# Oatmeal M&P bars



## melstan775 (Feb 25, 2013)

Here are two oatmeal soap bars that I made from a melt & pour soap base.  I used the Crafter's Choice Triple Butter Base from Wholesale Supplies Plus. It has cocoa, shea, and mango butter in it, and it sounded yummy so I bought it.  I also bought Witches Brew scent and I didn't like it when I tried it in the base, it was way too strong.  and the base seemed rubbery, I didn't like it at all. So both sat in a drawer til yesterday. 

So, see, how I got these soaps was my mother requested an oatmeal soap. So I made the partial oatmeal one first, with the triple butter soap and some chopped up oatmeal, and sugar for exfoliation, and some nutmeg to give it a more oatmeal cookie smell. I also used a tiny slice of the witch's brew soap that was too strong. The cinnamon really came out in it, so I thought it would be a good scent additive. I only used a tiny slice and it came out perfect. 


There's some other oatmeal and sugar in there, but some of it sank to the bottom of the mold, creating that oatmeally top. The rest I poured in small layers throughout, and it's hidden in there. I think it looked great, but my mom wanted a whole oatmeal bar, so I made another one. This time I did it using a ton of oatmeal I had chopped with a steak knife. If I do this again I am definitely using a food processor. This had so much added, I think I only used one or two ounce of soap, the rest is oatmeal with some sugar and nutmeg and cinnamon thrown in. The soap is melting out between the oat flakes, so so it's all crunchy and the soap is melting so it has a real rustic bumpy, almost coarse feel to it. I like it, I can't wait to try one of these in the shower. 

Anyway, the bars smell like cinnamon and oatmeal, like a spicy oat cake or cookie. It's a great unisex scent that is fresh and yummy at the same time. Also the bars set up really hard, like a store bought bar. Which is great for me, I don't really like soft bendable bars. Which reminds me, I think I learned something about melt and pour today.  I guess from the way these set up, the softness of the melt and pour base is for the addition of additives - if it were a hard base and you added stuff to it, it would probably start cracking from being too hard and heavy, not to mention being too hard to cut. Some things are made that way, though I can't think of any examples now, but some things are different then what you expect because it has built in leeway for whatever you add to it.


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## Shannon_m (Feb 25, 2013)

gosh those look and sound so yummy I want to eat one!


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## melstan775 (Feb 25, 2013)

Shannon_m said:


> gosh those look and sound so yummy I want to eat one!



That is the best compliment ever. Doesn't that bottom one look like oatmeal squares you'd find in a cereal box?


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## Shannon_m (Feb 25, 2013)

Yes.. I want to sniff one lol I love oatmeal


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## three_little_fishes (Feb 25, 2013)

Oh, I like those!


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## Badger (Feb 25, 2013)

Oh those look delicious!  I love oatmeal cookies!  (Yep, here I go with food again, lol)  Only thing missing is the raisins.  Now I am imagining an oatmeal bar with little raisin shaped embeds...


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## Trxflyer (Feb 25, 2013)

These bars look incredible!  I'm always amazed at the artistry and creativity that soapers display, especially it seems through using the Melt & Pour medium.  I've never made melt & pour and have never even used a bar of it.  How does the best quality melt & pour bar compare in experience to best quality cold process for bathing, cleaning & conditioning?


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## Badger (Feb 25, 2013)

From what I have read and seen, it depends on the quality of the base that you buy.  I have been happy with the goat's milk base that I bought from Bramble Berry and the way it has worked, but I have not heard good things about soap bases from craft stores.


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## melstan775 (Feb 25, 2013)

TRXFLYER said:


> These bars look incredible!  I'm always amazed at the artistry and creativity that soapers display, especially it seems through using the Melt & Pour medium.  I've never made melt & pour and have never even used a bar of it.  How does the best quality melt & pour bar compare in experience to best quality cold process for bathing, cleaning & conditioning?



With melt & pour think of it this way - 

In cold process you add your additives at trace and let it set up. 

With M&P, you melt your base and add your additives. It's still in a liquid state so it's like when your soap is liquid at trace, but not caustic. You can buy soap bases with lots of stuff - milk, hemp, shea butter, etc.  Anne-Marie says you can mix them as long as they are the same brand. Different brands have different formulas, so if you're doing mixing or layering they may not mix and/or adhere right.


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## Trxflyer (Feb 25, 2013)

melstan775 said:


> With melt & pour think of it this way -
> 
> In cold process you add your additives at trace and let it set up.
> 
> With M&P, you melt your base and add your additives. It's still in a liquid state so it's like when your soap is liquid at trace, but not caustic. You can buy soap bases with lots of stuff - milk, hemp, shea butter, etc.  Anne-Marie says you can mix them as long as they are the same brand. Different brands have different formulas, so if you're doing mixing or layering they may not mix and/or adhere right.



Same lather, conditioning & bubbles etc in the shower?


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## Shannon_m (Feb 25, 2013)

I haven't used any of my CP yet but I can say the MP lathers and bubbles very well... for me it depends on the base and additives if it's conditioning. I've had some that were pretty drying and some that were excellent.


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## Trxflyer (Feb 25, 2013)

Thanks melstan755 & Shannon_m for the quick M&P lesson!


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## lizflowers42 (Feb 25, 2013)

Craft store base m&p is pretty yucky in my opinion. It has a very weird smell and I never got good bubbles from it.

Btw, I love the rustic look Melissa! The scent sounds heavenly!


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## RocknRoll (Feb 25, 2013)

All I can say is... YUM!!!!!!


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## sakura1024 (Jul 26, 2013)

Great job on the oatmeal bars!

I just tried my first CP soap recently, and honestly, I wasn't a fan. I will have to try some from other soapers, but these came from a couple different makers at the farmers market and they just didn't lather well and I noticed that their scents are morphing. I only use opaque bases from Bramble Berry (goat's milk and shea butter) and they lather so very well! I make sure none of my bases have SLS/SLES, so they are at least better than store bought soap. My husband won't use anything but my goat's milk soap in the shower and he's super picky, if that helps.


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## savonierre (Jul 27, 2013)

They all look great.


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## Crombie (Jul 28, 2013)

*MP Lathering - Additives*

I find that even the premium soap bases to do lather as well as CP - however, I find them more moisturizing than many CP soap I have used.  Please remember - the thing that makes most soap lather is detergent.  The great benefit about making your soap at home is that you can make it detergent free - something I value more than lather.  

We have found that a good large sea sponge (Wal-Mart carries a good imitation one for around $3.50 hanging up in their soap section) will make any soap lather.

One of the men I had been gifting my MP soap to said he loved it but was disappointed with the lather.  I bought him the sea sponge from Wal-Mart and his is now my biggest soap fan.

Also, when putting additives in soap - be sure it is something your plumbing can handle - because it will go through your pipes.


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## Lildlege1 (Nov 4, 2013)

I agree . That looks yummy !!!!


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