New Crafter needs some help

[Commander Blaine]

If I may ask what are your personal preferences for scents In soaps you have made or been asked to make for people, do you use oils or some kind of concentrated liquid for scenting soap?

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I use essential oils. I don't find them so much more expensive than Fragrance oils, so I use the essential oils when I can. That said, I do have a few new fragrance oils delivered as there are certain scents that you can't get in the essential oil form.

I don't know if you are a gentleman or a lady, but a good all rounder is lavender and sandalwood - one that is not really gender specific, although it is aimed at men from me. There are lot of threads on scent combinations already, so I won't rehash (and make a hash of!) what others have said before.

 

[Commander Blaine]

Awesome I'll have to dig around the forums and find those scent threads, really man thank you for the help and guidance I've really not had much chance to look around on here, signed up, posted and fell asleep last night oh the joy of that, I'm up to my eyeballs in college work so I'll defiantly snoop around later for it

 

[Belinda02]

Most of use have some sort of notebook or journal. I usually put the date when a soap is made plus the hand calculation with the recipe along with where or from whom I got the recipe. I also make note of any problems during the process and outcome including periodic updates. I always check my calculation with soap cal.

It takes time to learn the process, gather your supplies, and practice but fun.

 

[dixiedragon]

When I make lip balm (or a lotion bar, which is basically a big lip balm), I put some water in a saucepan, then I put a small plate in the saucepan. I put my oils, beeswax, etc in a glass measuring cup and put that on the small plate. I don't want the glass measuring cup touching the saucepan directly. It might be fine for the glass measuring cup to rest directly on the saucepan, but it makes me nervous.

If you choose to make a lotion bar, you can save an old roll-up deodorant container, clean it out, and pour your lotion bar in that.

 

[Commander Blaine]

I was thinking of doing that actually getting some print outs of recipes and such and taking notes on how they turned out didn't think of noting any problems, is gel phase a particular problem for soap making or is it just one of those things that happen?

Dixie I just saw your post, that's pretty awesome I'll defenantly give that a shot one day soon

 

[Neve]

I know you said you are covered in scars but I do recommend you try rubbing straight Shea butter on them. The stuff is nothing short of miraculous. I had a pimple/cyst thing on my chest for months. Shea butter got rid of it with 36 hours.

Try making a lotion bar with Shea butter and avocado oil and beeswax for large areas.

 

[Commander Blaine]

Thanks neve I definitely will try that

 

[dixiedragon]

To answer your questions about why you soap was crumbly, didn't last, etc, we'd really need the recipe.

 

[Relle]

For everyone's information -

SMF does not endorse any specific medical advice regarding skin conditions in this post. A medical practitioner or dermatologist would need to be consulted.

 

[Commander Blaine]

Naturally I've just heard good things and I'm just doing some research, expanding my options and all that, not aiming to step on any toes

So after watching some soap making videos, I have seen in soap making videos they use stick blenders to speed up the chemical reaction process what would happen if you do not use a stick blender or something equivalent at that point, would it still change but at a slower rate and take longer to become soap?

 

[Susie]

"Longer" is the difference between stirring for 2-3 hours and 5-10 minutes. Your choice, of course.

 

[Commander Blaine]

So it has to be mixed either by hand or by machine then? When it comes to making soap you don't just throw it together and let the reaction happen?

 

[Susie]

It might be possible. However, I would never, ever use that, nor would I give it to anyone else. There would simply never be any certainty that it ever saponified, and I would not even want to be taking it out of the mold(if it ever solidified.)

Saponification takes place when you agitate oils and lye together. The faster the agitation, the faster the saponification. Heat also speeds saponification, to a reasonable point.(I believe most people stick blend between room temp and 140F.) But they stick blend.

And you need tons more exposure to watching experienced soapers make soap safely. Period. Had you done that, you would not be asking this.

I understand the desire not to spend much money on equipment and such for a project you do not know if you will ever repeat. However, there are thrift stores that have very cheap stick blenders that you can buy. And a phone call often saves on trips to them.

However, I believe you are looking for soap(or balms) to provide a solution for scarring. This is simply not going to happen. Your only hope of doing something effective to reduce the appearance of the scars is going to be with a medical professional.

 

[Commander Blaine]

Well I figured as much most of my scars even though my skin is scared over have been pretty red (for years) a friend of mine recommended aloe Vera gel tablets, which I took and my skin has made SOME improvement I was thinking with the right skin car treatment and maybe tanning on and off to darken my skin colour and peel off repeat blah blah blah till it's under more control but that's just my personal preference. I will follow up with my doctor to check with a dermatologist for sure.

I am also a larger gentleman and as a result have my fair share of stretch marks, I am loosing weight but I want to cover those up
(it's safe to say that the obesity, stretch marks and scars I'm fairly ashamed of my body) i would just feel better doing something about it, hard stick or soap made from Shea butter and coco butter would be pretty good at least then I can say I'm doing something about it, throw in some weight loss and tanning, when I see my dermatologist I can show then what I've been doing and maybe not need such an aggressive approach

In a way I'd rather do what I can before having to see the doctors, ultimately it is my own vanity I have to deal with.

 

[kaliquen]

If it were me I would avoid tanning....not only could it irritate the scar tissue, but getting to the point where you burn and peel repeatedly can cause severe damage to your skin (besides the risk for developing skin cancer). Also, scars don't tan so it would probably make them stand out even more.
Let me just say that even overweight, scarred, "imperfect" bodies can be extremely attractive if the person is happy and confident. Sure, do what you can to lose weight and be healthy, but being so hung up on the physical things isn't healthy. If your happy and comfortable in your own skin you'll find that these things hold less importance

 

[Commander Blaine]

That is true don't get me wrong even though I'm big I'm happy and I am confident, I want to loose weight so I can be healthy I also want to skydive, BASE jump and free run it'll just be nice to try and get rid of these scars is all, masking, tanning and seeing a dermatologist, who knows, positive mental attitude, just gotta do what I can, I'd rather say that I failed over what if, because saying what if I me means I never tried

Hope that makes sense in it's own way good to get these tips regarding soap making even if none of it works out, at least I'm learning something positive along the way, all good stuff over here, it's all about positive mental attitude.

Then again it's always nice I hear scars are still a bit of a sexy thing

 

[Belinda02]

Here in the states skin cancer rates go up with tanning booth use. There are sugar scrubs, body butters and salves that are healing to the skin. Most of these will have vitamin e oil or other oils and herbs which repair damaged skin but repairing scars is another matter. Keep studying and if you find anything report back.

 

[Commander Blaine]

Will do, so what's better then? A tanning booth once in a while? Or a holiday trip to Mexico?

 

[FlybyStardancer]

I'm struggling to figure out why you think tanning will help scars. They don't tan, so they'll stay pale and unaffected, and trust me. Peeling is No Fun. (I get sunburns at the drop of a hat, no matter how many precautions I take, so I've peeled many times in my life from it.)