The Story behind ‘Shape your Vape’
I started to smoke cigarettes a long time ago, and up to last year I was smoking two packs of the stinky ones a day. I was wheezing, coughing and always stank of cigarettes, no matter how much perfume I used, the cigarette stink lingered with me and labelled me a smoker.
Nonetheless, I was reluctant to start vaping. I heard rumours that vaping does more damage to your health than smoking cigarette, and to be honest, I loved smoking. So why opt for something worst and less delightful than those satisfying drags of smoke.Well, I started to do some research and was finding a lot and a lot of conflicting theories. However, there was no general agreement, until last August, where the Royal Institute of Science and the UK public health stated that vaping does 95% less damage than cigarettes.
But this was after I started vaping. At the time, there was only one evident truth: they contained neither tar nor carbon monoxide, which are the worst by-products we inhale from cigarettes to get nicotine. So, I decided to give it a try and let my body be the judge and see how I feel with vaping. Today I can say that it was the best thing I ever did and will never turn back.
I went on a local shopping spree and was sold a Vaporesso kit that included a mod, direct to lung tank, some coils, batteries, and obviously some e-liquid. Well, the direct to lung tank was a different type of smoke, and it was not satisfying the habit that I had developed for such a long time. I still felt the urge to smoke. This was not the right setup for me. Instead of giving up and going back to smoking 40 cigarettes a day, I started to research other vaping techniques. There are two major styles of vaping: the direct to lung and mouth to lung, and these required different tank atomizers. The former is direct inhalation of vapour to the lung like smoking Shisha and the latter smoking like cigarettes, drawing the vapour to the mouth than inhale. I bought a Nautilus 2 MTL tank and this was a huge improvement. It felt like smoking, but instead of inhaling combusted smoke, I was now inhaling steamed clean vapour. I started with 18mg of nicotine, and this was satisfying my curb for smoking and I stopped smoking cigarettes altogether.
Now the equipment was sorted, so my attention turned to the e-liquid. I was buying e-liquids locally, I visited all local shops and bought a variety of tastes and brands. I also started to order online from renowned sources, but the latter were getting more expensive than actual smoking cigarettes. I was also wondering what ingredients were being used, ‘are they just making a quick buck?’. After a lot of research on the e-liquid ingredients, I was getting worried that cheap liquids had cheap ingredients and other chemicals that are not from reputable sources. Also, during this explorative time, I was more into tobacco vapes, but all the tobaccos I was trying were very artificial. More so, I was not very happy with the e-liquids I was trying. I am not saying there are no good juices out there, but beauty is in the ‘eye of the beholder’ and everyone have different tastes. I wanted to tweak some of the juices according to my taste buds, but obviously this was not possible.
I love cooking and consider myself a good cook, it relaxes me and brings out my creativity, and a cardinal rule in cooking is that the final product is as good as the quality of the ingredients used, and everyone uses the ingredients they love to create a meal according to their taste. I love to cook (again) and since one of my first jobs was a laboratory technician, I became motivated to start mixing (cook) my own e-liquids using different ingredients (fresh and reputable sources). I only opted for ingredients from trustworthy sources, that could provide the chemical breakdown of their products and those that had no diacetyl, acetoine or acetyl propionyl. The former is is the culprit behind popcorn lungs, and even though there are no conclusive studies, I wanted to play safe. For tobacco e-liquids, I only used organic natural extracted tobacco. I wanted the real thing not fake and artificial chemicals. Finally, for the nicotine only from a reputable source that is certified by USP and EP, and fresh. The latter makes a big difference, cheap and old nicotine gives a bad taste to the final e-liquid. In a nutshell, I was doing it for me, so I went for the best and spared no expenses. I just wanted the best and I am a little of a perfectionist .
The Philosophy
Initially, I started to mix only for my own personal use, then some friends, then friends of friends, then everyone wanted more, and I also customised recipes according to their taste, more of this and less of that, and more VG and less PG, whatever to suit their taste to make their vaping experience the best. Hence the name ‘Shape your Vape’ I was shaping the e-liquids for the taste of my customers. Today, I offer an assortment of recipes that have been tried, tested and enjoyed. These can be customised with more or less: coolant, sweetness, sourness, throat hit, smoothness or a particular taste, whatever it is, that gives enjoyment.
All e-liquids are made on order, to ensure that they are not over steeped and not diluted to add nicotine like others do. This maintains the right amount of concentrate in every batch no matter the different nicotine level. Every recipe has a recommended steep time from date of production. Steeping is the maturing process that the e-liquid needs to reach full flavour. This varies according to recipes. Make sure you steep your e-liquids, it makes a hell of a difference.
The premium e-liquid on this website are those selected by demand. There is a vast selection of flavours and they do really have the right amount of concentrate to be called premium. There is no economising on the amount of essence, taste is never compromised for cheap vaping. These are the best recipes I have created so far, and the list is dynamic with new recipes in the R&D department earning their place when considered final. So keep checking it out.
The tobaccos are made only from natural extracted tobacco (N.E.T) obtained from organic leaves and have no artificial essences.
As a service we also offer a custom creation for a recipe of your liking. It is an incremental process that starts off with a first batch and we keep tweaking to get a personalised taste. You will then name this recipe and it can also become a regular in the premium e-liquids list.
Whatever choice you make, the end result will always be the same, an e-liquid made from the best ingredients and produced on order, ensuring freshness and the same unique taste all the time.