icecold

That looks good. Why the high % of cocoa butter? It is really expensive.

OK I know it takes a while to get that perfect recipe but I plan on making my next batch with this recipe. Any feed back is much appreciated. Olive 20% Coconut 25% Palm 35% Castor 10% SAO 5% Cocoa butter 5% Do you think it would be better if I did 25% olive and 20% coconut?

I have made 6 batches of soap all with different recipes so I can see what I like best but not too impressed with any of them other than my pure castile. Could anyone help me get that perfect recipe? Is it true that coconut oil is very drying? I have on hand, Olive oil, coconut oil, Palm oil, Crisco, castor oil, Sweet Almond oil, shea and cocoa butter. I have played around with soap calc but I figured I would ask the real experts here. I would like to keep my recipe simple if that is possible. TIA

Has anyone ever used goats milk in pure castile? Wonder how it would turn out.

Just to make the soap harder

How much salt do you add per pound of soap? Is it 1 tsp per pound of soap or oils?

Is the salt and sugar per pound of soap or per pound of oils?

So I ran out of cocoa butter, could I sub shea butter for it in this recipe?

So if your recipe calls for 22 oz water you add the 6 oz water with the lye and then the 16 oz beer after cooled? Is it too dangerous to add the lye to the beer?

Thanks everyone!! I am so excited to make another batch today. Just one question, how do you get the tops of the soaps all swirly? Not with color but the soap on top with peaks.

OK I am officially addicted and this is only my 3rd batch of CP soap. I used Kat's creamy bubbles recipe and added pumpkin puree to it. I can't wait until it is cured. [ATTACH]20629[/ATTACH]

To make beer soap, do I have to cook the beer or can I just leave it out in the morning in a cup stir it and the put it back in the fridge at night. Would all the bubbles be go do you think?

So how do you know what fragrance oils will heat up??? I will be using Oatmeal Milk and Honey from Bitter Creek.

Thanks, so i don't have to take any of the water away? I think I'll try the method of adding it to my warm oils. Thanks for the info!!

If I was to add honey to my recipe do I have to discount my water and add the honey at trace?

Yeah its fun to watch it change colors.

Thanks everyone!! I can't wait to play more with soaps. I would like a little more swirl on the tops of my soap so I just have to wait till they set a little more. I cut my buttercream soap today and it was so weird looking. Brown on the outside and yellow on the inside. I wish I had my camera to take a pic of it. If it is still like that tomorrow I'll get one and post it. I hate having all my stuff at my parents house. I just moved to a new house this summer so I set up shop over there until my kitchen is done. My husband is working very hard to finish it for me. It should hopefully be done in a few weeks. I'll post some picks of my new work space even though its just my kitchen. He did say we could convert the horse barn into a candle shop!! It does need some good scents going on in there, its pretty stinky and I don't plan on owning horses .

OOps here is the picture! [ATTACH]20604[/ATTACH]

Here is a pic of it in the mold. I still have to take a pic of it cut. I am sooo addicted!! Thanks everyone for all the help!!

So if it calls for 12 oz of water, would you add 10 oz water and 2 oz pumpkin?

Is pumpkin just an additive that you can add to the end, or do you have to calculate it in the lye water formula

Do you add the cocoa powder right to the batch before pouring? Do the sprinkles cause stains?

When do you add things like pumpkin puree, goats milk, and other additives? Do you have to calculate these into the soap calc? With goat's milk, do you add the lye to it? Also is it safe to add nutmeg or cinnamon to the top of soap, does it irritate the skin? One more ? how do you get the wonderful tops to your soap with all the swirls. Do you wait for it to get a little hard and then play with it? TIA

Wow that is dark. I knew it would brown but didn't think it would get that brown. It still looks great though. Maybe I can change the name of the scent as it doesn't really look like buttercream. Looks more like chocolate!! Are those candy sprinkles?

Yeah, its an ugly orange/brown color right now. How dark do you think it will get and do you think I could rename it something else to kind of go with the color? Any suggestions? I peaked at it after 24 hours and not sure if it is ready to come out of the mold yet. How do you know?