I am 58 years young and have been making soap for 1.6 years, I think. I would have to do a deep dive on FB to really know. I mainly make shampoo bars, tailored to the individual, but I also make laundry soap and bar soap for my family's use.
I got into soap making with the laundry soap, because my family has freaky sensitive skin. We wanted a soap that would clean the clothes and not make us break out in a rash. I could not find a commercial soap to do the job so I went online and looked for a recipe to make it. My daughter also started to make her own shampoo around that time, she made hers to a recipe that used a bar of soap and then oils and such. She never wrote down what she did so she could not get a reliable batch. I loved this shampoo and wanted to make my own, so I found Soap Making 101 on YouTube and I was off!
I made my first shampoo bars in a mega ice cube tray that had a silicone bottom, they were hard to release, but I got 9 & 3/4 bars. I then started a test group to see how this worked for others. I also made a Castiel soap and let it sit the min of 6 months to ripen. I love this and will keep the Big Batch recipe. I did want the soap to be bright neon blue, but the lye mix turned it to purple. No problem, it works. I did up some scented bars and found that the Lily of the Valley was the best one. The others just didn't deliver for some reason. I branched out into Lotion Bars around Christmas last year, they went over big time! My last 2 batches of shampoo bars went bad. I think it is because I assumed that Potassium Hydroxide and Sodium Hydroxide were interchangeable. I bought a liquid soap making book to see if I can save the batches. I did order some of the "right" lye. It should be here today, it can only be shipped via truck, and I will need to sign for it.
That's about it. I am also a fiber artist and a professional actor! Who says your life is over when you become disabled and old?