This was my first attempt in exactly a year. I ran out of a cream soap I was given as a gift and almost cried. I was determined to figure it out. This batch is 8 days old today. The "texture" is ground oatmeal. Works great. I left it unscented so I could take a little out here and there and add stuffies to it to see how it would make it different. THIS is my second and favorite. The color is from herb infused tomato juice and Tumeric powder. I used tomato juice for ALL of the lye sollution and infused it with rosemary, thyme, parsley and lavender. Scent didn't come through though. :embarasse I scented the entire batch with tangerine and lavender essential oils and it smells very very very good. It's been a very long time since my last hello. HI!