asheebeans

I'm torn between selling my Upland slab (with cutlines) or my Kelsei. I love the qualities of the Kelsei but hate the puny bars it makes. My Upland makes the size bars I want, but less of them and I can never get my corners just so on the soap......so I end up losing a bar or two because of wonky corners. I hate that! Just a little poll, which one would you sell off?

I know for sure at this point I am keeping my Upland log and my round Upland.....you would have to pry those out of my cold hands at this point! I'm still experimenting with my round Upland & I'm stubborn, I WILL get some pretty soap out of it! LOL

Tell me about it! It's bad enough to have to lose the money but to have the lip irritation too....twice!! Gah!!

I'd finally gotten brave and tried it again, minus the peppermint oil.....and by that evening had red and irritated lips!!! It's something in the balm, be it the sweetener, some kind of funk or the mango butter.... I used to use BCN's lip balm base religiously and never had a problem. I think I may be going back to it. What a bummer! TWO POUNDS of lip base going into the trash!

Oh no!!

Does Richards Packaging have them? I think that's what they're called.....they carry the Square Masons.

Millcreek's is tha bomb! It can be used as a body spray or linen spray and it doesn't leave you all sticky icky feeling like the WSP stuff did.

Right off the bat, that sounds like an awful lot of essential oil for a 22 oz batch of soap. My 4 lb batch of lavender soap I use 2 oz of essential oil and I'm a bit heavy-handed with it! When I put your recipe through SoapCalc, at .5 oz per pound of soap your recipe should contain a total of 0.688 oz of essential oil for that batch size. How much lye did you use? I didn't see that in your numbers. I was thinking it could be either ash or lye that was making your soap look wonky, but I would need to know how much lye you used.

Here's the Soapcalc info I got when I plugged in your recipe: you should have used 3.024 oz of lye.

I hope this helps you a little. Did you use the amount of lye stated above?

ETA: I tried to c/p the Soapcalc info but translated onto the forum in a bunch of garbled text. Weird! Anyhoo, if you plug your recipe into SoapCalc you can determine the right amount of lye, water, etc. that you need and the qualities you are looking for. I plug in recipes all the time and play with the amounts to my satisfaction. Happy soaping!

Ooooh, I was right! Here's the info from their newsletter:

"New Fragrance Oils - Newest fragrances: Honey Bunny (smells similar to Honey I washed the kids by Lush), Kismet (smells similar to Karma by Lush), and Rocking the Stars (smells similar to Rock Star by Lush), OMG Olive (smells similar to Olive Branch by Lush), Fluffy Pink Candy (smells similar to Candy Fluff by Lush), Yeah for Yummy (smells similar to Yummy Yummy by Lush), Goldie Dreadlocks (smells similar to Porridge by Lush), Venus Fly Trap (an NG Original), Blackberry Bling (an NG Original), Celestial, Moonflower, Fruitcake, Rosemary Mint Type (smells similar to Aveeno), Sticky Licky Buns (an NG Original), and Wild Musk Type (smells similar to Wild musk by Coty). Link to those that smell similar to Lush fragrances can be found at this link: CRUSH."

I think NG just made a dupe, haven't tried it yet but I thought I read on their newsletter that they got alot of new Lush dupes in. (Figures, 'cause I'm broke! Phlbbt!! LOL)

I highly recommend Nature's Garden. They have alot of info on their site and their customer service is awesome!

That is soooo cute! Was it hard to make? I'm still trying to finish my "easy" quilt-as-you-go Halloween quilt! LOL I may have it done by next Halloween! You've got some serious talent, that is a gorgeous quilt. I hope your grandbaby enjoys it for many many years to come.

Hi Steve! It's great to hear people's stories of how they got into the biz. I used to buy HI candles and the hot throw was amazing--but the tunnels were horrible! All that wasted wax! I am lucky enough to live near Nature's Garden and saw an ad for them in our local paper. I'd saved the ad, meaning to go there and when I finally did (around July or so of 2001) I was in heaven! I bought a container candlemaking kit and took it home.....and the rest is history. Candlemaking started out as something for me to do when I was working 3rd shift. After testing quite a bit I began selling. I never wanted to become a millionaire doing this, and at best I just recoup my costs....but I do love it and it is a fun way to occupy your time! I've put the biz on hold for a while because of school (getting my BSAS in December! Yay!) but love the fact that I can sell alot or a little, whatever I want because it is MY business! I think you will enjoy that too. It is great to do something you love and have control over the entire process. Best of luck to you and your wife on your fragrant adventure!

I've used this mold and I love it!! I have the older, green version but it works about the same. My bars are around 5 oz (when I cut straight....LOL) and I do get around 8 bars if I remember correctly. (it's been a while since I've had time to soap--even MP!! Sad.) I have made a few different types of MP, with embeds and I've really enjoyed the results.

Well, that's just it - I was trying to see what size you guys use so I could get close to it. I was looking at this one, thinking it would make like 8 bars at about 5oz each...

http://www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com/ProductDetail.aspx?CatalogID=1&GroupID=261&CategoryID=2123&ProductID=8475&ProductName=Crafters+Choice%e2%84%a2+Loaf+-+Regular+-+Clear+Silicone+Mold+1501

But, don't know if I'm in the ballpark..

Great! I think you'll like it! I can't wait to make some more.

I love the sparklies!! I am in awe of you girls who pipe on your soap frosting! I totally cheat and use a mold..... LOL

If you want some reeeeaaallly long soap curls, what I used to do was pour a thin layer of MP in a silicone brownie pan. I would let it set up and when it was still warm but firm, remove from the brownie pan onto freezer paper and cut into strips. Then I would roll the strips manually into nice long soap curls! There's probably an easier way but nothing I ever do is easy! LOL

There was a class on this and I made some--best cupcake bath bombs I've ever made! I still prefer using MP in a frosting mold for the frosting, or using royal icing. The icing recipes I've found all feel like glop in the tub. Gross!

Mine sink right to the bottom everytime, but fizz like crazy. I guess I never thought about them floating--just fizzing! LOL

I've made that recipe, and I will say, it is THA BOMB!!! Nice and bubbly!

Have you tried the Whipped Body Frosting recipe in the recipe section? OMG, it is to die for! It is a bit greasy, but I found it is nowhere near what a straight whipped body butter's greasiness is. I really like it and the consistency is just like frosting!

:tiptoe:......I still say my idea's easier than poop! LOL

I know this is a little OT, but with regard to die cutting machines the Sizzix Big Shot also cuts fabric. Good to know if you want to die cut shapes for quilts/applique. You can even use Accuquilt dies (under 6" wide) in it too.

Shame you're not working with clays--you can make some awesome beads with polymer clay. Also, when I was taking my ceramics class there were a few ladies there who made beads out of porcelain clay. The porcelain is nice because it is really smooth and very white--so it shows the glazes very well. You just have to know someone with a kiln so you can fire the pieces. Details! LOL

The body spray? I've tried Millcreek's and I am in LOVE with it!! I've used it as a body spray as well as a room air freshener (not on purpose, put it in the bathroom at work and people started using it when they, *ahem*, stunk up the place....it covers stink quite well!! LOL) and the base is great for both! I've tried other bases that left a tacky afterfeel but this one didn't! I've also tried other bases that the scent is gone minutes after spraying it. Millcreek's is awesome, and I highly recommend it!

LOL! Well I'm going to make my own, but sad thing is I probably spent as much just to get materials lol.

Oh, yeah, jewelry-making is another one of those not-so-cheap hobbies! Even the stuff to make my little polyclay jewelry charms can run into some money!! It's crazy!