MochaMama

I have no idea what happened to this lotion bar. It is a 1:1:1 mix of shea, cocoa and beeswax plus color, fragrance, corn starch (not modified) and frac. coconut oil.

I have no idea how it morphed into Star Trek lotion bar! Isn't it creepy looking? Consistency is still the same though, but you can actually scoop out the "bumps" with your fingernail. How strange!!

I am depending on the experts to help me out. :highfive:

BTW this is a remelted lotion bar - I wanted to add color, so I remelted a couple of all ready molded lotion bars.

Thanks, as always, in advance.

My DD was on goat's milk for a bit because she was allergic to cow's milk. I bought it online (like I do nearly everything else ) at thevitaminshoppe.com. (This is powdered milk).

Well if thats true then it must be the combination. Because of the mp soap being so syrupy lol adding too many butters/oils will make it rubbery. I will also say that although we are giving our testing results, its always better to test it out yourself because maybe what works for us won't work for you. I say this because I've tried out five or six companies (mp) and some I worked and some didn't.

Rubbery soap right here!!!! I misplaced my other recipe book (experiments) and that's how I messed up a couple lbs of soap. Now I have to start fresh, but that's not always a bad thing!

Soaps that I make in a log mold do this for me all the time.. especially with FO that tends to discolor a bit. When I make pink sugar soap in a log mold, it turns brown but has a cream colored layer on top. I actually love that it does this and have never thought of it negatively. I think it's cool!

I also agree on the cocoa butter.. Even one oz is too much in my opinion for that much soap. If you had any lather at all I'd be shocked!! I would add perhaps 2TBS of cocoa butter per pound of base.. that would be cool, but 2 oz is way too much.

Thanks prairieanne - I am currently working on adjusting the recipe. As for the lather, maybe the VCO made up for it...who knows....

back to the drawing board!

You can also try aromahaven

http://www.aromahaven.com/glitter.html

They tell you which is body safe and which is not.

I hope this helps.

Well just my own opinion but I think you added way too much cocoa butter for just 1lb of soap. Also why did you add vco and then olive oil? Just curious because if your trying to make it harder I think you can use one or the other. I personally use vco. It's possible the fo discolors slightly and it wasn't stirred long enough. To which I add when the soap is off the stove. Otherwise it sounds like you found a secret way to layer without actually layering on purpose! LOL Can we see a picture?

You know what, you must be right. In going over the past recipes I've used, (and wrote down) it seems like I increased the cocoa butter by one oz, thinking if 1 oz is good, then 2 oz would be better. Obviously that is not the case .

Soooooooooo, I will cut down the cocoa butter back to 1 oz/pp, keep the vco and olive oil ratios.

Thanks for helping me figure this out.

I have attached the photo, and I'm not sure if you can really see the difference, but if you look at the bottom of the pic as opposed to top of the pic, you'll see what I mean. This is actually a Curve for men type soap I made with the same formula.

Hi ladies:

Been happily pouring my melt and pours today and checked in on one of my batches. Well, this will be hard to explain, but my peach colored soap is dark peach on the bottom (upside down in mold) and light peach about 1/4 inch at the top. It looks like a layered soap. Any idea on what caused that?

Let me give the vitals:

1 lb shea butter soap base

Save on scents scent jlo glow @ 1.5%

2 oz cocoa butter

1 oz VCO

1/2 TBS olive oil

10 drops select shades colorant

I stirred and melted very slowly, just like I'm supposed to do and waited for the soap to cool a bit before pouring. But I have this light part at the top and I don't know why.

This has happened with two manufacturers' FOs, so it must be something I'm doing, not the FO.

Please help - I had been doing so well!!!

I have had great luck with Brambleberry's bug be gone blend. I use it in lotion bars.

Not that I know for sure, mind you, but my educated guess would be yes. By dry roasting the beans, you would be taking much of the moisture out, therefore making them more brittle and easier to grind to a powder. Just like coffee beans, I would guess.

I have also used an 8 by 8 silicone baking pan for my mp molds.

Thank goodness that the weather has broken here in NJ. No humidity, the sun is out and there is a light breeze in the low seventies. The past few days have been so humid that my soap (how silly of me to even try to cure any soap, especially mp in that weather) sweated like crazy! Even the dehumidifier didn't help.

Question:

I use gourmet roses soaping bases. For those of you who have used other bases in addition to the rose's, which commerically produced base comes the closest? I use the shea butter base and have been having excellent results (not looking to switch), but I would like to have a backup just in case.

If I may add something here. I use (through my own experimenting) olive oil in my opaque soaps to make them somewhat harder and they work. I use beeswax in my honey soaps, and lastly jojoba oil in my glycerin bars. Not sure why they work but they do. My soaps still lather like crazy and I only add 1/2 tbs per pound. Kathy

I have also read that olive oil makes the mp soap harder. I am going to try that today.

Thank you.

When my MP looks like it wants to sweat (you know the feeling, like it’s greasy when you take it out of the mold) I set it in a dry, well ventilated place for a few hours to a few days until the greasy feeling dissipates. When I get a batch that seems to want to sweat a lot I will also “simmer” it a while before I make the next batch of bars. I use a double boiler so it’s easy for me; just leave the water to barely simmer (just keeping the soap melted) for an hour or so. This also seems to make glycerin soap less dry when I get a batch that makes my hands dry; I assume it is simply evaporating any alcohol that didn’t get cooked off in processing. Put the lid on “cocked” so it is ventilated but holds the heat to keep the soap melted. It may just be my imagination, but seems to work for me.

What a great idea! I too had a batch that was sweating and oily on the top. It might have been the FO I used also. I am going to have to try this.

With the sweating MP that I had, I just wiped it off and put it under a fan for a couple hours, then wrapped it up tight. That worked well for me.

I have been working with melt and pour soap - use thegourmet rose's shea base - and wanted to just post my mistakes so that others wouldn't follow in my footsteps. I hope this is helpful to someone.

Don'ts

Let your soap base boil over in the microwave.

Add too much of two soft butters ( i.e. VCO and Shea) and expect your soap to be firm (even stearic acid didn't help!)

Try to mix select shades colorant in the mix (follow the directions on the site!)

Stir your soap too much while melting - you'll have bubbles beyond bubbles:grin2:

Dos

Write down everything you do to the soap base, even if it seems insignificant at the time (of course, this goes for everything experimental)

Watch your soap in the microwave, then note the time it takes to melt for future reference

Mix your select shades colorant before adding to your mix (I use the empty little powdered Crystal light cups)

Premelt your brittle butters, such as cocoa butters.

Wrap your soap as soon as you unmold it, especially if it's humid

Extras:

Letting your soap "cure" in the mold for a week or so seems to harden it up a bit, as long as it's not too humid.

Stearic Acid did not make a difference in hardening my melt and pour soap, used at 1 TBS per pound/soap

Give as much soap away as you can - it creates soap goodwill

As I wrote above, I hope this helps someone.

I actually remelted a lotion bar a couple of times with about 1/4 tsp mica to 2 oz lotion bar in the microwave in a pyrex cup. Nothing happened to the microwave. There was no sparking or anything.

Now I remember one time putting a gold rimmed cup in the microwave and it was sparking etc. - didn't have that problem with the mica.

Hope this helps.

Excerpt from http://www.treasuredlocks.com/eaafshbu.html

"East African Shea Butter is the crème de la crème of Shea Butters. Because it is extracted manually from the highest quality shea nuts of the Nilotica variety, East African Shea Butter is softer and more fragrant than shea butter of West African origin. East African Shea Butter is naturally high in shea olein, melting more gently into the skin.

East African Shea Butter is more rare than West African Shea Butter and is highly prized for it superior moisturizing properties, smooth creamy texture and mild fragrance. It's so smooth and creamy, you may find it hard to believe this is an all natural product."

On the other hand... this is from http://www.soapnaturally.org/shea.html

"Shea Butter has two distinct varieties. The West African Shea (Vitellaria paradoxa) and The East African (Vitellaria nilotica).

The East African Shea is lighter in color, has less healing properties, is more expensive, and has a tendency for turning rancid."

And finally... the two-sided argument... from http://store.africansheabuttercompany.com/eastvswest.html

"Which shea butter to buy narrows down more to personal preferance and lifestyle requirements. West African shea butter is thought to have more healing properites than the East. We have many customers with eczema or psoriasis who find significant help for their conditions when they use therapeutic West African shea butter. But customers have commented that the softer East African shea butter works wonders on diaper rashes. Not only does it help the skin to heal, but it is much more gentle to apply to delicate skins than the firmer West African variety. We have had some cocern from elderly individuals that the West African shea butter is too hard to spread on their fragile skin, another bonus point for spreadable East African shea butter. If your days are hectic and you have little time to pamper your skin you may also choose East African shea butter, which drastically cuts down on the time it takes to spread all over the body. For pregnant women who are more sensitive to scents, but want an unrefined shea butter, East African is always the butter of choice. East can be more oilier than West. West shea butter tends to absorb better on the feet and make them softer than East. There are many differences between East and West, but when making a decision between East or West, it comes down to what works best for you and your body. We think that having both East and West African shea butters on hand is the best option for keeping your skin glowing and healthy."

Yes, I looked at these sources before. It seems like the first two cancel each other out and the third seems to imply that the two butters are just made from the same tree, but with either a different grade of nut or with different extraction methods. Thanks for the info!

I love the way the last sentence in the last paragraph is a plug for purchasing both types of shea butter. More $$$$ for them!

Hi Ladies:

I need clarification on something and I know you all can help me.

I have heard or read of three types of butters (of African Origin):

West African Shea Butter

East African Shea Butter (Nilotica?)

Kpangnan Butter

What exactly is East African Shea Butter?

Thanks

I had that same problem with my cocoa butter. This may sound really insane, but I just kept dropping it (ok, slamming it) on my concrete basement floor. Then I just put the chunks in a sealed gladware container.

I like the idea of saying "If you like XXXX, then you'll like YYYYY" That gives you the designer name/scent recognition and pulls the customers in.

Hi Jadryga:

I think I will try that. I'll have to practice till I found that point where the shimmer dust is suspended and the stuff is still pourable.....maybe I'll make it in a little pot instead of a stick. (ugh yet another container to buy!)

Thank you for the idea!

I have some shimmer dust from Aromahaven and took the plunge to try to formulate a glitter stick. Well, what I have found is that the shimmer dust sinks to the bottom.

I tried pouring it a little cooler, to give the dust a chance to suspend, but no dice....still sinking.

Any advice?

The stuff I scrape off the bottom of the pyrex glass cup is really glittery - my dd loves it! But how to get that effect through the whole bar??? Or is it even possible...

Thanks everybody!

Off to check them out at Amazon!

You should also check out alibris.com. You can get a lot of books in pretty good condition for less than full price.

I used to use the clear tubes - I colored my bars also so they looked really cute. But I dont' like the "fall out" factor so I switched to the 2 oz twists ups from elements.

I use both as well. You will also need to do some research on essential oils to be sure that what you are using is skin safe. Many of them are not.

Very true. In addition, some of the essential oils cause the skin to become sensitive to the sun. For example, if I wanted an orange scented whipped shea, I would use an FO because orange essential oil (as well as most citrus oils, I believe) are photosynthesizers.

Hi all:

Was cleaning up my work area and found some shimmer dust that I got from Aromahaven/RC. I have a pretty copper color and was wondering how much to use in a 2 oz lotion bar. I've used Micas to color my bars, but not sure if the ratio would be the same.

Would 1/2 tsp per 16 oz be too much?

Thanks in advance!