Louise

How pretty! I like both the texture and the color you got on this one very much. I want those pop colors so bad and also some of the micas, but I need to purchase some more oils first and see what I have left to play with. I really don't wanna miss the co-op though. Ugh, I hate times like these.

Flicker, thank you for responding to my 'non-soap' issue. I've been soaping for about 5 years, but the last 3 or 4 yrs have been using the HP method. But since I wanted to make the pretty swirls that I've seen here, I decided to do a few CP batches. But these don't feel like soap as much as they do those white erasers, or a bar of clay. They should feel like my HP, only smoother and possibly a tad more dense, if that makes sense. This is a recipe that I've used over those past 5 years. Hard oils 60%, soft oils 40% (olive & jojoba), lye solution 27% (no water discount). I bring everything to the same temp (lye and oils), anywhere between 95 and 120. This particular batch I did at 95. The bottoms on this batch feel more like soap than the batch before (which I chucked right in the trash). If everyone will indulge me, I'll post a pic of this batch cut in a couple hours. I know everyone has probably read things like this and responded to death, but I would love any discussion we could have on this.

natrldsastr, thanks so much for that info, for I am genuinely curious about it. I can see the point about the shrinkage thing and had been wondering about that. I've seen some things here that I haven't heard of before and appreciate the opportunity to ask questions when some of these topics come up. Now off to do a search on a few other things. Faye, did you find out the answer to your seizing question?

*comes back in to look at pic again -- rockin' out to In A Goda Da Vida in tribute to the soap*

Hey Deb, no worries. I thought you were "lol'ing" at Scented asking me where the pics were. So, ummm, about your "poop" soap..........

Well will ya look at those cupcake soapies, complete with jimmies and all! Hot dang woman, right on! Your dead sea mud sounds/looks interesting (wonderful swirls!) for sure. I'll be anxious to see it cut.

Your pic is really on the light side, but I can see the colors/swirl/marbling good enough to know they're pretty!

Scented, I'll check out the Amber Romance tomorrow and see about maybe posting a pic. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to get a couple more swirls going to.... ones that will actually BE soap. I've discovered that in the effort to keep everything thin to swirl, that I'm not actually getting trace, so therefore, I'm just making bars of swirled "eraser" type soap, lmbo! So now that I've got the swirling down, so to speak, I'm going for actual soap now!

Whooooaaaa! Look at those colors! Need my shades lol. I love em, thanks for showing us all of them, Scented! Sorry about your disappointment in the fo, it's always a bummer when that happens.

Sorry to hear of the fits, but the colors are terrific! I've been looking to try Hydrangea, but might have to rethink that.

OMG woman, those aren't ugly. I expected to see something putrid from your description, lmbo! Yes, maybe they weren't what you were "going for", but I wouldn't call them ugly. (we won't even talk about my last 2 batches of swirled soap that didn't even turn out to be soap. But hey, I think I've got the swirling part down lol)

Hey, look at that swirling action Good for you! Now, don't you just want to yank that out of the mold and check out the inside! Swirling is multi-levelled torture for sure.

Congrats on your first batch of soap! It's so addicting. I'm sure you have at least the next 5 batches planned out with fo's and colors and techniques. Have fun, go wild, but always remember safety first.

Bedazzled is the perfect name for those colors, and I bet it smells wonderful. Thanks for letting us have a peek at a few of TDK's micas too.

"You are suppose to be able to mold, unmold, and cut in like 3 - 5 hours." Faye, I'm really curious about this 50/50 thing. Are people doing this because they have a shortage of molds and need a faster mold turn-around time? Also, would the soap even be cool enough to unmold after 3 to 5 hours? These are things that just kinda popped to mind (besides the ratio thing) "Alot of people do it on some of the other soap boards" Have you asked on those other boards where alot of people do it?

I've never heard of that before, makes my mind go WOW. Faye, what is the end result you are going for? Yanno, the advantage?

I think they turned out nice. But I do understand what you are saying about getting the color down in there. I was poking around yesterday and went into the New Soapers section and found a tutorial for swirled soaps and plan on trying it that way too, to see which way I like better. Check it out, it may be more what you are looking for in your soaps. HTH

Thanks everyone. I have been good and have not peeked at all, even though I'm dying to. Still at least 6 hours to go. Then, maybe I'll peek quick, but will leave it all wrapped up until morning. I can't wait to see what's inside this batch! Scented, thanks, and you're right, they do thicken up some. I also made the Amber Romance batch last night -- used a log mold --won't unmold until tomorrow a.m. (we won't talk about the coloring right now, but trust me, it wasn't scientific ) No ricing though and didn't accelerate trace that you would notice. So go for it!

Absolutely stunning! I bet you won't have those snakeskin bars long, talk about a perfect design for the fo. I love the Mediterranean, too. Mind sharing how you got that wonderful drizzled effect down into the soap?

Oooooooh, that chai tea looks delish! And your 2 rebatches look great also. Thanks for letting us see them.

Thanks gals for confirming that for me. I'm really anxious to give it a whirl. From Grumpy's tutorial, I know I need to cut them when they are still warm to avoid "crumbs". I remember she put them in the oven for a bit after pouring in the mold, I'll have to go back and review that part. I take it that is done to help speed up the gel process some and so it's a complete gel?

When I first started reading about salt bars, I just could not figure out why anyone would want to have a soap with all that salt in it...i.e. in my mind thinking "drying", just as alot of you had done. So after many searches, they do make sense to me now. Here's my question: Do I only figure in the oils for the lye needed? (sorry, I know it's a stupid question). Or does the salt have to figure in there somewhere? I know you calculate the FO based on the oils only. My mind tells me yes, as the salt is not included on the lye calculator so there would be no way to add it in, but would just like a second voice, third, or fourth telling my mind yes also.

Woohoo Grandma! You've got that main trained right. Now go ask him if he'd like to double that Valentine's Day pleasure

Go for it. Set the stage then just sit back and watch. Think of it as an experiment -- which will have entertainment value, lol.

*wonders if the missing palm oil was ever found or if poor Lorrie is laying in a coma caught between the dark void of the palm oil world and our own* Oh Lorrrrrrriiiiiiieeeeeeee! Come back to us! Come back to us now! Follow my voice! Don't go to the slippery palm light!! :laugh2: