It has warmed up over the week, luckily, but I had almost forgotten what having half of my legs buried in snow was like.
I will admit to lurking for a bit (actually maybe only a week) before joining...and then procrastinating making an introduction post for another week...or two...
At any rate...Nice to meet you all, my name is Kat
I originally stumbled upon a thread here when I was researching shaving soap (yes, the songwind one...and I have now read it at least twice, not going to lie.) Everyone on here seems so lovely and really excited about what they are doing, it's super inspiring. I probably would have shuffled all of my research into a metaphorical "someday" folder if it wasn't for this forum.
I don't have a lot of past soaping experience other than melt and pour as a child with my crafty mother and the cold process batch we made once upon a time in one of the chemistry courses I took when saponification came up, but I absolutely love experimenting and studying the why of things. Also crafting, so much crafting.
My boyfriend caught me dancing around with my soaping notebook the other day and laughed when he saw how quickly I was filling it. Luckily he hadn't yet seen the other notebook where I sort and organize all of the notes and recipes I've been gathering, and notating possible variations I'd like to try...
I'm planning on sticking to some tried and true recipes until I get my bearings a bit, though. Although I have probably broken some best practice rules by making my first soap batch a shaving soap, mostly because it may or may not have been dual lye...I did it last night along with a regular body bar recipe and it surprisingly gave me the least trouble out of the two. I probably should have cold processed the second batch in hindsight, but the setup was right there...oh well. It just looks extra rustic now because I overcooked it, oops I'm definitely going to opt for cp when I try Zany's no slime castille today, I think.
Do you have any recommendations for what I should try next? Or things you particularly enjoy?
(Holy heck I just got my mica samples delivered while I was typing this, my cat is now judging me for my level of excitement)
I will admit to lurking for a bit (actually maybe only a week) before joining...and then procrastinating making an introduction post for another week...or two...
At any rate...Nice to meet you all, my name is Kat
I originally stumbled upon a thread here when I was researching shaving soap (yes, the songwind one...and I have now read it at least twice, not going to lie.) Everyone on here seems so lovely and really excited about what they are doing, it's super inspiring. I probably would have shuffled all of my research into a metaphorical "someday" folder if it wasn't for this forum.
I don't have a lot of past soaping experience other than melt and pour as a child with my crafty mother and the cold process batch we made once upon a time in one of the chemistry courses I took when saponification came up, but I absolutely love experimenting and studying the why of things. Also crafting, so much crafting.
My boyfriend caught me dancing around with my soaping notebook the other day and laughed when he saw how quickly I was filling it. Luckily he hadn't yet seen the other notebook where I sort and organize all of the notes and recipes I've been gathering, and notating possible variations I'd like to try...
I'm planning on sticking to some tried and true recipes until I get my bearings a bit, though. Although I have probably broken some best practice rules by making my first soap batch a shaving soap, mostly because it may or may not have been dual lye...I did it last night along with a regular body bar recipe and it surprisingly gave me the least trouble out of the two. I probably should have cold processed the second batch in hindsight, but the setup was right there...oh well. It just looks extra rustic now because I overcooked it, oops
I'm definitely going to opt for cp when I try Zany's no slime castille today, I think.
Do you have any recommendations for what I should try next? Or things you particularly enjoy?
(Holy heck I just got my mica samples delivered while I was typing this, my cat is now judging me for my level of excitement)
