What soapy thing have you done today?

[TashaBird]

Unmolded my first salt soap. Scented with peppermint and lavender EO and the blue is from indigo. I LOVE them! I am a bit bummed that some of them got some mooshed spots. They seemed to take a long time to harden. I’m going to make another batch. I like that they’ll be ready around New Years! Extra salt to wash 2020 away!!! %80 CO %20 avocado oil, %80 salt ppo, %20 SF.

 

[AliOop]

Unmolded and cut my colored and swirled slab. I am so ticked that I CPOP'd this large batch before testing the micas in a smaller CPOP batch.

The colors (admittedly cheap micas from the local store) have performed decently in non-CPOP soap, with some slight morphing. But this time, the soft green went camo green, the white turned tan, and the soft pink morphed to rusty orange. The non-cooked soap that dried on my soaping containers stayed the original soft colors (as did prior non-CPOP batches), so I'm reasonably sure that the extra heat made the colors change.

I had expected some air bubbles due to using the milk-frother to add in the forgotten fragrance after pouring the base batter into the mold. But the color change is so disappointing. These camo-colored soaps were supposed to be a foo-foo girly gift for a ladies' conference. So while the color isn't horrid, it doesn't fit the soap order, so it has to be redone.... meaning that a bunch more bars are now added to my "donate to the shelter" stash. At least they smell good and will make nice gentle soap for the shelter folks. Sigh.

ETA: the soaps are much more "camo" in color than the photo shows.

On the plus side, my new cavity molds have nice, sharp details, even before clean-up. These are lavender scented as part of a specially-requested wedding gift box. The bars are actually a light lavender, not muddy gray. I really need to learn how to take good pictures!

 

[DKing]

Oh, I already knew it wouldn't have a good lather. I was making them as a super conditioning bar of soap for my sister that gets eczema rashes on her hands.

I also get eczema on my hands (one hand, one foot actually) so I have a suggestion for your sister to try. It helps me a ton, so might be useful for her. I use either apple cider vinegar or tea tree oil when I have a flare and they are both much better than the steroid cream I originally was prescribed for it.

 

[Rachel M.]

I also get eczema on my hands (one hand, one foot actually) so I have a suggestion for your sister to try. It helps me a ton, so might be useful for her. I use either apple cider vinegar or tea tree oil when I have a flare and they are both much better than the steroid cream I originally was prescribed for it.

I'm actually on the phone with her right now and relayed the message. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[DKing]

I'm actually on the phone with her right now and relayed the message. Thanks for the suggestion.

Hopefully it works for her as well as it does for me. I can empathize with how miserable it can be to have a flare up.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Unmolded and cut my colored and swirled slab. I am so ticked that I CPOP'd this large batch before testing the micas in a smaller CPOP batch.

The colors (admittedly cheap micas from the local store) have performed decently in non-CPOP soap, with some slight morphing. But this time, the soft green went camo green, the white turned tan, and the soft pink morphed to rusty orange. The non-cooked soap that dried on my soaping containers stayed the original soft colors (as did prior non-CPOP batches), so I'm reasonably sure that the extra heat made the colors change.

I had expected some air bubbles due to using the milk-frother to add in the forgotten fragrance after pouring the base batter into the mold. But the color change is so disappointing. These camo-colored soaps were supposed to be a foo-foo girly gift for a ladies' conference. So while the color isn't horrid, it doesn't fit the soap order, so it has to be redone.... meaning that a bunch more bars are now added to my "donate to the shelter" stash. At least they smell good and will make nice gentle soap for the shelter folks. Sigh.

ETA: the soaps are much more "camo" in color than the photo shows.

On the plus side, my new cavity molds have nice, sharp details, even before clean-up. These are lavender scented as part of a specially-requested wedding gift box. The bars are actually a light lavender, not muddy gray. I really need to learn how to take good pictures!





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LOVE your swirls - really pretty. I also have that cavity mold and they do come out nice and crisp.

 

[AliOop]

LOVE your swirls - really pretty. I also have that cavity mold and they do come out nice and crisp.

Well, thank you, Oh Queen of Amazing Swirls!

 

[MarnieSoapien]

I finally got the 2nd mold and soap cutter I ordered! I made 2 batches of soap (ok... one really big batch that was split into 2 batches), tried CTHP (counter top hot process) for the first time and broke my SB
I also ran out of sweet almond oil and am considering omitting it from my recipes moving forward, or replacing it with avocado oil.

 

[MarinaB]

Yesterday and today I made chocolate soap with cocoa from St Lucia.

 

[SPowers]

I made an attempt at the Lollypop swirl in my Pringle's can... I had trouble with getting an accurate amt of oils but in the end I'm glad because it's more like a test batch (which I've never done before) and I learned a lot from the small batch.
I didn't get the swirl I was going for... found it hard to see what I was doing inside the can and the batter got thick at the end.
Overall, I'm ok with the result. I need to work more with an emulsion so it stays thin long enough. Also I used 6 colours which probably wasn't a good idea. Here's the cut.

 

[AliOop]

I made an attempt at the Lollypop swirl in my Pringle's can... I had trouble with getting an accurate amt of oils but in the end I'm glad because it's more like a test batch (which I've never done before) and I learned a lot from the small batch.
I didn't get the swirl I was going for... found it hard to see what I was doing inside the can and the batter got thick at the end.
Overall, I'm ok with the result. I need to work more with an emulsion so it stays thin long enough. Also I used 6 colours which probably wasn't a good idea. Here's the cut.

Those look GREAT! I also think six colors worked perfectly here.

 

[Misschief]

I'm restocking my Salt Bars today. It was my most popular soap at this past week's market; if the next market is as good for Salt Bars as this past one was, I won't have any left. And it takes months to cure.

 

[SPowers]

I might run out of friends and family to give soap to! I'm totally obsessed. When I started, I said I make a batch every couple of weeks, then 1 a week then 2 week. It's only Tuesday and I've made 2 batches in 2 day! Today I did my first One Pot Wonder - it seems everyone is doing that one atm. Here's a look at my stash.

 

[goat soap rulz!]

I went on a soap shopping spree at Walmart and dollar general and replaced a bunch of my older soaping stuff that is getting worn out. I had most of my stuff for 3-4 years, and some of it is just not holding up great lol!

And then, of course I couldn't resist using all of my new goodies, and made my second ever colored soap, and my first ever drop swirl! (I've been making soap for 3-4 years, but just started coloring them!) I also added the left over mica to the top of my soap!

Don’t mind the mess! Still have to clean that uggghh! That’s is the least fun part abt makin soap!!

 

[MGM]

Then I wondered if you have used it? What happened with the spots?

Oh yes, I think I used it all up, actually. You can see some bubbles on the soap in the photo...this was likely my last bar and I decided to photograph it for posterity...

This was my 1st in a series of 3 (and counting) lavender-anise soaps...You think lavender is a strong scent until you pair it with anise! All of the versions have been reducing the anise more and more (and I love licorice....).

 

[AliOop]

After my mica fiasco this weekend, I broke down and ordered real, big-girl micas from Nurture: two purples, two pinks, one blue, one green, and of course, a small amount of their Trial by Fire. So there may be a meat soap in my future.

I generally don't use FO due to headaches, but a friend is asking for something specific, and since I needed to spend a wee bit more for free shipping, a sample FO made it into the shopping basket, too. The soaps will just have to cure at her house. And the total was less after free shipping anyway. Win-win.

 

[artemis]

Since I just soap as a hobby, I would normally wait for the next challenge to think about making soap. However, we are running low on face soap! So I did a quick batch so it will have time before it's needed.

I tested Awaken from Nurture, which to me just smells like lemongrass. I was disappointed, because I already have a big bottle of lemongrass. But, it smells nice.

 

[MarinaB]

I made "Ottoman empire"soap with turmeric from Istanbul Turkey and poppy seeds from Hungary.

 

[goat soap rulz!]

I cut my drop swirl soap!! I am very happy with it!

 

[amd]

Finally finished rendering lard. Oh my it was ugly business. I'm on vacation beginning tomorrow, so I will hopefully be spending my mornings in the soap dungeon conducting various experiments...
1. Formulating shampoo bars and testing pH
2. Test batches of lard soaps using unscented lard, home rendered lard, and lard/tallow combo.
3. Getting the rest of my palm block portioned out and put in the freezer
4. Making embeds for future soaps
5. July Challenge soap
6. Attempting to make lotion

Slightly non-soapy things to do include building and painting a display shelf for my show at the end of the month. And then a bunch of other nonsense stuff around the house (like cleaning).