What soapy thing have you done today?

[Trinidad Kelly]

I live in Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies. Finally found a bulk supplier to get coconut oil from by the kegs. I also steamed some of my soaps to get them looking a bit shiney. Placed them in shrink wrap bags (last set as I am changing packaging). I'm about to shrink, label and pack them aside. Also packed out orders, gave away some samples and collected some guava, neem, bamboo and moringa leaves to wash and dehydrate to make into powder.

 

[melonpan]

My soapy thing today was, finally, soaping after a while: a pine-themed soap with pine needle infused water and olive oil. Curious to see how it comes out. The green is spirulina so trying to keep it covered to see if the colour stays, fingers crossed! It's now CPOPing in the oven.
My struggle with soap tops continues (applying the right pressure doesn't come as intuitive to me, not sure if I'm the only one), mental note to self: browse soap top pictures for inspiration before next soaping session!

 

[Trinidad Kelly]

Yup. Sorbitol produces really big bubbles and quickly. Powdered sugar makes tight but weak bubbles. It’s been a while since I’ve soaped with honey and I don’t remember the exact impact on bubbles. We consume a lot of honey and it’s more expensive than the others, and a pain to work with, so I leave the honey as a food item.

I’ve never soaped with light corn syrup or molasses. The molasses accelerated trace which I had expected. The granulated sugar took a long time to come to trace in my slow moving recipe.

It’s still a fun experiment! I want to experience for myself definitively the difference of each, side by side.

If you do HP, Cetyl Alcohol gives long lasting bubbles.

 

[The_Emerald_Chicken]

My struggle with soap tops continues (applying the right pressure doesn't come as intuitive to me, not sure if I'm the only one), mental note to self: browse soap top pictures for inspiration before next soaping session!View attachment 57982

I can relate to the soap top struggle, but I think this one looks lovely! Beautiful shade of green as well.

 

[maryloucb]

My soapy thing today was, finally, soaping after a while: a pine-themed soap with pine needle infused water and olive oil. Curious to see how it comes out. The green is spirulina so trying to keep it covered to see if the colour stays, fingers crossed! It's now CPOPing in the oven.
My struggle with soap tops continues (applying the right pressure doesn't come as intuitive to me, not sure if I'm the only one), mental note to self: browse soap top pictures for inspiration before next soaping session!View attachment 57982

The color is so pretty! I made a spirulina soap today as well, with green sea clay. I tried to prevent gel in order to preserve the color. Not sure if I was successful. Mine is a "mojito" soap--peppermint and lime EOs. I did a sort of 2 color in the pot swirl. Can't wait to cut it!

 

[Marsi]

i made a honey, aloe and oatmilk soap with 20% cocoa butter
unrefined cocoa butter and honey in too-hot lye water
made the soap smell and look like chocolate caramels

 

[Whillow]

Instead of leaving a comment, you can also bookmark a post for future reference. The bookmark icon on my screen is just to the right of the post number (top right corner of the post you are tagging).

The nice thing about bookmarking is that you can also put in a word tag to help you find it later. For instance, when I was formulating a high-Shea bar, I found posts with Shea recipes, bookmarked them, and added the tag Shea Bar or something like that. Sometimes I’ll put the person’s name on it, too, since maybe I’ll be looking for so-and-so’s shampoo bar.

It is a super helpful feature for those of us who want to try all the things.

Thank you. Didn’t even know about that. What a time saver.

 

[ResolvableOwl]

Yesterday, I eventually jumped on the salt bar hype train as well. 50/50 palm kernel/babaçu, 20% lye discount, salt at 100% TOW, CPOP.
Looking at the bars 12 hours later, they sweat like crazy (no particularly moist weather here). It's for sure aqueous lye/brine/glycerol (no soft oils or EO/FO added).

Should I give the liquid a chance to reabsorb, and wait with unmoulding? Or doesn't make it a difference?

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

i made a honey, aloe and oatmilk soap with 20% cocoa butter
unrefined cocoa butter and honey in too-hot lye water
made the soap smell and look like chocolate caramels
View attachment 57987

Your ingredients sounds like skin loving Yumminess. I made a soap similar to yours yesterday.

Yesterday, I eventually jumped on the salt bar hype train as well. 50/50 palm kernel/babaçu, 20% lye discount, salt at 100% TOW, CPOP.
Looking at the bars 12 hours later, they sweat like crazy (no particularly moist weather here). It's for sure aqueous lye/brine/glycerol (no soft oils or EO/FO added).
View attachment 57995
Should I give the liquid a chance to reabsorb, and wait with unmoulding? Or doesn't make it a difference?

I haven't a clue' I made salt bars once' they looked & felt dry upon un-molding, moving forward 5 months, they still look as dry as the "Mojave Desert"
If it were me & its weeping caustic soda i'd toss it. Only a guess.
Good Luck' Keep Us Posted.

 

[Misschief]

I made a Charcoal Castile soap yesterday. The recipe is Zany's Salt Water Castile and it's scented with equal parts Lavender and Tea Tree EO.

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

I made a Charcoal Castile soap yesterday. The recipe is Zany's Salt Water Castile and it's scented with equal parts Lavender and Tea Tree EO.

View attachment 57997

Wow your soap is such a beautiful color & I love your top too' so pretty.

 

[Jersey Girl]

Finally made some soap after nearly a month. I’ve been ordering new fragrance oils and have been wanting to test them out. Ordered from a new company , Midwest Fragrance Company. It really bothers me when all the reviews on an oil say how well behaved it is with no acceleration, ricing, etc and then I go and use it and it immediately rices. That was the case with Raspberry Sangria, although I was able to smooth it out enough and it does smell nice even though it was too thick for a nice swirl. The soap has a bit of a rough texture but seems to be fine. The other was Wild Honeysuckle and Raspberry. That one did behave well but the smell, although pleasant is quite light. Don’t know if this one will last. There are no soap testing notes on their site so it’s going to be an experiment I guess.
On the left is Raspberry Sangria and the right is Wild Honeysuckle Raspberry

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

Finally made some soap after nearly a month. I’ve been ordering new fragrance oils and have been wanting to test them out. Ordered from a new company , Midwest Fragrance Company. It really bothers me when all the reviews on an oil say how well behaved it is with no acceleration, ricing, etc and then I go and use it and it immediately rices. That was the case with Raspberry Sangria, although I was able to smooth it out enough and it does smell nice even though it was too thick for a nice swirl. The soap has a bit of a rough texture but seems to be fine. The other was Wild Honeysuckle and Raspberry. That one did behave well but the smell, although pleasant is quite light. Don’t know if this one will last. There are no soap testing notes on their site so it’s going to be an experiment I guess.
On the left is Raspberry Sangria and the right is Wild Honeysuckle Raspberry
View attachment 58000

Both are really pretty. Doesn't it feel nice to soap again' despite the new FO'S Ricing.

 

[Tara_H]

Today I checked on the progress of my FO testing:

Some interesting things going on there, but still nothing to beat the shade of purple from #5!

I also tried a very experimental pour in a new column mould (otherwise known as a bit of pipe)
Scented with green apple FO and orange 10x EO, and trying out the orange neon on its own. Man that's a loud colour!

I'll explain the pour once I've had a chance to see how it comes out

(Seen here wedged amongst my FOs to hold it vertically.)

 

[The_Emerald_Chicken]

Today I photographed the three batches I made this weekend. All fragrances and micas are from Brambleberry.

Cucumber Melon
Colored with a mix of Mermaid Blue and Kelly Green. I love how this turned out, but I don't love the fragrance. Cucumbers are delicious, but I don't like to smell them in my soap.

Baby's Breath
Base color was a mix of Stormy Blue and Queen's Purple. Added TD to the white. I find this fragrance to be overly floral for my liking.

Coconut Mango
Used the same mix of micas for all the layers, a combination of Sunset Orange, Red, and Raspberry. This FO I do like. It's fruity, but not overly sweet.

(Can you tell that I like to mix micas to get the shade I'm looking for? )

 

[SPowers]

Right now I'm waiting on the lye & oils to cool down for today's second batch. First is (hopefully) in gel phase. Here's the top:
View attachment 57969
A friend is getting married the end of July and requested 75 bars of soap to give those who help at the wedding. Hence my sudden soapy explosion My sister makes soap too, so we'll be working together on this.

Love the colour and the design! What design did you use on the inside?

Today I photographed the three batches I made this weekend. All fragrances and micas are from Brambleberry.

View attachment 58002
Cucumber Melon
Colored with a mix of Mermaid Blue and Kelly Green. I love how this turned out, but I don't love the fragrance. Cucumbers are delicious, but I don't like to smell them in my soap.

View attachment 58003
Baby's Breath
Base color was a mix of Stormy Blue and Queen's Purple. Added TD to the white. I find this fragrance to be overly floral for my liking.

View attachment 58004
Coconut Mango
Used the same mix of micas for all the layers, a combination of Sunset Orange, Red, and Raspberry. This FO I do like. It's fruity, but not overly sweet.

(Can you tell that I like to mix micas to get the shade I'm looking for? )

All are lovely! I particularly like Baby's Breath.

Today I made a remake of my Orange & Pink Grapefruit soap. My previous batches were drop swirls but today I decided to try the OPW again - this time the right way! I'm cautiously optimistic! The bottom colour is more pink than it looks in the photo (the thin strip).

 

[The_Emerald_Chicken]

Love the colour and the design! What design did you use on the inside?

Thank you! I poured both colors into the mold and swirled from the top with a skewer. Cut it horizontally instead of vertically.

 

[SPowers]

Thank you! I poured both colors into the mold and swirled from the top withI' a skewer. Cut it horizontally instead of vertically.

I'm sure it will be equally gorgeous inside.

 

[ResolvableOwl]

Today I checked on the progress of my FO testing:

What is 18? It looks like made for castile soap. (Though, it should rather be the exception than the rule to choose EO/FO by look.)

 

[Tara_H]

What is 18? It looks like made for castile soap. (Though, it should rather be the exception than the rule to choose EO/FO by look.)

Here's the full list - 18 is oakmoss. The ones where the numbers aren't visible are counted in the predictable order. The 3 controls are last.