I made two batches today. Same oils.
First batch, I used some homebrew. A few days ago, I started with 2 cups of beer, which sat out overnight, and then simmered on the stove for a while (30 min maybe?) I then froze in a couple of my little silicone ice cube trays. Ended up with 7.5 ounces of lovely dark brown, beer-ish ice cubes. I used these plus a bit of water to dissolve my lye, and then added some sweet orange and litsea cubeba EOs at trace. The batter smelled like chocolate, and then when I added the oils, it's just divine! Not what I expected in a good way!
Second batch, I dissolved the lye in some water (equivalent to lye weight), brought everything to trace, then added the remainder of the liquid called for by my recipe in goats milk. Good think I had planned an unscented soap, because Holy cow, did that thicken FAST! I poured most of this in it's own mold, but wanted to add a bit to the top of my beer soap, so it looks "frothy". I went back to do a little doodle swirl in mica on top, but the soap had already set up too far! Within 20 minutes, I've got a giant gelling spot in the middle of my soap, and a half hour after that, the gel has moved nearly all the way to the edges of my mold! I'm not sure I like this mode of adding milk to my soap (I've previously used frozen milk to dissolve my lye)! We'll see what the color does after it's all said and done. But currently, I am closely watching to make sure it doesn't volcano or anything. It's currently in a silicone mold inside a wood mold, but I may take it out of the wood. I've never had a soap get so hot so fast! It's crazy! (And exciting too. . . Hahaha! Does that make ME crazy?)
these butters can replace palm easily on paper, just gotta test it on my skin first. i love palm, it is damn cheap over here ($1.2/litre), and it's a great soaping oil.
