Jeana

I experience a lot of fading with tangerine too. That's why I wondered if neon would be better for the other colors. I asked Kaila from TKB about them both. She said the powdered neons can be 5-10 times stronger than pop colors. That sold me. I bought mostly neons.

Thanks for the replys I made a sample for myself today and it is sooooo good. I did the orange vanilla and cassia. I only used 3 drops cassia, 10 drops vanilla, and 7 drops orange. It is really sweet. I'm not getting too much of a tingle, but I still need to back off the cassia cuz it overpowers the other two. I also did a lemon lime and peppermint. I love that one too. At first you taste citrus, then the peppermint kicks in.

Wow! you gotta love that black and white one. Very nice swirls

Yes, the layers are from two different batches. Originally I only did the coffee batch to fit my PVC round mold so it wouldn't have filled my log mold. Since I was making another recipe, I just made extra for this bottom layer. I left it uncolored and unscented. It smells really good, for some reason like chocolate coffee. I used Candlescience's fresh coffee and cinnamon EO, no chocolate. I know this isn't really a WOW soap, but I wanted to show people that are afraid of rebatching you can save a bad batch and have it look decent.

Thanks everyone! Jola, I split the batch into two pitchers. Mixed the colors. Then poured them at the same time into the mold. The white one has TD in it so it sets up faster. Since it was firmer it kept the purple from blending together. I stuck a skewer in the center and gave it a couple swirls just to add some design. I'm going to try it in a log mold soon to see if it will work.

So no opinions about this? Anyone like or dislike the feel of cinnamon?

Had to rebatch this one. It was an oily mess coming out of the mold. Seems every time I use Flaxseed oil in my recipe I have to rebatch. I did mostly starbucks coffee for the liquid.

The orange one one is Lily of the Valley. I did tangerine POP mica. It was so bright in the mold, then it went so pale. Kind of disappointing. The purple and white are Geranium, Ylang, Amyris & Ginger. I poured two colors at the same time in a PVC pipe. The green is Lemon, lime, rosemary & sage. A nice balance of green and citrus. :smiley2:

Cedar, I had someone suggest a dehumidifyer to me. I can't figure out where I could put it. I'm very interested if it works for you. I'd just have to make room somewhere if it is worth it. Imblebe, why do you have to cut it soon? CBV1, I wonder if they would tell you how they can ship it so soon if you asked them?

Anabanana, is it possible you are putting too much fo in? I didn't see the amount you are using. Are you coloring them? I pour this wax hotter. Maybe around 170 or 165. I've never had any mottling problems. For me, pouring hotter helps with frosting and smooth tops. If you pour too hot, you"ll get air pockets around the wick. Can you post a picture of what is going on?

I used tangerine pop. About 1 tsp pp, and it only turned out a pale orange, very pale in the end soap. Going into the mold was super vivid orange, I was really excited. It is still a nice soap but not bright like I wanted. Do all of the neon turn out bright? How much pp do you have to use?

Which are best for the vibrant colors in CP that don't morph, or fade?

Not sure where what area you're in but I got mine from here. http://herbalaccents.com/clays.htm You can use it in soaps and other body stuff too.

Cetyl Alcohol is listed as an emulsifier and thickener so sounds like you're doubling up your thickeners by using both ewax and CA. You could up your soft oils, cuz they are only roughly 18%. I use about 25% soft oils. I don't use any additional hardeners, just the butters. HTH

I'm not sure how much color you're looking for. If you just want a hint of color, I make one with rose clay and pink mica. I sell a lot of it. People are more interested in my colored lip balm than the uncolored. You can sell them for much more than uncolored.

Do any of you use cassia or cinnamon in your lip balms? I was playing with some orange, vanilla, and cassia eo in a lip balm today. The cassia makes it sweeter, it tastes like a red hot candy. I was wondering if the kind of hot tingle might be a problem for some people though.

That is the same link Jola posted above. I don't think I would do 50/50 I was just curious. My recipes seem to trace fast enough, I don't want to speed it up too fast.

Ok so using less water is the only way to make them cure a little faster. That's what I was thinking I would have to do. I was hoping there was some other miracle technique to speed up the process. I've been doing some goats milk and tea soaps so I've been using more liquids than I normally would, so they are taking longer to cure. Is 50/50 - equal parts lye and water? How hard is that to work with? I don't have a full size oven in my work space so I couldn't do CPOP. And if it only cuts down the process time by a couple weeks, that can be done by using less water, without using the extra electricity. Guess I stick with decreasing the water. Thanks for the help

I saw these the other day and wondered how they would do for packaging round soaps. If these were used, you could still see the soaps if you swirl. http://www.papermart.com/Product%20Pages/Product.aspx?GroupID=11031&OVACC=Overture&OVRAW=tulle%20circles&OVKEY=tulle%20circle&OVMTC=standard&OVADID=4445260012&OVKWID=49294342512

I'm starting to get busier, and my stock is getting low. Waiting 4-6 weeks to cure is a very long time while restocking. I know I will need them before then. Is there any way to speed up curing for CP?

I make CP with EO a lot. I've wondered if any of the EO benefits are still left in the soap when it is finished. Which goes along with what you are saying, how much of the oil would be left to cause any health risks. I made one today with Rosemary and Sage. Sage is not good for anyone who has seizures. I was thinking about this as I was making it if I should do a warning label. I see people making claims about their soaps with EOs in them, but this means they should be also listing the precautions if they are listing the benefits, right? I don't put any benefits of the EOs on my labels. I just like they way they smell, and that they are natural. I am pretty sure they wouldn't be in the same concentration levels as they are in massage oils or creams. Oils actually cause the EO to get absorbed into the skin better, that's why they call them carrier oils.

I'm picky with my testers too. Are you using veg wax? I put them in the oven to melt the wax, pour melted wax in the garbage, paper towel out(don't want any wax going down in the pipes), then hand wash them in hot soapy water. Mine get squeaky clean. Before I pour a new candle in them I spray some all purpose cleaner in the container and use a micro cloth to wipe them out. I find this really helps cut down on wet spots. I like my testers to look nice while I'm testing them.

I was glad when I found out Swan's has a location in CA now, thinking I would save on shipping. First of all their Accusoy 10 hasn't come down at all like most other soys. It is still around $70 per case. I was wrong on saving on shipping too. For some reason the shipping isn't much cheaper from Los Angeles to san diego than shipping from oregon to SD, and I get to pay state taxes now too. So much for trying to buy locally.

Do you mean poking holes for a second pour?

I've used it for my 2" pillars for a while now, it has always been great until I started pouring cool. I spoke with Candlewic and they suggested pouring around 185. Which means I was WAY off. Thanks