Christmas Ideas for my wife- Help!

[dbr549]

Hello everyone,

I just joined and this is my first post. Reason being is, my wife took a short class on soap making and really liked it and would like to make more at home. She said she would like some fragrances for Christmas but didn't give me a list. Thing is, I don't have a clue about soap making and was hoping some of you could steer me in the right direction.

I was reading here, that Elements Bath and Body was a good place to place an order. So I looked around there oil section and was over whelmed. What size bottle should I buy? AND what fragrances are good for a starter/beginner?

Any recommendations would truly be appreciated!
Thanks,
Dave

 

[ohsoap]

1oz are great for testing scents and doing small batches.
You can't fail with some basics, lavender, mint, a fruity (black raspberry vanilla is my favorite), and anything vanilla!

 

[dbr549]

Thanks for the quick reply! I'll check into those.

I saw it mention "CP soap" listed with their fragrances. I couldn't find what that meant. Are those oils used in lye soaps? I just ordered 8 lbs. of food grade lye that said it was used for soap making.

Thanks,
Dave

 

[honor435]

your so nice, does she have oils already, oils by nature has good prices on cocoa, shea butters. Also, peakcandles has buy 10- 1oz for 20$, they have nice strong scents, i can tell you that french amber vanilla should be on your list also good
cranberry apple marmalade
black canyon(for men)
brown sugar fig
coconut lime verbena
cucumber melon
wild mt honey
ok, i could go on and on, make sure they say safe for body products, some are for candles, you can buy 2 or 3 of each with this deal, if she is doing hp(hot process) she will need one bottle, cp(cold process) 2 bottles.
have fun.

 

[dbr549]

Thank you for the suggestions and places to buy them. She only has a handful of oils. Some she found at the health food store, which may not be what she needs. (????) She hasn't made anything with those yet. I know she'd like to make soaps, lip stuff and those melting bar lotion ones.

Ahh, cp= cold press, hp= hot press. I googled it and discovered she did the cold press method. So she would need 2- 1oz bottles to make one batch. Correct?

I got a feeling I'm going to be one clean, "pretty" smelling man when she's all done experimenting!

Also, I've been looking a several soap making books on amazon. There are quite a few with a lot of good reviews. Are there any "must have" books I should consider for her?

Thanks,
Dave

 

[honor435]

i have one called "smart soap making" by anne watson, make sure to buy used on amazon, its way cheaper. I learned mostly online, many tutorials.
you can use essential oils from health store, but very spendy, if she wants to use those, try newdirections.
yes, usually 1-0z per lb of fo(fragrance oil), less if she does hp.
she can get oils, like olive and coc and superwalmart, less exp than health strore, palm is a must for me, i buy that a soaperschoice(online), castor makes more bubbles, that i buy in bulk, less exp.

 

[TessC]

Not a book, but the Miller Soap site has tons and tons of info:

http://www.millersoap.com/

 

[Twilitr]

http://wholesalesuppliesplus.com has everything under the sun you need

http://www.oilsbynature.com/merchant2/m ... creen=SFNT has GREATprices on butters (cocoa, shea, etc)

 

[dagmar88]

Can we sign you in for the 'most considerate husband competition' somewhere?!

 

[dbr549]

Can we sign you in for the 'most considerate husband competition' somewhere?!

LOL!

Thank you for the above links! I'll have to give her a list of websites/links AFTER Christmas!

It seems a few of you mentioned cocoa and shea butter. I guess this is something pretty important to use. I've been looking it up and there seems to be a few different kinds, refined-unrefined-deodorized, etc. Which cocoa and shea would you recommend to use in cp soaps?

Thanks,
Dave

 

[dagmar88]

Well, very important to me are the oils that give soap fluffy lather; coconut oil and palm kernal oil.
Together with locally available ingredients like soy, olive oil crisco, lard & tallow you can make really good soap.
Cocoa & she butter (often used at 5-10% of the total oils) make the soap more conditioning.
All works well, so I'd say go for the cheapest...

 

[dbr549]

Thank you for the reply!

I've got book, website links & info, fragrance oils, lye and butters. Is there anything else I should consider buying? (basically things she can't buy locally) Maybe some coloring solutions, anything?

I just want her to have enough ammunition to be creative and have fun doing it.

Thanks,
Dave

 

[Twilitr]

a good scale to measure everything out, coloring agents, a mold (you can make one easy) and the patience and love to be her personal guinea pig..but it looks like you already have that covered... Merry Christmas. Dont be surprised if she wants to venture out into other Bath and body products as well (lotion, body wash, etc, etc)

 

[dbr549]

Thank you to ALL that have replied!! You have been a great help and definately saved me a lot of time and aggravation trying to decide what to purchase. I believe I got enough supplies to get her going in the right direction anyway! The "guinea pig" comment is funny! I guess I'm going to be joining that "club" soon! :wink:

Thanks again and Merry Christmas to ALL!!
Dave

 

[tamarajane]

Does she have a stick blender? Very important!

 

[dbr549]

Does she have a stick blender? Very important!

Yep! We actually had one and received another as a gift years ago.

Thank you!

 

[ChrissyB]

Your wife is very lucky!!
Make sure to check back in after christmas and let us know how she liked her presents!

 

[Tabitha]

After Christmas, when she has gottem her gift, please tell her about our forum. She can join & see what a sweetie you were.