Carrie

I bought it from the local beer/wine making store. They sold it to me for $4 a pound. That is higher than WSP but no shipping...LOL

Did they work?

I melt mine all the way and then put it in the kitchenaid mixer. I use the paddle instead of the whip. When I would use the whip, it would get wonderful and fluffy, but the next day it was flat and bubbly. I make mine in the basement which is about 60* right now and my shea doesn't get grainy and I don't have to cool the shea in the fridge. I almost always add some emu oil and some vitamin E to my shea. I also add IPM and corn starch.

I made a whipped shea that had too much oils in it so I added undeoderized cocoa butter. It completely overpowered the smell of the shea (and the FO, Sweet Pea). What I found interesting was that when I smelled it, it smelled like cocoa butter, and when I put it on I could smell CB and Sweet Pea and then within about 10 minutes I couldn't smell the CB anymore, just Sweet Pea.

Papermart has pretty good prices on bags. Try here http://papermart.com/index/index_retail_bag_fabric.htm

I simply have a hard time with square. I like the feel of rectangle and circle in my hands. My suprise favorite is the 1/2 sphere or the one like Landa makes, flat on one side and rounded on the other. It feels really nice in my hands. I was suprised. I liked it so much I bought 3 molds...LOL

LOL Sara, I was just looking to see if it discolored because I read on the link you provided (Scent Works) that it does turn brown. So sorry. I havn't tried the lemon pound cake from Peak in soap but it is yummy in wax.

It is the same in soaping, except we follow the recipe to the 10th of an ounce. It is way more precise. If you find a recipe you like, enter it into the lye calc at the sage then add those 2oz of another oil. It will change the amount of lye and water needed.

Try covering your mold to cool slower. In order to make the palm wax crystalize, you have to cool very slowly. The crystal patterns are caused by the molecule strings lining up. If it cools too quickly they won't line up. Just try a batch cooling in a box, or covered by a towel. I use a 16x16 tile and heat it and my votives molds with the heat gun, then pour and cover with a towel. It sets very slowly and always has a great pattern. I understand that your kitchen temp hasn't changed but try to cool them slower and maintain your relief holes even in votives. hth

Try the calculator at MMS the Sage. http://thesage.com/calcs/lyecalc2.php It goes by weight not by percentages. I use it when I have ounces and soapcalc when I have percentages. HTH

There are several people on the SoapDish that make transparent soap. There is one person near me that has made it and she said once was enough. There was too much work involved...LOL Sorry can't help further.

For real? It would be oils and water weight combined, not just oil weight.

I don't know where to get them but I found this while I was looking. I hope the picture works. They are stainless steel.

There are a ton of threads about coffee butter at the Dish. You might want to search there. If you can't find it, just ask, they are very helpful. http://www.soapdishforum.com/forum/ HTH

I know Cierra Candles sells them, but they are way expensive. I did add a couple cases to my cart there the other day as I was near $99 and they have free shipping over $99.

I haven't made my own yet, so I don't know if this is what you wanted to know, but of the balms I've tried I prefer mango butter to shea butter.

I've never bought a Yankee piller, but I bought some tealights the other day. Cedar and Balsam. They smell yummy, but there was 12 in the box and I've lit 6 of them. The wick is wrong in all of them. I've benn digging the wax out and putting it in my melter. It is an incredible fragrance, just sucky tealights.

I thought "natural" was one of the unregulated words with the FDA.

LOL Top, I was suprised you missed it.

I've tried a few of the MMS flavors. I don't taste them but they have a strong smell. I read somewhere to watch the amount of sweetness you add, that it will make people lick their lips. When they lick, it will dry the lips then they think your balm didn't work because it made their lips dry. I just make them smell good, no taste.

I use my votive wax, 6228, with the s330 wicks and get about 7 hours of burn.

LMAO, that is funny. Grass, lime, flowers, coconut/pineapple don't make me think about lays, however if I use my imagination I think a cucumber would do it. hahahahahaha I think you meant lei, the necklace made out of flowers in Hawaii. Just couldn't resist, sorry.

Brambleberry. Here's the link. http://www.brambleberry.com/packaging.html

Bunny, you are the best. That is already c/p'd to my computer and printed out, gone thru the hole punch and is in my notebook. Thanks.

Lisa, most of us belong to between 3 and 5 different candle and B&B boards. We do this so that we can learn from as many people as we can. This is a very dangerous hobby/craft/job. We research until our eyes and fingers hurt from searching, googling and reading. If you have truly read, researched etc it will show in the type of question you ask. You asked a question about lip balm base earlier today. Did you research before you asked that question? NO. If you had you wouldn't have asked it. How can you ask if homemade is better? Are my waffles from scratch better than Denny's? It is subjective. You simply wanted a fast answer to a passing thought, like most of your questions. I for one would like to see you at least learn to help yourself. You will never be a true artist of your craft if you continue to "Paint by Numbers"