Assembling the skin care courses

Who says its a glamorous job working at Plush Folly?! Today I have been assembling the Skin Care home study courses. We only make these up in small batches so that the ingredients are fresh - but also because we just don't have the space to store them in large quantities.

There are 33 different ingredients included with the course - each of these needs to be weighed or measured, packed or poured and labelled. Its no mean feat, especially as I was working on my own (it's half term) which meant stopping and answering the phone (12 times) and receiving a visitors to pick up their orders (twice). Oooh, I've just spotted the chocolate bar in the photo, shhh that was a treat for when I'd finished!

I started with the oils - always keen to get the messiest bit out of the way first. We include sweet almond, castor, cherry kernel, calendula, avocado, rosehip, vitamin E and evening primrose oil - and of course my favourite olive squalane which ok, I know it isn't an oil, but I group it with the oils for 'messy' pouring. Pouring vitamin E is always a challenge - it is so thick and gloopy that I have to concentrate hard to make sure it goes in the little bottles rather than clog up and simply pour down the sides. With the oils out of the way I can have a major clear up before I tackle the lovely floral waters. Lavender, rose, neroli, witch hazel, geranium - and we always include a guest floral water. Which one shall I go for today - ah yes, the lovely Melissa that recently arrived. Quick check against my list.....aloe vera, glycerine and preservative, there we are - that's all the pouring out of the way except for the essential oils. I'll do them last.

Another big clear up and what shall I do next? Will it be the clays, botanicals, fruit powder, honey powder, xanthan gum, jojoba beads or the waxes? Yes you're right - the waxes can be next. That's beeswax and emulsifying wax in the bag (ha ha!). While I'm packing those I can decide which fruit powder to include. My favourite is the strawberry as I love the smell, but the mango is tempting me.....

Finally, all the powders (inlcuding the mango!) have been weighed, packaged and labelled and now all I've got to worry about are the essential oils. As a treat I'm going to start with the rose, then the geranium. I always do them in order of my favourite first. I'm leaving the tea tree to the fifth and final pour as I'm never quite sure about that one. Great for problem skin and in a face mask treatment though - which is why it is included.

I'm running out of room here, but I don't want to start packing into boxes just yet as that is so much easier when everything is ready. If I can just make room so that I can sort the packaging out.......note to self: Don't forget the muslin cloths Yes, you're right - I say that as I DID forget the muslin once. Luckily the customer was very understanding and we sent more in the post before she'd even got round to making her hot cloth cleanser.

That's it! I do believe I have everything ready. I can start packing them into boxes. Gone are the days when we'd have to print over 100 pages of courseware to go with the ingredients - all the courseware and assignments are downloadable from the students accounts and the quizzes are now taken online.

I'd be very excited to receive one of these boxes and knowing how quickly these sell, I'm sure it won't be long before I'm making up more boxes! For more details about this home study course, please visit our website