretty flowers. Visiting my in-laws this past weekend was great, since I got spend time in two flower filled yards.

In Berkeley it felt like all of the bougainvillea was a hot pink, but I love the delicate pink of the ones growing in front of my in-laws' window.