Jux's CP Soaping Journal - 2023

[Juxtapose]

I know I love looking at other people's soap, so figured someone else would as well.
So, kicking off this soap making journal to share my wins, loses and "what the heck were you thinking" moments as I go through my soap making adventures.
Comments always welcome.
Cheers,
Jux

PS. There will be no particular order to my posts, more of what I felt like posting about, and when. I'll add as much detail about the batch as I can.

My first time with Pine tar... whooo it goes fast.
I had to basically scoop it out with my hands and press it into the mold. LOL
I think it will be fine. (crosses fingers) Smells amazing.

- Jux

 

[Juxtapose]

Rosé Anyday Wine CP Soap​

Tried something different, instead of rendering down the wine to remove the alcohol, I just split the lye water 50/50 with some alcohol free wine.

First Snow CP Soap​

Okay, this one had a weird reaction, maybe from the FO? Which was a white tea scent. Trying to look up why it looks that way, almost like spider veins.
Possibly glycerin rivers?

Bee Positive CP Soap​

This guy wasn't planned, but rather a pivot for a batch that wasn't going the way I wanted. So, yeah, lots of beeswax in this one. Not sure what that will do to the bar after cure, but I'm very curious.

Kiwi Mist CP Soap​

Love the colors in this one. Used "Sunkissed Kiwi" FO from Candlewic.
Super simple on the base oils. Just Olive Oil and Coconut. First time using Titanium Dioxide for the white tint. Not to shabby I think.

 

[AliOop]

Oooo, lots of pretty soaps there! Yes, those are glycerine rivers in the one, for sure.

May I ask about the high coconut oil in all of them? The high cleansing level that creates is pretty drying and irritating for a lot of folks' skin because it strips away the natural oils. If you lower the CO significantly, you can lower your SF a lot, too... making for far less soap scum and fewer plumbing issues. Then just use sugar to increase the bubble factor.

Please humor me if you already know all this and have other reasons for formulating the way you have. I'm always interested in hearing the "why" behind someone's "what" and "how."

 

[Juxtapose]

Oooo, lots of pretty soaps there! Yes, those are glycerine rivers in the one, for sure.

May I ask about the high coconut oil in all of them? The high cleansing level that creates is pretty drying and irritating for a lot of folks' skin because it strips away the natural oils. If you lower the CO significantly, you can lower your SF a lot, too... making for far less soap scum and fewer plumbing issues. Then just use sugar to increase the bubble factor.

Please humor me if you already know all this and have other reasons for formulating the way you have. I'm always interested in hearing the "why" behind someone's "what" and "how."

I'm still dialing in my "perfect" base recipes, and the Olive Oil and Coconut Oil being pretty close in percentage was just where I started.

I'm open to ideas and suggestions.

Any comment on something like this?

 

[AliOop]

Well, I am not a huge fan of canola oil, although some love it in soap.

Are you opposed to using lard, palm, or tallow? How about shea butter or cocoa butter? Castor oil?

 

[Juxtapose]

Well, I am not a huge fan of canola oil, although some love it in soap.

Are you opposed to using lard, palm, or tallow? How about shea butter or cocoa butter? Castor oil?

Nope, not opposed. Just playing around until I can dial in about 4 standard base recipes that I like.
I'll play with some new variations this weekend with lower coconut levels and see what I think.

Thanks for the feedback.

Oh, and regarding butters, I'm not a huge fan of their cost per ounce usually. I still have to make up my mind if the end product is really worth using them.

- Jux

 

[AliOop]

That's a great plan! I have two basic recipes, one that I masterbatch, and the other that I make as needed for a couple of friends. I sometimes make variations of either, or make a specialty soap for someone (100% lard, or pine tar), but mostly stick with my two base recipes - because they work.

If your goal is four recipes, you will probably want at least one with a substantial amount of "hard" fat like lard, tallow, or palm, e.g.:

50% lard or tallow, or blend thereof
30% olive oil (or blend of soft oils)
20% coconut oil or pko (or blend of both)

To increase the bubbles in that recipe, pre-dissolve some form of sugar in your batch water before adding lye. It doesn't raise the "bubbly" number in the soap calculator, but you will definitely see a difference in actual soap performance. You could do a vegan and palm-free version by replacing the lard/tallow with a blend of soy wax and some butters.

A good goal is a balance of fatty acids that is appealing to wide variety of people. There are some camps who love high olive oil, and others who hate that. Many love lard, but that doesn't work for vegans. Once you know what each oil brings to the table in terms of fatty acids, and what those fatty acids contribute to the soap, the formulating gets easier. )

 

[Juxtapose]

Okay... so, today I made 3 different batches trying out a new formulation of less coconut oil and adding some other oils.
Note, these will be the first of many new variations I will be testing. I have some palm oil coming tomorrow, and I'll also be using some shea butter I have on hand.

In order:

Flower Fields CP Soap​

• Using a blend FO of Peonies in spring, honeysuckle, lily of valley, hyacinth & sage, poppy & pomelo
• It also has salt and sugar added to the lye water stage.
• I added Safflowers to the top of the loaf.

Sunshine Spritz CP Soap​

• FO's: Lemon Honey (Brambleberry) & Grapefruit & Guave (Candlewic)

Herb Garden CP Soap​

Tried a fun twist with this one, used turmeric for the first time as the only color in the soap. Smells so good, especially with the addition of safflowers.

All in all these 3 soap recipes were super easy to handle. No acceleration or weird stuff. Took a bit longer to come to trace, but, I don't mind because is leaves tons of time to play around.

I'll post more pics once they "unbox".

- Jux

 

[dmcgee5034]

I think your going to like that added sugar, @Juxtapose

That cornflower blue color is

 

[Juxtapose]

I think your going to like that added sugar, @Juxtapose

That cornflower blue color is

I know, right?

I can’t wait to see what it looks like inside.

 

[Juxtapose]

Okay... they are out of their molds; cut and happily sitting in the curing closet.

I can already feel a difference in this new formulation. Will be curious to see what they become.

Oh, and I can't NOT see a rooster in profile every time I look at my Herb Garden soap. LOL.

Also, I would have liked to have seen the purple dropped a bit deeper in the green in the Flower Fields soap, but, still looks pretty.

And just to note, for the Sunshine Spritz soap, for the base "white" color this was just the natural color of the blend. I only added Yellow and Gold mica for accent.

Whatcha think?

- Jux

 

[pjknight]

just a quick question? Is this soap you have pictured melt and pour?

 

[basti]

just a quick question? Is this soap you have pictured melt and pour?

This is cold process soap.

 

[pjknight]

just a quick question? Is this soap you have pictured melt and pour?

thank you!

This is cold process soap.

This is cold process soap.

How do you wrap your soap? do you use shrink wrap?

 

[Juxtapose]

How do you wrap your soap? do you use shrink wrap?

When my soaps are ready, I like to use clear shrink and a clear label.
That's just my style.
Everyone is different.

- Jux