Stayng hydrated is a balancing act for me, I can't drink a lot between dialysis treatments. Docs have ordered me to dring less than 40 ounces of liquids a day, and that includes stuff like fruit,rice,jello, and of course beverages. If I go over, I put on too much "Water Weight", which is bad for my heart. . My sister the Pharmacist told me to use vaseline at night, any type of chapstick during the day. I have Burts Bees with real beeswax.

Hi Kal2002, You can use some cooking oils if not most. The olive oil is just fine.. but the vitamin E.. I haven't ever cooked with it myself, but you can use it in lip gloss and other body products. However large amounts of Vitamin E will be greasy, but that might be the feel you are going for. :0) As for the glycerin.. there is a few grades of glycerin. I have seen both.. the lower end one at Walmart.. the high end one at health food stores & some places on the internet. I think whatever you have should be fine, unless most of your recipe is glycerin... then you might want to try and find the thicker one. Which is more expensive. I would think Mac probably uses the thicker one.. but they could use the thinner one for the price being cheaper. But really it comes down to what you like in the end. I'm kinda wondering how much vitamin E you used in you first batch. It should, if enough is used keep it fresh for quite a while. Yup, my mango butter is the same way as yours, it has a higher melting point then Shea butter, but as you can see by putting both of them side by side, you will have a thicker lip gloss with the mango butter. I also like the mango butter over the Shea because it is not as greasy and seems to absorb better. Also, once it is melted.. it doesn't come out grainy in the product. Hope this helps! If you have more questions I will try to answer as best I can. Have fun with the lip gloss. :0) Stacy

I agree with morz8's DH. I usually have Blistex or Chapstick with me throughout the winter. I prefer the Blistex raspberry flavored version but I haven't seen it in the stores in years, partly because I haven't needed to shop for it in about a decade. At some point my wife had a short consulting gig with Wyeth at the ChapStick manufacturing plant in Richmond. In additional to paying her, they also gave her a bag containing about 50 different ChapSticks.

It has been cooler for the past 3-4 days. We are into the heat again today and for at least the next week. I will post photos of the new blooms. We will be getting a good rain this evening. Martian Moons has not had a clean bloom yet. I think I’ve had 5 blooms on the only scape, just disappointing. The fan is big and healthy looking. With space at somewhat of a premium here I don’t have room for a poor performer here, it’s leaving. Would you want to try it in your garden? Sherry