sarahmarah

I’ve been trying to branch out and find new to me suppliers. I came across the Millcreek site and saw that some of their oils are listed as bath + body safe. Nowhere on the site could I find usage rates or mention of cp soap compatibility. I sent an email and received a short response that they “don’t have the usage rates for cp and only list if an oil is bath + body safe.” That’s frustrating because I really wanted to try them. What do they expect a customer to do? Guess? That hardly seems reasonable or safe. I don’t stock oils that are only good for candles. Has anyone used Millcreek for bath + body or cp soap? I think after this exchange I’ll move on. Just curious to see if anyone has come across this and how you navigate suppliers who have no inclination to give usage rates….it’s baffling to me.

Old thread but I wanted to add: Salty Sailor. That’s my absolute favorite for sea scent. Reminds me of the New England coast.

Sweater Weather is great in candles and as a winter blender. In soap it discolors which I was not aware of. My only issues with Muddy Soap Co. is that they don’t seem to bother noting soap performance which is beyond irritating. They also don’t allow fragrance reviews which would be incredibly helpful if they weren’t going to bother listing performance. This is a supplier pet peeve of mine. The oils all smell wonderful. I think the only one I’ve ordered and not cared for is Rowanberry because it smells exactly like the Clorox cleansing wipes scent.

I haven't tried the C1 yet but Elite is very hard—brittle even. I’m a lazy new wax tester (hobbyist) I’ve only tested one candle with it and it was severely under wicked but the HT was still good considering. The candle did crack in the container. Seems like a potentially good wax to blend with. I put the project on the shelf for a bit.

I like Caribbean Coconut from WSP. It has a warm spice note to it but it’s actually quite nice. Smells like coconut to me but it only lasts about 6 months in my bars. I made a batch last July and it’s barely there now. Despite not having a pronounced scent now— the coconut does still come alive in the shower though. I just got a sample of Daystars Coconut and I’m not sure what to think. It smells light and I’m not sure I’m in a rush to test it in soap. Smells like it would be nice in a lotion.

It was trending and now that ultra popular suppliers like CS have picked it up the market is literally going to be flooded with it even more so this year. The scent varies so much from woody/earthy to spicy cologne depending on where you get it. I’ve used it as a blender. It can be nice to mix with depending on what your going for.

I like the WSP ones I’ve tried OOB (Fresh Coffee and Espresso) but I strongly couldn’t handle the one from CS. I found it overwhelmingly skunky. To be fair I never put it in product and I know I shouldn’t judge based on that but it was a rare hard pass 😬

I’ve had such good luck with the the coffee scents from WSP. They are amazing throwers for me in C3. I’ve had lots of luck with them holding in soap too—some are coming up on a year of curing and still holding strong.

Thanks for sharing your experience @CandybeeI really appreciate it. I have some 464 and C3 that definitely need to be finished off and I definitely want to play with blending. Does palm generally pull away from the glass in container candles?

You need something with zinc. A&D and Aquaphor etc won’t be as effective. When my twins were little they had so many rash issues and it was so hard to find anything that worked. As much “air time” as we could manage and Calmoseptine was a lifesaver for the nastiest of rashes. It’s one of the best barrier creams I’ve found. https://www.walgreens.com/store/c/calmoseptine-ointment-to-prevent--heal-skin-irritations/ID=prod3285901-product?ext=gooKBM_PLA+-+Personal+Care+(2019+Update)Personal+Care_&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIn4-W65zt7QIVAo-GCh3d2gZaEAQYAiABEgKL2fD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds Sudocrem also worked just as great though it was usually harder for me to source back then. Looks like it’s pretty available now. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Sudocrem-Antiseptic-Healing-Cream-250g/594233806?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=2245&&adid=22222222228000000000&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=m&wl3=42423897272&wl4=pla-51320962143&wl5=9002052&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=113500450&wl11=online&wl12=594233806&veh=sem&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhaWhhJ_t7QIVR4VaBR3DQQx7EAQYASABEgKQ6PD_BwE

I used to drop in to get some supplies there. They seemed pretty helpful in person but I’ve never ordered any products online so I’m not sure how they rate in that area.

Thank you—I just got a sample of C&S coconut so I may blend with that once I get an idea of what I’m working with. I was thinking CDN’s might be worth a try?

Thanks for the heads up! Was there a particular wick series that you had luck with? I’m playing with HTP’s right now. I’m making this wax my project and after dealing with C3 problems for a while I’m just kind of thrilled that it’s poured well so far.

Yes, I will definitely update after a normal cure time for sure. 😊

I’m not sure if it requires a cure? It is ROCK hard. Seems like a whole lotta palm and not too much soy. I love the glass pull-away! Just for the hell of it I poured a 9 oz straight sided with 8% Christmas Hearth (CS) and an HTP62. I lit this after 24hrs because I was curious if I could with any effect. Great cold throw! Okayish hot throw considering I just made it but I’ll cure next time to see if it makes a difference. There is a lot of buildup on my wick after 3 hours. The wax is a bit more discolored than I’m used to seeing so I’m not sure if it’s the wick, the fo, or the wax yet. The wick had that white hot tip and I forget at the moment what that means—is it incomplete combustion? No mushroom, just gunk. Wondering if I should wick up or down but I’ll see where this goes.

Thank you @TallTayl. I'll report back.

I recently got a sample of Cargill Elite 200. There are not many suppliers of this wax and info is a bit scarcer to find. I did a search here and it didn’t turn up a whole bunch either. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this soy/palm blend? Also is cure time roughly the same as with most soy waxes? I’m assuming wicking is on the higher end? I’m going to do a naked test pour later on and it’s a bit daunting to dive in blind but I’ll take good notes 😆.

I just got a sample of Rowanberry from Muddy Soap Co. and it definitely smells like some cleaning wipes I’ve used before. I can place it but it’s definitely a kitchen friendly cleaner smell. I think I would only put it in dishsoap tbh.

I’m definitely going to try a simple batch next. Luckily I have some ewax nf and cetyl alcohol samples from Lotioncrafter I can put to good use. I was previously doing some simple experimenting with emulsified scrubs and playing with ingredients with those and when it came to making my first lotion I swear my good sense went out the window lol. Cheers to reigning it back in and keeping good notes 😊

Thank you @NightLight and @TallTayl! I really appreciate the feedback and advice. I'm definitely going to simplify and experiment with less oils/butters and different ways to achieve thicker consistency without relying on added stearic acid. These batches were draggy and I definitely noticed the whitening on the skin. I joined Swift Crafty Monkey a few months ago and Ive been reading enough material to make my head spin 😊 Its been an amazing resource.

I figured out what the likely culprit was— my stand mixer. I made another batch used my immersion stick blender. Now I have cream that looks like it should lol. Live and learn 😆

Sorry for posting this in the soap section🤦🏻‍♀️—I thought it was in B+B. I’m a hot mess today lol

Hmm. In checking my recipe I was 2% short because I subbed sodium lactate for glycerin and never made up the difference.

The recipe was only a template so I definitely didn’t need to use all those ingredients but I just wanted to play. It feels good on the skin. Just looks a little unsightly. BTMS 50 was used at 14% 6%stearic 30% oils 20% butters for a 200g batch.

Hi all, I made cream today for the first time! Yay!—and I want to shout it with glee 😂 I used the beginner Swift Crafty template for cream. It does look a bit grainy and I’m sure I may have screwed something up... I did a 200g batch. water phase: 118g distilled water 4g sodium lactate oil phase: 10g deodorized argan oil 10g HO safflower oil 10g apricot kernel oil 6g unrefined cocoa butter 6g kokum butter 6g mango butter 2g unrefined shea butter 14g BTMS 50 6g stearic acid cool down 2g liquid germall plus 2g fragrance 2g vit E +heated/held for 20 min +Topped off water that dissipated with boiled distilled water on scale +pored heated water into mixing bowl then poured heated oil in mixing bowl beat with stand mixer for about 4 min—*may have beat at too high of a speed Added my cool down and mixed to incorporate. Annnnd it looks like this? Is this normal? It’s at about 75F in these pics.