My First Batch!

[angemarie]

Those are beautiful soaps! Congrats for having success on your first try! I'm sure we will be seeing lots of pics of fantastic soaps from you.

Thank you PinkCupcake....I was really happy I had success on my first attempt! I am looking forward to making more, I have got so many ideas I want to try lol

 

[angemarie]

Nice job! I love the calendula one . It reminds me of a slice of coconut cake my grandmother use to make from scratch .

Hey Lildlege, thanks....I LOVE the calendula too...will def be making that recipe a regular lol

 

[grayceworks]

I mixed it into the lye after I dissolved the lye in water. Gotta adjust water-carrot ratio based on what you want for total liquids. And if you're going to add milk also, gotta account for that in the total liquids, even if you put it in the oils instead of the lye. Hard to say exactly because a lot depends on he other ingredients and some depends on whether you are going to HP or CP. Some people put it in at trace but use less. I used 8oz and also I did HP. I can put my whole recipe-instructions but it's very long lol.

Basically mine went like this -- mix lye into water. Add carrots. Mix milk into oils and melt in crockpot. Add lye-carrots. Mix mix mix to trace. Cook. Don't let it boil over. Mix mix mix. Don't let the carrots separate. Almost done. Add honey, don't let it overheat. Mix mix. Cook till it passes zap. Cool a bit. Add scents. Mix mix. Pour. Cool. Yay!

 

[angemarie]

I mixed it into the lye after I dissolved the lye in water. Gotta adjust water-carrot ratio based on what you want for total liquids. And if you're going to add milk also, gotta account for that in the total liquids, even if you put it in the oils instead of the lye. Hard to say exactly because a lot depends on he other ingredients and some depends on whether you are going to HP or CP. Some people put it in at trace but use less. I used 8oz and also I did HP. I can put my whole recipe-instructions but it's very long lol.

Basically mine went like this -- mix lye into water. Add carrots. Mix milk into oils and melt in crockpot. Add lye-carrots. Mix mix mix to trace. Cook. Don't let it boil over. Mix mix mix. Don't let the carrots separate. Almost done. Add honey, don't let it overheat. Mix mix. Cook till it passes zap. Cool a bit. Add scents. Mix mix. Pour. Cool. Yay!

Hi, thank you so very much for taking the time to write all that for me :razz: I am starting out doing CP but may try HP a bit later down the track. thanks again...a great bit of info!

 

[rjalex]

Angemarie congrats for your superb soaps. Would you be so kind to share a few details about the calendula soap ?
What did you use for that great wavy surface effect ? I just bought some incredibly beautiful Calendula dried flowers, how much did you use ? Is the coloring from those or Annatto ? Thanks in advance for any details / recipe.

 

[angemarie]

Angemarie congrats for your superb soaps. Would you be so kind to share a few details about the calendula soap ?
What did you use for that great wavy surface effect ? I just bought some incredibly beautiful Calendula dried flowers, how much did you use ? Is the coloring from those or Annatto ? Thanks in advance for any details / recipe.

Thank you rjalex! Am more than happy to share how i made it!
I used a crinkle soap cutter for the wavy surface, I can upload a pic of it if you like?
Ok my first step was I steeped organic calendula flowers in my Rice Bran Oil for 6 weeks, it turned the oil a beautiful rich orange color so the color of my soap is from that...all natural when I removed the petals from the oil I lay them out on a paper towel to dry and that's what i added to my soap at trace....about a handful! Here is my recipe..

25% Rice Bran Oil
25% Palm Oil
15% Olive Oil
25% Coconut Oil
5% Castor Oil
5% Sweet Almond Oil

This recipe traced quite fast for me and I decided not to gel so I put in the freezer straight away although I did get a partial gel.
I was really happy with how it turned out....especially the beautiful yellow color! Let me know if you have anymore questions! If you decide to make it you will have to post pics!

 

[kryse13]

my first step was I steeped organic calendula flowers in my Rice Bran Oil for 6 weeks, it turned the oil a beautiful rich orange color so the color of my soap is from that...all natural when I removed the petals from the oil I lay them out on a paper towel to dry and that's what i added to my soap at trace....about a handful!

What a great idea to re-use the petals!

 

[angemarie]

What a great idea to re-use the petals!

Yeah, it seemed a waste to throw them away...they dried up nicely too!

 

[MaitriBB]

Heck of a lot better than mine first batch, which I keep around to keep me humble. Good job!

 

[rjalex]

Thank you so much for sharing. You're an Angel ! Wonder where I could find such a nice wavy cutter here where I live. I am surprised the petals "dried" after being in oil but this is good news !

 

[Mrs.Larios]

Wow they are really nice I also just did my first batch today your are a lot prettier

 

[CaraBou]

angemarie, you are on your way! They look incredible!

 

[grayceworks]

Wonder where I could find such a nice wavy cutter here where I live.

I got mine on amazon.com -- search for crinkle cut vegetable cutter or something along those lines.

 

[shivani]

Amazing!! My first batch was something that did not set up..all oils came up..n it went bad..later I found the reason was inaccurate measurements..i did no research.. your soaps are too good..but how does your soap looks so smooth and creamy? I've seen other soaps in this forum so creamy that you would want to eat..and petals and cutting..everything so good.