I am so confused by this... these are literally the two things that do affect outcome, so I'm not sure what you are trying to say.Well, what I mean is that it is obviously NOT the oils that are affecting my different outcomes with different recipes, I don't think. And it's not the lye amounts, I don't think, although maybe I need to learn more about the calculators. Thanks for your answer.
I wouldn't call myself "experienced" I've only been doing this a couple years as well...maybe 200 batches (just guesstimating)
I do have one main recipe, not that I don't experiment, but I did a lot of work at the beginning to get a recipe that I loved and I've pretty much stuck with it for a year and a half. In total, I have three recipes that I make in larger quantities than my experimental test batches and these are for completely different soaps (salt bar, and castille). My main everyday (main recipe) soap only changes in additives and designs depending on what I'm going for.