About the fast, easy method I teach in my book.

Instead of making everything from scratch - you know, emulsions, fractionated oils, lye, chemicals - I use bulk unscented bases that are professionally made for this purpose.

Using product bases is a fairly new method that wasn't available until a few years ago. It ensures that you get professional, usable products on the very first attempt. The bases I recommend are absolutely wonderful in terms of natural, high-quality ingredients. One supplier has shea butter as the second ingredient!

For most people, the main reasons for making products "from scratch" are:

The ability to use high quality natural ingredients but still have a reasonable cost.

If you see "shea butter lotion" in Whole Foods or Origins, it costs an arm and a leg, and there's not much shea butter in it. In the past, making shea butter lotion from scratch was the only way you could get real shea butter lotion at an affordable price.

But now, many spa suppliers have opened up their unscented base catalogs for crafters like us. You don't have to slave away to get shea butter lotion - you can just buy the base for much less money, and much less time.

Getting products in your favorite scents.

Using bases is perfect for this! You can cut straight to the fun part, scenting your toiletries with your signature scents. Some fragrances are so hard to find, especially old-fashioned florals like lilac and honeysuckle, that the only thing to do is make them yourself!

I have an entire section devoted to helping you choose, find, and make your own fragrances. It was so much fun to write, and I think it will help you find the perfect fragrances for your bath and body products!

Using your creativity

For me, this is the main reason to "make stuff." Creativity! It wakes up the brain. But making products from scratch is often a chore that gets in the way of creativity, at least for me. I have to go through the motions of making a basic lotion or gel before I can add my "mad science" ingredients (silk, weird botanical extracts, whatever!)

In fact, for me, making bases is a boring task that I hate. It's a lot like stretching and gesso-ing canvases before you can paint on them! (I went to art and design school.) By using bases, I don't have to worry if my products will turn out (or worry that my expensive extra ingredients will be wasted.)

Want to experience a pioneer activity or lifestyle

If that is the case, then nothing will satisfy you but making your own lotion and soap from scratch. Don't get me wrong - it can be incredibly fun - but you will have to exercise your patience and perseverance while you learn.

If you want to get started making products from scratch, do not learn from websites. For the most part, these are amateur hobbyists who don't know how to teach that well, and they often promote wrong information about ingredients and safety practices.

Instead, go to Borders or Amazon and buy some real, published books with photos. Read the reviews or do your own flip-through. This alone will save you a lot of frustration.

But if you want to whip up high-quality products that are immediately usable...

Try my method. By using bases, you save a lot of time and gruntwork. Your products will be ready to use, give, or even sell in about 5 minutes (unless you do something really experimental.)