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krodriguez

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Posts posted by krodriguez

  1. if it makes it any easier this is a simple formula you can use...

    say you want to make an 8oz jar...

    if you need 10%... you would put into a calculator

    8(oz) x .10 = .8... or .8oz

    if you need 5%.. you put in

    8 x .05 = .4.... make sense?

    so on this recipe...

    if you wanted to make... say... 10oz (283 grams)... you're looking at:

    1oz ewax (28.3)

    1oz stearic (28.3)

    1oz cocoa butter (28.3)

    1oz shea butter (28.3)

    5.6oz oil (158.5)

    .01 vitamin e (2.83)

    .02 fo (5.66)

    .01 phenonip (2.83)

    ... now, when I'm working with a recipe thats less than 2 lbs, I prefer to work in grams.. because how the heck are you going to measure .01oz, u know? SO... there are 28.3 grams in an ounce. So.. for this recipe, in BOLD you will see the grams. Most good scales come with grams and its WAY more accurate when you are working in small amounts.

    Thats really all you need to know to calculate any recipe.

    16oz in a pound... so 452.8 grams in a pound

    28.3 grams in an ounce...

    and any percentage when you are trying to find it is just the base number of the batch.... like 10oz... times the percentage you need... .05% for 5%... .10% for 10%.

    I am not the original person who asked for this info but THANK YOU! You explained it the way I learn..a-b-c-d-e-f-g. You took it step by step and made it EXTREMELY easy to understand. Ever thought about being a teacher?:cheesy2:

  2. There are great recipes on this forum and other forums too. I actually spent nothing extra except for the jars, I had the oils for soap making. I find the keep it simple silly principle works well when making lotions and butters. You really don't need a whole bunch of different oils etc to make a great product.

    I totally agree! I've found that virgin coconut oil, sweet almond oil, and avocado oil are great together for a wonderful body butter.

  3. not gonna lie Julie, its a learning curve.. but if you have the right supplies and the drive and determination you can get it!

    I can testify to that! But I love making product. I get this euphoric feeling when my body butters are whipped up all nice. I look for any excuse to make some up!:yay:

  4. I know how lost I was without the boards and their wealth of info, so thought I'd dig up what I could find right off hand and try to help build it back up. Hope you don't mind, but found a few recipes I thought I'd add that were my personal faves from the boards. :)

    Kimberly's Whipped Shea Recipe

    12 oz. Shea Butter

    2 oz. Mango Butter

    2 oz. Hempseed Butter

    5 oz. oil

    2 tsp. cornstarch

    Can someone please break this recipe down into a 8oz batch. I don't need to make this much! Thanks! :yay:

  5. Here is the recipe that I used. It was in a posting some place.. just not sure where right now... but anyway.. here it is:

    2 oz. Cocoa Butter

    6 T. Baking Soda

    1 1/4 T. Cornstarch

    1/4 c. Citric Acid

    1/4 T. FO

    I never used the coca powder it called for. I just make them plain. Hope that helps!

    Thank you so much! I can't wait to make these! I want to use a truffle mold. Do you recommend a particular mold?

  6. I found this recipe on here for bath melts and would like to try it. However, I don't want to make such a large batch. I would prefer to do a test batch. But I'm not very good with breaking down recipes.

    So, could someone please configure this same recipe for me on a much smaller scale? Thank you so much and I really appreciate your help. :thumbsup:

    8 oz. cocoa butter (the smelly one)

    1 1/2 cups baking soda

    1/3 cup corn starch

    1-2 tbsp. cocoa powder (if you want it brown)

    1 cup citric acid

    Melt cocoa butter. When it's melted, add baking soda, corn starch, and if a dark chocolate melt is wanted, add cocoa powder. If not, leave as is. After everything is completely mixed and molds are ready, cool until pot is just warm to the touch, but still liquid.

    Add citric acid and stir like mad! Pour quickly into lined molds, then in the freezer for about 20 minutes. Have held up very well in warm weather.

    *Note: When you make it, if you want to add fo, rather than chocolate scent, use deodorized cocoa butter and add 1 tbsp. body safe fo.

  7. Sorry I can't help with additive; but I use a leave in hair conditioner - Intrakera by Image - that looks like leaf green snot! :laugh2: It works and smells great, so I don't care.

    Trudi

    I love it! I'm glad you told me that. I figured folks wouldn't want to use it because of it's snotty consistency. I will try the lecithin and if that doesn't get it. I guess snot it is! :P

  8. I have been melting down African black soap and "trying" to make a shower gel out of it.

    The process is simple. Shred up as much soap as you want, add vegetable glycerin, preferred fixed oil, preferred essential oil, and boiling water to your liking. Let it sit for about three days, mixing it several times a day. By day three it should not separate.

    However it is very thin. I have tried using guar gum once and xanthum gum once. Each time the consistency ends up being like snot, no matter how much or how little I used of either. And it is gross!!!! I mean it feels absolutely fabulous (moisture wise) and lathers like crazy. But it looks and feels like snot.

    I'm all about staying natural and many things listed as natural are harmful and sometimes synthetic in process.

    Does anyone know of an all natural thickener that will give me the consistency of shower gel and not snot? lol

    I was thinking about trying liquid lecithin.

  9. Oky doke. I've been on a mission since my last post. Found good info but results are shaky. lol

    I found that it is best to shred the african black soap into the sugar scrub mixture and not melt it down. My cube texture is nice but they are not pretty at all! It could be that I don't have a good mold. I just used a regular ice cube tray and knife to get them out, and cut them. I know totally GHETTO but I was anxious to try the recipe.

    I'll get a nice cube mold next pay period! lol So here is a recipe I found and just added the shredded African black soap to it.

    20 g cacao butter

    20 g shea butter (can be replaced by coconut)

    20 g baking soda

    I stuck with the shea butter and used brown sugar instead of white. If you add vanilla essential oil to it, they smell just like chocolate bars.

    However, this person did not list how much sugar to use and I went by feel. So, could someone recommend how many grams of sugar I should use according to this recipe? Thanks!

    Here is a link to melting down african black soap to use it as a liquid body wash. But here is where I REALLY need help.

    I wanted to thicken it, so the first time I added some guar gum - Not Good!

    The second time I used Xanthum gum - Yuck!

    They both gave the soap a snot like consistency and not a shower gel consistency, no matter how much or how little I used.

    Is there an ALL Natural thickener I can use to get the shower gel consistency? I was thinking of trying liquid lecithin to see how that might work.

    Oh here is the link with instructions on melting down black soap

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GdVHRkhSlQ

  10. I use shredded soap in my body scrub recipe.

    I add the shreds to hot oils then blend all in the blender...My soap for my body scrub is made a bit softer (40 on soap calc )so it will blend well.

    You may want to heat it with a pinch of water to moisten before you add it to you scrub ingredients.

    Do a small batch to test first.

    You are making scrub cubes and the soap is what kinda molds the cube so it needs to be a bit moist or I don't think it will stick together with the other ingredients.

    I do use a natural m&p soap for sugar cubes cause you need it to mold...I have not tried using my cphp for this. If I did I would use it fresh out of the oven so it would be pliable already then add oils to it let it cool a bit then add sugar.

    i am not sure if this would even work...Just throwing ideas out there.

    Black soap by nature is extremely moldable ( is that a word? lol ) You can break it up and mold it back together in about any shape you want without water. So....I just shredded it into my sugar and oil mixture. So far it is setting up nice. Wish me luck and I'll let you know how it turns out! If not, what natural M&P base do you use?

  11. You would only be adding less than a pinch if water depending on how much soap u use i think it is only a tb for a lb of soap. also you are making sugar cubes and you can keep them in a jar away from the shower and take them out with dry hands ... ...The milk and water are being added to soap Check out the link she has some ideas as far as preserving.

    here are some instructions for rebatching your soap

    http://www.pvsoap.com/instructions_for_rebatch.htm

    Thank you for the link! I think I will be experimenting tonight! I'll let you know how I come out.

  12. Thank you for all of your replies. I'll let you in a little secret I use for a foaming sugar scrub. Because I like to stay "all natural," I use a cheese grater and grate African black soap into my sugar scrubs.

    Works like a charm! African black soap is made of palm oil, plantain ashes and cocoa pods. Some of the best soap I have ever used! There really isn't a strong scent to it so you don't have to worry about it in your formulations.

    True, pure African black soap looks like a big hunk of rock. But you can use a pea size to wash your hair and you wouldn't believe the lather! I'm hoping to also incorporate it into a sugar scrub cube as well.

    Well I will get off of my "African" soap box now! :) Thank you ladies for all of your help.:yay:

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