CBE

oooh I'm a sucker for coffee scents. AND I'm a hazelnut lover, go figure! Incredible looking soapies you have here!!

Love your textured tops! These look great!!

oooh... These all look fabu!! I'm loving ALL of them. Dang, no scratch and sniff monitor.

I "stumbled" across a website that indicates in their policies that they only use natural perservatives. But listed in some of their ingredients... is Optiphen Plus (Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol, Sorbic Acid). Other products though, ONLY contain naturals, like Vit. E, Grapefruit Seed Extract, etc. (which by the way, in some of these products, IMO they NEED the Optiphen (or some other kind of perservative) to perserve it, because no amount of "natural perservatives" is going to work to perserve it , but that's a whole different story, LOL) To me, the fact that they say they don't use synthetic perservatives, and they do... is very misleading to people. That's why I was wondering, do some people say/think that Optiphen Plus is a natural perservative? I'm not trying to dog anybody and their business (because it sounds like I am), I was just wondering what everyone considers "natural" perservatives.

Is Optiphen Plus a synthetic perservative? I know it's the choice of perservative to use if you want paraben and formaldehyde free... but is it still a synthetic perservative? Or is it considered a natural perservative? Isn't it misleading to your customers (and the public no doubt) when you stress the fact that you don't use synthetic perservatives in your products, only natural perservatives...... but yet... you have a perservative listed in your ingredients? Not being catty... Just askin'

Why... you're willing to part with it?

Has ANYONE out there found a twin for this oil? Went check a bit ago and it's OOS... I guess everyone else beat me to it with the closing sale. There's got to be another Vanilla Plum out there that smells like this one right???

Southern Soapers has it too. It's called Ange de Mes Reves. I received it by packing accident instead of another oil I ordered. Well........... I have to say... I'm no Angel lover. I've tried a few Angel Types from various places, and to me they just didn't smell right. Smelled too "grandma-ish" to me. But I'm liking the one from SS. I'm sure getting more on my next order. ETA: I think the price increase on Angel Type is because of the patchouli in it. Once patch goes down, hopefully the price of the oil will go down too.

I get mine from Texas Natural Supply.

Price depends on what you want. This one here cost me about 100 buckaroos. But it's custom made for ME. Tailored to the size I wanted... plus the dividers, plus the lid... etc. He makes them the way YOU want it. And the best part is...no lining!! You know how much I'll save in trash bags (don't do freezer paper anymore, that crap was a nightmare for me to use)! I just know after I soap with this I'll probably be selling my TOG molds to buy more Jeff Molds. lmao You can contact jeff by PM here on CT. He's a doll to work with.

This one makes 3.5 x 2.5 x 1 bars.

I just have to give kudos to itsmejeffd!! It's time to bow down to the master! I have been itchin' for a new mold, and I'm so glad I got with him to create the mold of my dreams. 18 bars with dividers, no more lining! Woot Woot!! And it was made in a jumpin' jack FLASH too. She's on her way to me now, and I can't wait to get her in to bless her with her first batch of soap! Jeff, thanks for the awesome service, knowing I probably made your eyes bleed with all the rambling I did in the communications. I just had to share the beauty with everyone. Here's the diva in all her glory.... With the lid on: Isn't she gorgeous??!!!

I had to get the Frank, Myrrh and Gold because someone said it smelled OMG. Well, it DOES smell OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!! It smells wonderful. This would smell sooooooooo good in soap I tell ya. Did anyone put this in soap yet? How'dya like it? I also got Cuban Coffee... which by the way, I just stuck some in a scrub and it smells real good. Not too many coffee smells out there I like... alot I have tried already, smells.... dirty. Like dirty, old coffee. Yuck!! lol But this one smells nice. Deep and earthy. Like a fresh cup of coffee. Let's see, Peppermint and Vanilla.... this one smells real good too. (I'm soooooooo glad I got 8 oz of this!). I haven't stuck it in anything yet, but man oh man... Foot scrub and foot butter here we come. Golden Poppy... I'm surprised with this one! I was expecting something really floral, and it's not. Jeeze, I can't put my finger on what this smells like, but it sure smells nice! I think this would smell great in soap! Has anyone ever tried the Almond Silk? I had placed an order for this one, but there was a mix up on my order and I got the Ange de Mes Reves instead of Almond Silk. (which by the way, Ange de Mes Reves smells very nice and feminine). I was itchin' to try that Almond Silk though...

I use Cotton seed Oil in CP. The one I use is not "organic" though. It's just regular "winterized" Cotton seed. I've never used 100% cotton seed... but I have used up to 30% in a recipe with no problems. Makes a wonderful bar.

For this one, I used cocoa butter, lavender butter, safflower and coconut oils, btms, cocoa powder, and of course... lots of cane and turbinado sugars. ETA: I just finished trying it... and oh man... talk about a scentgasm in the shower!

Nope, no soap!! I've been on a scrub kick lately... and I had to share my new yummy creation I just made for myself on a whim. (I'm having one of those "pamper me" moments right now) Scented in Bourbon Vanilla Absolute, Chocolate Serendipity from SS, and a teeny tiny bit of Amber. (Gawd, been on an Amber kick too lately) This stuff smells D-I-V-I-N-E. Thanks for looking!

In my experience with using Rose Clay, it gives a silky softness to the skin (also makes a silky feeling soap too). I like using it because it's soothing to my sensitive skin. I think it does help with excess oil, but only to a certain extent, it's tailored more for sensitive/mature/dry skin... It's not like some other clays (like French Green) that feels like it sucks the life out of you. lol

I use both white sugar and turbinado sugar, with the majority being white sugar. I don't usually measure my sugar... I just pour, stir, pour, stir, pour, stir.... until I get it the right consistency and scrubbiness that I want. I usually let it sit, then check the scrubbiness after a few hours. If I find I need more, I usually add a bit more sugar, or I'll add jojoba beads, apricot kernel meal, strawberry seeds, etc. I've been buying the Parade Brand (no name/store brand) of white sugar at our local supermarket (it's been on sale!!) and I find that the sugar crystals are more bigger. They're not as fine as the other sugar I usually buy (Walmart Brand). It gives a way better scrubby feel. So I'm sticking with my no-name brand sugar for my scrubs from now on. Another thing, about "melting" sugars in scrubs... I find if I use Shealoe in my scrubs (either a straight Shealoe scrub or even using a tiny amount in my recipe) the sugars melt alot. It takes alot more sugar to use to get it past the point saturation to FINALLY stay put in your scrub, KWIM? (probably because of the Aloe Juice maybe?)

I love castor. I use castor in all my soap recipes. But I only go 10%. I've only went as high as 18% one time, just playing around. But for my skin, if I use ANYTHING with a high % of castor (scrubs, lotions, soap, etc) it makes me feel like everything has been sucked up outta me. I feel like a dried up old prune. lol Wow! And you think the tap water had something to do with your soap staying semi-liquid? All five batches???!!! oooh I wouldn't have been happy either. I think everyone's water is different... that's why I had the hypothesis with the high mineral content of the tap water. Sigh... but Beau's Mama burst my bubble when she said she used distilled water. lmao

Exotic Passionfruit (Body Shop Type) Amber Desires (if you like earthy, amber scents, you'll love this one!) Stella McCartney Type Delicious Night (DKNY Type) Satsuma (Body Shop Type) Vanilla Lime Coco Chanel Type Cinnamon Bark Type (doesn't smell all cinnamony... smells sensual) And a few others I can't think of. lol These all rock in B&B. Don't know about candles though. I'm no candle maker!

Woop Woop!!! We got soap!! Looks DIVINE!! I bet it smells good too! Never smelled that one before!!! Sounds ultra-yummy!

Try vinegar. Straight vinegar. Let it sit for about a day. Then wash in hot soapy water and let air dry.

Yep, this is the natural coloring. It is starting to darken somewhat, but not much. It still has an orange cast to it. Last night I cut all the white tops off the rest of the bars.... it just wasn't workin' for me at all! Now they all look plain jane like the top pic.

Ok, I'm gonna go out on a limb here. Some people may think I'm crazy, but hey... that's just me. Did you do these two batches on the same day? Did you use tap water or distilled water (or spring water)? I can tell you what has happened (and still happens) in my experience. I use tap water for my soaps. I don't go buy distilled or spring water (only for drinking purposes, lol). I've had this "grittiness" happen to me a couple of times already. My soap actually felt like it had a super fine pumice to it! lol It wasn't "scratchy"... just.... "gritty". A very fine grittiness. It wasn't lye heavy, it was my regular old recipe. The soap looked fine (lovely actually), smelled fine, and lathered fine. It just felt.... weird. The only crazy conclusion I could come up with is this.... Maybe there's a POSSIBILITY that the day I made that batch, using tap water... that there was a high mineral content in the city's water that day. lmao And it affected my soap!! I've had this happen to two batches already. Yep. That's my conclusion. Call me crazy. But that's my story and I'm stickin' to it. lmao If anyone else has a hypothesis... please elaborate! LOL