Hello there! I'm Courtney from Pennsylvania :)

[courtneygood]

Normally I lurk on forums for... well, sometimes forever. Lurk is such a creepy word. The word alone makes me want to come out of hiding and introduce myself

Anyway, I'm Courtney, and I live with my husband, Peter, and my Rhodesian Ridgeback, Makeda, in Pennsylvania. About 8 years ago I started dabbling with handcrafted bath and body products in an attempt to simplify and purify my beauty routine. I started with simple things like homemade deodorant (my favorite!), facial oils, whipped body butters, cleansing grains/oils, lip balm, hair gel, etc. I'm lucky to have a very patient husband who just rolls his eyes and chuckles every time he discovers one of our conventional bath/beauty products has been replaced with a homemade concoction I've been wanting to take the next step and venture into soap making, but, quite frankly, have been terrified to work with lye. I've watched enough crime tv to have seen plenty of secret meth labs going up in flames, and that's what I picture happening to my kitchen!

I'm happy to say that with SOOOOO much help from the resources, ideas, recipes, and feedback on this forum, I finally decided to jump in recently. I've made my first few batches, and can't wait til they cure to try them out. They are looking and feeling good so far though! I'm thankful for everyone on this forum who takes the time to share!

 

[Genny]

Welcome to the forum & to soap making. Just to let you know, we love to see pics of soap & other bath products. *hint* *hint*

 

[lsg]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Hazel]

Hi Courtney,

Welcome to the forum! Congratulations on getting started in making soap without having your kitchen go up in flames.

Yes, we love pics but I'd love to see a picture of Makeda. I bet she's gorgeous.

 

[courtneygood]

Ok! I'm going to post a pic of my first soapmaking experience over on the cp section.

Here's my puppy!

 

[Genny]

Aww!! Cute doggy He's not really a puppy is he? He looks gigantor! LOL

 

[courtneygood]

No, she's not really a puppy (she's almost 2 years old), but she certainly acts like it sometimes! And yes, she's pretty large - it gives me a great workout when I take her for a walk though!

 

[Pepsi Girl]

I whated a Rhodesian Ridgeback for years. I think they are so beautiful.

Welcome and remember you drive around with at least 20 gallons of gas what's a couple ozs of lye!!:shock:

 

[AngelMomma]

OOH! I would love your deoderant recipe! I have see a couple and have been wanting to try it out. We recently made some homemade lip balm too that we LOVE, LOVE!!! And we love the homemade soap, so why not DO??! LOL! Glad you had a good experience with making your soaps!

 

[courtneygood]

AngelMomma - I need to try to pay more attention to measurements next time I make my deodorant. I really just mix stuff together until I get the consistency I'm looking for, and then I pack it into deodorant tubes (I used to recycle commercial deodorant tubes, but I got some online).

Basically I used equal parts baking soda, arrowroot powder, and kaolin clay and then add a combination of whatever oils I have laying around. Last time, I used coconut oil (I like it because of it's antibiotic properties) and shea butter and then added a bit of beeswax just to harden the bar (not always necessary, but I made it in the summertime, and my house gets pretty warm). I also add tea tree and lavender oils for their antibiotic properties. I like it to get to a consistency that I can roll it and pack it into the tubes without it being sticky.

I've tried making it like a cream, similar to Soapwalla's, and while I do love that consistency, I find a bar with a higher ratio of powders to be a bit stronger and longer lasting. Just depends what you need. In the past, I've simply used corn starch, baking soda, grapeseed oil, and tea tree oil, and that worked well too. I've found that if I use too much baking soda, my armpits get red and fiery, so beware!

Not sure that was too helpful! I'll work on exact measurements

 

[AngelMomma]

Yes, that is VERY helpful! Thank you. I will have to wait until we empty a few little canisters. I did the same thing with my last 2 lip balm batches, a little of this, a little of that.......until it was right, lol.

 

[Hazel]

Makeda is gorgeous! Thanks for sharing a pic.