Soap Pet peeves

[HowieRoll]

I'm too new to soaping to have developed many pet peeves (but just wait...), but I can say that after researching soap and ingredients for all things BB for 2 years, my biggest pet peeve by FAR is improper and/or misleading labeling. I'm no expert on the legalities of labeling, but I do know the basics and it amazes me how many companies either do not know or choose not to follow labeling laws. Shifty, shifty, shifty...

 

[mattiesmom]

That person who always visits your booth at the farmer's market and loudly says (for everyone to hear), "I make soap too, but I don't use lye in mine, I would NEVER use soap that had LYE in it." There always seems to be at least one of these lurking around.

 

[shimmersoap]

Well, It's true.. Acronyms are useful. And I do use them tons. But sometimes i like saying cold process better than CP. Also, one of my other pet peeves is me (a melt and pour soap maker) saying to an more experienced cold process soap maker, "i make soap." And the cold process soap maker says. "that's not soap making." Come on. It's easy, i know, but MP can be made into an art form. It can be beautiful. Beside's i'm only a teenager. I sell my soap, but i've made it for a year and a half. My goal is to make CP (I like to type it, not say it) when I'm 15 or 16.

 

[Steve85569]

Teresa,
You do know I was just having fun with you ( just like you are having with me), right?

I just couldn't let this thread get "too serious".

 

[nikkisessence]

My biggest pet peeve with life and Soaping is me. The me that thought that I did know it all. I came here defensive - to prove something. All I proved is that I have a lot to learn. I learned a lot from you all about something i love very much to do! And I learned that at least I can walk now, smell, see. For a time a lot was taken away and if this disease has shown me anything it is that I will lose all that I had taken away again. So, I thank you all for teaching me. And for not being agreeable to me. Because it was the best lesson I needed to learn - that my biggest pet peeve is my additude.

 

[TeresaT]

Teresa,
You do know I was just having fun with you ( just like you are having with me), right?

I just couldn't let this thread get "too serious".

Absolutely!! Which is why I edited it to poke fun at you after I noticed the INCI codes pet peeves you put down. And I even wrote to poke fun at you under reason for edit. :wink:

I'm waiting for someone to jump on here and correct me about the labels and labeling, since I said soaps don't have to be labeled. (FDA vs USCS vs naked) Labels and labeling, one of the "hot topics" I was referring to.

 

[TeresaT]

Well, It's true.. Acronyms are useful. And I do use them tons. But sometimes i like saying cold process better than CP. Also, one of my other pet peeves is me (a melt and pour soap maker) saying to an more experienced cold process soap maker, "i make soap." And the cold process soap maker says. "that's not soap making." Come on. It's easy, i know, but MP can be made into an art form. It can be beautiful. Beside's i'm only a teenager. I sell my soap, but i've made it for a year and a half. My goal is to make CP (I like to type it, not say it) when I'm 15 or 16.

I'm conflicted about M&P. I am in awe of the artistic ability of the crafters. You can certainly do so much more with melt & pour than you can with cold or hot process soap, but I'm with the "you didn't MAKE soap" group. (Unless, of course, you make your own m&p base.) However, unlike some cold/hot process soap makers, I do not look down my nose at m&p crafters. I am definitely in awe of them. As I said, there are so many options for m&p that there aren't for my chosen craft. There are nights that I'm feeling creative and would love to make some soap, but I just don't feel like getting all the stuff out and measuring and melting and mixing. It would be fun if I could get my craft on with some m&p. I have calla lily molds I love that are just not compatible with cold process. I've already warped the molds and cracked one. (Milky way if you're wondering.) If I had m&p in the house, I could really do an awesome job with those molds.

I look at m&p and cold/hot process soap the same way I look at baking. There's a box cake that you add some ingredients to and bake. Then there's the cake that you make out of flour, salt, sugar, baking soda, eggs, etc. You've BAKED the box cake. You've MADE the cake from scratch. It's all semantics. I bake cakes. However, I make bread. Sometimes I use a bread machine. Sometimes I don't. It depends how much time I've got. I love making bread. I love kneading the dough and watching it rise then pounding it down then turning it out and shaping it. The whole process is meditative. I haven't done it in a long while, though.

My advice to all melt and pour artists out there is if you choose to tell your customers you "made" the soap you sell, fine. Just make sure you tell them you use a pre-made soap base and know what the full ingredients list is. And don't tell them you make lye-free soap or you make soap without lye. Because that's a lie. You don't make soap without lye. You decorate and scent soap that someone else made with lye. That is a fact; there is no getting around that fact. (And besides, all soap is lye-free. There is no lye in the soap. It all gets used up turning the oils and fats into soap.)

 

[coffeetime]

I haven't been on the boards much lately, but I have to add something to this thread.

One of my pet peeves is with soap/cosmetic makers who do not understand that some things must have a preservative. I just met a soaper at a sale a couple of weeks ago that takes pre-made liquid soap, dilutes it with RAIN WATER and adds a bit of EO and sells it like that. No preservative. Rain water is lovely but it is alive with bacteria and fungal spores. But she obviously thinks it's better because it's natural, right. Horrifying.

Another peeve is the medical claims of soap/cosmetics people. Sheesh. Also, here in Canada, we have regulations somewhere between what the US has and what the EU has, but they are laxly enforced. But I meet so many soapers who've never even heard that we have regulations (or haven't bothered to ask.) it's a constant frustration. Oh and we are not legally permitted to sell homemade insect repellent without extensive testing as a pest product. But people do it anyway, and I feel bad for the public.

Breathe, just breathe. I just try to worry about my own stuff now.

 

[shimmersoap]

Dear TeresaT,
Thank you. That's also how I feel about MP! I will tell my customers that it is made from a base. CP soap is Created. MP soap is Customized. Right?

 

[TeresaT]

Dear TeresaT,
Thank you. That's also how I feel about MP! I will tell my customers that it is made from a base. CP soap is Created. MP soap is Customized. Right?

That is an excellent way of putting it!! I never thought of that. You are incredibly smart. I'd love to see some of your creations. Have you posted pictures in the M&P forum?

 

[penelopejane]

Ive just been to Alaska and there are loads of handmade soaps in the shops, not one of them had ingredients on the label. They had a lot of fragrance though. I think I need more in my soap.

 

[amd]

Customers who ask me for moisturizing soap or if I make soap for dry skin.

Labeling. Nuff said. (But also... I still struggle with labels after a year, so I feel their pain. I really do.)

 

[shimmersoap]

Dear TeresaT,
I haven't yet posted any photos since i just regestered here in May of this year. But when I bother to get out my camera I will certainly show you guys!