Well I didn't see anymore of those pesky boogers, but I decided to spray it with some organic spray from Home Depot made for Fruit and Vegetable plants. We'll see how it goes tomorrow. I also noticed that black ants (Sugar ants?) are crawling all over my mint, so I sprayed it too :P Gosh, did they disappear in a hurry like :P I've just really gotten back into gardening, so I guess I'm learning all about these pesky little insects. A friend of mine told me to sprinkle red pepper around the plants and that it would keep the ants away. :) I want to get a stevia plant, so I guess I'd better do that :P On the bright side, will tending my growing garden, I had the opportunity to watch a Great Horned Owl mosey about my backyard with a little bird pestering him nearby :P And a little hare, who didn't see me, made his way onto my deck. Only when I moved and made a noise did he hop away. :)

Enjoy it. As far as it has been established, Stevia has no side effects and has many health benefits. It is mostly used for sugar substitute. I have grown it in the past 3, 4 years at small quantity. It is probably perennial in zone 7. It was in zone 7b, GA.

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