ProudMarineMom

I started off making candles. But, after a while, I found I enjoyed making B&B products more and absolutely love to make CP soap. It still make wax melts though.

Wow, beautiful soaps!!!

Gorgeous soap and colors, very pretty. So, umm, cactus in soap, sounds painful? Maybe you can educate the cactus impaired, I assume you just use the meat / juice from the leaves? Sorry, I don't know from cactus....

he Blue Skies accelerates super fast and you have to work quickly to get it in the mold or your spoon will be stuck in the pot. HTH

Steve

Oh shoot, I hate to hear that. I was hoping to use that one with the ombre layers. Guess not!

Thanks, Judy, for trying and getting the information.

The popular scents for me are Blissful Blackberry, Yuzu (both AH/RE), Plumberry (CS), and Honey L'Occitane type (SS). The Nag Champa lovers really like Dragon Fire from Oregon Trails. For me, give me OT's Egyptian Musk.

I haven't tried the master batching either. But, try searching this section, thought it has been discussed before.

I think it turned out lovely.

Thanks lsg for the info. If we lived in WI near SIL dairy farm I could get free milk. But, bit of a commute from Georgia. I'll probably just keep buying the yogurt from the store. I really don't need another hobby right now.

I agree, yogurt is very nice in soap. Very creamy. One batch I also added rose clay for color and that one was extremely popular with my testers.

Unfortunately, scents are very subjective. Some people prefer florals or fresh scents while others prefer bakery scents. Popularity can also be regional. What sells in Tennessee may not sell in Kansas. I think most people here have several scents in the different categories for a broad appeal. As you learn your market you can adjust from there.

Most of the suppliers have smaller sizes (usually an ounce) to sample a fragrance. Southern Soapers offers 'sniffies' (small vials) so you can at least smell the fragrance first. There is actually enough in the vial for me to scent a little bit of lotion so I can test in a product. The Scent Works used to offer those as well but haven't seen them recently. Other than that, look for sampler packs or keep an eye out for sample sales. You can sign up for newsletters or check out the Weekly Sales section in the Marketplace.

I don't know if you are an experienced soaper or crafter of just starting out. If you are new to the craft, this is not an inexpensive hobby. I have a crap-load of fragrance oils in my closet. Along with all the supplies needed to make and test the products.

There is a fragrance oil section here on the forum. If you find a supplier or fragrance you like, do a search there, see if someone has experience. There have been a lot of suppliers and fragrances discussed in that section.

hth - j

BlissStreet has a link in her response and they have good prices. I ordered mine from Amazon because I have Prime and get free shipping. These are the ones I ordered:

http://www.amazon.com/Karter-Scientific-206H2-Transfer-Pipettes/dp/B005Z4QVMW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1338120800&sr=8-3

I like the pipettes, they are pretty good and haven't found one with a broken seam yet. Only thing I didn't like about them is they are shipped in a cardboard box, which is fine. But, the pipettes are in the box with no other bag or liner. I might try a different brand next time. But, I have bunches to go through first.

How did your homemade yogurt do in the soap? How does the cost of making your own yogurt compare to just buying a tub? I understand there are probably many more benefits than cost, just like making our own soap. I'm curious as to how expensive it is to make your own.

Gamma seals are used for pails (like 5 gallon buckets). For those that buy lye (or anything else really) in bulk, the seals form an air tight/water tight seal to protect what's inside. Stockpilers use them to store rice, flour, beans, etc.

Home Depot and Menards carry them now.

Thanks for the info. That actually makes more sense.

Thanks for the heads up on the sale at AAA, Irena. Even with shipping the cost is still about half. Should keep me for a while.

Steve, I agree, prefer the 2lb bottles myself. Easier to store and easier to work with. Maybe if I was able to soap full-time, the larger bags would be better.

Talltayl, is there a good place to get the seals? I assume you just put them on the open bottle.

I think it looks very nice, Paul. Don't think you need to remelt.

I had an oatmeal M&P do the same thing because I mixed too early and it didn't suspend. But, one side was nice and exfoliating while the other side was smooth. Acutally wasn't a bad soap. Several people really liked it.

I would try what Jeanie suggested, hydrate the powder first. You also do quite a bit of GM batches, maybe stick blend in with that before adding to your base.

Very nice... Love the mold too! I'm going to have to try one of those one of these day.

It uses quite a bit more soap batter than the silicone log molds, so that was a bit intimidating. Just tried to be very careful and not splatter anything. Look forward to seeing your creations in a slab mold!!

The swirls turned out wonderfully. Very pretty soap. Yeah, my colors and swirls don't always turn out like I envisioned, so will keep practicing.

I made a soap with yogurt using the divided recipe, little over half as water to dissolve the lye the remainder I added at trace. Used TSW Fine Young Cannabis, which is a rose fragrance. The scent faded at first and then came back, but I don't think it is as nice as OOB. For me, this isn't a FO I will use with milk soaps. I do have other FO where I have used GM, cream or yogurt and the scent is just fine once the soap gets past the the inital sour milk smell. Wait a week or two, maybe it will come back for you.

Welcome Back!! :wave: I wasn't a member when you were here, but your recipes are still popular. Hope to see you around the board.

Wow, he did a very nice job on that mold! Don't ya love having a DH that can build stuff?? Very nice soaps too!

Thank you. It may not be perfect, but I think he did a great job on the mold. I know the next one will look better. Just hoping the soap unmolds nicely from the lexan. I really hate lining molds.

Beautiful! Isn't Maharani Padparadscha a fabulous scent? Wish I could rename mine though! hah

I think it's a wonderful scent too, have some in a lotion right now (which is almost out). I was thinking of maybe Pink Sapphire or Indian Sapphire. Although, the name is pretty unique.

Hi everyone. DH made a slab mold for me. The wood is Red Oak and the sides have lexan glued on. The lexan on the bottom is not glued down and the sides are removable. He will be making lexan dividers for the mold as well. He said he learned quite a bit from his first attempt and hopes the next one he makes will look better. I think it turned out pretty good.

Here is an attempted peacock swirl in the new mold. Didn't get the 'feathers' lined up right so doesn't look quite right. It's made with Southern Soapers Maharani Padparadscha.

This is a soap I made for a friend. It's scented with SS Sweet Grass and did a swirl in the pot. Colored the base with green pop and the swirl with Select Shades Aquamarine. Sprinkled some gold and starlight green mica on the top. I knew the green morphed in soap, so wanted to see what it would do if used as a sprinkle. Still morphed.

Thanks for looking.

I'm pretty sure they are made with a polyethylene and will eventually seep the fragrance out of your tarts. You might want to find a supplier that has the polypro variety. I use clamshells or portion cups, so don't remember off hand who might carry these types of bags.

Congrats on your first batch of soap!! I think it turned out pretty darn good. And, your second batch is very pretty. Be sure to keep a bar from your first batch. Good advice I got from others on the forum.

The Sparkle Light is very pretty. But, your GG selection is amazing. Nice pattern and beautiful colors.

Very pretty. Great swirl!

Ok, here are pics of the cut soap. Sorry it isn't very good. Definitely needed to use more of the EO blend, but it turned out very nice.

Since I was taking pics, here are a few of my other soaps. The first is an unscented Goat's Milk; the second is my Green Bay themed soap for family in Wisconsin, it's scented with Southern Soapers Persian Limewood; the third is a yogurt soap with Rose Clay in the base with Scentworks Fine Young Cannabis. Thanks for looking.

Jewls that turned out gorgeous!!! What type of colorant did you use for the blue? It's a beautiful shade.