CBE

Your soaps are always so lovely. They make me drool.

Very lovely! Wonderful swirls you have goin' on!

Space Balls?

Are you whipping? Over whipping will sometimes break the emulsion, and you'll get a slight oil layer on top. Adding too much FO will give you the same results. What about temperature? Is it really warm in your house? We've been having some wonderful warm weather here during the day and I noticed the scrub I have sitting here on the computer desk is much softer than what it was before when it was chilly here... maybe yours is "melting" a bit? ???? Instead of cornstarch, I'd say add some kaolin clay if you keep running into problems to see if that helps. If you're not over whipping or adding too much FO...instead of upping your ewax... lower your oils and up your butters. That might do the trick.

Very purdy soaps!

VERY cute! I so wish I had a bath tub to enjoy things like this. You can't enjoy bath cupcakes in a darn shower.

ooooh nice Dee! Looks so indulgent!

Not sure if this was asked yet.... Are you mixing the oil portion and water portion at the same temps (or around the same temps)? Usually when one is cooler than the other, you get separation like this after you add FO and perservative. (in my experience). I had trouble one time when I changed preservatives. Everytime I would add it, my stuff would separate. (I want to say it was Optiphen that did this). I had to chunk that particular preservative in the trash and go back to a preservative that worked for me. Another thing... how big of a batch are you making? I know I have trouble with separation making really huge batches... I rather make a few smaller batches and everything go smooth then make a huge batch and run into problems.

Jadewicks is a DOLL to work with. I highly recommend her. She takes your ideas in your head and brings them to life.... perfectly. Lovely logo blt212!

Just Scent carries a Vanilla Patchouli (or is it Patchouli Vanilla?). I don't smell much vanilla in it OOB, but I love using this FO for blends in B&B. Maybe the vanilla comes out more in wax? Just a thought. Maybe someone else who has used this fragrance can chime in.

I second Southern Soapers' Adirondack, it's one of my favorite scents! Also check out Cajun's Cypresswood. Another one of my favorite scents.

Gorgeous soaps!

Grama... Bali Orchid from Starrville is a dupe of a scent that VS used to carry. It's very floral, but it's nice. It'll make you think of a tropical island loaded with lots of flowers. LOL It's nice and strong too!

Some kind of berry (raspberry?) for magical playfulness with a touch of orange blossom and clean white musk for innocence and faith and a drop of rose for love and beauty. Haven't tried this mix... but these are the scents that come to mind when I think of Soul Sister. ETA: Throw a little bit of vanilla (not foody vanilla) & patchouli in there too just for the hell of it. LOL (might help ground out the florals so it's not too sharp). ETA AGAIN!: I keep coming back to this post because this blend sounds nice. Think I will try blending it today and see what I come up with. heehee.

Emu Oil. Works wonders.

I love this scent. Carebear, I haven't soaped it, but I was browsing etsy the other day, and I seen some soap in this scent... the soap looked great, so... maybe it soaps well.

Very lovely soap! I bet it smells gorgeous!

Groovy. The one on the right looks like a big eyeball starin' at me. LOL Lovely soap!

Awww.... those are cute! They look good enough to eat! I so wish I had a bath tub instead of just a shower. Sigh.

The two best Yuzu's I found was NG's and FOH's. Elements Bath and Body carries FOH's Yuzu now. Give it a shot.

To me, body butters are more.... "intensive". Ah-soy is right, depending on your recipe, and what oils you choose to use, one recipe can have totally different feels with different oils and butters. All shea butter in your recipe will produce an intensive body butter, because shea is a.... heavy butter. You can balance that heavy butter out by adding mango or kokum butter (not as greasy as shea or cocoa), or you can cut back on the butters add some light oils to your recipe. But everyone is different. What one person says feels "greasy", might feel indulgent and awesome to another person. I like the indulgent creams. Mmmmmm! Have fun formulating!

50% castor would suck me dry to the bone. LOL Do you have some emu oil? Apply a little bit as a moisturizer, it should heal that irritation up in a few days.

Some people's facial skin is more sensitive than others. I cannot use any type of soap on my face, not even facial "cleansers" from the store. What type of oils are you using for the oil cleansing method? Castor draws the impurities out, and too much can be irritating (it is to me). You'll have to find the right balance of oils for your own skin, so try different % of different oils. I used to use DHC's Olive Oil Cleanser, but it got too expensive for my taste after a while. I loved the way it was water dispersable, which meant it rinsed off cleanly, leaving no oiliness behind on my face, but still left it feeling moisturized. After researching, I formulated my own water dispersable oil cleanser for my own use. No more break outs, no more redness, or burning irritation, rashes, or skin peeling. And I get to use the oils that my skin loves. ETA: after reading your reply, not sure what's going on since you haven't used the soap on your face..... ??? Did you by chance maybe have raw soap on your hands, and then rubbed your face? I don't know, but that's sure kinda puzzling.

I find that hydrovance helps with glide, as well as the addition of cetyl alcohol. You can use IPP or IPM along with cornstarch to help counteract the greasies. IPP=Isopropyl Palmitate

ooooh... yummo, yummo, yummo! They look great!