what was i thinking? formulating

Do you remember when I said I was going to start a series called "What was I thinking?"  Well, I think I'm ready.  I came up with the idea when I was organizing and delcuttering for our move from Minnesota to Oregon and was amazed at how many ingredients I had and how many notebooks of ideas and formulations I had, but yet felt like I had nothing and too much at the same time.  

Once in awhile I go through my formulating notebooks only to realize I keep trying to rediscover the same things!  I see myself trying similar formuations for lotions or soap or bath fizzies, not realizing I've done them already.  What a waste of time!  How unorganized am I?  I'm left brain, but yet I'm not.  I have a minor in chemistry, I should know how to formulate.  I do know, but sometimes it's not as fun as playing around I guess.  Restraint...I have none.

Today I discovered a bath fizzy recipe from November 2011.  I made it today and I like it.  My notes say my friend likes it.  Why did I not keep continuing to improve it?  Obviously I didn't love it if I didn't make it again.  If I combine the recipe I'm on now with this one I think I will be happy.  Maybe that's formulating.  But November 2011 to March 2013 is a long time to formulate something as simple as a bath fizzy and frankly not an earth shattering recipe either.  Oh well...I think I learned a few things.  Maybe I should come up with some rules for formulating....

The Rules of Formulating.

1.  Don't talk about formulating.

2.  Don't talk about formulating.

wait...this isn't Fight Club!

3.  Figure out what you want to make.

4.  Study ingredients and recipes.

5.  Formulate a recipe.

6.  Try it out for awhile.

7.  Figure out if you like it or not.  What do or don't you like about it?  Try to pinpoint ingredients that you like and ingredients you don't like.

8.  TAKE NOTES!!!  I want to slap myself silly on some of my recipes for not taking notes.  Luckily I take notes on the recipes I do like, which is better than nothing.  It would be nice to have more notes on things I don't like.  You always think you'll remember something, but you won't.

9.  If you want to change the recipe, don't change too much at one time.  The best way to test a recipe is to only change one ingredient at a time.  Technically you should have your control recipe and then you could maybe make 3 other recipes changing one ingredient on each one and then compare.  This way you can be sure what ingredient does what.  I felt like I could change multiple things at the same time, but in the end it just confused me.

10.  Focus on your goal.  Don't get sidetracked. 

11.  On a side note...don't be afraid to think outside the box.

12.  If the recipe is going nowhere, ditch it, and start over!  This is what I did with my body creams.

13.  Know when you're done and then pat yourself on the back.

Even though I haven't been the ideal formulator, there is a method to my madness.  I have learned so much over the years and suddenly everything is coming together.  I feel like I can formulate in an efficient manner now.  I feel like I know what each ingredient can bring to a formulation.  The perfectionist in me says it was a waste of time and money, but it was a hobby for me so it was okay to play around.  Either way, I enjoyed a lot of the products.  

I better go...I need to formulate.  I will never stop!