Mad Scientist

I've spent a considerable amount of time in my kitchen lately.  While that is nothing new, what is new is the reason I'm in the kitchen. Yes, I am still making great foodstuffs. (And I think up several more each day!)
No, what has been keeping me in the kitchen is Christmas Gifts.

Still working on adjusting the oil, and sugar and scents, but it's a start.

Yeah, strange. I know most people like making cookies or breads to exchange at Christmastime. Not me. Nosirree! I like to make fun, smelly, luxurious stuff. And last weekend was no exception.


I've been experimenting with making new Sugar Body Scrubs. So far I have a couple 'keepers' and a couple 'not on your life' scents going. I think I developed 11 scents, total. Time will tell if they make it to the 'keeper' list!

I made one I call Christmas Cookie- with hints of spearmint and vanilla.
Another is a twist on an old favorite of mine (Dreamscicle) that has hints of tangerine and vanilla.
I made a nice, mellow lavender field scented scrub.
A favorite is the Fall-ish scent of cinnamon pumpkin pie with a hint of clove.
Then there's a wonderful, wholesome lemon sugar scrub. It's nice and airy and smells like that lemon pound cake you get at Starbucks.
But my favorite, by far, that I have made up last weekend has got to be a mistake. I mean, who would've thought putting together the scents I did (two scents I added to this one are strawberry and mint) would culminate into what Olderspawn calls Fig Newton. ??? I mean...really? Still. I wrote down the recipe I used, so I can duplicate it. And I also cannot call it Fig Newton. Something about a trademark or copyright infringement or something. Kraft or Nabisco or whoever will come after me brandishing legal papers, I'm sure.

Grau stepped up to the plate and immediately declared it fabulous, and offered that we call it Fig Isaacs.
Olderspawn laughed and thought it a grand idea.
So I think we're stuck with Fig Isaacs on that one. :)

I made quite a few more scented scrubs. I'm not happy with all of them. A couple will be given away immediately. Sometimes, I have to remind myself how much I do *not* like flower scents. Did I listen to myself? No. I went ahead and made a Jasmine scented scrub and it is absolutely ucky to me. I should listen to myself more often and stick with the food and herb and spice scents. Things seem to turn out better that way.

And before you say, 'hey- I call shenanigans! Lavender is a flower!' yes, I know this. And I can only take it in small doses. Although it does help with relaxation, so that's a plus.  I do use lavender buds in some of my potpourri mixtures. Mostly because lavender is a good base or background scent. It adds depth without adding a lot of 'in your face' scent. I like that.

So, next weekend it's back into the kitchen to experiment with different carrier oils, different sugars and scents. I just hope my friends like smelly mistakes because that's what I think they get for Christmas!