cbv1

I make a lot of my soaps with Essential Oils. I make sure to wear rubber gloves and use pipettes so I don't spill any on myself. I think the dangers would be getting the EO full strength on your skin so that is why soap makers who use EOs and are pregnant stay away from soap making during that time. I have high blood pressure and Rosemary, Peppermint and Thyme can increase blood pressure so I make sure not to let those touch my skin right out of the bottle, and I refrain from smelling them in that potent form right out of the bottle. I hold my breath alot! Anyway, most of my EO books do outline the ones you should stay away from if pregnant or have high blood pressure but I don't think they mean in soap form since you wash this off. Using them in massage oils would be something to stay away from because you don't wash these off.

I am confused with the 'icing'. Is this real icing made of sugar? And it dissolves in the bath water?

I make a vanilla body creme but I don't use a lotion base and the vanilla FO doesn't turn my body creme brown. I also put this in clear jars so the light does get to it but the creme stays white. I never tried the Pink Sugar FO, Vanilla is the only FO I use in my body cremes. I use Essential Oils in the others. Not even sure what Pink Sugar FO smells like!

I use my Kitchen Aide for cooking and lotion making. There isn't anything in my lotion that would be harmful. Plus, when I wash it I put a splash of clorox in the soapy dish water. This helps cut the oil better and cleans up much easier. The bowl and wisk are stainless steel and they clean up perfectly.

I use dried herbs and flowers in my CP soap, I have never used fresh. I steep dried chamomile flowers in hot distilled water, cool it down and strain, then I use this water to mix with the sodium hydroxide. I grind up herbs and flowers and add them to my soap at a light trace. I would think you could add fresh herbs at a light trace also, I don't see why you couldn't. And steeping fresh herbs in hot distilled water, then straining and using it when cooled when mixing with sodium hydroxide should be fine too. I have also steeped seeds and dried herbs in hot olive oil and then strained to use in my oil mixture.

OK, I give up.... What is a bath cupcake?

My thoughts were - how do you get the stuff off of your skin when you are trying to get out of the tub? Wouldn't it "hide" in places you wouldn't want to find it later???

Suzie

I agree. When I watched the clip I could see some of it sticking to her leg while in the tub. Wouldn't that get all over your towels? And who knows how much can seep into unwanted places! :rolleyes2

Perfect!! Thanks Breanna!!

Thanks Katshe! I need to get some Steric and germabenII. Can I use bees wax in place of ewax? I have never used ewax.

I am with you P&V. I am mathmatically challenged!!

Great job... I love plain soaps but I absolutely LOVE soaps with character that have herbs and seeds! They all look great!!

When I started a while ago in a galaxy far away I started with Peaks Pillar Kit as I love Peaks but for soy,,OOppss sorry got off track,,LOL,,,,,I think Natures Garden has soy Pillar kits for beginners,,

Thanks Breanna. I checked them out and they have Soy container kits, not pillar like Peak's. I guess beginners shouldn't try soy pillar candles???

Hi Katshe! This looks very nice. I have never made anything with a preservative, except for grapefruit seed extract in my soap. You have .05% germabenII listed in your ingredients. How would I calculate .05% to know how much germabenII to put in? Do you use some type of calculator program?

Ah-ha! The light goes on!! That makes perfect sense Jane.... thank you for the explanation.

Is there a particular reason you don't want to use SLSa? Info from the Alba Glossary:

"Sodium lauryl sulfoacetate

Derived from coconut and palm oils; a safe, skin-friendly surfactant (foaming agent) for both skin and hair. This mild plant derived surfactant creates a rich, luxurious lather that effectively removes surface oil, dirt and bacteria, without stripping or drying sensitive skin. Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate is also hydrophilic. This means it is attracted to water, which enables it to dissolve more readily in water, thus providing superior rinseablility."

"Sodium lauryl sulfoacetate vs. Sodium lauryl sulfate

Although an ingredient's name may sound similar to another, it does not mean that the molecules are similar with respect to shape, size, performance or even function. Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate sounds similar to Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, however, the two molecules are quite different from each other. Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate is a large molecule ingredient. Large molecule ingredients are considered to be mild, gentle, and non-irritating, as they cannot penetrate the skin. In contrast, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate is a small molecule ingredient, and is capable of penetrating the skin, which can increase the occurrence of skin irritation."

So, SLSA is also derived from coconut oil. What would be the benefit of using Sodium Cocoyl Isothionate instead of SLSa?

Good idea janesoap... I always found it funny that salt would soften skin. I would think it would have the opposite affect and dry it out! I need to get over that assumption!

I am going to try these out this weekend and see how they turn out. I will give some to my daughter and her hairdresser friends and get feedback. If I get positive responses I will post the recipe in the recipe section.

I was thinking of making some muslin scrubbing bags for family members that don't take baths, only showers. I like the bath teas, but I was thinking if I shredded some of my CP soap and put them in a muslin bag with herbs, dried flowers, oatmeal and maybe some baking soda and essential oils, this could be used in the shower. If enough shredded soap is in the bag then hanging it up to dry in the shower would allow for additional uses. Has anyone experimented with something like this and if so how did they work for you?

Maybe I posted this in the wrong place. If so I would move this but not sure how to do that.... sorry!

My baby soap is pretty white naturally. I use Coconut, Palm and Shea Butter with jojoba oil and apricot kernal oil. There is no olive oil in it.

For my soaps that I use Olive Oil and want to swirl a color in, I add the TD in the lye/water. I was having problems adding it into the oils and the soap would trace too quickly and then I would get white specs in the soap, yuk. Since I started adding the TD in the lye/water I don't have that problem.

Ask them if they will swap out the wax in the pillar starter kit for soy pillar wax.

Good idea... I guess I never think to ask if they could do something other than what is posted on the website. I will give that a try and see what they say. All they can say is no, right?

cbv1 ... looks like you've been doing your candle homework ... by the way, nice website, awesome soap.

I have just started my research on this Candlebuddy so I know I have a lot more to go!! Thanks for the compliment on my website, I appreciate the feedback!

UM.. just curious. You have over 100 posts on this forum and never made a candle????

Yes R.S., I make CP Soap and Bath and Body products but never ventured into candle making. I was thinking it might be nice to have soy candles that match some of my CP soaps... just a thought! I guess I don't have enough challenges in my life....

I have never made a candle in my life, but I am interested in learning how to make soy pillar candles. I noticed Peak Candle Supplies has starter kits. The soy one is for container candles. If I get the Pillar starter kit and learn how to make candles with the wax supplied in this kit, would I be able to transfer this knowledge and just get the correct soy wax for pillar candles, wicks and instructions for the degree to pour the wax to then make a soy pillar candle afterwards? I figure I will need to start somewhere so just the knowledge I can learn with regular pillar candles should help when learning about soy pillar candles. Advice anyone?

Have any of you tried their FO's in CP soap or with Reed Diffusers? If so are they just as good as when used in candles?

What company is Peak's?

After that, you can work your way up to Robert Tisserand and Kurt Schnaubelt.

HTH

I will have to check these out. I can't read enough about essential oils so if these authors are good they would be a welcome addition to my library!