What soapy thing have you done today?

[Ugeauxgirl]

I have a question that is probably too broad, but I don't know how to pair it down. It's about fragrances in cold processed soap. I searched the forum before I posed this question, but did not find an answer. I know soap has a natural scent. When I walk by my soaps they smell wonderful, but they don't hold the fragrance. Is this common with age? Is it specific to the scent used? The EO and FO's that I used were purchased new from reputable sources and were not outdated. The peppermint scent last the longest, but it fades after a few months.

So are FO's stronger than EO's for using. Does one last longer than the other? Will the scent last longer if I mix several scents? I've never tried mixing more than one.

Thanks for your help.

Some FO's and EO's fade and some don't. Unfortunately it's trial and error for me. A couple of people have posted threads asking what are good/long lasting FO's from whatever your favorite supplier is.

One good thing about organizing my soap room is that I now have a limit as to how much I can own. I cannot store one more mold, so if I buy one I have to discard one. Same with FO's. In an effort to eliminate a few bottles (because I bought 3 in the NS black Friday sale), I made a soap with 3 almost empty bottles of FO. Lemon, satsuma and grapefruit. I added a little lime because I was short. Mmmm

 

[The_Emerald_Chicken]

I used up two bottles of FO today! It's so exciting to see our supply diminishing slowly. Some we've had for quite a while, so I'm ready to move those out...and then, you know, that supply's gonna need replenished!

Both FOs were really good ones, so I'll probably end up ordering more. One batch is Tobacco and Bay Leaf, trying to replicate a batch I made last November, and the other is Kentucky Bourbon. Both are such nice scents, masculine but not too masculine.

 

[Catscankim]

Thank you! I love it and my favorite part is that my soap room (aka guest bedroom closet) has gone from thisView attachment 63004
To thisView attachment 63005

I am so jealous. I refinished an entire bedroom set about 3 years ago. I was so proud of how nice it came out (it is still my bedroom set today). Then I picked up a roadside dresser and it has been sitting in my garage for almost three years. My plan was to refinish it cause now I felt like an expert. What I really liked was the hardware LOL.

Originally I was going to refinish it and donate it...I came up with this huge idea that I could start picking up furniture, redo it and give it to someone in need who needs something nice, for free. Alas, other projects and problems came up, so I ended up posting it on fb marketplace for free. No takers. Out to the curb it went. It was kinda nice the way it was LOL. Ashley furniture.

Now I am mad LOL. I should have done something like this after all to store soapy stuff in.

Your dresser and soap space looks amazing. Good job!

 

[Vicki C]

I always love seeing your smile pop up in the forum! Yay, lotion bars! I wish I could help you on your glitch from a year ago. I've made boat loads of lotion bars without experiencing grittiness. Given it was the same ingredients, I'm wondering if you were absolutely sure that everything was completely melted? I'm not sure the reason, but I read somewhere that you should melt shea butter slowly at low to medium heat. Glad this year's batch is good!

Heck, yeah, I'd buy that! I'd probably buy the whole batch! Great photo with the wood. Reminds me of the Christmas card we made last year (Mrs. Zing and I have made holiday cards since the late 80s). This photo is from Google but similar to the one we made. As I type this, now I'm thinking that next December I copy pay homage to you with a coordinated soap and card design!
View attachment 63036

What a clever card idea! And coordinated cards and soap… yes!

 

[Ugeauxgirl]

I am so jealous. I refinished an entire bedroom set about 3 years ago. I was so proud of how nice it came out (it is still my bedroom set today). Then I picked up a roadside dresser and it has been sitting in my garage for almost three years. My plan was to refinish it cause now I felt like an expert. What I really liked was the hardware LOL.

Originally I was going to refinish it and donate it...I came up with this huge idea that I could start picking up furniture, redo it and give it to someone in need who needs something nice, for free. Alas, other projects and problems came up, so I ended up posting it on fb marketplace for free. No takers. Out to the curb it went. It was kinda nice the way it was LOL. Ashley furniture.

Now I am mad LOL. I should have done something like this after all to store soapy stuff in.

Your dresser and soap space looks amazing. Good job!

Thanks. Calling it refinishing is a stretch. I gave it a light sand, sprayed with Kilz primer, sprayed with turquoise spray paint and then varnish. Added some cute hardware- Done, all in an afternoon. At least you didn't pay for the dresser. Freebies like that aren't too hard to find...

 

[Martha]

Wow, @Martha , that is really something! Great looking soaps, great looking packaging. Your recipients will be thrilled.
Are your lotion bars in the photo and what's your recipe? You know I'm obsessed with lotion bars.

Thanks. Yes, the lotion bars are the pink and green/blue squares with the leaf pattern. You are actually my lotion bar inspiration. The pink one has meadowfoam oil. It’s mostly a 1/3 split of hard/soft oils and beeswax. I tone the beeswax down a bit to make it less waxy. I think I used jojoba oil for the aqua one.

Ditto on what Zing said, and also I'm loving the names. Especially Endpaper, for some reason it's really evocative!

I have a really hard time naming soaps. And there are only so many ways to say lavender or something-swirl. I was pretty chuffed about endpapers. See how I did that?

Sitting at a farmers market but it’s slooooow… I thought these would be big sellers but no one has bought them!
View attachment 63035

How is that possible? They are so beautiful!

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

My soapy thing today was that I filed a formal application for the Litesa Cubeba fan club. I put a single drop of this fabulous EO in a one-shower LS sample (along with lemon tea tree, juniper, and fir). Ladies, I tell you, there wasn't much space left in my bathroom! I could still smell the litsea two hours later.
It's somehow unsettling that I don't know how to dose such EOs even more cautiously than drop-wise?

@Peachy Clean Soap

Similar looking example from a mineral (source)

It might be that it's just some weird effect of how the coconut oil crystals grew when it solidified. You can faintly see the cells of radially grown crystals, and the dark spots are in the centre (purest, clearest crystals with least light scattering in the middle).
But it also might be air bubbles or dirt. C-oil isn't that exotic that one couldn't switch to another source.


I already wondered why you've gone through all that effort to scrape off that gorgeous turquoise, just to replace it by an old-and-shabby wood finish instead.

I'd love to try it. Beautiful formation of the mineral crystals'

I read where someone suggested Big Lots Coconut Oil. I purchased 10 of them. Something was not quite right! My Soap did not turn out well! I learned my lesson and will never use it again. I use quality ingredients in the making of my soaps and other products, however, this was not! Blessings!

Update:
I didn't have a problem w/ their C-oil that i'd purchased in the past & soaps turned out fine. I compared my previous oil to picts & it was different in color' mine was whiter in color & no air bubbles or darker looking spots.

So too some up my view Big Lots could of bought a Shipment of rancid c-oil unknowing?. Here in LA we are backlogged w/ unloading shipping containers' this could of been in a container out at sea & the docs for who knows how long? w/ weather changes & all. The expiration date wasn't up I checked the date immediately, thinking it's out of code.
I'll buy it again' when it looks like a better quality, cause it's a good value & product normally.

 

[TashaBird]

Update:
I didn't have a problem w/ their C-oil that i'd purchased in the past & soaps turned out fine. I compared my previous oil to picts & it was different in color' mine was whiter in color & no air bubbles or darker looking spots.

So too some up my view Big Lots could of bought a Shipment of rancid c-oil unknowing?. Here in LA we are backlogged w/ unloading shipping containers' this could of been in a container out at sea & the docs for who knows how long? w/ weather changes & all. The expiration date wasn't up I checked the date immediately, thinking it's out of code.
I'll buy it again' when it looks like a better quality, cause it's a good value & product normally.

Does it smell rancid? It looks melted and half rehardened to me.

 

[Zing]

Thanks. Yes, the lotion bars are the pink and green/blue squares with the leaf pattern. You are actually my lotion bar inspiration. The pink one has meadowfoam oil. It’s mostly a 1/3 split of hard/soft oils and beeswax. I tone the beeswax down a bit to make it less waxy. I think I used jojoba oil for the aqua one.

Mmmm, meadowfoam seed oil... Glad to hear my evangelism is paying off!

 

[Vicki C]

How is that possible? They are so beautiful!

All good! Local museum store bought them all today. Sooooo… pretty pretty pretty chuffed.

 

[violets2217]

Added some cute hardware- Done,

I ment to ask what you did with the old hardware… it was beautiful! I love the new hardware too!

 

[Zing]

Had a soapy week. I labeled and packaged a batch for a friend who bought a loaf. I think it's my second sale.
Made my first lip balm in tubes tonight.

 

[ShirleyHailstock]

@ShirleyHailstock
When it comes to longevity of EOs in soap, I'm always coming back to this fabulous team-effort thread:
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/longest-lasting-eos.77315/page-4#post-884722

Thank you. This is the tread I was searching for.

 

[LynetteO]

I got all thegifts wrapped! Well almost, I’d run out of storage room & just found a hidden box of lavender goat milk ZNSC! TBC

 

[Zany_in_CO]

One good thing about organizing my soap room is that I now have a limit as to how much I can own.

Good luck with that! You can be a Beacon of Hope for all of us if you stick to your plan and update on a regular basis.

 

[MellonFriend]

I got all thegifts wrapped! Well almost, I’d run out of storage room & just found a hidden box of lavender goat milk ZNSC! TBC
View attachment 63060

I love your wrappers! They are totally adorable.

 

[LynetteO]

I love your wrappers! They are totally adorable.

Amazon. Someone else posted a link here on SMF & I bought immediately! They come with cute “Handmade with Love” stickers too.

200 Pieces Clear Cookie Bags Self... Amazon.com: 200 Pieces Clear Cookie Bags Self Adhesive Cellophane Treat Bags, White Polka Dot Frosted Candy Bags and 240 Pieces Thank You Love Sticker for Cookie Chocolate Jewelry : Home & Kitchen

 

[deighturp]

I made an interesting coffee soap with the new fragrance oils from BrambleBerry. I have never been happy with coffee soap in the past, too scratchy for me but this time, I used “used” grounds which I blitzed (2X) in my coffee grinder. So they are really fine. I hope this time I’ll like the soap.

So how much coffee grounds do you put in your soap? I was using the same measurement as I do for oatmeal and its kinda rough on the skin.

 

[ResolvableOwl]

Not @linne1gi, but I put spent coffee into my Coffee Day soap. I used a generous 10% of the oil weight – but still wet from brewing. It came out very scratchy. The bad news is that when you use less, it isn't less scratchy, just fewer coffee particles that are scratchy. Incidentally I've asked how to get a speckled look without that much scratchiness not long ago.

 

[Catscankim]

Thanks. Calling it refinishing is a stretch. I gave it a light sand, sprayed with Kilz primer, sprayed with turquoise spray paint and then varnish. Added some cute hardware- Done, all in an afternoon. At least you didn't pay for the dresser. Freebies like that aren't too hard to find...

Im definitely a trash picker lol.

this is the set i refinished. I used chalk paint and wax to make it look distressed.

edit…and thats when i got the idea that an old freebie and a little paint might change someones life lol. Im sure plenty of ppl cant afford a nice set and just pick up roadside.

Me, i was just moving out of a roommates house and had zero. I make money, but i couldnt afford to furnish the whole house all at once. Freebie throw away set and $100 in supplies.