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@TheGecko I personally can feel the difference between a soap that has shea butter in it and one that hasn't. I didn't feel a difference in the percentage though, so rather than using 10% Shea, I now just use 5%. It's one of my most expensive ingredients, but using at 5%, I am prepared to use...

@earlene, i had purchased Rosin, also labeled pine resin. I had a quick google for rosin and the first thing than came up was cannabis rosin. 🤣. Thanks for clearing that up 😁

@FragranceGuy, I’ve noticed the same thing. It would all depend on skin type, “mature” vs oily vs sensitive skin. In terms of the % of coconut oil stripping the skin of oils, you’ve kept that percentage low. When I look at the oils to make facial serums, I’m looking at what they contribute in...

@Zany-in-CO I’m assuming you are talking about pine resin?

Wow, you guys are making me want to try lard, it's so expensive in NZ! I worked it out to be $16 a kilo. You guys also seem to be a big fan of shortening at times, I don't even know where I would look to find it in the supermarket. New Zealand is a HUGE butter nation and at one stage it was...

For my teenagers, simple seems to be best. I get them to use rose hydrosol as a cleanser/toner (spray on and wipe off) and jojoba oil in a dropper bottle, essential oils can be added. A couple of drops is all it takes to moisturise the face. I never used soap on my face, which is a sad thing...

I think its crazy that Valerian essential oil is contradicted for use with Valium, wtf? Check out Vetiver, known as the oil of tranquility. It has a very earthy scent, but as it's a base note, you don't need much. It's the same with Valerian, small amounts work best. I have used valerian but...

Thank you. I’m keen to have another go.

I just happened to have an empty pringles container so thought I'd try the lollipop swirl, first time try. Settled on purple, lime green and yellow mica for coloring. First mistake, buying shea butter that was bright yellow so that threw off all my colours. I added sucrose to the water before...

@ResolvableOwl, I suppose it all depends on who is bringing it into the country. I’ve been playing with both palm oils types. @szaza, I’ve been using Shea and cocoa together, and yep, playing with the FA profiles on recipes to see how it changes things on the SoapCalcPro is quite fascinating.

@szaza, I tend to find that I play more with the butters on leave on body products rather than the soaps. I generally keep my shea butter at 5-10% in soap recipes as I didn't really notice a difference in the feel of the soap when the shea butter was 15%. Butters are expensive to buy in New...

Did the bleach work KiwiMoose? I have real issues with some fragrances, they end up out in the garage to cure. Nothing worse than having an aroma you hate hanging around!

Interesting results Szaza. I’ve been introducing more cocoa butter into my soaps, more to increase hardness than anything else. I did notice that it didn’t seem to be a common ingredient in a lot of soap recipes,. I found quite a few sites mentioning that cocoa butter reduced lather, so maybe...

I have been using the fine himalayan salt. If this coarse sea salt is too tough for human skin, I might have to wash the horses maybe, they have plenty of hair to protect their skin ;)

Thank you, I was having a brain fart moment, the SB saved the day. I didn't know about himalayan salt cutting the skin. It will be interesting to feel the difference between the two salt batches.

Eek, normally I use himalayan sea salt with my salt bars. I decided to go for some coarse sea salt (98%) instead, same recipe, expecting it to thicken and act like it would with the himalayan salt, but its not. What do I do? The salt content equals the weight of the oils. It's down to 88oF...

Than you so much for your replies 🥰

Hi Guys I have someone interested in selling my soap. I know my product, happy with it, know cost pricing etc. My question to use is, how do you work out your wholesale cost price? Do you double or triple your cost pricing? I'm happy for someone else to sell, I hate sales, would rather be...

Another factor to be aware of, which no one has mentioned is how the oils were treated before they came to you. As I live in New Zealand, we have few oils processed within the country. Has the oil I’m buying flown over on a plane or his it been in the sitting in a shipping container on a ship...

Violets2217, I’m a fan of clays too and some of those presses/discs are huge. The biggest I found was 100mm/250g! AliOop, I’m a research first and get as much info as possible before trialing sort. Didn’t help that my first mix was too wet and yes, I read about citric acid being added last. I...