ProudMarineMom

I love it, that is great!!

If you don't want to call it shlong soap, you could put a couple of eyes on it and call it Kilroy. If you're old enough to remember that...

If it's the one from Peak's, it's one of my favorites from them. I don't do CP but it does well from me in soy (464), and I really like it in M&P, bath melts and sugar scrubs.

I got the notification from Best Buy this morning....

Steve, did you pick up any of the Caribbean Teakwood? If so, have you tried it in your tarts yet? I love this scent and used one ounce in all my tart warmers and another soaking incense. Going to use the third for candles. Probably will just have to order a larger bottle.

For my free sample I grabbed Mediterranean Fig. Really liking that OOB as well. Now I'm torn, use it in wax or M&P.

Sorry...satin pillar

I don't really make pillars, so not sure how it's done. But, the silver candles look like the metallic looking pillars I've seen, usually around Christmas, that have some type of glitter applied. Probably doesn't help you much.

THANKS! That's GREAT to know!!!!!!

Have YOU ever tried it?

No, I haven't. Was actually researching after reading this thread. I would like to do a liquid soap but I need to start with a base. I like the SFIC M&P so wondering if this would be good. I think some people also use a bath/shower gel.

Looked at Oak Court again and they have the soap base listed as OOS. I don't remember it saying that before, but it could have. Maybe someone else has some feedback on it.

eta: Just wandered out to Elements Bath and Body to check out their bases. They also carry the SFIC liquid soap, but are out of stock as well. Looks like they do sell a 4oz sample on up to the 5 gallon. Elements is a great supplier. I haven't used Oak Court before.

Oak Court Creations sells the SFIC liquid soap base in 32oz sizes. That would give you more to test than the 8oz sample.

https://www.oakcourtcreations.com/ProductCart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=546&idcategory=41

hth

J

There are threads in a couple of other sections discussing that as well. For the last year/year and a half Alabaster has been out of stock on items more and more. Even posters on the ScentReview, which is sponsored by Alabaster, are asking the same question.

I've read various posts on here the last couple of years about the company. It seems when the Kentucky location was closed the Alabama location started to have problems. Not exactly sure what is going on. I was hoping to use them as a supplier for wax and containers since they are about 3 hours away. But, they always seemd to be out of stock on one thing or another so looked elsewhere.

Caribbean Teakwood - I am liking this. A nice woodsy, softly masculine scent with a touch of something tropical. Do I detect a note of lime? and coconut? Not sure. But I want to put this in M&P and my GG palm wax.

Candybee, take a look at the label on the Teakwood. It says candles only. I am SO disappointed!! CS box was delivered today and really liked this scent OOB.

Got my co-op soap yesterday so was thinking the same thing. M&P here I come!! Just looked at the front of the bottle, downer.... I didn't notice it online either. This would make a wonderful men's scent. Heck, I like!

Did the same thing with the Grapefruit and Mangosteen. Made some bath melts but hadn't given them to my testers yet. Fortunately, Luminous pointed that out in another thread when I commented on the oil.

Just wanted to let you know.

J

do you not like the SFIC, brand?

i just bought some to try out..i have never made M&P

i got the white, LS white, LS clear, shaving, & clear,

i am anxious to give it a try..

I'm really liking the SFIC brand. I've tried Stephenson, Crafter's Choice, EBC and NG Natural bases. Unfortunately with EBC, the smallest amount you can buy is 20lbs plus shipping. That is a lot for me on a hobby budget right now for testing. I did pick up some of the samples but those are only 6 to 8 ounces, so not a lot to really test with. The NG Natural bases are very nice but were a little too soft for me. Stephenson and Crater's Choice were so-so. But, just my opinion from my testing.

I add quite a bit of 'stuff' to my M&P and the SFIC works really well for me. Also picked up some more in the last Co-op. I was using just the white base initially but switching to clear to hopefully get brighter colors. I do add Goat's Milk so add a little white base to get the soap white. But, don't have to use as much colorant to get brighter/deeper colors. I could only manage pastels with an all-white base. Could be my dye or I don't add enough. Grabbed some of the shave soap as well to add a little to my bars. Hopefully kick up the lather a bit.

Anyway, hope you like the SFIC. Since I can't do CP, having fun with M&P.

Soapgoods carries the Crafters Choice bases. Don't know how they compare in price to WSP.

http://www.soapgoods.com/

Might want to try there.

J

When I was searching for DPG at one point in time, I saw one that said low oder DPG (Medina maybe?). Made me curious if there are some out there that have a more distinctive odor. So far the ones I have ordered don't have a chemical smell. Longest one of my bottles probably sat was 6 months. Will have to remember that in the future though, just to check.

Candybee, I agree, the Amber is very light in the Oakmoss and Amber. But, I'm really loving this scent. I put it in M&P and it turned out wonderfully. Did well in bath melts, sugar scrub cubes and lotion bars as well.

Didn't get my order in until today so will have to wait until Friday for delivery. Appreciate everybody's initial impressions.

Ignore me please, you were wanting liquid dyes. Blonde moment.....:tiptoe:

I was just looking at the candle dye at Taylored Concepts. They have some new flourescent dye chips. Maybe those will help you out.

http://tayloredconcepts.com/dye.htm

eta: So does Candle Chem

I think those would do nicely as well. And, you can make more at a time. Good luck!

Not sure what the one looks like on eBay, but I did a quick google search on horse head cameo. If it looks like any that I saw, I think it will look great. Would probably be easier to wrap and label as well.

Kudos for helping out a very worthy cause.

J

Yesterday I tested an incense stick that I made in Moon Lake Musk from CS. I could swear that thing burned for well over an hour! lol

It was awesome. Gonna burn another one today and time it. I used a 50/50 mix with NG sticks.

Doesn't that make just a great incense? That was one of the first FO I did and I just love it.

Ok, tested both a charcoal and wood stick. Both of them were made over a month ago. Neither one of them had black smoke on lighting. The wood stick had a larger flame but I still didn't see any black. Just nice curling white smoke and fragrance.

So, I would suggest letting your 50/50 batch dry a few more days, or even a week, then try again. I suspect it's probably not quite dry. When I first pour a new fragrance I'm impatient as well. Although I do burn early and get the black, at least I know if I like the fragrance before making a larger batch.

Are you using wood-based blanks or charcoal? Does the black smoke stop once the incencse starts it's normal burn?

I use charcoal so trying to remember if the wood-based took longer to dry than charcoal. It can take longer than 24 hours for my charcoal to throughly dry. The outside may not be wet but the core is not fully dry. Cones especially need a longer dry time.

Before you give up on what you have, let it dry for a few more days then try lighting one. I'll try to light a couple of mine I made last month and pay better attention when I first light. I know when it's just the normal burn, I don't get black smoke.

For information overload, but a lot of great information, check out Susan's blog: http://www.swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/.

If you scroll down, on the right-hand side she has a couple of e-books (PDF) she offers for donation. One of them is Lotion Making 101. I have her Back To Basics: Anhydrous Products and it is excellent. It provides information about ingredients, oil and butter profiles along with lots of recipes. I assume the Lotion Making book is just as informative.

You can also do specific searches for various topics and further down on the righ-hand side is a guide to ingredients. The blog, along with the forums here and google searches on the net will give you quite a bit to read.

For the Aquatech Hemp lotion, any FO that is body safe should be fine. They recommend only 1 tsp FO per 20 oz (by weight) of lotion to maintain the preservative system. I'm not sure how that would equate to EO since I have not used those. I would suggest reading about EO's to learn about skin sensitivities and usage rates. For example, if I remember correctly, Clary Sage EO is one that should be avoided during pregnancy. Not sure how current or accurate, but here is a link that lists various EO's to avoid for various reasons:

http://www.naturesgift.com/warnings.htm

I'm not trying to discourage you from EO's, just be sure to do your research to really understand the ingredient before using. Camden Grey and The Herbarie sell quite a few Essential Oils and both are on the East Coast. Lotion Crafters and New Directions Aromatics are also good but are on the West Coast. Good luck and have fun!

J

That is really cool!

Beautiful spring colors! I really like the two-tone colors as well. Very pretty.

ooohhh, that's good to know! I'll have to give that a try. Thanks!

Angel is my fav perfume so have it around for comparison. I have used Bert's in my 464 and it's pretty darn close. Even closer if used just as a warmer oil. It is a light scent in soy and again stronger as a warmer oil. I've tried the one from CS and one other place that I can't remember right now and hers seems to be a better dupe.

Now, I bought some CP soap and lotion from a boardmember here that uses the Angel from Sweetcakes. That is a dead-on dup. And, it's also stupid expensive, $66 for a pound. So, probably wouldn't recommend it for candles. But if you can afford it, it seems to be fantastic in B&B products. The soap and lotion I got was scented just right, not too much or too little. She mentioned that her clients swear by the fragrance as well.

hth - j