kidsngarden

I'm a licensed cosmetologist and my studies have told me that not only animal fats, but olive oil clogs pores as well. They also say that one of the most common causes of acne is overdrying. The cycle works like this - you wash your skin too much, it thinks that it needs to produce more oil, so it does and then you get oily skin topped of with some bacteria for good measure and voila! Acne! And of course you think - "My skin is oily!" so you wash more and with more drying ingredients and it makes it worse. Then hormones also play a big role.

I totally believe in the overdrying theory, but the animal and olive fats not really. I use between 40-60% Lard in all my soaps. I have dry skin and I use my OMH on my face and it works very well. My kids are just approaching the breakout years. They have been using just water and a washcloth to this point and my oldest did have quite a few breakouts. I started him and my daughter on the OMH and they have had no breakouts whatsoever in the two weeks they have used it.

I know someone who makes a neem/castille bar that is supposed to work wonders. If my OMH stops working I will try that.

My two cents...

Bethany

I have never soaped a mint bar except a cucumber mint FO that while heavenly doesn't give a tingle, which is fine for that bar. BUT

I want to make a tingley tea tree or spearmint, or some kind of minty thing. If I use EO's will it be minty? If not what should I add and how much PPO? I also would love to make a lotion that was tingley too.

I make Goats milk CP.

Thanks,

Bethany

Even with your GM frozen you will still get a orange color. I always soap with 100% GM stone cold frozen in all my bars and OMH is the only one that ever gets that orange. It's the honey (I use more honey than most people), but like you have seen it all turns out nice. You could use less honey if you wanted and that might help, but why? It looks nice!

I also soap with my oils at room temp because like someone else said that honey really heats things up! I had a batch that I didn't think and the oils were HOT and what a mess! Will never soap OMH with hot oils again!

Bethany

I think this depends on the FO you are using. For my testing I always start out with one ounce Per pound of wax, so my ratio would be less than what you are talking about.

Bethany

Thanks! I think I will try it today!

Bethany

I use c-3 soy for candlemaking and have been known to rub it into my skin a bit while candle making. Is this safe to use in lotion bars and lip balms?

If not, can someone direct me where to purchase cosmetic grade soy wax?

Thanks,

Bethany

I've never done this with balm - have only made soap and lotion bars. But for soap I make a master batch of oils and I would imagine it works the same. just make the big batch without flavor oils, then put it in a container. You can scoop it out measuring by weight the amount you want melt it down, and add the flavor oil.

This is what I plan to do as even with my decent digital scale measure miniscule amounts is a pain!

Bethany

Made these with cocoa butter instead of Kokum yesterday. They are pretty hard! Once I got it worked in it was wonderful. Very different feel from a lotion or butter. Almost like a skin protectant.

I used push up tubes - I hate them! I thought they would stay up once pushed, but they just slide back down so you have to keep your finger in there while you spread it on. it can also fall out the top. I will be searching the net for twist tubes.

Is microwaving it all ok? That's what I did because this first batch was so small.

Thanks for the recipe!

Bethany

How do these hold up in heat? I will be selling at a farmers market this year. WE get around 90 at the hottest . I would like to have them in push or twist tubes.

Thanks,

Bethany

How do you find your craft shows? I'm in NW washington and have looked all over the net and can't find anything promising this spring. Are lists that you pay for worth it?

Bethany

She is local so I don't have to ship. But I was thinking of the layaway too. I will suggest that.

Thanks,

Bethany

She will use some each month for her family and save the rest for christmas gifts. I guess it is her way of budgeting for it.

Bethany

I believe (and please correct me if I'm wrong) that if it is real soap you don't have to list the ingredients. If you look on a package of ivory there is nothing (at least last time I checked) but if it makes some kind of claim like "deoderant" "acne soap", etc. like most commercial bars do you do have to list all the ingredients because then it is a cosmetic. Being that most bars in the store are detergents they have a mile long list of stuff I don't even recognize anyway.

I do list all my ingredients - I even put the sodium hydroxide there but have been contemplating listing the oils as saponified instead.

Bethany

Sorry for the cross post if you are with me in other forums, but I'd like some opinions on this.

I've had a customer make a proposition I was pretty excited about, but then I got to thinking...(I do that sometimes:smiley2: )

She would like to buy 8 bars of soap a month until Christmas. She wants pay as you go Christmas gift buying. She really loves my soaps and wants to make baskets with my brochures in them and things, so this can be a really good deal for me. Problem one is the labels - you know those bars will shrink at least a little (if not a lot!) but I think I will sell them to her for a little less and give her the labels to put on herself at Christmas. But I wonder if the soap will still be pretty by then? The only soap I have had longer than six months is this HP rebatch that looks REALLY ugly because it shrunk and shriveled.

I make 100% GM CP have been soaping with at mostly 30% lye solutions (I go to 33% or 28% depending on acceleration). I use mostly micas for colors, but some labcolors, TD, and Aquamarines, teas and clays. Hope that helps.

So anyone think this is good or should I think of a better way? she has a huge family and is well known in the community so this would be really great advertising!

Bethany

I make these huge (nearly 8 oz.) Oatmeal milk and honey bears. The mom's of kids who have eczema really love them! Something fun for thier kids to use.

Bethany

I am interested in these. I'm wondering if the cutter cuts even everytime. I have a lot of play in my mitre box and don't get exact cuts everytime.

Thanks,

Bethany

Thanks!

Bethany

Do you glue the two piece lids together? If so what works best?

Thanks,

Bethany

I live an hour away from Brambleberry (aka Otion - their brick and mortar wholesale store) and noticed that they carry it. They had it by there soap colors though - is it the same thing? They may have some with the candle supplies but I wasn't looking for it.

Bethany

I've been using the ball paltnum lid jars I can get at Walmart, but I would like to try the square masons. Where do you all get them?

Thanks,

Bethany

How much uv inhibitor pp?

Nope, not so far!

Bethany

Oh believe me, I know!

Thanks,

Bethany

Besides FO and coloring? The more I read here the more I think I am doing something wrong!

Bethany

Ok, I misunderstood about the melt pool. I was using a 2 inch diameter container.

Thanks for the information! I'm currently awaiting about 12 new FO's so soap and test for candles. Then I have a whole list of soy tested and body safe FO's I'm dying to try - not enough money or time to be had to do all I want to do!

Bethany