22nd Day of Fall, 513 AV Black Diamond Cosmetics A sigh, followed by another. Yes, it was not a common sight within the cosmetics shop, but it was indeed a sigh that escaped proprietor Katherine Morealis' pursed lips. As it happens, it was not a normal day either. Iora had called in sick after her face broke out in rashes with a product test mishap just the day before. At first, it seemed to her mistress that a product contained a tad too much of a certain offending ingredient, but it so turned out that the little servant had been careless enough to touch a bunch or two of poison ivies before she applied the prototype cream on her face. What a total idiot. There is no further need to explain how horrible this turned out for poor Iora's face, and it would have probably stayed that way if Katherine had delayed in making the girl wash her face with cold water and dabbing it with some alcohol leftover from previous experiments. Just to be sure though, she had sent the Inarta to the city clinic for further examinations. It would be a waste to see that pretty face scarred permanently. Now, however, Iora's absence proved to be quite a dilemma for Katherine. First of all, there was no one to do the menial tasks inside the shop which Katherine absolutely abhorred doing. One of such was wiping the dust that settled on the shelves and the counter. Of course, she can't be called to do this, and she still didn't want to let Shayna inside the store proper. She also didn't have anyone to test the new batch of products she made early this morning. Perhaps she would see if Shayna would be up to the task later. Right now, she had work to finish. Katherine was, at that moment, holed up inside the laboratory behind the shop. She had temporarily closed the shop for the day since there was no one to attend to the customers now that Iora was absent. She was currently working on a new variety of shampoo. The recent bouts of Fall rain had caused a rise in air humidity, and this brought forth more customers, mostly her high born peers, who wanted to tame their frizzy hair. Katherine readily took the challenge as a subconscious ploy to boost her ego if she really managed to find the cure for Kenash's puffy hair problems. And the recipe? It was already drafted in Katherine's philtering notes, safely tuck inside a leather bound journal. She opened it to the page where she had written her selected ingredients, the ratio of which was calculated to yield about 8 ounce of the final product. She would refrain from creating large amounts of the shampoo until she could be assured that it was good enough to be sold in the shop.
Placing the journal on the side of the table where it will be relatively safe from spills, Katherine began her work by weighing out the shea butter, scooped into a large glass beaker, on the weighing scale. After getting the desired amount of the butter, Katherine placed it over the brazier and heated it until it was melted. While waiting for the shea butter turn into liquid, she went ahead and weighed wheat germ, coconut, jojoba, and argan oils. Removing the shea butter from the fire with the use of crucible tongs, she carefully set it on the table and slowly stirred in the oils she had previously weighed into the melted butter with a thin glass rod. She next weighed out the liquid soap. It was a new variety of soap, this one. It didn't contain any lye and was purely made of plant oils. Since it was a new product to her, Katherine wanted to test how well it would mix with other ingredients. If the products turn out well, she would produce her own batch in the shop to keep from being obligated to buy from outside sources. Katherine gently poured she mixture of melted shea butter and oils into the liquid soap, constantly stirring as she did so. Leaving the blend behind for a moment, she took a couple of graduated glass pipettes from its wooden rack and measured the respective amounts of essential oils, honey, and the tangy combination of sage and citrus fragrance oils as well. This, too, she poured into the blend and painstakingly mixed the liquids. She continued to stir the mixture for at least three chimes, at least until she was sure the ingredients have combined thoroughly. Finally, she poured the shampoo inside a medium-sized jar, but she left the lid on to let the mixture cool. Katherine noted that it was thinner than the shampoos she usually made. It was to be expected though since there was no animal fat in it at all. No matter, she thought. I will just have to weigh the pros against the cons and see if this would sell as good as the others. And now, to test it out... "Shayna!" Katherine loudly called out a window as she washed the containers she used. With slender fingers, she rubbed at the oils vigorously with a sponge soaked in soap. It was important to keep the containers spotlessly clean: if she failed to do this, various oils would mix together and might cause some unpleasant, unaccounted after effects in her production. Recipe used courtesy of Rebecca's Soap Delicatessen |