Recipe questions

[Megan]

I haven't used a green tea fragrance oil yet...but I have tried a black tea from brambleberry that I thought was awesome, easy to work with, and a pretty good interpretation of an actual tea smell...kind of smoky, but not overpowering, vegetal. I've also tried a white tea from WSP that I hated...I still need to soap with it but OOB it is horrible, sweet, perfumey (and very unlike actual tea). I'm really hoping it mellows in CP.

Thanks DeeAnna for the recommendation on green tea scents. I'm always on the lookout for good tea scents!

 

[DeeAnna]

De Ann how about almond butter?

What are you asking? I don't understand. Need to give more info, please.

 

[LunaLe]

I use green tea fragrance oil from Nature's Garden -- it's one of my personal favorites. As to whether it smells exactly like green tea, well, no, not exactly. The FO has notes of green and tannin -- like freshly brewed tea or fragrant dried tea leaves -- but there are hints of citrus and sweet herbs wafting around too. Kind of a clean smelling riff on tea, not an exact dupe.

That sounds really nice. I'll have to try it out. I bought spa tonic from WSP. Its green tea with aloe and lemon. The reviews are pretty good, so I'm excited to try it out. I wish it wouldn't take so long to get delivered.

 

[LunaLe]

I haven't used a green tea fragrance oil yet...but I have tried a black tea from brambleberry that I thought was awesome, easy to work with, and a pretty good interpretation of an actual tea smell...kind of smoky, but not overpowering, vegetal. I've also tried a white tea from WSP that I hated...I still need to soap with it but OOB it is horrible, sweet, perfumey (and very unlike actual tea). I'm really hoping it mellows in CP.

Thanks DeeAnna for the recommendation on green tea scents. I'm always on the lookout for good tea scents!

That black tea sounds amazing! There are so many things I want to try from Brambleberry, but their shipping prices are insane.

 

[dianaabuela1]

What are you asking? I don't understand. Need to give more info, please.

How to use almond butter in a cp soap recipe %. I try to find one with no luck.

 

[Megan]

That black tea sounds amazing! There are so many things I want to try from Brambleberry, but their shipping prices are insane.

It's true, the shipping is astronomical and some of their ingredient prices are up there too. I don't usually purchase from them anymore, but when I started the hobby it was a good option. For some things, I think the prices are worth it. For others, I would say shop around.

 

[DeeAnna]

How to use almond butter in a cp soap recipe %. I try to find one with no luck.

I don't use butters in my soap, so I can't help you with a specific recipe. But it's not that hard to create your own recipes. Don't be dependent on other people's ideas because creating your own recipes is not rocket science.

Start with a recipe you have used and like. Modify the recipe to include your butter at maybe 10% of the total fats. Be sure to recalculate the lye weight using a soap recipe calculator.If you want feedback on your recipe, post it on SMF and get people's opinions. Make the soap and see what you think.

 

[Megan]

How to use almond butter in a cp soap recipe %. I try to find one with no luck.

I would only use almond butter as an additive, maybe 1 Tbsp per pound of oils to try. Almond butter isn't just oils, it's fats and carbohydrates and other things. Maybe do a google search for peanut butter soap and then sub in your almond butter. I would cut my superfat by a few percent maybe to counteract the extra fat in the batch but I probably wouldn't try to calculate the SAP individually for the oil portion of the almond butter. If you really wanted to do that I suppose you could calculate the grams of fat you were putting in and use the SAP for almond oil.

 

[linne1gi]

There's nothing wrong with hydrogenated veg oil (shortening) from a technical point of view. It will saponify just fine and is a good source of palmitic and stearic acids. These fatty acids add mildness, hardness, longevity, and creamy lather when used in soap.

I confess it's snobbery on my part to not want to use shortening in my soap. I've never cared to use shortening in my cooking, and that attitude carries over into my soap and lotion making.

If you ever do sell, you may find most of your clientele won't mind hydrogenated veg oil in the ingredients list, but I imagine a few will. Most of us who sell (I only sell a little bit in one local gift shop) are marketing our soap as something that's unique and hand crafted. Hydrogenated veg oil ... well it doesn't fit into the "artsy fartsy" niche very well.

On a more practical note, I also think the faux butters are way overpriced for the value they offer. A quick look on google shows Crisco selling at $0.11 per oz. Soapgoods.com is selling green tea butter (sweet almond, hydrog veg oil, powdered tea leaves) at about $1 per oz.

I mean, if I'm going to pay $16 per pound, that tea powder had better be mixed into shea butter or something else with more of a sexy cachet, doncha know?

I personally don't like Crisco because it has way too much linoleic acid in it for me. I had a problem with DOS in the past - I am not sure whether it was the Rice Bran Oil, or the Crisco. But in any case, I do not use either any more and have never had another issue. Plus I agree with you about the faux butters. I don't know why anyone would pay for these.