jaybyrd

Oooo. That looks amazing! j

Very cool, and very smart. As to the last, hey, I guess that's the price of being so creative. You've got so many great ideas crowding in wanting to be used! Jeri

:laugh2: A raft, of course! Living the good life. Good, CLEAN life.

I really like that!! Are you doing different background colors for each flavor. that kind of thing?

[bTW - My salt bars don't zap at all but they do taste salty. Is it salt you taste or is there a definite type zap? Between you & me, I haven't a clue. :embarasse Just tasted like beaucoup de salt. Wiser heads than I have told me that the lye-zap is like what happens when you lick a 9v battery.

Aw. Well, maybe you'll get a couple of shades of brown and it'll be a whole good look of its own. I know it smells good!

I made my salt bars a couple weeks ago, and yes - I licked one to check for zap. Of course, that much salt has something of a zap of its own, so I'm not certain of my results, but I licked it, okay? And then I found myself sampling all my other soaps. Sniff. I'm so proud.

'K, I've been soaping for three months now, so I thought I'd step up and share what I've done so far, at least the successes. All CP. You will note that my cleanup skills are well below average! 1. Very first batch ever - no, I lie, make that 2nd batch, but first one that I could remove from the gladware "mold" in order to cut. :rolleyes2 CO/RBO/OO/castor oil, and used an infusion of lavender buds & dried rose petals for the lye water, which is where the natural brown tone comes from. I don't even remember what eo I put in it - I used so little that it vanished before pouring; it just has a neutral smell. 2. Cucumber-Watercress FO. CO/OO/sw. almond/castor. Swirled in the pot by dripping emerald and lime color directly in, quick swish & pour. This was a pia to photograph - the colors are so light they kept washing out. Nice, clean, subtle scent. 3. Berrywine FO from Brambleberry. PKO/OO / mango/ shea/RBO/ castor. My big idea originally was to make this for my bro-in-law; he's a big wine fancier and in the bottle the fo smells exACTly like a good red wine. It soaped completely different, to my nose anyway - sweeter & not winey at all - quite nice, but not very masculine, especially considering how pink the color turned out. This recipe and #2 are my favorites in the shower so far, skin-wise. 4. Garden-Kitchen soap. CO/ OO/ lard/ canola/ castor, with cornmeal for scrubbies. I had added litsea cubeba and green mandarin eo's, which was yummy, but I didn't use enough and all fragrance disappeared after a few days of curing. Works great, though! 5. Santas Spruce FO from Brambleberry. PKO/ OO/ lard/ canola/ castor. Ultramarine blue pigment in glycerine for the swirl in the pot. 6. Salt Spa bars, CPOP. Ocean Rain FO from MMS. CO/ crisco/ RBO/ sw. almond/ shea; dead sea salts at 3/4 oils. Ocean Blue (green 5) drops swirled directly in the pot after I added the salt. Did these bars weep? Oh, my! Cry me a river - like salted fresh zucchini. Thanks to the wise & wonderful CT forum I 1) learned what the heck was going on and 2) tried wiping the bars down with tepid water to seal them. Did that, despite a few premature lathering issues, set them in front of a fan, and it seems to have worked. Haven't tried them out, yet, but the room smells so fresh! 7. Tender Tulips FO, from Oregon Trail, using Darwin's basic recipe that everyone loves so. Just made it a couple of days ago. I was trying for a thin green layer at the bottom (for the lawn) and delicate color swirls above for the floral effect. I was careful, but even so the pour shoved all the green layer to the ends and sides of the mold, as you can see from the piece on the left. Actually, I think it might have been for the best. Also, the bars are just too big to be comfortable to hold - I expect I'll cut them in half vertically. Can't wait to try these . . . Jeri

LOL! Maybe you were channeling Lucy Ricardo.

How pretty! Love the swirls & colors. I like the warmer tone of the tan for the background.

Ooo, GORgeous!!

It looks lovely - whatever you had in mind, the end result sure is nice.

They look great - you'd never guess they gave you any trouble at all. Wish I could smell 'em!

Nicely done! Details, please . . . :)

Golly, that's pretty. You really captured the feel of an arbor-full of wisteria in bloom. I keep going back to look again. :smiley2:

Thanks so much!

Genius, you! Man, that looks real - I'd have sworn that was a real honeycomb. Beautiful.

Thanks so much, folks! That's just the kind of info I was hoping for. Cheers, j

Another quick dumb ? when I really should be working: I'm going to try CPOP this weekend, and my only wood mold has a glued patch on the knots that I don't trust in the oven. Are there any reasons a lined Pyrex dish wouldn't be a good idea? Cheers! j

Dumb question here: What exactly are we making happen - or avoiding - when we discount water? I do understand that if you don't have enough, you risk having unreacted lye, but once the lye is disposed of, what sort of effect does the water content seem to have on your soap in terms of the appearance & feel? j

Go to Google Image search, type in "guava" and you'll get a gazillion beautiful photos of cut guava fruit - I was going to post a thumbnail for you, but there's such a range of tones I couldn't pick a best one. Maybe if you want to make it look like a guava fruit, do it in layers - a slightly thinner one for the yellowy peel, one for the pinky flesh. Mmmm. Guava . . .

Oo, yum. I like that!

In my personal experience (ouch!) & all the sources I've seen, Peppermint oil should be VERY dilute in topical uses - less than 1%. Add to that the fact that you're using this on your face, and I'd be pretty hesitant. Maybe start with one drop only, see how that feels & work up. If you can't find loose-leaf peppermint tea, Celestial Seasonings peppermint tea is great & has no other flavoring.

Thank you so much for sharing this! I had to stop my rosacea meds a while back because they don't play well with some other meds I have to take, so I've been having bag-over-the-head outbreaks lately. I've been using your wash and toner, and I'm seeing real improvement. My only changes to the wash were: 1. I haven't been able to get to TJ's lately, but I did have some plain Dr. Bronners liquid, so I just brewed a strong mix of peppermint & green tea. 2. Added a few drops of lavender maillette eo in addition to the tea tree. I also don't have a foamer, but it's been working just fine squirting a bit onto a washcloth & rubbing up some suds. Thanks again!! Jeri :smiley2: :smiley2:

I like them all, especially the "what was I thinking" one.