Li's crafting thoughts

I've been crafting like mad recently. I've been trying to craft natural cosmetics no less than three times a week--ideally I'd like to craft at least 5 times a week, but with school work (mainly consisting of my thesis and work for my seminar class on ecotourism), and just every day living spending time with my family, friends, and boyfriend, and trying to get my health back completely on track that isn't possible right now. But in the last few months I feel like I've been more focused on crafting than I ever have: I've been thinking a lot about my future, about opening my own business and what types of products I'd possibly like to make and sell. In the past I used to just concoct one product, and once made, start working on a different product, usually never experimenting with the proportions, or even ever making the exact same recipe again (too many different ingredients to play with, and too many recipes to think up of). I still do that to some extent now, but I've been focusing more on trying to get the texture right, revamping the formula, and just trying different proportions, etc.

Recently I've mostly been crafting vegan lip balms, vegan creams, and also (melt and pour) soaps, but I've also been experimenting with perfume combinations as well. Some of the recipes have turned out wonderful (I've made two vegan balms and a vegan cream I love very much), and others have turned out not quite to my liking (either I just use them as is--dealing with the weird textures--, or I melt it down and play with the proportions, or I use it to make an entirely different product. Quite a few of my balms have been made into creams). But over all I've been really happy with what I've been crafting.

I've gotten quite a few new carrier oils (I think by now I've tried over thirty different oils), been playing around with different emusifiers (waxes and gums), and recently just restocked my essential oil collection. My essential oils now consist primarily of organic oils, though a couple of them (the more expensive ones, or a couple that I don't use as much) are conventional. I've also bought many essential oils I haven't tried yet. I can't wait to start experimenting with them but my credit card sure has been burning! ;)

I am still intent on crafting vegan cosmetics, though I do miss some ingredients (like yogurt, honey, and beeswax). I still have a ton of beeswax left still, and am debating what to do with it. Candles, maybe?