not_ally

I have it and use it in shampoo bars, as I loved it as a kid back in the 70's/early 80's. It is reminiscent of the shampoo, not a perfect match though. I do like it and use it as my regular shampoo. It does not seem to stick in my hair in that format in the way that I remember the shampoo did, but none of the FOs I've tried seem to do that with shampoo bars. Did not try it in any other product. I remember searching at some point about a year ago to see if anyone else had something closer and came to the conclusion that they didn't. Then I tried to find a carnation scent to maybe try and bolster it with that, no success with that either (only tried NG Carnation and that was not good.)

Glory, emailed them last night asking them to assure of shipment or refund (text of the email is below), no answer. I am going to follow your lead and turn this over to Paypal and the bank. I have posted on the soapmaking forum and the soap scent review board to give people the heads up on OT service, I hope they take heed. If I don't get refunded on Monday, I am going to contact the relevant Idaho Better Business Bureau, the Idaho Sec. of State Consumer complaint office, and anyone else I can think of to lodge my opinion. If you have any contact info for relevant organizations, would you let me know? Thanks. ------------------- I have tried to call and email you several times regarding my order, which was made and paid for via Paypal on June 7th. The last time I called I could not even leave a message, as your voicemail was not working. I have received no response whatsoever to any of my attempts to reach you. Your record notes/automated "history of changes" indicate that the order was initiated at 10:47 pm on 6/7, queued (presumably for processing) at 10:49 pm 6/7, and the status was changed from "queued to processed" at 8:54 pm, 6/13. My order information is cut and pasted below. If you cannot get my order out by the end of the day tomorrow (Thursday, July 3rd), would you please cancel it and refund my Paypal account immediately? If I do not hear from you I will assume that you will not be responding and will follow up with Paypal and my bank to request that they immediately take steps to ensure reversal of the funds and deal with you directly to recover them if necessary. This has been an extremely frustrating experience. [/sig]

Tried to edit the above, couldn't, sorry. Wanted to add that I was billed through Paypal on the 7th as well. So they've now had my money for 4 weeks; why would they not take 5 ms to return an email or make a call? I'm going to email them now and ask them to refund immediately if they can't get the order out by close of business tomorrow. Of course even if they do that I probably won't get it until the end of next week b/c of the 4th. I'll update here to let you guys know what transpires so that you can follow up/know what to expect if you are also waiting.

Glory, your experience pretty much duplicates mine. Ordered on the 7th (I think the second day of the sale) and despite repeated emails and phone calls/messages (no one has ever answered and the last time I couldn't leave one, just got a message that the vmail box was non-functional) zero response, not even the "sorry, here's the excuse" one that you did. Just TOTAL radio silence. I guess if I don't hear from them tomorrow that the order has been mailed I'll cancel it, request an immediate refund, and - if it does not show up - stop payment w/the bank, and have them deal with it, as you did. This is really frustrating, especially since it seems to be a common practice. I just checked the Vendor Reviews forum on Soap Scent Review Board and they are very mixed. Some folks like them, many complain of extremely inconsistent service and terrible communication/lack of it of the type that we experienced. I am a regular on Soapmaking Forum and posted this over there a couple of days ago (before I saw your post), pretty much summarizes my experience: "Has anyone who ordered during the sale received their stuff from OT yet? I ordered on the 7th (I think the day after the sale started), got an email saying that it was processed. Called an emailed a couple of times w/in the next couple of weeks to see if I could add to the order, no answer to either. Got an automated email on the 15th saying the order was complete, but never one saying it has been mailed, and my account info still shows it just as processed, but no mailing info. Just tried calling again - I have been waiting for IPM and Germall to make lotion/body butter but no one is answering and the voice mail box is not set up to take messages. No response to the emails either. Kind of frustrating, I wish I had known it would take so long, I would have used Lotion Crafter for that stuff instead."

I think anything that you add to clear MP makes it a teeny bit more cloudy, but that is OK w/me for the tradeoffs. Ie; I usually add CandyBee's suggestion of a little bit of OO and CO to make it a little more moisturizing and harder. Colors are even trickier w/r/t clouding, I like making mica blends as per these suggestions from Debbie Chiapas, I think they are more clear and I can control my colors better. I hardly ever use "straight" micas with mp anymore, just make up more of these, and then I have them for later: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/melt-and-pour-soap/inspirational-glassy-color-formulas/

Amazing there is no alcohol in your recipe, I thought that was a basic w/making homemade mp base. Good to know, thanks, JCA.

How is that homemade base working out? You said it was surprisingly easy to make, right? I have enough to be getting on with w/r/t to learning cp, but am very curious.

JCA, when I've used MP bases that seem a bit dried out I have added a teeny bit of glycerin. It is a touchy process, though, it definitely makes the soap slimier so you have to use a pretty light hand. Interesting that you just add plain water, I think I will check that out.

I've ground salts that were too big, and they seem to be fine in soap. I do try to do it super slowly so that I can control the size of the grains a little better, and mix them up halfway through. W/my food processers the stuff at the bottom gets much more finely ground that the stuff at the top.y

Ugh, seller is totally unresponsive. Basically says it has been delivered and that they are done. Me: but I didn't order it! Have never heard of you or the person you delivered it to! Have contacted PP, no response yet, and will contact my bank - my credit/debit card there funds the PP acct - and hope that they can deal with it. Vicky, I read the first post on your thread about your dog and have not been able to go back, too heartbreaking. Please know my own heartfelt sympathy (I have my own pup, cannot imagine how awful it was) and thoughts are with you on this.

Really, really good, you skipped a bunch of steps on the learning curve. The embeds are perfect, and they are hard to do, you have to guage temps, placement, etc.. Congratulations! Also, great work on the mold, I bought stuff to make one months ago and am afraid to try it. People like different bases, I am definitely an SFIC fan, which I buy from Wisteria Lane (close for me so shipping is cheaper and I buy in 50 lots so it is cheaper) although BB sells it too. I just read the ingredients on all the bases, the simpler the better.

They are beautiful. I kind of love Zahida and hate her at the same time I've tried to replicate some of her soaps (including the cp/mp mixes) and they are um, pretty different than hers, dang it.

Interesting, TT, as I said I like the BB champagne and don't find it super sweet, just enough sweet (how's that for a description?). Maybe my nose is just off on this one (my best friend did smell one of my bars scented with the champagne FO and Peaks BRV and said "smells like berry pop"), which backs up your take.

Also, if you looking for that fizziness w/o the sweetness, BB's champagne is great. Not really like champagne, per se, but sort of fun and celebratory nonetheless. Really well behaved, super strong, amazing blender (although go low and increase as you go if you are blending, it is strong enough to take over if you are not careful.) I am not a fruit lover, so add this to all of my the fruit soaps that I make for friends that like those, I just think it makes them smell really fresh and bubbly. PS, just checked the reviews for Ginger Ale (you are right suzy, it was previously called ginger fish, terrible name) on the soap scent review board. 14 basically good reviews. People seemed to like the scent, how well behaved it was, and how well it stuck. Oops, sorry, did not realize that you might be using it in candles though, no input on that if such is the case.

Gran, hopefully puma will chime it on this later, but in case she doesn't see this thought I would post a link to the soaper that she posted about, Zahida/Handmade in Florida. Zahida is a magician, all of her videos are worth watching. The cp/mp mixes are the sunkissed and the sea glass soaps. She makes all of her stuff look easy, but boy, it really is not. https://www.youtube.com/user/HandmadeinFlorida/videos