Hi, new soap maker hopeful here

[Megan]

A little bit of background about me. I have a bachelor's in Chemistry and a master's in Neuroscience. I've made soap once before, in undergraduate Chemistry class, and it did NOT go well hahaha.
Currently, I'm a stay at home mom to twin toddlers, and I watch entirely too much YouTube where I suddenly found soap making videos. Let's just say: I'm hooked. I immediately went to the library to get all the books they offered on the subject (which, sadly isn't many) and I'm looking into other resources as well. Soap making appeals to me at both the artistic level, and the scientific level. I miss doing labwork so much, and I am excited to find a new hobby where I can begin experimenting again. I also find it strangely similar to baking, which is another one of my favorite hobbies.
I'm also really into skincare and am looking forward into using luxury ingredients to create my own concoctions!

 

[msunnerstood]

Welcome Megan! I too love the combination of art/science. You will find a lot of helpful information here. I recommend you read the sticky posts as I found them beneficial coming in. So many of the questions I had initially were already there.

 

[dibbles]

Welcome! You've found a good place for information. You can find the answer to just about any question soap making related here. For a couple of good skin care blogs, check out http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/ and http://www.humblebeeandme.com/
Humblebee and me also has a youtube channel.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

If you're of that sort of disposition, I really recommend going back through the first 10 pages of the beginner section, cp section, and the recipe feedback section. I did this, and I know other members have too, and it gives a very good foundation in a lot of soaping topics

 

[earlene]

You will probably really like the book by Dr. Kevin Dunn, Scientific Soapmaking: The Chemistry of the Cold Process.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1935652095/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[lsg]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[cmzaha]

Megan

 

[Relle]

Megan. The Shopping recs will also give you an idea of where to buy your supplies.

 

[LBussy]

I also find it strangely similar to baking, which is another one of my favorite hobbies.

Welcome Megan.

It's definitely like baking where if you get the ingredients and time right you can be nearly assured of a reasonable product. Lots of folks follow soap recipes and make soap and are happy to have done so. Like chemistry, there's definitely enough science here to keep you interested. Once you start learning the "why" behind it, you will begin to devise your own experiments and recipes and that should keep you busy for a good long time.

Don't try to understand curing too much though. That apparently is "magic" and it just needs to happen.