Hibiscus

And all this time I thought I was the only one who didn't notice a difference in soap without castor. I also never noticed all those other issues people seem to have with using it in high amounts... I experiment a lot..lol My first 6-8 months of soaping I didn't use castor in cpbs or ls and there was no change when I started experimenting with it. I never had any issues with clarity in LS before the castor and so i can't say that it contributed anything to that either.

Really the best thing to do is just do it and actually see how the process works and if you fail then oh well. you try again. Nothing can compensate for hands on learning. Um right and you will need a starting point. Somebody must have forgotten to attach LS intructions and a formula to my birth certificate..LOL I am also very glad I found the info on about. I didn't read it a thousand times, I did exactly as you said and jumped right in!

As usual I will be the odd one and say that from my very first batch I never had a problem with the about method or formula. It was too freakin easy as a matter of fact. I also learned to make balloon candles from that guys tutorial and didn't have a problem with that either. I must be from another planet because so far every tutorial i've read on about was not anywhere near complicated. I rarely click on any of the links so I can't say what ther deal is with that:undecided I've referred several people to that site because of how simple and easy the tutorials are. I mean sheesh, you only use two oils, lye water and a crock pot:rolleyes2 how difficult can that be? It might help to have some experience making cp or cphp BUT it's not necessary..really people it's not that serious.

Beautiful. Makes me hungry for cream pies:drool: if there was a dessert called lavender cream pie it would probably look a lot like your soap...think I should eat before coming to the gallery?:undecided

Your baby looks like a prettyful blue sky! Good job and congrats!

Not to say I don't still make mistakes, I still do that. If there is a vastly superior member here who doesn't do foolish things on occasion, who doesn't make mistakes then I ask her to step forward so we can all bow. :embarasse ok, ok, okaaaaaaaaay! I didn't want to do it but since you went and called me out:naughty:

they do?....hmmm I wonder if they blow stuff up:shocked2: ...only joking with you...do whatever you're comfy with!...LOL

soooo what's supposed to happen if you use a 50/50 solution?

Congrats! you have every reason to be proud of yourself. you've come such a long way in a very short time:) and this new lotion looks so creamy, I want a sample!

No, they were sample bottles for me as I had never tried monoi and I had not decided what I would use them for. I eventually made monoi body cream and man was it heavenly. The smaller sizes were perfect for formulating smaller test batches. Thanks for that link, I've got to check it out for when I need to produce my stuff in larger batches. I ordered two of the 16 oz bottles in a co-op but again the fragrance was so faint, I will probably use it for soap.

Ok, here is the link. http://mailorderhawaii.com/low-price/maps-monoi-cards/Original-Monoi-Oils.html When I first ordered there were only 4 fragrances but I see they have expanded their line. I must now try more of them...lol..I still have the monoi from the co-op and used it once. I couldn't really smell the monoi. Maybe it's just my nose. They ship fast too. After reading a little further about the new ones, I see I can just stick with the first 4-5 I originally ordered, they really are heavenly. HTH BTW these are the ones I ordered. Tiare, Tipani, Pitate & sandalwood.

I see. Thanks for clarifying..lol.somehow I mixed the slab with a log and lost my way! I wonder if mylar is too flexible to be used as a divider. Now you guys are making me think of stuff that has nothing to do with what I should be doing.:rolleyes2

I should check this to be sure but I think it was mail hawaii or something like that. They are more pricey but they have (guessing again) 3-4 different Monoi Oils. And they are beautifully scented and has that little dried up flower in the bottle. I will find the link. I purchased four bottles one of each scent. I think they are 4 oz bottles. I really need to run upstairs and check my labels.:rolleyes2 I hope some of that was helpful.

I drink lactaid but never considered it for soap until now:) I'm still eyeing my coffee creamer wondering if that hazelnut fragrance would make it through.:rolleyes2

Hmm I think that Mcormick food coloring is used for FD&C. You wouldn't list is as Mcormick because each color has it's own name such as red#40 and so on. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong:)

http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/coldprocesssoapmaking/ss/whippedsoap_9.htm I had to use the search for whipped soap. Then I realised I had read this before and never had time to try it. I think Brenda posted lots of beautiful pics in the gallery of piped soapies.

oh I love it in lotion and cream and because I prefer to use very little fragrances in my lotions and creams, this is perfect. I've got two bottles from a co-op but the fragrance isn't near as strong as it was from my other supplier.

I've still got a bag of vegethix that's supposed to turn any oil into a butter. I haven't had time to play with it, so I'm not sure how well it works. If anyone has tried it, perhaps they can chime in with some info on it.

I'm agree with Brenda on the preservative. You can either Dilute the soap to the consistency you want it for the foamer, Or keep it thick and dilute it later. The water is added after the cook when you dilute the paste anyway, so I don't really understand why you would need a preservative.. I've never used a preservative for the foamers or other wise.

6 qt for cphp and LS. I love soapmaking in the croc. I've got two now...It's #1 on my list of soap making equipment:yay:

My first HP was in a croc. I'd do everything in a croc if I could. I love any formula that works in one container. It wasn't anymore complicated than cp, but I had read so much of everything I got some of the intructions mixed up with LS instructions and panicked..LOL but it came out nicely...that soap was hard as a brick!

I've never used a divider and haven't had any problems. I've done no more than three layers from one batch. I think a divider would make things complicated for me...lol

:yay: oh my that looks sooooo creamy and I want to slather it everywhere! I bet you were beyond tickled when you realized just how easy it was.:highfive:

That's where I got my original mold instructions. I'm not sure what DH did but my soap was square:angry2: so I recently changed the dimensions and now they fit nice and neat in the standard soap boxes and feel much better in the hand. I still have a thing for round soapies:D

Lovelylathers: do you get a chalky soap when you used that much? I've read it can get chalky when you over do it and that it changes the lather. Did you have any of these problems?