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thanks, guys:D well, it might have something to do with the trade secret factor (i wouldn't want EVERYONE to kno ALL my secrets, and video shows them all at least when it comes to swirling), or because not everyone has a reliable camcorder, or (in my particular case) the stupid camcorder goes in a sleep mode by the time i get to pour and i have to jerk around with powering it back on while precious seconds are wasted and then the swirl does not go all the way through the soap. tried that too, mainly hoping that i could extract the pictures out of the video. messed up two batches and forgot about it.

Scented, if this involves taking pictures while soaping - it is not working . It is either swirls, or pictures. I soap only when no one is around, which usually means hubby taking kids to the park, or kids are at school, DH at work. I tried to multitask, but soaping fairies got mad and messed up every batch i was trying to document. But if you mean physical class, that would be a different story.

Thanks, everyone! Yes, they are!

I have been into bright colored soaps, and after getting lucky with Lilac i've decided to do the whole series of bright soaps, all fragranced, all crinkle cut logs. So, here is my rainbow so far. Applejack peel was supposed to be orange, but that didn't happen. Also my purple neon turned pink, I'll use UM violet next time. Here is the group shot: You've seen the green one already, but I'm posting it anyway. White Lilac Tonic Applejack Peel Love Spell Blue Sugar Amazing Grace I know technically i need blue and indigo for the whole set, but I combined those in Blue Sugar. Thanks for looking,

Thanks everyone

Thanks, guys

I've been in a "bright soap" mood, so here is the latest soap porn (I know, holding the bar of soap and take a picture in the bright sun is pretty lame, but I'm too tired to mess with the lightbox) Japanese Grapefruit, green oxide and gold mica Candy Land (my husband suggested to call it "clown poop"), restock. Yes, i did go color crazy, don't even remember what i used. bunch of neons and maybe grape mica. Et Une Rose. Aussie pink clay, micas White Lilac. This one turned into custard before i had a chance to do my usual swirl. so in the pot everything went, and then i had to do an emergency wire hanger swirl. after the cut i was pleased to see that it kinda does look like White Lilac after all Provence. This one was absolute opposite to White Lilac (same recipe, same temps). It traced as usual, i mixed the colors in and poured everything in... took the chopstick to swirl and couldn't believe my eyes... the soap was un-tracing and my white colored soap started "flaking" into the uncolored portion! I have never seen anything like that before. Now, I had neon yellow, UM Blue and TD swirled into the base... So, i just took the spoon and mixed everything together right in the mold. then scooped about a cup of the batter out, mixed it with a bit of UM blue, and poured like i normally do for swirls. so, greenish soap with greyish blue swirl... but it still looks pretty good. i think And last, but not least - Full Moon. I know it is bright, but i just felt like it should be bright. Love this FO! Thanks for looking!

Mine looked like mud when I first started out, but they were improving with every batch

Thanks, everyone! nope, pour, then swirl.

Thanks, everyone, for the compliments

hi :wave: I'm hiding under different name out there.

Thanks! I was really pleased with how F&M turned out

Hi everyone! I haven't made any soap since a month before Christmas, i was waiting for a new mold... but now the mold is here, and i'm back in the soaping saddle. So I thought I'd share some new pictures here as well. So, here are the decent ones (i do have couple not-so-decent batches, but i'm not wasting my time to take pictures of those :smiley2: ) Green Irish Tweed restock (i don't know why i went with little green, white base and a lot of black this time. must have been dreaming) Now very discolored OMH (looked so nice out of the mold) Frankinsence & Myrr FO (i was really happy how it turned out) Baby Blanket restock Burberry restock (WAY too much blue ) Fata Morgana. Thanks for looking!

if you add fragrance right after trace, there is still lye present in the soap and it eats up a portion of your fragrance. that's why addition rate for CP (adding FO after trace) is twice higher then HP (adding FO after cook)

I have experimented with shea to up to 20%, and it seemed to me that 10-15% is the best range. enough to make a difference, but not enough to kill your bubbles. the original recipe you posted must have been some kind of experiment. you are going to be more then fine with 17%, and you will most likely feel the difference at 10% or so.

Perfume is probably diluted (meant to put on the skin after all), plus if you are planning to do CP soap, you may end up with no smell, IF the stuff is not formulated for CP.

Jeana, Examples were mine, so I'm assuming questions are adressed to me as well. For the top swirl I used red and yellow oxides, a lot more yellow then red. I can't tell you in what proportion because i didn't measure, just kept adding bits of of red to yellow oxide until i got what i wanted. I think I had about 1/4 tsp of oxide for a 1 to 1-1/2 cups of soap. I bring the soap to the trace, then pour some into a cup with the color already pre-mixed, and stir. to nake sure that there are no specs, i add some very hot water to my oxides first. stickblending your colored soap helps too, though sometimes it is not an option. Select Shades is liquid, and your mixing possibilities are huge with them. but your soap will be more translucent with them (at least mine always is). You can read up on them here http://www.selectshades.com/

why would you want to do M&P base yourself once you have mastered HP? As far as making CP soap shreds for later use, it is possible as long as you don't let them dry out. Your rebatches will be similar to HP soap, and you can add whatever you want to them just as you would add to HP... but there is so much more work involved...

here is the question everyone keeps asking: how do you calculate the size of your batch depending on the size of your mold (or shoe box). W(in) x H(in) x L(in) x 0.4 = oz of oils needed for the recipe. is there any way to make this topic as a sticky?

I personally find even poppy seeds to be too scratchy in the soap, so i add things like powdered peppermint leaves, powdered calendula petals. with the oats, i just buzz them in the coffee grinder and add as a oat flour. it adds just a touch of grip to the soap, but not enough to scratch.

yes, it hardens from the outside to the inside

Paprika gives a nice peachy color usually, beautiful but not quite orange. you can try to mix yellow and red oxide, though the orange you get from that is a bit dull. but since you are looking for a solid color it could work. here is the sample soap oh, here is another option -- annatto powder, or the oil infused with annatto! this picture shows it as yellow orange, but the concentration of it was pretty low: hope this helps

I looked at your recipe again, this time at your EO blend. Do you want it to smell like Patchouli more then lime? because at equal amounts, it will. I don't know if you know about this place, but here is a nice EO blend calculator. it gives you suggestions of what blends with what, and then you can enter your batch size and it will tell you minimum amounts of EOs. It is very handy, especially for the beginner. Because Patchouli is a lot more potent then lime, so you don't need as much of it. http://www.rainbowmeadow.com/infocenter/calc_eoblend/blendselect.php

I'll second Select Shades

no, not really. but it still might be a good idea to try this amount just to see how you like it. I have made 100% coconut soap before and couple people used it as a bath soap and loved it, although it was intended for laundry. Other thing, I have mentioned crisco just in the comparison to canola and other high linoleic oils. in other words, Lard is better then crisco and you don't have to use both in the recipe:grin2: Good luck!