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Remember: don't just swap out the oils on the fly-- run it through a lye calculat0r before making it.

Leaving out castor didn't seem to make much of a difference in lather for me. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Reiterating that it's a personal preference. That being said, my son likes me to make 40% lard 25% olive 20% CO 10% Avocado oil (could swap for the RBO) 5% Shea I have never really felt the need to use castor. If you want it, you could take 5% of the lard or olive to fit the castor back in.

Lots of people have trouble with plant material turning moldy on their soaps. Lavender, rose buds, dried fruit, it's all at risk for getting moldy.

You don't say when it was made... Whether it's been cut it...

You could try making cinnamon sticks out of soap dough, or by making soap curls from a previous batch. That way, you don't have to worry about irritation or having to remove the cinnamon stick before use.

Which numbers didn't look right?

Or, grate it and use it as confetti in an unscented batch...

Along with what @AliOop said, I don't think spraying with alcohol is going to soften the soap enough to be able to stick anything to the top. Tell me about these lavender buds? Is there a label that tells you if they are food grade? If they are, you can add them to tea. There are also recipes...

I'm not sure I'm following you. Do you mean could you add the buds at a later time when the soap wouldn't make them brown? If that's what you mean, I don't know how you would add them. Or, is the alcohol how you think you would add them? I have an idea: make a small unscented batch of lavender...

Do you normally cure your bars for only 2 weeks before using them?

Update: We've been home for a couple of hours. It was a pretty uneventful trip for the most part. The car did stall out on us a few times when we were in standing traffic in the mountains. But, once we were back at normal speeds it was fine. Thank you for praying for us today. Now we can get on...

We've made it about half way and the car seems to be feeling somewhat better? Maybe? Omni is less stressed about the car. Bonus: the prof for her online course granted her an extension on her assignment.

This seems so trivial with everything everyone has going on... We have just dropped Aura off at school and are heading back home. It's a 12-14 hour drive and our car is not sure it's up for it. It's not a safety issue, it would just be a major inconvenience if it gave up the ghost on the way...

There are also tutorials here in the forum, just a search away! For example: Thread 'How To Use Soap Calc Tutorial' https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/how-to-use-soap-calc-tutorial.49627/

I agree with @dmcgee5034 -- I would size down the batch. I have a friend that I make a special batch for. I only make enough for her. Or, I make a larger batch and save the rest for the next time she requests it.

Why do you think the line hasn't gone through saponification? Is it softer than the rest? Does it zap when tested?

I just add about 3 TBS to my 1lb batch, directly into my oils. I removed about the same amount from my liquid before adding the NaOH.

You can also turn some into confetti and add it to a new batch of soap. There's a newish method of confetti called (oh, gosh -- am I going to spell it right?) Ciaglia, where you stick blend after adding the confetti to make it finer. Thread 'Ciaglia definition help please!'...

Try this post Post in thread 'Formula of a famous soap' https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/formula-of-a-famous-soap.93370/post-1010788