Carriegsxr6

I ran out of Palm stearic and was thinking that I may just be abale to add some of this Pillar Palm Wax. I know it's not pure stearic, but think that it will still do its job and thicken up my lotion just the same. Any thoughts on why this wouldnt be feasible? If not, then i will try it out tonight.

RRD 34's work perfect for me. not sure what kind of votive holder u are using :undecided

personally i feel that the best thing to do is not to let the bars sit on the shelf for too long. After fully cured, you should package them up to prevent scent loss, and then try to use them within 6-8 months. Also make sure to use quality fragrance oils as well. As far as EOs, I save those for my lotions and potions and dont like to waste them with wash off products, they are expensive because they are also meant to be used for medicinal perposes and should be able to absorb into the skin.

or rather than shred, you canjust cut up into cubes and mix with an new scented but uncolored batch. you will still be able to see the prettyness of the first batch

not sure about brown tops, but there are a lot of 1oz lotion tubes out there for sale.

Its emulsified, meaning its been mixed with water and e-wax in order to give it the lotion texture.

yellow and purple swirls

Its a certain way that they refine it, in order to make sure the oil doesnt loose its good qualities.

I am seeing rosehip used a lot more out there as well. especually in face creams because of the high Vitamin A. great non-clogging oil as well. Make sure you get cold pressed

This is not true, you are miss-understanding the post. Both oils do-not have the exact same "properties". One oil mimics the skins own natural "Sebum" and the other oil mimics the skins own natural "Squalene". They have similar characteristics, as they both absorb without clogging the pores. A serum with both in them would be great!!! Olive Squalene has great repairing and healing benefits (mostly for the top and outside layers of the skin, an emollient) Jojoba has a lot of moisturizing and nourishing properties to nourish on this inside and moisturize from the inside out. Since jojoba is a FAST absorbing oil, when applying it with another oil, it can help the squalene absorb faster as well.

Too bad you missed out on the co-op for these just a few weeks ago.

I dont know Top, but that seems like way to high of a range to be depended on. And depending on the method used, the steric levels may end up being too high, in turn not having much oleic left at all. I found a site that gives this info on the ranges when using one specific method: "When the palm and soy waxes were analyzed for their fatty acid content using known methods of Gas Liquid Chromatography (“GLC”), the soybean wax was found to comprise between 82-94% stearic acid (C 18:0 ) and between 3-14% palmitic acid (C 16:0 ). By comparison, the palm oil wax comprises approximately 55% stearic acid (C 18:0 ), 39.5% palmitic acid (C 16:0 ), 1.1% myristic acid (C 14:0 ) and approximately 1.0% oleic acid (C 18: )." Now according to the oil properties chart on soap calc, Pure Steric Acid has 0% oleic. So it seems to me that the higher the steric, the lower the oleic. Which in turns takes away from the conditioning properties. So its best to stay closer to the middle ranges like the lard has or 27% hydrogenated soybean oil. But if we just stay with pure soybean oil (just speaking at this recipe inperticular) we can get higher conditioning levels without the guess work from the natural linoleic level.

sorry, this got barried before i could reply again. The dead sea clay i have, is not a fine powder as some of the other clays i have. mine still has some course bits in it, and i even tried to use a spice grinder to make it finer and it never worked.

Soy wax is not as high as you may think in stearic and oleic acids. Start with the levels of stearic and oleic acids in just plain liquid soybean oil. Notice how they completly change once it starts being hydrogenated, to the consitancy of butter (say 27% hydrogenated). Now hydrogenate even more, to where you now have soywax, and the levels of stearic and oleic acids are even more off. Stearic Acid gives two different characteristics in soap. The best characteristic is creaminess it gives, second is the hardness it adds but not as hard as Palmatic Acid, beacuse this is just a straight hardener. Lard would be the best subsitute for shea butter in this recipe in order to get closer to both stearic and oleic levels of shea butter for the effects of creamyness, hardness and conditioning. I belive balancing the oils is very true as well, but you have to keep in mind each recipe you are making. With this recipe since its a salt bar and you are adding a lot of coconut, you really dont need the hardening effects of stearic from shea and you dont need more palmatic hardening either. You just use the shea for it for its creaminess the stearic adds and the conditioning factors the oleic adds. Therefore you could easily just use a liquid oil replacement to get the most conditioning factors, and let the salt and coconut do their job for hardening and creaminess. i suggested uping olive since she already had some, but could really just use liquid soybean oil. But again, if you want the closest substitute that will give you close to both stearic and oleic acids levels of shea for hardness, conditioning and creaminess, then go with lard.....

I am sooo tempted to start making mine with Lard, cause they do end up sooo much creamier and cheaper to make......:undecided I havent quite given up yet on veggie oils though. i feel I have almost achieved the same properties of creamyness and hardness with just the right balance of Shea butter and Palm oil. Just takes a little more time and patience with the formulating though. It will definatly be a more expensive price per bar.

I started with the C-3 then went to the CB3-(the best wax i have tried yet), then went back to the c-3 cause i could pick up locally. Well now that the C-3 jumpped so high in pricing, I switched to the ACCU 10, since I can get it cheaper shipped than driving to pick up the c-3. So far, its not as great as the C waxes, but I am going to work with it for a while. My first case, I ended up blending it with the left overs I had of the C-3, so this second case, I am actually getting true test time.

Trust me, if shes making veggie soaps with Palm oil, they will be harder than Lard. The Palmitic acid content (a true hardener in soap) in Palm Oil has almost twice the amount as what Lard has. It wont be creamier though ;-) Its all about knowing your Acid Contents.

replace the shea with another oil that is high in Oleic Acid, Olive Oil would work, if thats the only other oils you have on hand. Soywax isnt the same as Soybean 27.5% Hydrog., its far more hydrogenated than that. And therefore it wont have the same properties in soap.

I have to disagree on your recomended subsititution. I feel strongly that the shea is added to this recipe for either its creamyness values it provides from the high Steric Acid or that its moisturizing it provides from its high Oleic values, and not the hardness part. Most likley for the oleic value since you really dont need more hardness or creamyness in a salt bar, you would need to up the moisturizing qualities. If you suggest something high in palmatic acid, then you are just getting more hardening, without the creaminess or moisturizing. Which the coconut oil is plenty hard on its own. I would suggest substituting an oil that has the same moisturizing charactoristics as SHEA, no matter if the lye amount will be the same or not. In the end, the recipe characteristics is what makes a good bar and not the lye amount.

Tallow makes a very creamy soap. Its the natural stearic in it that makes it so creamy. The higher the stearic, also the harder the bar. Lard is not as affective as beef or other meat tallows in regards to the steric level. If you still want to use lard, then you may want to add some straight 100% stearic acid (palm stearic is the plant form), which will up the creaminess as well as the hardness. If you have enough creaminess and just want a harder bar, then add regular Palm oil. Regular palm oil has less stearic acid than lard or tallow, but has the most palmatic acid, which gives soap a true hardening factor without adding more creaminess.

I belive Polawax is the same as E-wax NF i use it and i dont feel like it is waxy at all. i only use about 3-5% and just up the steric a bit.

Very quick and easy lotion bar recipe. Especually for starters that are also candle makers. And this really works great.

Are you speaking of dead sea clay in particular? I find this clay isnt like the others and you will never get as fine of a powder from it. Using the same technique with other clays, say bentonine for example, I have had no problems adding to the lye water.

No I dont belive there is any one single area that someone has posted all subs for different oils. Subs are usually suggested on a per recipe basis.

the thing with adding it to the LYE water, is that the clay will absorb the lye water and never fully disolve. There for you will get specs of lye absorbed clay throughout your soap , which will never fully react and it will zap like crazy.