Gsmakinsoap

I found some on www.ninonusa.com for $24/lb. Don't know if it is 'uncut' or not, but they do call it a fragrance oil versus a perfume oil or whatever. They've got an 800 number at the top you can call to find out more. Good luck!

Those look very elegant. Thanks to you, I've been picking up cheap crystal when I find it at garage sales! And I still haven't rigged up my presto pot and made any candles yet! (I don't count that one time last year where --for the wax-- I melted some old candles and then used a C4 wick in a 3 inch jar!).

Psychedelic, man! love it.

Oooh, I can't wait either!

They look great, Puma! Thanks for sharing!

Very nice! You have a dream account there. Such a blessing.

I looked at Brambleberry's Patchouli, and it says it's reformulated, with bad reviews on the reformulation. Did you try it, or are you referring to the old version?

Very nice, and I love the bear on top. I may have to borrow that idea...

Please help out this newbie. I keep coming across these comments about how this or that wax or FO is a "bear to wick", and here a wax is "easier to wick". I don't understand. What makes it hard or easy? Is it hard when you have to keep choosing a different wick because the ones you have already tested with don't work? So you end up having to use a wick that you never would have guessed based on the size of the candle or something? Hope y'all can clear this up for me.

Nice! I'm gonna try my hand for the first time soon too. Soon as I fit my pot with a spout!

What coolness! Very nice labels. Be sure to show us a pic when they're all nestled in their cabinets!

I'll give you a breakdown of where I got what: Carrier Oils: Babassu -got this from Camden Grey (CG) but since then price at NDA went down, so I'd get it there next time. Sweet Almond Oil -CG Hemp Oil -CG Castor -New Directions Aromatics (NDA) Camellia Seed Oil -NDA Karanj Seed Oil -NDA Perilla Seed Oil -NDA Coconut oil 76 -Soapers Choice (SC) Coconut oil fractionated -SC Palm Oil -SC Palm Kernel Oil -SC Turkey Red Oil -SC Rosehip Seed Oil -Thesage.com (Majestic Mountain Sage, or MMS) Olive Oil -Costco Butters: With the exception of Shea, I didn't want to buy a lot of these, so went with smaller amounts (like 8 ozs) at CG mostly. Probably SC (and NDA maybe) would give better prices on the larger amounts. For sure get your Shea at NDA. They've got the best price I've found, and it's good quality too. Clays: Kaolin -Wholesale Supplies Plus (WSP) (for smaller amount (less than 5 lbs), Brambleberry has a good price) Bentonite -WSP Rhassoul -NDA Glitters: WSP Exfoliants: Sugar -Costco (large bag comes to .50/lb) Salt, Himalayan Pink -sfsalt.com (I bought 10 lbs of the Extra fine, and shipping was free. The 25 lb. comes to an even better deal per lb.) Salt, Dendritic -WSP Salt, Epsom -Walmart has the best price, though Target's not far behind. But go to the right section in the Pharmacy area, not Bath & Body where they sell the Dr. Teal's. It's more expensive. Pumice -both fine and super fine -WSP Botanicals: I bought a bunch at Herbco.com during their black friday sale. Since then, I found Herbalcom.com, which has great prices AND free shipping. I haven't yet ordered, but I'm a gonna! Miscellaneous: Baking Soda -Costco Colloidal Oatmeal -or "Renewal Soothing Bath Treatment" by RiteAid. You can get a good deal on their buy one, get one 50% off. Otherwise, Brambleberry, but then you pay for shipping. Candelilla Wax -Brambleberry (BB) DL Panthenol -BB Tapioca Starch (modified),(also called Natrasorb, or Dry-Flo) -BB Coco glucoside -NDA Silk Peptide powders -NDA Vitamin E T-50 -NDA Xanthan Gum -NDA Guar Gum -CG Sodium lactate -CG ROE -Rosemary Oil Extract -MMS Hydrovance -MMS Amber bottles & droppers -MMS Shrink wrap for bath bombs (and soap) -MMS Preservative (Cap5) -TKB Trading Colorants (the oxides mainly) -TKB (for Micas, I've heard good things about Nurturesoap.com, and Madoils) Labels -Elements Bath & Body (EBB) Pipettes -Ebay Plastic jars -Bulk Apothecary (BA) -Got a good deal on their Black Friday sale Bullet Bottles, caps, pumps -WSP (during a sale), BA probably compares too Bath bomb plastic molds -WSP Essential Oils: I'd recommend NDA as the most trustworthy of the "affordable EO's" category. Though some of theirs are also very expensive. Others I've found with good prices are CG, BA, and Texas Natural Supply (TNS). However, I've been looking into EO's more, and sometimes when prices are too good to be true, they are not the oils they say they are. I found a site recently that has wonderful prices on EO's. Venkatramna-perfumers.com (high shipping though). But places that get 3rd party testing of their oils to ensure that they are what they say they are, charge way more. I'm referring to places like Naturesgift.com, or planttherapy.com, or edenbotanicals (and a lot more). So, I'd be careful about buying the cheapest EO's you can find. It's what I did, and maybe I'd do it again just to compare, but I'm not confident about my oils. Join an FB group like "Real Aromatherapy Reviews & More" and you will be better informed about the trusted sites (and not trusted) out there. You may want to get in on the sale at WSP right now until the 4th on in stock items only. I just ordered myself. They also have Free shipping. Georgialee

What a neat idea to use crystal! How pretty. I'd love one of your kittens too, but sadly, we can never have one as my husband is allergic.

Thanks for these tips, they're very helpful.

They certainly would. That's a good idea.

Hi guys, I found this website, and thought y'all might be interested in their mats. I'm posting a link to one particular page that seems like a good deal to me. http://www.countrykitchensa.com/shop/icing-fondant-tools/floral-pattern-texture-sheet-set-by/38/527/1327/646756/ Georgialee

Yes, that makes sense. Thanks!

It sure seems that way! LOL!! I am surprised to hear you say that Coconut oil is costly. It seemed like one of the cheaper ones to me. I can't buy it locally for any sort of a good price, but ordering from Soaper's Choice and paying for shipping too still places it a bit lower than olive oil locally from Costco (the cheapest), and a fair bit cheaper than the Palm and PKO also from Soaper's Choice. The only ones cheaper than the coconut (of the hard oils) is the lard and tallow. Do either of you have a better (cheaper) source for your Palm and PKO perchance? If so, I'm all ears!! (Thanks for the tip about the Palm shortening, Candybee. I'll have to look into that). I'm a little hesitant about using tallow and lard, as I'm not too sure how healthy those fats are. It seems I've heard that a lot of the toxins end up in the fat, so unless it's NOT a feedlot cow or pig, chances are it's got a fair bit of yucky stuff in there that I'd rather not be slathering on my body. But I could be wrong about that...

I was just kidding about making a drying soap. I guess my humor is too dry! :-) As for getting the right blend of oils, I know I'm going to have to test it out with others, because I don't notice any difference for myself no matter what the soap I use! However, I don't think I've ever used a non-commercially produced soap before, so chances are anything I make will be better than what I've used in the past (at least, everyone says homemade soap is way better). But I will be striving for a great all-around bar that passes muster with my friends too. I appreciate all the help. I did use Soapcalc as my lye calculator, but I didn't read the links, so thanks! That is really interesting how lard in soap affects you, jcandleattic. I'd never heard that before. Good to know.

Thanks you all for the info on ash. I'll keep the soap covered next time! (and hope for the best) @ jcandleattic, I went to the link and read it. I guess it makes sense, but I hadn't thought before that what one person likes in a soap another wouldn't. About the amount of coconut oil in my recipe...I had heard about making 100% coconut oil soap and superfatting at 20%. So, in my mind it made sense to use half the amount of coconut oil (around 50%) and superfat at half as well (10%). And thus achieve a bar that is somewhat high in the coconut oil but not drying. But I guess there's a flaw in that reasoning somewhere? Now how about this scenario: make a highly drying coconut oil soap for myself so I am then forced to make some nicely scented lotion to rehydrate, so I can use up some more of my FO's? It's a win-win! I never usually need lotion, so the soap would help with that, right? :-)

Hello Everybody!! My name is Georgialee and I'm new here (this is my second post). I've so enjoyed lurking here and gleaning info on soapmaking, chandling (chandlering?), etc. It's especially fun reading about the various FO's! Been getting stocked up and ready to dive in. Of course, I now have way more FO's than I need! Thank you all so much for your helpful and interesting postings and enable-lings! Yesterday I made soap for the first time. Yay! It was a success. Like everyone else I'm sure, I want to make the perfect bar of soap. So, to get there as quickly as possible, I did an experiment. I used 8 ounces of oils/butter (56% coconut, 16% olive, 13% Shea, 10% soy, 5% Castor). I had planned to use PKO, but forgot that it was solid in a jug type container, so I just upped the Coconut, Olive, and Shea. Oh, I also superfatted at 10%. And added about 1.5% Sodium lactate (to the lye water). After mixing for too long, I also added .5 oz of Aqua Spa FO (WSP). Then, I split the mix into 5 separate portions, into which I added: 1) Nothing (Control) 2).Some mashed avocado (a small portion that calculates out to 50g per pound oils) 3) Some corn starch (calculates to a bit more than a teaspoon per pound oils) 4) Some silk peptide powder (same amount as corn starch) 5) Mashed avocado, corn starch, AND silk powder (same amounts as above) I let it get a little thicker than I should have before pouring (scooping), but it wasn't too difficult or unmanageable. I used one of those blue silicone molds with individual rectangular cavities. So, now I have 5 different small bars of soap that I'm very impatiently waiting for to cure. I don't think I can wait 4 weeks before making more soap! So, I'm thinking of just making some more with the #5 recipe! This time with some color swirls! An interesting thing I've noted is that the Control (#1) has developed a fair bit of ash, followed (not closely) by the silk and corn starch, whereas the ones with avocado in them have none at all. However, I do wonder if it's due to the production method, rather than strictly the ingredients...I got to the control last, and it had gotten thicker sitting there in it's container waiting for me, and then, since I didn't have anything to mix into it, I just whisked it up a little bit before scooping it into the mold. The other ones got a lot more whisking to mix in their various additives, and I did the avocado ones first. More testing needed, I guess. Sometime I'll try avocado oil and see if that is comparable to adding mashed avocado. It would be good to have something that doesn't discolor the soap. Although, I can always play around with some TD, right? Do any of you have any other ingredients you'd recommend to make it creamy, silky, and luxurious? I bet I've forgotten something... Oh, by the way, NDA has a great price on Shea--and it's not even a sale! Hope I haven't rambled too much. Thanks again to you all for making this adventure even more enjoyable. Georgialee (in Washington state)

You might try Dendritic Salt, (or a portion of it added to the other salt). I have zero experience, but I've read that it will retain scent for a lot longer than other salts.