Lifelace

Hi there, when you say your soap feels oily, are you sure it's not <<sweat>>? That is a very commong thing that is easily fixed. If your soap is sweating it'll feel slick or you might see minuscule beads of glycerin all over making it look fuzzy a bit. Normally I find that is caused by quick cooling or not wrapping it right after unmolding. Do you put the molds in the fridge to cool? If so that could definitely be your problem. Just leave it at room temp to set and then wrap as soon as you unmold. You can also buy a <<low-sweat>> base. As for fragrance, I LOVE using MMS's fragrance calculator for all sorts of things. You just pick your product type, how much of it and pick a fragrance (just pick a scent similar to what you are using) and it'll tell you a range of how much FO to add depending on how much product. It doesn't give you <<cups>> of melt and pour but I'm thinking that's probably relatively close to half a pound so probably around 1 tsp. FO for a cup of melted soap. http://www.thesage.com/calcs/fragcalc.html HTH! Melany

Hi, for the kids, how about Monkey Farts? In my corner of the world, the most popular scent for bubble bars by far is Mandarin Tiki at NG. Lots of fruity folks around here! Melany

Hi there, I've seen several recipes for making Transparent Soap using Lye, Oils, Sugar, Glycerin and Alcohol but never anything that can be remelted like M&P can, I don't see why it can't be made at home but I have searched and have never found a single recipe for making melt and pour, only transparent soaps for immediate use: Home made transparent soap is different from M&P, if you try to melt it again, it will loose its transparency, you will have to adjust the solvents and you may end up with a soft sticky soap. If you absolutely have to remelt the soap, do it as soon as possible after making it, but be prepared to add alcohol, glycerin and sugar solution again. Melany

I'm pretty sure The Gourmet Rose's soaps are SFIC soaps, her descriptions of them is word for word the same as the SFIC site. That's not a bad thing, I love her soaps but that is just to say several other places carry the same soap base, such as Peak. I love that they are natural soap bases and lather like crazy. I do find some of them have an alcoholish scent to them but it's not in the finished soap, it just wouldn't work well for an unscented soap. I tried NG's GM but wasn't too impressed, nothing special, not many bubbles and not a natural base (lots of added ingredients I would rather do without). HTH! Melany

Hi guys, I decided to make some foaming soap for the first time, I have the foamer bottles from NG. I followed roughly the instructions on the NG site, the only difference is I added slightly more liquid soap and then weighed everything (water and soap) and added Liquid Germall Plus. None of the instructions I've read said to add preservative, only water but it makes me nervous so I added some. Do you guys add preservatives to this? Also, the foam that comes out is very liquidy and runny, not big and foamy like the kinds we buy in the store and it doesn't lather much. IS this normal? Do I need to add even more liquid soap or try a different kind of liquid sooap base? I also noticed that only 4-5 pumps of this in my hand took quite a bit of liquid out of the bottle, like half an inch, yikes! That means these things would not last long at all, not many hand washes per bottle....are other foaming bottles better? Just wondering!! Thanks! Melany

Actually I bought some Pink Sugar from MMS and on their website there is a little warning that some crystalization can happen with that one. Mine add all these crystals at the bottom. I put the bottle with cap open in some hot water and got rid of them that way, then shook the bottle to mix it all. They came back again once cool though. I think it's fairly normal! Melany

You did an AWESOME job!!! I love it, haven't smelled Black Rasp Vanilla yet but it sounds great. Melany

I have it and it's wonderful! I can't smell any chocolate in there at all but I know they mention it in the description. Extreemely hard to describe, definitely manly and unique. I smell rose, spices, light mint, earthy and clean...you really just have to try it and see! I haven't done anything with mine yet so I have no idea how it's like in products. Melany

You could also use regular muffin pans. I like the round look. Just fill each cup and leave about 1/2 an inch of space at the top. Once fully hardened they come out easily. Turn em over and press the bottom of each cup until they fall out. Wrap in Seran Wrap! Melany

Hi Jenn, I can't seem to find the recipes on their site, can you help? Melany

Wow you guys are awesome! Seriously! Thanks so much for the encouragement. I'm going to ask my mom to babysit this week-end so my two little boys are not around and then I'll put the kitties in the basement for a couple of hours. It's so good to know that my skin won't melt off me if there is a splash, I was thinking it would be like acid on skin we see in movies or something LOL. I do worry alot about eye splashes though but I do have safety goggles and also wear glasses. I KNOW when I do my first batch I'll wonder what the heck I was so worried about. I'll be sure to post when I do make my first batch. That's a special moment now, gotta find the perfect recipe and scent to work with! Melany

Hi guys, I'm hoping you all can help me get over my fear of working with Lye. I have all the equipment and ingredients ready, have had them for a few months, but I just can't seem to convince myself it's safe to go ahead and do it! I'm just so scared of getting blinded or burned or something.....I'm really scared! BUT I REALLY want to try my hand at CP, I've done my research and have everything I need except the guts to try! Help! Melany

Wow thats awesome! I need to place an order at Voyageur Soap and they have all those surfactants. Melany

I would like info on this as well but didn't anything on Page 2. Melany

Thanks a bunch! Melany

Hi guys, just a quick question, can someone tell me if Millcreek's Hand and Body Liquid Soap base is a pearl liquid or a white opaque (looks like lotion) liquid? Thanks! Melany

I'm getting a 404 error when trying to access your site. Melany

I actually didn't care too much for Scent Works version but I gotta say Backwood's Amazingly Graceful is dead on and <<amazing!>> I have the real deal here (bought myself one of the Philosophy Am. Grace gift boxes) and it smells JUST like it! Melany

I personally have never tried but I did read somewhere on a site that sells shower gel base that FO will thin it BUT you can just add a bit of regular table salt to thicken it back up. Melany

OOps, I forgot to ask the previous poster, I went to Mill Creek's but can't find a body wash base, is it the had and body soap? Is that creamy? Just wondering! Melany

Hi there, that is sooooo funny! I was JUST going to post this very same thing! I'm on the lookout for a creamy body wash base, haven't found one yet so I've also been pearlizing shower gel but it's just nothing special KWIM. I DO like this recipe though from Scent Sanctuary using Foaming Bath Butter whipped with water and oil, makes an awesome creamy body wash (shower cream soap) BUT I've had it seperate after a few months (oil leaks out)...not too sure why! Maybe give that a try? I do add a preservative to that, even though it doesn't mention in the recipe. http://www.scentsanctuary.ca/recipes/shower_cream_soap_fbb.html Melany

Oops, sorry, should have specified! These are OOB impressions, I just got them today so have not tested them yet! Melany

Hi there! I just got my very first order from Backwoods and gotta say the ones I got were all hits! Very strong and wonderful. I had several fall scents and would recomend them all: Indian Summer & Amber Moon are somewhat similar to my nose. You have to like patchouli, I personally am a big fan when it's blended right and not too strong! It's not listed in both descriptions but I can smell it. Indian Summer is more woody & fruity, Amber moon more powdery, both are fabulous and different than the typical <<fruit & spice blends>> we find this time of year. My fav of the bunch was Cider & Sticks, followed by Baked Apple and then Pumpkin Cornbread. I HAVE to try the Honey Gingerbread, sounds yummy! Melany

Very cool! Thanks so much! Off to check it out! Melany

Hi guys, one of my absolute fav scents is Yankee's Autumn Leaves, does anybody know of a very similar scent? I have many other Autumn kinds from Yankee (Like Aut. Lodge, Aut. Wreath etc...) and those are not the same.... The desc. for Aut. LEAVES is: a vibrant medley of birch and maple leaves with pomegranate, juniper berry, and orange blossom It's very bright and fresh and spicy but light....love it! Any thoughta would be great! I googled but didn't find anything.... Melany