All You Need To Know About Paint Brushes

June 29, 2008 Painting, Techniques and Mediums No Comments

Types of Brushes

  1. Spotters- Fine detail work
  2. Liners- Continuous curved or straight lines of same thickness
  3. Scripts- Holds more liquid than Liners
  4. Miracle Wedge- Can be loaded on three sides with different colors
  5. Chisel Blenders- Thick, heavy color or fine precision blending
  6. Angular Shaders- Fan, leaf, “S”, and “C” strokes
  7. Filbert- Soft edges and blending colors
  8. Rake- Texturing for fur, grasses, vines, or feathers
  9. Fan- Dry texturing and smoothing, softening of brush strokes
  10. Dagger Striper- Long flowing thick to thin line work
  11. Deerfoot Stippler- Texturizing with pouncing motion for fur or foliage
  12. Washes- Long, broad sweeping strokes · Shaders- Crisp edges, stroke work, and floating
  13. One Stroke- Longer hair than Shader for lettering and borders

Natural or Synthetic?

Natural brushes are made of animal hair and are usually the most costly and time consuming to make. Most painters feel that a natural brush gives the finest chiseled edge or point. Synthetic brushes are manufactured with hairs made of polyester. The advantages of a synthetic brush include being less expensive to produce, easier to clean, less prone to damage from solvents and paint, and better suited for painting with acrylics.

Proper Care of Brushes

  1. Use the proper solvent for the paint being used. Watercolors and acrylics use water. Oils use solvents.
  2. Keep the water-based brushes and solvent brushes (oils) separate. Most solvents repel water.
  3. Always clean the brush between brush changes and color changes. Never allow paint to dry on the brush. Acrylics dry very quickly, even when basecoating with an acrylic there is a need to clean the brush occasionally.
  4. Avoid twisting and pushing down hard on the brush hairs. It leads to distortion of the natural direction of the hairs. The fine edge or point of the brush is permanently damaged.
  5. The water level of your water container should not be above the ferrule (where brush hair is attached to handle) of the brush. Excessive moisture to the handle can cause the surface of the handle to chip and erode causing damage to the ferrule and brush handle. Excessive moisture will distort and loosen the ferrule.
  6. Never let a brush sit in water. Clean or rinse brush and remove from water container. When the painting session is done completely clean the brush. First wipe brush on a paper towel. Rinse thoroughly in proper solvent. A brush cleaner or soap and water should be used. Then wipe brush over paper towel again to make sure there are no traces of color left in brush. Dry the brush including ferrule and handle. Reshape the brush with fingers.
  7. Store brushes upright on their handles, suspended, or lying flat. Tips (brush hair) should not be bent or pressured.
  8. Avoid storing wet brushes in an airtight container to prevent mildew problems.
  9. Do not try to keep placing the little plastic tip protector back on the brush. More times than not, damage is done to the brush hairs. The plastic tip was meant to protect the brush from the manufacturer to the store shelf.
  10. Avoid getting paint into the ferrule. It is better to have a light touch with the paints and have to apply a second coat, than to overload a brush with paint. It is a good idea to occasionally restore the natural oils in natural hair brushes with a paintbrush conditioner or clean with conditioning brush soap.
  11. Use damaged brushes for basecoating, strippling, antiquing, or donate to a children’s craft class.
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Aging & Antiquing

June 29, 2008 Paper Crafts, Techniques and Mediums 3 Comments

Supplies Needed

Paper
Antiquing Gel: This is a liquid that is brushed on and then rubbed off leaving a thin film that makes an object look older. There are a variety of colors from white to black.
Steeped Tea: Place several tea bags into a bowl and add hot water. You want at least 3 tea bags to each cup of water. In other words, you want a strong batch of tea. Avoid teas that don’t give rich color like green teas.
Chalk Inks: A pigment ink that is usually light in saturation and hue.
When dry, it leaves a chalky like finish. Usually lightly sponged onto
antique a paper.
Acrylic Paints: Watered down to an inky consistency. Colors of dark blue, patina green, rust, black and burnt umber work best on light color paper while white, light gray and light blue work best on dark colors. Plus an old hard bristle tooth brush.
Fine Grit Sandpaper or Emery Board

Step-by-Step

6 Ways to Age, Antique or Distress

  1. You can ball up the paper and then smooth out. The more you crumple it, the more aged it will look. You’ll have a paper with a fine webbing of age lines. For a more polished look, iron the distressed paper.
  2. Spray a mist of strong tea onto the paper and iron it. The straining will make the paper look old. Repeat misting until the paper is aged to your perfection.
  3. Use fine grit sandpaper or emery board and sand lightly over different areas of your paper.
  4. Lightly sponge chalk ink over paper in aged colors like mustard, brown, rust, black or patina green. Keep adding color until happy. Light layering of color works best. A final dab of metallic ink adds richness to the antiquing.
  5. Lay background paper or scrapbook page on newspaper or other work surface covering. Dip old toothbrush into watered down acrylic paint. Flick toothbrush with your thumb and this sends a fine mist of paint over the paper. Repeat until you are happy. This technique is called speckling paper. Most craft acrylic paints are acid free.
  6. For hard surfaces like charms you can age the item by using antiquing gel. You will rub or brush on a small amount of the gel and then immediately brush the gel off with a paper towel. The gel will stick in the cracks and crevices to give the item an antique look.
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Woodworking Jargon

June 24, 2008 Crafts, Glossaries No Comments
Arris: the sharp corner formed by the meeting of two adjacent surfaces of a board
Astragal: narrow, half-round molding
Backlash: slack or play in the adjustment mechanism of the plane
Baller: tool used to round over the end of a dowel
Barefaced Joint: joint in which one or more of its shoulders are eliminated
Bead: traditional decoration often used with a tongue-and- groove joint to hide the gap between the boards
Bedding Angle: angle at which the frog or bed of the plane holds the plane iron
Bench Planes: planes used to smooth the face and edges of a board
Bevel: angle other than 90 degrees; inside surface that is sharpened on a plane blade, chisel, or other cutting tool; tool used to mark angles; it consists of a stock or handle and an adjustable blade and the edge of the stock rests against the edge of a board and the blade rests across the face: also called a bevel square or sliding T bevel
Bow: distortion in a board that causes the face to curve from end to end. If you place the face of a bowed board on a flat surface the center of the board will rest on the surface while the ends are above the surface
Block Planes: small planes that fit into the palm of your hand used primarily for trimming
Block Cushion Grainer: wood-graining tool used to mechanically reproduce wood grains; it has a rubber face that is covered with concentric, semi-circular grooves
Boxing: process of adding a new piece of wood to the front of the mouth of the plane
Burnished surface: surface that has a smooth, polished look
Cabinet scraper: scraper with a cast-iron body that holds a scraper blade
Camber: slight convexity, arch, or curvature
Cambium: layer of cells just beneath the bark of a tree where new growth occurs
Carcass: basic box or frame of a cabinet
Chalking: dusty film of pigments left on the surface of weathered paint
Chamfer: beveled cut on an edge
Cheek: part of the joint that is parallel with the face or edge
Clearance angle: angle formed between the work and the underside of the cutting edge of the blade
Closed-grain: wood with no easily discernible pore structure; does not require filling to achieve a smooth finish
Combination Plane: any plane that can be used for more than one job
Common Pitch: refers to a plane iron held at 45 degrees to the work by the frog or bed
Compass Plane: plane used to make convex or concave shapes
Corner: on a board the corner is the place where the face, edge and end meet
Crook: distortion in the edge of a board that causes the edge to curve from end to end; when the edge is placed on a flat surface the center of the edge will touch the surface while the ends are above the surface
Cove: concave molding cut into the edge of the board
Crosscutting: process of cutting a board at approximately a right angle to the grain direction
Cutting Angle: angle formed between the work and the top of the blade
Dado: flat bottomed recess cut into the face of a board across the grain
Dress: improve or smooth the surface of the wood
Dust Nibs: tiny bumps in a finished surface caused by dust particles landing on the wet finish
Edges: the narrowest surfaces of a board that are approximately parallel with the grain direction
Edge-Grain Wood: term applied to quarter-sawed wood, particularly softwood
Ends: narrowest surfaces of a board that are approximately perpendicular with the grain direction
End Grain: wood surface that has been cut at a 90″ angle to the length of the cells, often the end of a piece of lumber; end grain absorbs finishing material to a greater degree than other wood surfaces because open-cell cavities are exposed at the surface
Face: the four surfaces of a board that are approximately parallel to the grain; or the two widest surfaces of a board also called sides; or the widest surface of a board with the least number of defects is sometimes called the best face or select face
Filler Stick: wax-based wood putty in stick form available in a variety of colors and frequently used to fill nail holes after a finish has been applied
Fillet: flat section on a molding used to separate a section of the molding
Filling: process of packing the pores of open-grained wood with filler to create a smooth surface.
Fish Eyes: small, round depressions in a finished surface; frequently caused by contamination of the finish with silicones
Flat: finished surface with no gloss
Fluting: decorative molding that is frequently used as a decoration on table legs
Fore Plane: plane about 18 inches long used to surface or dress rough lumber
Grain: orientation of the fibers in the wood, or a term used to describe the visible pattern of pores and growth rings on a board; pattern produced by the annual rings in a piece of wood; also refers to the direction of the wood fibers
Grinding: coarse wearing away of a softer material by the abrasive actions of a harder material
Grit: abrasive particles used in coated abrasives
Groove: a flat-bottomed recess cut into the face of a board with the grain
Gutter Plane: plane with a convex sole and iron that can be used to make large architectural moldings such as the cove molding
Hand Scraper: simple scraper that consists of a steel blade that is held in your hands
Hardwood: wood derived from broad-leafed trees; has no relation to the actual hardness of the wood
Heartwood: wood from the center portion of the log. It is generally darker and more decay-resistant than the younger sapwood
High spots: areas of the board that are thicker or wider than the rest of the board
Honing: giving a keen edge to a plane iron
Jack Plane: a plane 12 to 17 inches long that is used to remove saw marks from lumber and cut down high spots
Jointer: a plane 22 to 36 inches long that is designed to make an edge straight and square with the face of the board
Jointing: making an edge straight and square with the face of the board
Kerf: a cut made in a board with a saw.
Knot: the intersection between a limb and the trunk of a tree that shows up in sawed lumber as a round, oval, or spike shaped area that is darker and harder than the surrounding wood
Length: the dimension of a board running parallel with the grain
Match Planes: planes used to make tongue-and-groove joints; these planes are used in pairs: one plane cuts the tongue and the other plane cuts the groove
Microbevels: small, secondary bevels at the tip of the plane iron
Mill Marks: marks left by a planer that give the surface of a board a wavy appearance
Mitre Joint: a joint that is cut at an angle; when two boards meet at 90 degrees, the mitre angle is 45 degree
Mortise and Tenon Joint: a joint in which a projection called a tenon on one board fits into a pocket called a mortise in the other board
Ogee: a molding with an S-shaped profile
Open Grain: the appearance of wood with large, visible pores that must be filled with paste filler to achieve a smooth surface; there are two types of open-grained wood: ring-porous and diffuse-porous: ring-porous woods like oak and ash have large pores at the beginning of each annual ring and diffuse porous wood like Philippine mahogany have large pores evenly distributed throughout the wood
Particle Board: a man-made reconstituted wood product that is made from very small wood chips or particles bonded together with glue under heat and pressure
Patina: the condition of a wood and its finish that develops over time; it is characterized by a smooth, worn surface and darkening of the wood; also includes the build-up of waxes and oils that have been applied to wood over time and the scars and marks that are acquired through use
Pointer: a tool used to taper the end of a dowel.
Pores: small openings in the surface of a board
PSI: Pounds per Square Inch; a way to measure the pressure of compressed air
Quarter-Sawed: wood that has been cut so that the annual rings form an angle of 45″ to 90″ with the surface; also called edge-grain, vertical-grain, or quarter-sawn
Quirk: the small groove that defines the edges of the bead
Radius Plane: a plane used to round or chamfer the edges of a board
Raised Grain: a condition that occurs when water causes wood fibers to swell so that some stand above the surface of the board
Rake Angle: the angle formed between the top of the cutting edge and a line perpendicular to the work surface
Rank Setting: the setting of a plane iron (blade) that will make a heavy cut
Reed: a series of beads cut side by side
Ripping: the process of cutting a board approximately parallel to the grain.
Rotary-Cut: wood that is cut by rotating a log against a fixed knife to produce a continuous sheet
Rounder: a tool used to make dowels or round stock
Router Plane: a plane used to smooth the bottom of a recess, which is a cut indentation in a piece of wood
Sandpaper: a coated abrasive with a paper backing
Sapwood: The new wood near the outside of a tree; generally lighter in color and more prone to decay than heartwood which is in the center of a log
Sash planes: a special moulding plane used to make windows
Scraper: a tool used for the final smoothing of wood
Sharpening Angle: the angle that you hold the blade at while you hone it on a whetstone
Shooting Boards: boards with straight, true edges that are used to guide the plane
Shoulder: the part of the joint that is cut 90 degrees to the face or edge of the board; a joint only has a shoulder when that part of the board that fits into a joint must be thinner or narrower than the rest of the board
Sides: the two widest surfaces of a board, also called faces
Siphon-Feed Gun: a spray gun that uses atmospheric pressure to deliver liquid from the cup to the nozzle
Skew: to set something at an angle
Slipstone: small whetstone that is rounded or tapered
Smooth Plane: plane 9 or 10 inches long used to smooth the surface of a board,
Softwood: wood produced by trees that have needles rather than broad leaves
Stick: the board that the moulding is cut into
Striking: the process of cutting mouldings
Stopped: a cut or joint that ends before the edge or end of a board. For example, a stopped dado ends before the front edge of the board.
Stropping: process sometimes used when sharpening a plane blade in which a piece of leather that is impregnated with a fine abrasive is used to make the cutting edge very sharp
Tack Rag: piece of cheesecloth that has been treated so that it attracts dust
Tampico: natural filament derived from plants in the cactus family; it is resistant to chemicals and is used primarily in brushes used to apply chemical stains
Tannin: acid found in wood; it forms different-colored compounds when it reacts with certain chemicals; most chemical stains depend on a reaction with the tannin in wood
Taper: gradual angle cut on one or more faces of a board
Tear-Out: condition that occurs when the grain of a board changes direction and the plane blade starts to chip the wood
Temper: the correct heat treatment of a tool’s metal, to make it stay sharp longer
Tongue And Groove Joint: a two-part joint in which a projection on one board called a tongue fits into a groove on the other board
Tuning: the process of adjusting all of the working parts of a plane to their optimum positions and removing all imperfections in the casting left from the manufacturing process
Turning: piece of wood that has been shaped on a lathe
Twist: a distortion in a board that results in the ends of a board not being parallel. When the face of a twisted board is placed on a flat surface, one corner of the board will be lifted off the surface.
Universal Plane: any plane that can be used with cutters of different sizes
Veneer: a thin sheet of wood; face veneers are usually made from expensive wood species and applied over cheaper wood’s core; veneers are made from inexpensive woods like fir and are used for the inner plies in plywood; veneers may be produced by rotary process, slicing or sawing
Warp: any distortion in the shape of a board caused by changes in the moisture content of the wood
Water Stain: a clear, permanent aniline dye stain that uses water as its solvent; it will raise the grain of the wood
Wet Or Dry Sandpaper: sandpaper that uses waterproof glue to attach the abrasive particles to a water-resistant paper backing
Whetstones: abrasive stones used to sharpen edge tools
Whitewood: wood that has not yet been finished
Wood Putty: a doughy product used to fill nail holes and defects in wood.
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Wood Finishes and Finishing Jargon

June 24, 2008 Crafts, Glossaries No Comments
Adhesion: the property causing one material to stick to another
Barrier Coat: a coat applied which separates the substrate from contact with the topcoats
Bleeding: when a dye or color absorbs through to the top layer; this is due to a common solvency of the topcoat and the dye
Bloom: a bluish haze of a film usually caused by insufficient drying time of the oil stain before top-coating
Blushing: a white, milky cast in a film which is caused by trapping moisture into the film; blushing can be prevented and eliminated by slowing down the drying of the coating by adding a blush retarder
Blush Retarder: a reducer with slower drying properties
Body: the thickness of viscosity of the coating while in liquid form
Bond: the adhesion of or ability of two items to stick to one another
Bridge: when a finish forms a layer over a crack or void
Coat: the act of applying a coating to a surface
Coating: any material applied to a surface leaving a protective layer on that surface
Cold Checking: the cracking of a finish due to exposure to cold temperatures
Crawling: when a coating applied tends to flow away from areas leaving them uncoated; this is usually caused by grease or oil contamination of the surface to be coated
De-Laminate: the separation of layers due to lack of adhesion
Distressing: fly speck spotting (and/or other age marks like hammering) in the finished surface or on the substrate
Dye: a coloring material that dissolves in a system very transparent and not as color fast as a pigment
Dry Hard: the elapsed time at which a coating has reached its optimum hardness
Fading: the loss of color due to exposure to sunlight
Fast to Light: a color which is not significantly affected by exposure to sunlight
Finish: general term referring to the final protective coat done to add life to the piece painted that can be applied by brush or spray
Fish Eye: pock marks or craters that show up on finished surface when silicone is present
Flash point: the temperature at which a material will ignite when exposed to a source of ignition
Flat or Matte: a dull finish with little light reflection; non-glossy
Flood: the act of very heavily applying a coating to the substrate
Flow: the smoothing and leveling out of a coating
Glaze: an oil based pigment which is applied between lacquer coats to accent or give a graining effect
Gloss: the shininess or reflectability of a surface
Holiday: an uncoated area of a coated surface usually missed unintentionally
Incompatible: used in reference to coatings and/or stains that are not capable of being mixed with one another
Leveling: the act of applying a coat which will smooth out a previously rough coat
Opaque/Opacity: the degree of hiding of a pigmented coating. The opposite of transparent.
Orange Peel: a rough surface of a film similar in appearance to the skin of an orange
Pigment: a finely ground, insoluble powder which contributes color to a coating - usually very color fast
Pinholeing: the appearance of numerous small holes in a film, usually caused by bubbles due to heat drying of the coating
Primer: a coating which is first applied to a bare surface to make it smooth and help paint adhere to the surface
Reducer: to add solvent in order to thin a material to a workable thickness (viscosity)
Sanding Sealer: a lacquer formulated to give better filling and sandability than the topcoat lacquer
Substrate: the surface or material to be coated
Transparent: clear enough to see through
Translucent: allows light to pass through but not clear enough to see through
Viscosity: the thickness of a coating material in its liquid form
Volatile: the solvent portion of a coating
Washcoat: very thin coat of shellac or sealer
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Trending Terms

June 24, 2008 Crafts, Glossaries, Trends No Comments
These terms focuses on the words you hear and read about when trends are mentioned in the craft industry. Trends revolved around color, technique, medium, and theme.
Bead: Small piece of hard material pierced with hole for threading on string, wire, or ribbon.
Beading: decoration with beads.
Cane: Logs of various shapes and sheets of polymer clay that are joined together to form a cane. Ends are removed to show pattern. Each slice of cane will then be the exact pattern.
Color: a phenomenon of light or visual perception that enables one to differentiate identical items
Color Value: Lightness or darkness of a color.
Consistency: the thinness or thickness of a paint
Contrast: the sharp difference between two colors
Count: The number given a yarn or fiber to indicate its yardage per weight.
Crinkling: To make or become wrinkled, rippled, roughened, or creased. Usually done to fabrics like linen, challis, silk, or cotton.
Dye: a color used for staining, tinting, or toning a medium. There is no separation of ingredients once dye is made.
Fad: interest followed for a time with exaggerated zeal, craze.
Finishing: Any treatment given to a fabric after weaving or to garments after cleaning to improve appearance like sizing or ironing.
Faux Finish: literally fake finish; using paints and tools to create a real look to a fake medium; texture and dimension added to surface of medium. Examples: marbleizing paper or wood, strippling glass or concrete, antiquing or weathering new metals or gold foiling plastic.
Flowable pigment: Lighter mixture of pigment, moves more like a dye, but will separate
Hand: The feel, body, drape, or touch of the surface of fabric
Hue: the name of a pure color.
Intensity: color’s purity or strength
Loaf: Another word for cane.
Log: also called snake or rod. A solid cylindrical piece of polymer clay.
Medium: Material being used; example: wood, fabric, paper, clay, or plastic
Millefiore: Italian; translated means “Thousand Flowers,” Technique originated by glassmakers and adopted by polymer clay craftsmen and artist.
Motif: another term for theme.
Nib, Nep, Nubb: Small bits of fiber that stick above surface of otherwise smooth fabric.
Paint: pigment mixed with liquid to produce color. Types: oil, water, acrylic, enamel.
Piece: Length of fabric
Pigment: powder mixed with suitable liquid to produce color. Mixture will separate.
Primary colors: red, blue, yellow
Secondary colors: mixing of primary colors; green, orange, purple
Skein: a coil of yarn also called hank
Shade: a color plus black
Stenciling: Painting or dying using a template or design cut out of plastic, heavy paper, or metal
Strippling: Dab paint up and down to give contrast or texture.
Sponging: painting with a sponge to give texture and dimension. Sponge can be dabbed or pressed onto surface. Sponges can be of many natural or man-made varieties.
Technique: Skill being used; example weaving, stenciling, carving, or quilting.
Theme: subject, topic, or motif; example nature, family, barnyard, or flowers
Tint: a color plus white
Tone: a color plus grey
Trend: a general direction taken, a current style or preference, vogue.
Wash: diluted paint used to stain or basecoat surface
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Stone Jargon

June 24, 2008 Glossaries, Jewelry Making 1 Comment
Amethyst: transparent purple stone, sometimes with inclusions. Hues range from lavender to deep regal purple.
Aventurine: green or blue semi-translucent to mostly opaque stone with mica flecks that cause a slight metallic iridescence
Black Onyx: a black opaque stone
Bloodstone: dark green opaque stone with red spotting
Blue Lace Agate: light blue translucent stone with white or milky banding
Cape Amethyst
(Amethyst Quartz): 		translucent light to medium purple stone with white banding
Carnelian: orange to bright red-orange translucent stone
Clear Quartz
(Rock Crystal): 		a colorless transparent stone
Fancy Jasper: an opaque multi-colored stone; colors are muted and range from green-blue to pinkish to orange-yellow frequently in the same stone
Fluorite: a transparent stone; green and purple with clear areas or bands
Garnet: a transparent stone ranging in color from light red to darkish plum red
Hematite: a silvery, shiny opaque stone that almost looks like metal
Iolite: a transparent blue-violet stone; the lighter colors show more of the violet hue
Lapis Lazuli: a dark, royal blue opaque stone with white veins or patches called calcite and a few gold-looking metallic flecks called pyrite
Malachite: an opaque, banded stone; the colors in the bands range from a very light green to almost black
Moonstone: a translucent milky stone with a little iridescence; can be found in several colors, most common are whitish-clear, grey, and light peach
Moss Agate: not an agate, strictly speaking, but a chalcedony. Semi-transparent to opaque, mostly a variety of green tones with a little white or clear
Natural Carnelian: a light to medium orange translucent stone, frequently with areas of lighter and darker orange for a banded or mottled look
Natural Onyx: a semi-translucent to opaque, light colored stone with some banding found in varying degrees of yellowish-white, pale greenish-white, and grey
Picture Jasper: a tan, opaque stone with medium and dark brown patches
Poppy Jasper: opaque with colors of brick red, whites, browns and blacks
Red Jasper: an opaque, mostly red stone
Rhodochrosite: a medium to light pink opaque stone with cream or creamy-pink banding
Rhodonite: a pink, opaque stone from medium pink to dusty rose, often with black inclusions
Rose Quartz: a pink transparent stone, sometimes leaning toward translucent, or with inclusions
Smokey Quartz: a brown transparent stone; color ranges from very slightly brown to dark
Tiger’s Eye: an opaque brown stone, with bands of darker brown and golden-yellow
Unakite: an opaque stone variegated with shades of green and pink, sometimes with a little russet or red
White Marble: an opaque stone with a little metallic shimmer to it
White Onyx: a semi-translucent white to slightly yellowish-white stone that sometimes has an opaque white banding
White Quartz: a translucent white stone with varying degrees of opacity having some areas of cloudiness
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Soap Making Glossary

June 24, 2008 Crafts, Glossaries No Comments
Abrasives: Gritty or rough substances, which are added to soap to help scrub away dirt or dead outer skin cells. Also helps remove excess oils from skin. Also considered an exfoliant. Avoid with delicate or dry skin types.
Absolute: Products, not strictly essential oils, obtained through chemical solvent extraction.
Allergy/Allergic: Hypersensitivity or reaction caused by a substance or ingredient.
Anti-oxidants: Ingredient that retards the deterioration of the soap and prevents natural/fresh ingredients from combining with oxygen and becoming rancid.
Antiseptics: Ingredients that inhibit the growth of bacteria on living tissue or in soap.
Astringents: Substances or additives to soap that tighten or close skin pores. The effect makes skin feel smoother.
Aromatherapy: Using scents or essential oils to affect mental or physical well being of person.
Aromatherapy Benefit: The emotional or physical effect evoked by aromatic essential including balance, energy, rejuvenation, cleansing, deodorizing and purifying.
Aroma/aromatic: Having scent, flavor or taste
Blenders: Additional scents that are combined with a main scent to enhance and fix the scents into a single blended fragrance.
Botanical Name: Refers to the Latin name of the plant in the biological classification system. A botanical name is composed of the genus followed by the species.
Carrier Oil: An oil base in which essential oils are diluted to create massage blends and body care products. A carrier oil has little or no scent.
Dermal: Pertaining to the skin.
Disinfectant: Prevents or combats the spread of germs.
Enfleurage: Age-old method of extracting essential oils using odorless fats and oils to absorb the oil from the plant material.
Essential Oil: Highly concentrated, volatile, aromatic essences of plants.
Emollients: Additives that soften skin.
Expression: Method of obtaining essential oil from plant material, such as citrus fruit peel. The complete oil is physically forced from the plant material. Also known as cold press extraction.
Extraction Method: The method by which essential oils are separated from the plant. Common extraction methods include distillation, expression and solvent extraction.
Fillers: Ingredients that add bulk or extend a soap.
Fixatives: Ingredients that stabilize volatile oils and prevent them from evaporating too quickly.
Food Grade: Safe for use in food by the Food and Drug Administration.
Fragrance Oil: Fragrances and scents derived by synthetic means.
Herbal: Pertaining to natural botanicals and living plants.
Holistic: A natural approach to healing outside Western medicine conventions.
Homeopathy: Therapy using plant, animal and mineral substances in dilutions to overcome illness by stimulating the body’s natural immunity.
Hydrating: Restoring or maintaining normal proportion of fluid in the body or skin.
Insoluble: Unable to be dissolved in a liquid such as water.
Irritant: Substance or material that produces irritation or inflammation of the skin.
Main Scent: Dominant scent to which other scents can be added to create a new single blended scent.
Nervine: Strengthening or toning the nerves or nervous system.
Olfactory: Relating to or connected with the sense of smell.
Potpourri: Fragrant mixture of dried herbs and flowers. Usually scented with synthetic fragrance oils.
Relaxant: Ingredient that is soothing, relieving strain or tension.
Refrigerant: Ingredient that cools inflammation or eases muscle pain.
Sedative: Ingredient that reduces functional activity or calms.
Single Note: Pure, 100% natural essential oil: no additives; no adulterations.
Soluble: Able to be dissolved in a liquid such as water.
Stimulant: Ingredient or substance that temporarily speeds the functional activity of a human tissue.
Synergistic: Characteristic in which the total effect is more effective than the individual parts.
Synergistic Blend: Combination of multiple essential oils that produce a completely new aroma with a different therapeutic effect.
Synthetic: Artificially produced substance designed to imitate that which occurs naturally.
Rendering: Impurities in animal fats are removed during this process over heat creating tallow which is pure fat used in soap making.
Viscosity: Pertaining to the thickness or thinness of a liquid.
Volatile: Essential oils that evaporate very easily or quickly. Fixatives stabilize oils and result in a longer lasting scent.
Volatilization: Rate of evaporation or oxidation of an essential oil.
Wild: Growing spontaneously, not cultivated.
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