Violetsexoticcandles

Hi, I used a variety of oils and beeswax, plus oatmeal and salt. I'll post the recipe later. Gotta get ready for a SSI dr's appt. FUN!

I will definitely take the scraps and do somethin with them. hehe.

Not scented- wanted to see what it would smell like naturally. It smells nice enough on its own.

LOL yah I did catch the bug! I made oatmeal soap 2 days after this batch.

No, haven't used them yet- waiting for them to cure (impatiently) for 3 weeks. I still have soap leftover from Cacti's Secret Santa package. She's the one who really made me interested in making my own soap.. lol.

See Soap thread for ingredients... honey soap. I wish it had been thicker (in width) so the marbling woulda been better. But here it is:

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h307/Vyates72/S2400695.jpg

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h307/Vyates72/S2400694.jpg

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h307/Vyates72/S2400692.jpg

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h307/Vyates72/S2400693.jpg

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h307/Vyates72/S2400691.jpg

Well... after a few weeks of work, I can honestly say that everything is lost. I thought that once I calmed down, I might remember some of the fo combinations I used to get the candles I'd made... no such luck.

The single formulations were easy, I can't come up with any of the ones that were combinations. I talked with my sister and my best friend thinking that they might recall stuff that I'd said to them... no luck there either.

A lesson well learned I guess.

Kim

We're learning, too. I've just started making soap and have been writing stuff down as well as putting it in a word doc on my pc.

Do you at least remember what scents you ordered most often so maybe you can reformulate the most popular ones? Just a thought.

Soooo sorry this happened to you!!!

Husband's just don't know... they are clueless. My own DH decided he just HAD to clean out my craft room..... I keep all of my Candle, Soap, and Scrapbooking stuff in this room. I was just lucky enough to get to the 2 bags of "trash" and go threw them before he took them out. I was totally P*ssed when I recovered my "trash"... Grrr...

I hope that maybe after you are able to clear your head some your info will come back to you.

~Kristen~

What did he throw away?

I'd be totally livid!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Satin,

I would include a variety of the products you make, not necessarily all scented the same, but maybe a theme such as spring garden? March turns one's head towards springtime. Just a thought... have fun with it!

I tried to make a candle out of scraps of wax when I first started out, no overpour, just the scraps and wicks.... the wick got really hot then tunneled all the way to the bottom in about 5 min... lol.

Better off selling them as wickless candles... that way they can set the jar on their warmer and you won't worry about a wick that isn't going to ever work with lots of air jammed in there.

Chunk candles are fun to do with scraps, though!

I use cd 2's or 3's with c3 soy, and cd 4's with palm. They burn clean and long... I get them from a nice lady on Ebay.

I've played a bit with the same size feather palm pillars and have yet to be successful with them, but I've never used CSN wicks (although I may try when time permits!). That being said, yours look like mine did with CD12s and 14s... the closest I came to wicking them so far was a CD16 (I was wicking to leave a shell, too). It was almost perfect until it reached the bottom 3rd, then one side became too thin and caved in. I even tried a 50z (or whatever the zinc wicks are, 50 something)... didn't work...

From what I recall, Stella uses a CDN14 and has had success. I've thought of trying them, as well... it's just a pain trying so many different wicks, so I put them away for a few months.

That being said, I'd try to burn a few more times before giving up, then if it still isn't burning good (looks like it's tunneling from what I see), I'd wick up.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Thanks everyone! It's getting harder... Can't wait to cut it.

I ran it through again after figuring the percentages. It appears I've undercut the lye by .91 oz. Will this affect it that much?

Thanks!

Violet

OMG how funny is that?? LOL We both made our first soaps on the same day!!!

Congrats Violet!!! The color looks beautiful!!!! Very pretty!!! I can't wait to see it cut!!!!! :highfive:

I saw you doin it and decided to copy you ... lol. All I needed was the lye and a bit of inspiration! Thanks Vio! Hehe.

Violet,

You did run the recipe through a lye calculator with the substitutions, right?

You can use candle color blocks for personal use and yes, melt the wax in some oil first. I started out that way. If this is something you want to do more of, invest in some CP safe dyes.

Welcome to the awesome world of soapmaking!

e

I did run it through- it was hard for me to convert ounces to percentages, though- I may have undercut the lye a bit. Any tips on how to convert these? I'm bad at math.

If I decide to sell, I'll def. get some CP safe dyes.

Thanks for posting your tutorial. It inspired me!

Looks good.

Thanks! I hope the bars come out as good as Vio's.

I found this recipe on Soapnuts.com and had to try it. They also have a coffee one as well- that's for tomorrow or maybe Monday.

Handmade Honey Soap

Honey soap is a beautiful soap with a wonderful sweet smell. It comes out a great deep brown color, and feels fabulous on your skin. Here's a tip for you, whenever you are

measuring honey or molasses or any other viscous liquid along those lines, if you spray the measuring cup or spoon with a PAM type spray, the honey will pour

out more completely, and cleanup will be much easier.

12 oz veg shortening

4 oz coconut oil

1 oz beeswax

1 cup distilled water

2 oz lye

1/8 cup (1 fluid ounce) honey

Mix lye and water, allow to cool. Melt vegetable shortening. Over a double boiler, melt wax and coconut oil together, and keep warm. When shortening is 120* and lye

is 100*, pour lye mixture into shortening and stir until tracing occurs. Pour wax and oil mixture into soap mixture stirring constantly ( the mixture will get VERY thick with the

addition of the beeswax mix) When the beeswax mixture is completely blended, stir in the honey and pour into molds. Unmold after 24-48 hours. Allow to age for 3 weeks.

I doubled this recipe so it would fill my shoebox.

I substituted half of the veg shortening for 1.5 oz of mango butter & a blend of olive/soybean oil (didn't have enough shortening). I added .5 oz of Blackberry Sage from SOS.

I thought for a while that it would NEVER trace- I was using a wire whisk... You shoulda seen the smile on my face when it happened!

I used RED RED color dye block shavings... only thing I wish I'd done is melt the block in some of the oil first because it didn't melt completely. It came out a nice pink, though. I followed Eugenia's swirl method. Hope it comes out marbled at least!

Here are pics...

All wrapped up... I used old bath rugs for this.

Hi Scented,

This reminds me of a coral reef in Hawaii when looking upon it underwater. Very cool!

Vi

Not sure this will be remotely interesting when it's done, but it's a mix of jasmine, patch and sandalwood mostly. It worked well with a slight water discount. I can't say I picked great colors, but hoping to be able to buff off some of the black later on. I can't even think of a name for it, so suggestions are welcome. Right now I couldn't really describe what it smells like either.

Wet

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I like how it's getting lighter and the light pink is holding on. The other was a trial at SS neptune and it may be fading.

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I like Cacti's soaps. She was my secret santa and we're still using them! LOVED the star-shaped one and the cool citrus basil is wonderful...

To me, cleansing is more important than appearance, as well... but I'd like to make some soap soon. I've got some of the ingredients already. Gonna try lotion first, or that body frosting, I think.

Fleur De Lis (sp?)

I believe you're right on the nose.

Thanks for the tip!

I have 4 oz apothecary jars and having pretty good results so far with CD8 using 70/30 soy/J223 blend. These are cute jars.

Went with the HTP 105 for my 5 oz apothecary- works pretty good for glass glow palm, but it seems a bit much for C3 Soy. I'm thinking wicking down would be good, but not worth it for me- I was given these, and 5 ozers, in my opinion, have not been good sellers... people tend towards the larger sizes. I may just advertise the rest in the classies, or sell them in palm. Than again, my ecosoya PB might call for a CD8, what another poster said may work in this jar. Riding the fence here. I suppose it doesn't matter much, since I didn't pay for the jars.

For those of you who want results- the jar gets too hot, too much of a melt point, too quickly. It's on it's 4th burn and tonight, the mp had to be 2". Not good IMO. Some soot on the top, as well.

I can't stand lavender... it makes me want to throw up, but it's my mothers favorite and she pays full price.

You are not the only one! I cannot stand lavender. Even Essential Oils...

I guess we must bear the price of 'success?' lol.

I just was informed last week by my mom that my dad has burned a 4 oz candle each night he gets off work- midsummer's night- don't know how he's managed to make it last this long! I only sent one!

It would have been gone in 5 days for me...

People are funny.

LOL I'm reading this thread because I'm interested in reading the responses on whether the soy can be used or not. I see Vio and I thought you were talking to me too Stella, but I understand how you are calling Violet Vio. I have used the handle of Violet since I came on the net over 10 years ago (1997). One forum I go to daily my name there is Violet and people always address me as Vio or Vi for short. So, when I came here I just used Vio. It is shortened from Violet though, the way I'm using it so I can see how you related it. My real name is not Violet though, but I always loved that name, so I use it online. Sorry if it's caused any confusion here. LOL

Really funny too, that when I first saw Violetsexoticcandles, I thought for a long time it was a melding of the words, Violet Sexotic Candles. LOL I only realized it Violet, after going to your website to take a peak one time, that it's Violets Exotic Candles. LOL

I love your name Violet!

Sorry to go a little OT, but like I said I've been watching this thread to see if it could be done as well. Not that I want to try it, but just out of curiousity.

Hey no problem, as long as you like the name! Sexotic candles- got that before... lol. Purple exotic sex candles... yum... haha.

Thanks I love my name too, after 35 years. I didn't like it as a kid, though, when everyone was named Jessica, Sara, etc,... just like my height.. learned to love being 5'1.

You all are better marketer's than I. I don't carry lovespell, don't recall having ever smelled it, but I do know this...If I don't like it I don't make it cause I can't SELL it!!! I won't even try pink sugar since someone told me it smells like cotton candy which seems very gross to me!

My very best seller is cucumber mint. I'm hoping that comes to and end because I used to LOVE it and totally talked it up and it sells, sells, sells! But now it's just starting to make me sick to smell it - too strong, too something I can't put a finger on. So I'm soaping and lotioning the last of the bottle of FO I have and then it's history. I guess if I get a huge cry for Cuke mint I will keep it, but I don't know. I gotta' love it to sell it....

There are a few Fo's I despise, but keep them bc of customer demand. I HATE jackfrost.... hate balsam fir. Etc... but they love them. Nauseating, really...

I'm gonna cut down on my FO's I offer simply bc I am not making any $ bc of the cost of all the Fo's... Don't know which ones to cut yet! Argh

I guess I'll figure that out soon. Time to do inventory (and taxes).

I am so sorry, Vi (and apologies to Vio also)! :embarasse

*...clean those glasses, willya Stella...*

Well.... how's about a fat palm pillar or everlasting with a lovely sculpted cross design on it? Name, birth/death dates...? Viola is such a lovely name...

Aren't balls FUN? I really like the ones we have made and they were easier to wick than I thought they would be... I still have not poured the new polycarbonate mold yet - need to do that this weekend! You have inspired me!!

I wish I had taken some photos of Jen's zodiac pillars before she grabbed them and ran... I promise I'll snap a photo the next time she makes one.

Sounds like you are using your disability time to good use!! Hope you recuperate quickly (and have fun while doing so)!

Stella,

I would love to know how to do an everlasting with a sculpted design... I wish I could carve... then I could do one with a cross and my g'ma's bday and date of death etc... How would I sculpt one w/out much trouble using soy? Or would I have to break down and buy paraffin?

The round pillar is working so far with starburst palm and a 60z wick. Crossing my fingers. Flame is kinda low, tho! Oh no!

We'll see. I'll post on a separate thread with my results.