Mellon's Showcase

[MellonFriend]

Just thought I'd like to start a soap showcase of my own to keep track of my batches. I make almost all of my soap with goat milk unless otherwise specified.

After a few months hiatus I made a little six bar batch using a new recipe which I'm developing as my standard majority goat tallow recipe. This one is about 60% goat tallow and I've been tweaking a few things to get it the way I want. This is scented with Crafter's Choice Cucumber & Mint and also has menthol crystals in at 1% of the oil weight. The fragrance accelerated the batter a little on me which I was prepared for based on the reviews, but I got the design I was looking for pretty much. I'm calling this batch: Mysterious Mint. The camera doesn't pick it up well, but the darker color is a dark purple and not black. It's Nurture Soap's Blackberry.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

using a new recipe which I'm developing as my standard majority goat tallow recipe.

Good for you. Since I sold GM soap to a wholesale customer for years, I can honestly say, that GM soaps sell themselves, without all the pretty designs and glitz.

If you want to appeal to a larger segment of the market, and up your profit margin, at least think about making plain soaps with fragrances that have wide appeal. As mentioned here many times before, fragrance sells! That's where I would put my R&D money when developing my signature product.

In any case, that's just me. Others may be better sources for how well soaps like that sell compared to what I recommend.

I wish you the best of luck, which ever way you decide to go.

 

[2lilboots]

@MellonFriend I didn't think goats had enough fat tissue to render. I am intrigued.

 

[dibbles]

Very pretty @MellonFriend. I like the lighter purple shade you used.

 

[lsg]

Nice soap!

 

[VikingChick]

Very pretty! I have a bag of NS Blackberry that I have yet to use. I appreciate seeing it in action!

 

[MellonFriend]

Good for you. Since I sold GM soap to a wholesale customer for years, I can honestly say, that GM soaps sell themselves, without all the pretty designs and glitz.

If you want to appeal to a larger segment of the market, and up your profit margin, at least think about making plain soaps with fragrances that have wide appeal. As mentioned here many times before, fragrance sells! That's where I would put my R&D money when developing my signature product.

In any case, that's just me. Others may be better sources for how well soaps like that sell compared to what I recommend.

I wish you the best of luck, which ever way you decide to go.

I'm actually not selling yet. And even if I was, if the design elements I enjoy using as a creative outlet didn't sell, I'd just roll back and stop selling because this is an artistic outlet for me. I would not be willing to compromise my creativity in order be profitable. I'm creating soap because I love putting colors and glitter and scents together in a way that is complex and pleasing to my eye. If they don't like it, they can go buy one of the many plain and simple bars that are flooding the markets. If this has to be a hobby alone, I'm fine with that.

And not all of my soaps look this over-the-top either.

I'm tweaking my goat tallow recipe to find one that I like working with and using. I got close with my last recipe, but the batter moved a little fast since it was mostly solid oils, so I decided to try swapping out some of my solids for liquids so I can have a little more time to work more intricate designs.

@MellonFriend I didn't think goats had enough fat tissue to render. I am intrigued.

Most do not. I have kinder goats which are a fast-growing, low input breed used for both milk and meat. Mine get really fat on only a little feed. I got 7.8lbs of tallow off my ten-month-old wether that we processed last fall.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

the design elements I enjoy using as a creative outlet didn't sell, I'd just roll back and stop selling because this is an artistic outlet for me. I would not be willing to compromise my creativity in order be profitable.

I totally get that! Carry on as if I never said what I said.

 

[MellonFriend]

I totally get that! Carry on as if I never said what I said.

No problem! I appreciate you trying to help me be a successful soap maker.

 

[dibbles]

I'm actually not selling yet. And even if I was, if the design elements I enjoy using as a creative outlet didn't sell, I'd just roll back and stop selling because this is an artistic outlet for me. I would not be willing to compromise my creativity in order be profitable. I'm creating soap because I love putting colors and glitter and scents together in a way that is complex and pleasing to my eye. If they don't like it, they can go buy one of the many plain and simple bars that are flooding the markets. If this has to be a hobby alone, I'm fine with that.

Thank you for saying this. I also enjoy making pretty and interesting soap. It is what drew me to making soap in the first place. It can be hurtful to read over and over that doing this is a waste of time because it doesn’t matter for sales. I don’t sell and don’t plan to sell. If I didn’t make soap, as a consumer with all other things being equal I would absolutely choose to spend my money on the pretty bar.

 

[MellonFriend]

Thank you for saying this. I also enjoy making pretty and interesting soap. It is what drew me to making soap in the first place. It can be hurtful to read over and over that doing this is a waste of time because it doesn’t matter for sales. I don’t sell and don’t plan to sell. If I didn’t make soap, as a consumer with all other things being equal I would absolutely choose to spend my money on the pretty bar.

You're welcome! I think there is a lot of pressure out there to make soapmaking a business, but just like with any art form it just as easily can be a hobby. The starving artist is an adage for a reason.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

The starving artist is an adage for a reason.

So true! (That's coming from the Art Consultant i was in my former life. No matter how accomplished the artist, the last thing they knew how to do was to sell their art. )

 

[MellonFriend]

I finally found some time to jam in a soaping session yesterday. This is a design I've had on my mind for a while now. Thanks to everyone who helped me pick a scent and talked to me about coconut milk vs coconut water. I ended up just going with coconut milk. If I had had more time, I would have made the center a cane and embedded it in the middle, but since I only had one day to dedicate, I did it all at once with a contrivance that I'll show below. It didn't go quite as planned, but I'm just happy the colors turned out. Coconut is the idea, so it's scented with Crafter's choice Caribbean Coconut and I used coconut milk as my liquid. The brown is cocoa powder (Cocoa-nut ) and the white is TD and some white mica I had laying around. The scent said it discolors to tan so I thought maybe adding the mica in along with the TD could help, but maybe that's crazy. Is it possible that I'm smelling the cocoa powder in it? The scent in the soap is a lot different than straight out of the bottle. Much spicier, like sweet bread.

I was really surprised when I unmolded it because I had seen this light tan color on the top figured I hadn't put enough cocoa powder in, but it turned out it was just fine. Maybe gelling was my friend? That light tan was what I saw while pouring.

Here's what I did with my mold. I think the trouble was that there was no way to get it centered in the bottom, and my batter was a little too thick. The batter really stuck to the inner tube and I got a little antsy and pulled it out with a little less care than I should have taken if I wanted the white to be more centered.

 

[Ford]

Hi, nice. Nothing says you can't use toothpicks to space the bottom also. Might get a little leaking. But Nothing major. Could also pour white separately. Then place as you would an embed.

 

[Vicki C]

Very nice! I love the off-centered design.

 

[MellonFriend]

Hi, nice. Nothing says you can't use toothpicks to space the bottom also. Might get a little leaking. But Nothing major. Could also pour white separately. Then place as you would an embed.

Thanks! Embedding a cane was my original plan, but I only had the tome for one soaping session. Good to know that I could have centered the bottom too. I was concerned about leaking.

Very nice! I love the off-centered design.

Thank you!

 

[dmcgee5034]

Super cool! They came out great!

 

[MellonFriend]

Super cool! They came out great!

Thank you!

 

[MellonFriend]

I think I'll be calling these Rainbow Sherbet. The FO Apple Honey Champagne from WSP smell A-MAZE-ING. Design didn't go exactly as planned due to several factors. I've got some uncolored batter in places due to panicked get-it-in-the-mold syndrome. I've really been having a string of unlucky batches. I think I'm going to need to go back to one of my tried and true recipes so I can at least have a win. Oh well, at least it's still functional, relatively beautiful soap.

 

[dmcgee5034]

I think I'll be calling these Rainbow Sherbet. The FO Apple Honey Champagne from WSP smell A-MAZE-ING. Design didn't go exactly as planned due to several factors. I've got some uncolored batter in places due to panicked get-it-in-the-mold syndrome. I've really been having a string of unlucky batches. I think I'm going to need to go back to one of my tried and true recipes so I can at least have a win. Oh well, at least it's still functional, relatively beautiful soap.View attachment 76659View attachment 76660

I love it! Reminds me of bubblegum ice cream. Love the colors and the look very much.