Hello from Europe

[MySoapyHeart]

Hi!
So nice to met you!
I just wanted to pop in and say hi and hello. I am a brand spankin`new member, living in Norway.
I have been doing m&p soaps for a looooong time, simply because I was to scared to take a leap into the real deal and make everything from scratch.

What can I say, I don`t really get why I waited this long, lol

I have the utmost respect for the lye-process (!!!) and wears protective gear, but after dong this for some months now (several batches a week to test the process out before entering possability of selling)
I simply must say that this is way more fun than just doing melt and pour (although I am going to make m&p embeds to decorate soaps eventually, seen some really cool things that can be done to add some fun to cp-soaps)

One thing I have done with my m&p - and that I can carry with me in my new CP adventure - is using essential oils. I have at least 10 years of experience with them, I have read a looooooot about them, the safetylevels, what NOT to put in soaps, level of irritation it can cause on skin etc, so that is something I at least can take with me entering into the `doing things from scratch`mode.

But, I by no means have any formal education on this topic, just gained it by playing it safe, educating myself so I do no harm to anyone. I consider EO`s to be medicinal, and you don`t mess around with medicin as people with health issues or pregnancies can be affected.

Also love doing fizzies, footsoaks, lipbalms etc for some years now, so I have found that becoming a member of a forum would be benefitial for me.
Hopefully I can be a small asset to this forum also? Although my knowlegde of CP soaping is rather limited compared to all of you!

But I have spent a whole consecetive year reading about soap absahlutely.every.single day before putting on my protective gear. And now I have been putting my skills to the test.

Will try and post pictures to give an impression of my soaps, and perhaps get some advice to things I am not really happy with.

Sorry for the ramble, but at least that is over with now! If you read everything I hereby give you a medal, just for sticking with it to the bottom of this post!
*Hands over shiiiiiny medal*. :mrgreen:

All the best,
Mon

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Welcome!

I would think long and hard about selling so early in the journey, especially when you consider the EU regulations on it.

 

[shunt2011]

Hello and welcome!

 

[IrishLass]

Welcome, Mon! :wave:

It took me a year of voracious reading/studying before I worked up enough courage to try my hand at lye-soap, too......and once I did, I was hooked! It's been 10 or 11 years later now, and I'm still hooked!

Like the good Gent said- it's good to not jump into selling lye-based soap too soon, no matter how tempting (and it is very tempting, for sure!). So many things can go wrong to a bar of soap in a year's time, that it's highly recommended to do a year's worth of testing on your formula under different conditions before selling.


IrishLass

 

[MySoapyHeart]

Welcome!

I would think long and hard about selling so early in the journey, especially when you consider the EU regulations on it.

Thank you for the welcome!

I see I really should clairify something. I am actually not after making my own shop, or make soap in a big scale. I see now that it could be read like I was planning to do that, sorry.
As I wrote, I am testing the process out (for myself) before entering possability of selling, but only in a very small scale. I am totally in a learning stage, I know soapers have soaped for years and still feel like amateurs. But at some point in time I will gain enough experience so I can safely sell to friends and family that want to use my soap (I am not after owning a shop, I have severe rheumatism, I simply can`t do it, and I can only soap on days in the week I am well enough to be able to stand for some time while making the soap. I actually have problems writing on this keyboard today because of stiff joints so it takes me some time to answer back, sorry)

As to the rules and regulations and EU regulations. (We are not a member of the EU)
Here in Norway you can according to Norwegian legislation - sell in small quantities - even soap, that are considered a cosmetic, and are under the term "nature product" - which means something you either harvest or make your self. (Btw, Norwegian law uses the term "hobbybasis", which means selling in minute quantities)
This means that you can sell your items in small quantities and that is not allready a part of a regular shop/business etc, as long as you follow the rules and carefully write down each ingredient on a businesscard/lable etc, along with your full name, contactinfo such as phone, email etc. We can also sell on fairs as long as it is under the same "hobbybasis". There is also a monetary regulation that you can not sell your products for more than 4000 NOK ($460) in 1tax-year.
Hope that clarified my intentions. I didn`t learn much english in school so sorry if I am not able to make myself clear, but I am trying as hard as I can to be understood

Hello and welcome!

Thank you!

Welcome, Mon!

It took me a year of voracious reading/studying before I worked up enough courage to try my hand at lye-soap, too......and once I did, I was hooked! It's been 10 or 11 years later now, and I'm still hooked!

Like the good Gent said- it's good to not jump into selling lye-based soap too soon, no matter how tempting (and it is very tempting, for sure!). So many things can go wrong to a bar of soap in a year's time, that it's highly recommended to do a year's worth of testing on your formula under different conditions before selling.


IrishLass

Thank you for the welcome, and hello!

Yes, me too, spent a whole year reading about soap every single day (dreamt about it at night too. Nope. Not kidding...:mrgreen:
Totally get what you are saying about doing it safe, testing is what I am doing, have managed to come up with three go-to formulas now that are so mild and lovely. One doubbles as my shampoo and cleared up the sores I had on my scalp (but it`s not a shampoo bar at all, it is a simple coconutsoap with coconutmilk and plain yoghurt, SF at 25%) Who knew fat could be so fun, eh?

Keeping my ingredients simple, and small (ish`) batches (around 500 gr.) that are aging away. In First of december I will have a several batches that is 7 months old, have been savouring them to get a better impression. Can`t wait to test them out, but it is soooo hard to wait. The rest will be sitting untill a full year has passed, then I will get an idea of how it ends up I think. But the scents are a bit lackluster, so that is something I have learned as they age away.
Thanks again!
All the best,
Mon
http://www.soapmakingforum.com//no.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

While Norway are not in the EU, they have accepted the regulations as part of the EEA agreement. There may be exception for small hobby amounts, but I've not seen caveats to that affect and the regulations are the base level, the minimum applicable.

 

[MySoapyHeart]

While Norway are not in the EU, they have accepted the regulations as part of the EEA agreement. There may be exception for small hobby amounts, but I've not seen caveats to that affect and the regulations are the base level, the minimum applicable.

Thank you for your input, appreciated.

 

[dixiedragon]

Welcome to the forum! I have always wanted to visit Norway! I have never done M&P. When I tell people I make soap, they frequently ask, "Like the stuff at Hobby Lobby?" (Hobby Lobby is a big chain hobby/craft store in the US. They carry some M&P supplies.) And I respond, "That's Melt and Pour. I don't do that. I like to work with lye - I want the chance to seriously injure myself!"

 

[MySoapyHeart]

Welcome to the forum! I have always wanted to visit Norway! I have never done M&P. When I tell people I make soap, they frequently ask, "Like the stuff at Hobby Lobby?" (Hobby Lobby is a big chain hobby/craft store in the US. They carry some M&P supplies.) And I respond, "That's Melt and Pour. I don't do that. I like to work with lye - I want the chance to seriously injure myself!"

Thank you!
Norway is a country of ever changing seasons and kinda unpredictable weather, but I like that, never know what to expect, hehe:think:
Hobby Lobby sounds like the typical chain we have here, called Panduro. They are a big thing in scandinavia and sells hobby related things, everything you can possibly think of, they probably have it.

I find CP much more rewarding than m&p, although I did some really fancy stuff with melt and pour that was small pieces of art and timeconsuming to make. (But people had a tendency to keep them on their shelf instead of using them, `cause they were too "pretty".) :roll:

Now I prefer this old fashioned way of making soap (well, except the three hour stirring they did before inventing the SB...:mrgreen

 

[Rowan]

Welcome to the forum and soaping addiction! I can't wait to see your soaps. We reeaaallly love seeing photos of everyone's soaps! I would love to see your M&P soaps too. I think they are an art form of their own. I've tried a few times to do M&P with my 5 year old daughter and it was so much harder for me than CP! It's also great to have more people from Europe!

 

[Cactuslily]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

 

[MySoapyHeart]

Welcome to the forum and soaping addiction! I can't wait to see your soaps. We reeaaallly love seeing photos of everyone's soaps! I would love to see your M&P soaps too. I think they are an art form of their own. I've tried a few times to do M&P with my 5 year old daughter and it was so much harder for me than CP! It's also great to have more people from Europe!

Hi, and thank you!

Re the M&M soaps, I haven`t got anyone left as I used them all up. I stopped doing them when starting to CP, and have been doing that exclusively ever since. I wanted to spend my money on good oils instead of soapbase, lol
But will surely post pictures of my soaps, love seing peoples soaps too! I posted pictures of my rustic coffee soap here, if you want to see how they look (warning, they look like chocolate cake...:mrgreen: )

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=57458http://www.soapmakingforum.com//no.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/

Hello and welcome to the forum!

Thank you Cactuslily! Love your username, it is so sweet and friendly