What soapy thing have you done today?

[amd]

So other than being MIA from the forum for what feels like for.ev.er. My busy month of May has rolled into a busy June also for soap and non-soap life. I had two shows in May, one was a flop (I had sales, but still spent more than I sold) and the other made some good contacts. One is a very well reputed consignment boutique, so all of my stock is going there for the month of July.

June has been busy - I taught a basic soapmaking class at my church as a mini-fundraiser for our new building, and the class went so well! I amazed myself as to how much stuff I really do know, lol. We did a very basic "walmart" type soap, no fragrance, no color. About half the class (5 people) would like to do something for color and fragrance in July, so I'm working on gathering information to provide the simplest most accurate overview possible. The first class took me 3 months to prep for... Not sure that 7 weeks will be enough... good thing I have this forum as a resource! I'm teaching a second basic class in 3 weeks and have a waiting list for doing a third class.

Had a good show on the 2nd of June - it was only a 2 hour show but my highest sales so far! It was just a great night for traffic, location, and interest. I always had someone at my table shopping or asking questions. I have had two online sales generate from that show as well. This is a monthly farmers market type of show, so I will be doing it again in July before my stock goes to the boutique. I have a show on Saturday, and then another the following weekend, the mentioned farmers market, and then I am done with shows until the beginning of August!

I don't have much exciting going on for new soap.[sentence edit] I'm waiting for my avocado soap to cure - it seems to be taking a bit longer than my normal coconut milk soaps. I've done restocks of nag champa, cherry almond, and coffee scrub bars. My future FIL (OOOOHHHH!!! I got engaged this month too, lol) requested a salt bar, so I'll get a small batch put up for him and the (formerly bf) fiancée. I want to try the challenge this month, possibly make an ocean themed soap, and try to make cupcake soaps. In the meantime... I've ordered NaOH and more Shea Butter. Essentials Depot has 32lbs on sale for $49.95, and 5lbs unrefined shea butter for $14.95. Even with shipping the shea butter was only $1 more than I paid for the equivalent amount at the last WSP sale. Will see what I think of the quality as I have only used WSP. Oh, and last week I got a bunch of micas from Steph's Micas and More group buys - someone here had recommended her (but I don't remember who...) and I just wanted to say THANK YOU!! I've been doing a very in-depth look at costs and pricing this year. Most of the time it is the colors that push my soap prices up to the market threshold. (At least around here, more than $5 for soap is a hard sell. I live in South Dakota, so we generally have a lower cost of living compared to most states. My California customers think my $5 soaps are a bargain, lol.) Anyways, I am in love with these micas, the availability of color, performance, and price. I think my customers will be happy too with the range of new colors as well as the price changes.

Sorry for such a rambling post... I'm just so excited to have time to actually post something AND catch up on reading the forums! I've been missing y'all so much. (It seems so silly to say that, but true.)

 

[penelopejane]

^^^ Congratulations on getting engaged! I hope you have a wonderful life together.

 

[MySoapyHeart]

My future FIL (OOOOHHHH!!! I got engaged this month too, lol) requested a salt bar, so I'll get a small batch put up for him and the (formerly bf) fiancée.

Sooo, you casually tried to sneak that tidbit into all this info did you?
Congratulations!
It is 21 years ago since I got engaged (have been married in 21 years in 3 months time *gasp* where has the time gone??) But I still remember the flutterbies that came with that ring, lol : D

 

[shunt2011]

Congratulations AMD....I'm so happy for you on all levels. Especially the engagement!

 

[Saponista]

I have tried Nature's Garden vanilla stabilizer. It didn't smell weird (no gasoline smell) and so far it seems to be working. The bars are only about 4-6 weeks old though, so I'm holding final judgment for a few months more.

Would love to see the results a couple of months down the line navaria.

 

[LisaAnne]

Found several salt bars and a couple Castille soaps loosely stored in a plastic bag I had made over a year ago.

 

[earlene]

Unboxed more soaping supplies and made room for some of them in my pantry. Filled my lye storage bucket (the kchaystack method) with additional bottles of lye.

SoapCalc'd a recipe & saved it for use in the morning. Master batched lye for soaping I plan to do over the next few days.

 

[Cindy2428]

Put the husband to bed and now I can get started on the Mosaic Challenge. I'm loving the colors!

 

[niclycha]

Ordered FO from Nature's Garden after hours of reading reviews on them, all have good or great scent retention, NO ACCELERATION, NO RICE ING, NO DISCOLORATION
and ordered 37 different samples from Nurture Soap. All CP SOAP STABLE. so hopefully I won't have ANY SURPRISES and of course ALL SHOULD GO AS I PLAN in my head (cough cough lol)

 

[earlene]

Made soap. Sorted through some fragrances to choose which one to use in aforementioned soap. Chose Nag Champa, which I have not used before. Smells pretty nice.
Made a lining for a wooden box I bought some time ago to use as a smallish slab mold. I had just enough plastic shelf liner to make a liner for it, so I'll have to go get more to use with the bigger wooden box I wanted to use as a bigger slab mold.
Chose colors to use for tomorrow's soaps. Began drawing of my intended mosaic soap pattern. I also have another one in mind which I may or may not attempt later, but I did some looking around for some ideas that would fit my vision for it if I decide to go there.
Added ROE to a couple more bottles of oils. Strained an oil infusion which I want to try out in a soap in the next few days.

 

[mzimm]

My 6 year old granddaughter Daisy spent the night with me last night, and we have this morning to spend together until her mom picks her up after lunch. Last time she was here we made bath bombs with toys inside. When I picked her up yesterday I asked her what she wants to do this time. "Could we make soap, Gramma?"
Ah....how could I resist that? So we're going to make some simple individual bars that she can skewer swirl after I've made the batter. We spent about an hour yesterday sniffing dozens of fragrances and choosing out micas for color. And then another hour browsing newbie's soap pics for inspiration. Only bedtime got in the way---she didn't want to quit. Dare I say she's a child after my own heart?

 

[shunt2011]

Lye is cooling for my salt bars. Including one I'm going to test with adding beeswax. Interested to see how they come out. Off to choose my fragrance and colors

 

[nsmar4211]

Wrapping soap bars and making labels. Debating making a batch of LS paste too...hrmmmmmmm

Realized I have several scents I have not tested yet *rubs hands together*.... i might be doing a batch up to split and test!

 

[TeresaT]

(OOOOHHHH!!! I got engaged this month too, lol)


I got a bunch of micas from Steph's Micas and More group buys - someone here had recommended her (but I don't remember who...) and I just wanted to say THANK YOU!!

Sorry for such a rambling post... I'm just so excited to have time to actually post something AND catch up on reading the forums! I've been missing y'all so much. (It seems so silly to say that, but true.)

CONGRATULATIONS!! (Ya know, it ain't official 'til we see the ring.)

I love Steph's Peacock Blue Mica. It is beautiful!! I just got an ounce of it. And some of her Neons, cannot wait to try those out. Oh, the Clementine is just gorgeous. I hope that one holds up well in CP. I just don't like the bags. Gotta buy some jars.

Ramble on. I love rambling posts. When ya got something to say, you just gotta say it!! (I do that all the time. My mind wanders. A lot.)

 

[TeresaT]

I'm in the process of making my third try at the Blend Swap. Then I'm going to finally get started on the mosaic challenge. I purchased some drawer sorters to use as molds for the "tiles" and realized the sorters are too big. They'll each hold a 500 gram batch. I don't need to make 1500 grams of "tiles" to do my mosaic! So I'm going to have to figure out how to wedge a divider into there. I think a piece of cardboard taped to the sides will work then I can line each individual side... I don't know. I've got time to figure it out. It's only the 11th, right?

ETA: It's 88 degrees outside. Down from 90. It is 86 in my kitchen. I'm done with soaping while the sun is still out. The kitchen is on the west side and the sun is in the front of the house. It should be boiling soon. Gonna go veg in front of the TV and watch the second episode of first season of Prime Suspect with Helen Mirren.

 

[artemis]

Today we are labeling the bars that are for teachers' gifts. That's about it, really.

 

[niclycha]

Wrapped an order I had from a customer at work, and made some little roll on perfumes. These are so easy to make thanks to Louise at 805 Soap on YouTube
Just 2ml of skin safe FO and the rest of the 10 ml bottle of fractionated coconut oil

 

[earlene]

Opened the dormer windows in the attic and installed the screens so the rising hot air can escape from our house. And turned on the extra heavy duty fan in the room where my newest soaps are trying to dry. The ceiling fans have been going pretty much non-stop for a couple of weeks now because of the upstairs heat. The open dormer windows should help. I'll check tonight and see if it feels less stifling up there.

Got up early & mixed colors in oil to soak for a bit, cut yesterday's soap and am very happy with how it turned out (but no pictures because I have plans for some of it to go into the challenge.) Then went back to sleep for a couple more hours.

Made two batches of soap using manjistha in one and alfalfa powder in the other for color. They are tucked in and working on coming to gel now. My gerry-rigged slab mold leaked a bit from the bottom, so I had to stick it inside a plastic dish pan. I am none too happy about that, but it was just a little leak and I did not see any more. I can only wait and see how it turns out. I wasn't too sure my lining was going to be sufficient for such a fluid batter. I've used the same material to line lightweight Lipton Tea Bags boxes and not had leakage, but I never used it for a very fluid batter before either. Perhaps I will look into buying a real slab mold, but not right away. I am sure I can do a better job of lining what I have now to prevent leakage of the more fluid batters.

I still want to make more soap tonight, but am feeling tired and in need of some rest, so I may or may not get back to it after a little relaxation. At the very least I will still have to clean up and put things away, before I can make dinner.

 

[TeresaT]

I decided to make karanja and tea tree soap. I've read that karanja oil is supposed to have benefits for the skin in treating eczema and psoriasis and it's also used as a pesticide. So, maybe this will be either a good soap for troubled skin or a good flea and tick soap for my dogs. If it does wonders for troubled skin, I can market it as "soothing to troubled skin" and if it doesn't, I can market it as "Soap. It gets you clean." But, if it works on the dogs (after I carefully test it on myself, of course) and does a number on the fleas and ticks, I can always label it as a pesticide. But I really like the, "Soap! It gets you clean" angle. No medical claims or false advertising there. I'm going to weigh out my oils then go to bed. It's still hotter than heck here.

 

[jules92207]

Just attempted my first try at the blend swap, was trying to be exact but over poured a little on my oils so now I'll have re-do. Trying to be exact so dibbles and I can compare edta.

Also made two batches for my cousin's wedding favors.

About to make two more batches to test Fannie and Flo's lard and tallow. Super excited for the results!