Carrie

My ewax looks like beeswax pastilles and my PKO is in flakes. Sorry to hear about that Meridith.

I used just straight cocoa butter twice a day and drank tons of water. I only got 2 stretch marks, below the bikini line, tiny little things. I didn't get them until I was overdue.

Ummm...Bunny. Maybe you should stick with your day job. J/K OMG, I'm sure I missed a party if you're making Tuna Salad MP. Too much FooFoo drink this weekend?

I've finally gotten good swirls in CP. I use a slab mold and pour at thin trace if possible. Then I add the colored soap and pour it in slowly from at least 18 inches above the mold. When all of that is in the mold, I take the handle of my spatula and go back and forth width wise, then do it length wise. If the swirl isn't enough I swirl all over again. I get some really nice swirls.

I have the 16 bar mold. It is a very nice mold and Labgal is right, finally bars that are all the same size.

Excellent prices, they used to have a banner ad here on CT.

I bought kokum butter from OBN that was rancid. They didn't believe me. Then a coop with OBN came up with rancid kokum and they exchanged it. I'll never buy from them again.

Look for Isopropyl Alcohol. It is the kind they rub on your skin before a shot. Rubbing alcohol is what some people call it, but it is Isopropyl Alcohol. You should be able to find it with the right name.

I got a PS soap in a swap that wasn't brown. It was slightly dark but also had some pink in it. I think it was HP but I could be wrong.

If you are using a Peak FO, this is the first place I look to see how it reacts http://www.candletech.com/cgi-local/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=bathandbody;action=display;num=1086889010 Then I look here http://scentreviewboard.obisoap.ca/index.php?sid=fb960e040e012121ccc954387363862b Then I also sometimes try here http://www.thescentreview.com/board/index.php As for the color of a soap or candle, that is entirely up to you. I've never seen a Jasmine so I would use google images to find a jasmine and decide from there. As for your recipe, I've never soaped with Canola so I don't know about that. I use coconut, lard, castor and PKO, along with other oils in all of my soaps except castille. I believe that coconut, lard, olive and pko can all be considered hard oils. If so that would make 85% of your recipe hard oils. That is probably a little high. I could be wrong on the lard as a hard oil though. Olive is liquid but makes a rock hard bar so can be considered a hard oil.

You might also try qosmedix. It sounded like there might be a coop for qosmedix one of these days, I hope.

I mix in plastic all the time. No problem there. I don't soap with a thermometer at all. When the lye cools I soap and if it's a well behaved FO I don't even wait for the lye to cool all the way.

I've been soaping for just over 1 year and have only used about 15lbs of lye.

I've never found that it makes my product gritty. Maybe you are using too much. I use a level tablespoon in 11oz of butters and oils for my whipped butter. Try cutting back on the dry-flo. In butters, I add IPM to help with the greasy feeling, also I use a little FCO.

Yeah, now AH/RE. It siezes like the dickens in soap but it's worth the extra work. No swirls in that soap...LOL I haven't tried Phenonip yet, I'll get some next time I order. I'm holding off ordering anything right now.

Do a search on reverse swirl in the gallery. Sara posted an incredible batch she made.

I tried it when I soaped some SNC Fresh Cut Tulips. That stuff siezes really bad. It didn't help, I think it was actually worse. I soap this FO anyway because it is such an incredible scent in soap.

You're welcome. I don't know for sure who supplies it, I didn't like it. It has a very distinctive soapy smell that I couldn't cover up. I ended giving away a bunch of it. I think Bramble Berry sells it. I've read that you can add some oils to it. Look thru those threads you found yesterday, it was just within the last couple months that there was a big discussion on it. LOL...You know, I searched to find what FBB stood for, I could have told you until you asked. I found it when I searched "what is FBB". I've seen it asked so many times it came right up. Just like searching "what is IPM"

The lavender EO that I use doesn't discolor my soap. It's yummy stuff. Congrats on your first swirl.

You definately need a preservative in the sugar scrub. I've never had one grow any nasties until, of course, I sent some in a swap. It had 1% Liquapar Optima in it and stuff still grew. I'm kinda stumped on that one. Still working on it.

LOL...the day of my DS 18 month check up he decided to try to climb out of his crib for the first time. He fell, hit his forhead on the small table next to the crib, then flipped and hit his back on the corner. The Dr just laughed and said "He won't try that again for a while". He never tried again. He stayed put until until I converted the crib to toddler bed when he was three.

Foaming Body Butter. It's like a base for scrubs etc. HTH

I have one of those lei's. It is so soft. I love it, so does DS but not as much as his bear, the bear gets to wear it the most. I think that is a really cute idea, you can sell them to the haole's.,,LOL

I use silk in every batch. I have the tusseh (sp) and it is in a long strand a little fatter than a pencil. I use 1 inch for 2-3lbs of oils. HTH

For larger batches I use buckets. Ummm, ice cream buckets are good as are the buckets from MMS that coconut oil comes in. I've also used a huge tupperware bowl. I only get smooth tops when I pour at thin trace or when I use my new soap beveler/shaver. I have no idea what you're talking about with the grit like consistancy. Are you sure it isn't ricing?