How have your ideals changed?

[alchemy_cake]

Back when I first became seriously interested in making soap, 2013 or thereabouts, I had this ideal: I would use only natural colourants and essential oils, and lots of exotic and luxurious ingredients, and a hand-made mold, and... You get the idea!

Time and research has sure made a difference. Simple soaps seem more appealing, and not just because they're more affordable to practice with. I'd still prefer to use essential oils, but my mother loves rose, and my partner loves nag champa, and I no longer feel above using fragrance oils to achieve those scents for them. And I've already used mica, although I'm looking forward to experimenting with natural colourants. My molds are silicone and plastic, and many of them were found at a thrift store - I simply can't justify the cost of a fancy hand-made mold, especially since right now I'm only doing small batches.

Oh, and I've realized that it will be a very, very long time before I'd feel comfortable selling this stuff. (It was never my priority, anyway, but I'd had this notion that I could soon make Big Money with all of my Awesome Ideas.)

How have your ideals changed since you first began to research soaping? Have you found that you love some things you hadn't had any interest in at the beginning, or turned out to dislike something that you'd initially thought was cool? Have your goals and ingredients shifted over time?

Also, do any of you know a really great rose FO?

 

[artemis]

My initial ideal was to just make soap now and then to keep my own family stocked. You, know... once a year, make a big batch to last us. Then came the colors. Then, the scents. Now I am making small batches about once a month!

After reading everything about all the labeling and manufacturing rules and regs, I have lost any interest in selling to anyone but my friends and family. But that wasn't an ideal, really. I too, have converted to micas and FOs.

 

[Millie]

I was just going to make soap one time for christmas gifts. Ha! I also wanted to keep things as natural as possible. Now I'm happy to use FOs but I'm still passionate about making my own fragrances (it's as addictive as soaping for me) so I still use mostly EOs and I'm taking baby steps with aroma chemicals.

I'm starting to understand labels! Somewhat. A teeny tiny bit. I had no idea what was in my B&B products before so understanding even a little is exciting for me.

 

[Kittish]

I toyed with the idea of eventually selling. Still am, really, but if I ever do it'll be a very small scale- maybe one or two local shops and no more than four varieties of soap.

I started off with grand ideas of using all botanical colors. That one fell by the wayside even before I made my first batch of soap (but not, alas, before I'd purchased a fair amount of assorted botanicals). I'm probably going to stay mostly with nature-identical mineral pigments for colors, but that means a really clear glycerin soap isn't going to happen.

I'm kind of disappointed to discover that a lot of the fragrances that I really wanted to use are prohibitively expensive. Using FOs isn't a viable option, I'm allergic to artificial fragrance. I'm acquiring an interest in perfumery, though, going to try making a few solid perfumes with the more exotic EOs (I have all those samples from Eden...).

 

[lenarenee]

Mine sure have. I first started out intending to only use the purest, organic oils, and darned if I was going to use plastic :smallno: for mixing soap - only glass for me!

That was a very short phase in my soaping life - about 2 weeks!

About once a year I make myself a batch of organic lard/tallow/co/oo soap with no additives what so ever- simply because I love the fact that it is as pure and simple as possible.

I gave up on palm oil, and refuse to use any oils or lye that aren't food grade.

Oh. Natural colorants? Three times. Never again. Essential oils are just too cost prohibitive - even lavender eo is scary.
Also, after trying about every swirl technique out there, I no longer get excited about the newest, coolest, or bestest swirled soaps. I admire the many people who set out to make soap art and sometimes wish I had the desire to create a soap people would drool over, but I simply like a guaranteed success; no wasted product, time or effort that comes from trial and error.

However...every once in a while I get a wild urge....!

 

[IrishLass]

I can't say that I really had any ideals going into soap-making other than trying to not go overboard. I was determined to stick to only as many scents as would fit inside my designated cupboard, and as many molds, oils, colorants, etc.. that would occupy a shelf or small corner of a closet........ yeahhhhh...... I guess you could say I was pretty naïve back then. lol Hello- my name is IrishLass and I am a FO-HO and soapaholic.


IrishLass

 

[anjouwu]

Oh boy can I relate to a lot of your stories!

I, too, wanted to make only "natural" bars using organic ingredients from fair-trade, sustainably grown, small farms (etc.) but quickly realized that was pretty unrealistic. (As the joke goes, why spend $6 on a bar of soap when you can make one yourself for $92 in supplies?)

Today I gladly use FO's (although I keep them phthalate-free), mica, TD, etc. As a wash-off product, I'm fine if my soap has cosmetic grade synthetic ingredients.

One thing that hasn't changed is that I can't bring myself to use animal byproducts, however convincing the lardites are on here!

 

[Cellador]

I'm still a very new soaper, but I can see my ideals changing a bit. I wanted to do the "all-natural" products with lots of luxury oils and botanicals. Now, I'm seeing that a lot of those ingredients might be better used in a leave-on product, even if it's just a simple body oil.
I am still playing with natural colorants, but I am noticing that it's very inconsistent in results. It works fine for the rustic/natural look, but I feel limited by the designs I'm able to create with infused oils.
I still am pretty committed to using EOs, because I love having the freedom to create my own unique scents. I have a ton of freebie FO samples now that I've ordered some supplies. I really don't have anything against FOs, so I'll probably make some test soaps with the samples, just to see how I like them.

 

[fuzz-juzz]

To be honest, I'm not even sure how I came up with the idea.
I think I stumbled on some blog about frugal living and it went from there. My first recipe was 75% OO and 25%, I used lavender oil from the pharmacy and lavender buds. I got mouse poop soap and it had no fragrance whatsoever. But, it was a good start and gave me some idea on how to improve my recipes etc, which I did. Through other blogs and these board which was a great learning space.
I had issues with my skin for years and was using store bought soap at the time. I couldn't use liquid soaps or shower gels as they would dry my skin to the point of bleeding, especially on hands.
I have weird autoimmune things going on and I thought I should try and make it myself. Firstly, to know exactly what's going into my soaps and secondly, to save money. I don't know if i do, when I gather all the supplies, I end up paying so much postage etc, but at least I know what's in my soap.

I did start experimenting with different additives. I hated milk for example, I'm not into adding food to my soaps, I didn't like high salt bars but I really like brine soaps. They are less scratchy and I can use my regular soap recipe, without adding too much CO.
I like clay in my soaps, bit of colour, not to much, I like pastel colours, single colour soaps. I mostly use FOs as I've tried many EOs from many suppliers and just couldn't make them work.
I tend to use really low SF as I don't believe it adds much in the shower, it affects the longevity and quality of soap in my opinion.

I was thinking of selling at some point, but I don't think I could make it work. It's too much expenses for something that may not work out.

 

[Soapprentice]

As a 10th comment, everything I wanted to do and ended up doing got covered
I wanted to do all natural soap, well after 1st video I realised soap making is not all natural as we use NaOH. Then comes the EOs and the natural colours, EOS were too expensive and the natural colourants feel too earthy... well, now I am all micas and FOs and occasionally EOs. Then I got introduced to Susan's swiftcraftymonkey... Now, I am not opposed to synthetic ingredients either.

 

[navigator9]

My goals really haven't changed much. I got into soapmaking because I was using Dove, and my skin was dry and flakey no matter how much moisturizer I used. A friend gave me a bar of olive oil soap and it changed everything. Until then, I didn't know how really good soap could be. So my goal was just to make really good soap, something that didn't dry my skin. I tried botanicals and oils infused with botanicals, and adding powdered beets, carrots, etc. But then I spent a lot of time just working on a basic recipe, one with few ingredients, but a balance of cleansing, conditioning and lather that my skin would like. I discovered that it didn't take a lot of fancy ingredients, just the right combo. And I tweaked that recipe over and over until I thought it could be tweaked no more! My goal was never to make the prettiest soap, which is a good thing, considering the fact that I am severely swirl challenged. My goal over the years hasn't been to learn new decorative techniques, but rather to further improve that basic recipe. I think I have done that lately, with the addition of lard and avocado oil. I also like oatmeal in my soaps. And if a new ingredient looks promising, I'll tweak that recipe again, to see if there's an improvement.

 

[penelopejane]

I did start experimenting with different additives. I hated milk for example, I'm not into adding food to my soaps, I didn't like high salt bars but I really like brine soaps. They are less scratchy and I can use my regular soap recipe, without adding too much CO.

You know you can make a really nice salt bar with any recipe? I've done a nice bar with 100% OO and 50% salt. I have another bar curing that I can send you to try. I'll pm you.

 

[gloopygloop]

I started out with the all natural idealist intentions, only naturals for colours and Eos for scent etc. well after a LOT of muddy coloured soaps and a lot of turpentine smelling soaps I moved on and got more choosey, mix and match to make something nice that I like and feel comfy with. I also got real and though I have not heard of an all natural soap that cured the worlds worst diseases so what harm can some FOs and micas do LOL! A little of what you fancy does you good! Having said that I am not a lover of very colourful soaps so less is more for me.

 

[alchemy_cake]

Such great answers! Y'all are hilarious. 'Mouse poop soap'; 'FO-HO', oh dear.

I see a few people mention making handmade soap as a way to handle skin issues, and I understand that. Most store-bought soap unfortunately upsets my skin, as I'm prone to exzema. Luckily, I've found that the more natural-based products are gentler, although it depends on the ingredients. For example, my face doesn't care for lavender! Which is absurd because it seems to be in almost everything. Handmade soap (not my own, of course, it's only a week old yet) definitely leaves my skin feeling less dry, and so I've been using it for years.

FOs don't bother my nose in the least; I seldom get headaches from artificial scents, even if I might not prefer them over natural. But my skin reacts badly to certain fragrances, and since they're only ever listed as 'fragrance' I have no idea which ones. For my own body products, I stick to EOs, but I'm excited to try FOs for my less sensitive friends and family. So, so many options to play with! I may need to get a second job to fund this...

 

[dixiedragon]

I didn't have a lot of "ideals" going in - I just thought it looked neat. I did get really into expensive oils in soap for a while - 5% emu, or 5% jojoba, etc, but now I'm focused on more economical oils.

I've also moved away from simplicity - my base soap recipe has 6 oils in it.

 

[Cindy2428]

I don't know that my "ideals" have changed. I wanted to learn and make the best soap that I could. I wanted to design with MP, master CP and HP and become certified through the HSCG.

A few years later I have a solid base recipe for fragile skin, still love playing/designing with MP, and want to start liquid soap making.

I think in general as I've learned more, my soap ideals have just matured, not just changed.

 

[Rusti]

I also didn't start out with much in the way of 'ideals', I just wanted to make soap and wasn't feeling particularly hung up on 'natural' or 'organic' or anything. It tickled the mad scientist fancy and I didn't have to have a chem major to pull it off. I didn't have the notion to sell at first, but now I'm seriously toying with the idea, to the point that I've consulted with the small business office here in my area and will pin down my accountant uncle to ask about tax stuff. I'm not in the mood to quit my wonderful full time job, but it'd be fun to see how it goes on the side, I think.

 

[amd]

I don't think my ideals have changed - I still love using soap, making soap, looking at pictures of soap - but now I love selling soap too... when I started making it, it was just for something for my family to use. Then I started selling because I really wanted to play with color and fragrance and the only way I could afford to do it, was to sell soap. I know when I started this 3-1/2 years ago, I did not plan for this to become my life passion but here I am with a 2020 goal to quit my FT job and make soap. Reality might be 2023, but whatever.

 

[neonstudy]

I started out making natural soap mainly for myself and my family, EOs, etc, and now I'm hooked! Thinking about forming an LLC, etc! Also, now I'm on the artificial side, love my FOs and my neon pigments.

 

[randycoxclemson]

My soap ideals are constantly in flux. I guess that's because the reason for getting into it was to make a soap my daughter could use that wouldn't irritate her eczema. And to take some of those oils and make a balm for her to put on said irritated skin.

So while I had visions of a bunch of high-grade oils and only natural colorants (and botanicals for their healing features--especially in the balm), that went down as soon as I got decent results from pretty much any conditioning soap. But as I tried new fats (PKF, I'm looking at you), some of them failed miserably with her skin while others worked wonderfully. Same was true in the balm until we finally have a balm and a cream that seem to help mightily. And as long as the soap doesn't have almond, macadamia, or PKF in it, that works well for her.

But I still get an urge from time to time to double brew coffee and mix it with oatmeal and beer and yogurt to see what happens. Then I realize that there is finite time and I better just mix five oils together, dump them in the trash bag in the litter box, and call it a day.

As to selling, so many people kept asking me to do that, so I thought about it and researched it. I can't really see myself doing it "right" (ie, tracking incoming lot numbers and which batches used which ones, e.g.) so I won't be going down that path anytime soon. I will--and have--sold to friends who felt bad about accepting more free soap and one or two friends of friends. But I don't count that as selling soap any more than I consider accepting gas money to drive their kid to school every day. It's just a way of covering part of the cost and it makes them feel as though they're not mooching.