PurpleHippie

Yes, I saw it on the other post. Didn't realize it was the same one. Thanks

They are lovely!

Ok? I would love to be able to swirl like that! Do you post your videos here or do you have your own site?

I am going to try the pot method again. I have tried it and when I poured it all just mixed together and didn't really make nice swirls. I am swirl challenged but I won't give up!

That's exactly what I did with this recipe. The previous ones were mixed longer and poured at a thicker trace. I am experimenting with pouring thicker and thinner to practice swirling. I poured at a thin-med. trace. Thanks for adding that information Top! Such good advice here. I appreciate everyone's help:)

In the past I have ordered from them and had really good sucess with a couple of FO's. I placed another order for the same products and they were totally different. I couldn't get a decent throw at no matter what % I tested. Same wax, same wicks as used in the first products that test with good results. Same FO's ordered that were previously tested. However, there was obviouslysomething different. When I compared the oil from the first order with the FO from the second they even looked different. The second was lighter. It's ashame because they had some FO's that I really liked but I don't have money to waste.

Well darn! That's what I've been doing and mine never look like yours. LOL I think I might be using too much soap for the swirls and it there just isn't enough base color for contrast. I'll keep trying. Thank you for the link!

I understand now! Castor oil at 5% and a different FO were the only two things different in this recipe. I soap at 92-94 degrees. The soap never truly heated, it remained warm but not hot. I checked it this morning and it is still warm.

On the gardening sites people just post what seeds they are willing to send out. Some post how many packets they have made up. Those that are interested simply pm them and send a self address stamped envelope.

Does anyone know of good on-line video on how to swirl in CP? I have tried to swirl for years and can't get the hang of it. The beautiful photos in the gallery keep me motivated. I won't give up until I have mastered this challenge! I've read the how to's but I am a visual person and I think I would get more from actually seeing someone demonstrate.

I've been testing several different recipes and noticed a difference in the geling stage. The past soaps have all been wraped with thick towels and placed in the same location. The room temp. there is around 79-81 degrees. All of the recipes I have tested this past week heat up pretty quickly and start to gel fast. The one I tried today only became slightly warm and didn't gel like the others. It's tucked in for the night so I won't know how the finished product will be until the morning. The only thing different about this recipe than the others is the addition of 5% Castor Oil and a different FO. What causes some recipes to heat up and gel quicker than others?

That sounds interesting! I happen to have a lot of coconut milk on hand. I use it for smoothies:) I use GSE in my oils. Do I need preservative when using milk?

Far out, groovy! Looks very psychedelic. Good job!

:laugh2:No, not at all. I realized that I just wasn't getting the problem across in my message. Thanks again for the help!

Those are too pretty to use! Your soap is beautiful as usual:). Is there some place that has a tutoral(with photos) or a video of how to do the Mantra Swirl? Maybe I'm pushing it a bit, I can't make decent regular swirls. LOL

I was trying to figure out if for some reason the color would only work with the water and the lye. The directions state to mix the powder with water then add that to the water & lye mixture before adding to the oils and blend until trace. I'll test it the way you guys use it. Thanks for the help.

Thanks for the information. I was thinking of just a very small amount of FO on a cotton ball. Just enough to sniff not really for testing purposes. I can't remember the name of the supplier but there use to be one that would send sniffies on a Q-tip by request. The sniffies were in addition to a standard order. You couldn't just order sniffies. Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone else ever had interest in sniffies.

There was an article on another site several years ago that explained the fuel smell of citrus. I can't remember the details only that some people pick up on it and others don't. The article explained why. I happen to be one of those people that detect strong fuel smell from anything citrus. Just like you I have tried many FO's and tried my own citrus/vanilla combos with no luck. The same article explained the urine odor some people detect with jasmine scents. I love jasmine and never pick up on the a urine type odor. Strange since I can't stand the smell of citrus FO's in most candles. I did love that one from Trapp and it didn't have a fuel smell. Wonder what was different about their FO?

Has anyone ever done a sniffie type exchange or swap? Not really sure exactly what it would be called but sniffie seems appropriate. Enough FO on a cotton ball or Q-tip to smell the fragrance. I was just thinking that I would love to try more of Daystar's FO's but the 2oz sample sizes are a bit expensive for me so I usually only order one sample with my full size oil purchase. Nothing against DS, she has awesome oils! Maybe it's a good thing because if smaller sizes were available I might develop an even longer "must have" list.:smiley2: 2oz sizes are great for testing a small batch of soap but most of the time I would just like to smell the FO to see if it is what I had in mind. On a few gardening sites I've seen seed exchanges or seeds offered for a self address stamped envelope. Have there ever been any sniffie FO exchanges here? Anyone interested in possibly doing one?

I double checked and the instructions state water dispersable. 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon for a 5 lb soap batch. Blend oxide with warm water to create a slurry. I'll check to see if there were maybe more detail instructions that were missing from the package. Adding at trace would seem to be ideal IMO. I can always try it with a small batch to experiment.

Thanks:) I was told that some oxides mix with water only and others with oil. The ones I have state to mix with water then to add to the lye/water mixture. If it has to be done that way then my entire batch would be have to be a solid color. It would be easier to be able to mix directly with the oils. Then I could just take out whatever amount I wanted for mix colors.

I love anything pumpkin! All your soaps are so pretty!!! Can I come to your house for a lesson.

The directions for my oxides state to mix powder with a little warm water and add to lye/water mix then to oils. That will color the entire batch but what about multi colors or swirls?

I wish I could swirl like that!

Pretty! I love citrus scents.