Search results

Hi, all! I've searched the forum and didn't find this particular question answered... Since glycerin is a byproduct of soap making, can I list it in my ingredients? I mean, if I can list the "sodium ____ate" names of oils and leave out the lye, I was wondering if this same "final product" kind...

New12Soap - thanks so much for the input! It's nice to hear that someone else has had similar experiences when working with Swift's recipes. I love them, as you do, but they tend to be a bit thick. And it's not really even thick - it's just thick compared to commercial products like Origins...

Three little fishes - body butter is a great product as well. I may just go with that instead, if I don't come up with a solution for what I'm trying to do. I just thought of another idea as well, to make the lotions softer/thinner. I could add an ester like "Peg-7 Olivate" to the water phase...

Thanks Judymoody! Yes, definitely will use a preservative. I forgot to mention that, and I know it's very important! I get a lot of stuff from both The Herbarie and Lotioncrafter. I will research some more and see what might work for me. Good point about rice bran oil. How did you know that just...

Thanks, sistrum. I do want to make a single oil lotion. My recipe will be as short a list of products as I can make it. I'm thinking water, shea, whatever emulsifying agents I use and maybe a little IPM. As for thickening, I was hoping I could make a thinner product by formulating my own...

Melstan775, what you're describing is like a whipped shea butter, which is a great product also. And I might just end up doing that instead. At the moment, I'm trying to make an emulsion (oil and water). The HLB system is a way of figuring out how much emulsifier you need to emulsify certain...

Ok, this post is for you lotion making geniuses. Here's your chance to show off your know-how! Has anyone ever formulated a mostly shea lotion or body butter? Forgive the long intro, but just to give you an idea of where I'm coming from - I have made lots of lotions, but I generally follow...

I also use charcoal - I get it out of pills purchased at the drug store. It doesn't take much and it's very effective/The soap is pure black and the lather is pretty close to white (maybe slightly grey). I have not had it stain anything. Incidentally, I dissolve the charcoal completely in my...

Yeah, I use plastic - it works very well.

Isn't it funny how some people just have to learn things the hard way? I read a dozen posts today about people would rather have a root canal than do a rebatch and yet I decided to try it for myself. If you're thinking about doing a rebatch, let me confirm for you that it is, in fact, arduous...

These are soooo pretty! And creative :-)

I like Brambleberry's the best. Wholesale Supplies Plus is cheaper, but theirs are just slightly too large for my soaps. It's a subtle difference, but the ones from Brambleberry look so much better on my soap. My soap is generally 3 1/2 inches wide by 2 1/2 inchse high, just FYI.

Thanks so much for sharing the recipe. I'm curious how the sparkly mica worked out for you? Did it show on your skin? I have some cosmetic grade glitter (very fine) that I could add. Has anyone had any luck with that? I think I'll post a separate question about the glitter thing as well.:smile:

Beautiful - and so silky looking. Would you be willing to share your recipe? Can't hurt to ask, right?

Just wanted to update this post, in case anyone is interested in what I did to fix the problem. I ended up replacing the shea butter with shea oil (butters are thicker than oils, of course) and replacing the cetyl alcohol with cetyl esters, which don't thicken as much, but have pretty much the...

Thank you so much! See, with my fragmented knowledge, I know just enough to be dangerous! I don't think of IPM and Cetyl Alcohol as emulsifiers. I use them for their other qualities. Thanks a MILLION for this input! :-)

Hiya! I'm in a quandry. I have a lotion (which is more of a cream, really) that I make that people love. The problem is that I would really like it to be a proper lotion so I can figure out how to bottle it. I've used a tottle bottle, but there's still a ton of product left in it that I can't...

Re: new soap! PIC! succes, but questions! CPOP, using tea , Thanks for asking the question about TD because I've always had a problem with it as well. I will try the premixing thing - sounds like it really works. And I agree that your soap is very cool looking, despite the fact that it didn't...

Thanks, Irishlass! I am fond of "decadent" lather, but not fond of soaps that don't dry well (aka - get mushy/don't last). I guess I'll just have to make a small batch and see what it does for me. :D Today, I made an orange and black soap for Halloween (charcoal and Anise EO in the black part...

First, a big "Hi, Howdy!" to all of you. I've been away for a while. Long story, not particularly interesting. Anyhow, I'm back and experimenting. I have a question about the difference between a 100% coconut bar with and without salt. I mean, I know what the difference is, technically, but...