TallTayl

IKWYM about stingy lotions. Fractionated Shea or Olive Squalane are my favorites. I have used shea butter in the solid form, but prefer the lighter fractionated variety if given the choice.

You could always try a bit of straight olive oil until you decide which oil/butter to go with.

CS is bright and tart. burned well in soy for me (464 w/ECO wicks). Not overly complex.

AH/RE is deeper and more complex with a bit more spiciness (without being a spice). This was very popular in room sprays, tarts, soaps and B&B also for me this past year.

Peak's is OK, but not in my top 2.

I find T-50 Tocopherol at Soapers Choice for $30 per lb the best value.

Simply stunning. It looks absolutely perfect!

I used to get some thick, I mean thick, ash on my favorite formula.

The only thing that has completely eliminated any ash is 91% alcohol. Once in the mold and the texture is how I want it (especially textured tops), I spritz with a fine mist sprayer until the whole top is wet. I may have to do it twice if I miss a spot. I never get ash any more and my tops are shiny as can be.

It's not difficult, once you figure out how to work with the ingredients. The initial investment is high, but once you get it down and can tweak to make the formula work for your hair it's all worth it.

ETA-Syndet = Synthetic Detergent (which is a bit of a misnomer since most shampoo syndets contain surfactants rather than detergents )

Glycerin? interesting. I wonder if it was CP shampoo soap and not a syndet?

I make my syndets using SCI as the main solid surfactant, and with oat protein and panthenol. I can send you an ingredients list if you like.

Several Etsy sellers make nice syndets too.

If they are marked as FCC (Food Chemicals Codex) or if they specifically say food grade, I would say yes. If not, no. It may be worth a phone call to them to be certain.

Have you tried solid shampoos (syndets?) My fine stick straight hair gets loads of body and fullness with them.

If you're an HMSG member you can get 5% off Fragrances and plastic molds. That's the closest I come to discounts/promos.

The Scent Works - hands down. It's my #2 most popular with both men and women. NO A NO D and as 8-Gran-Ones wrote, it sticks forever.

Cranberry Apple Marmalade is fabulous.

Lavender is really strong - REALLY strong

Sweet Pumpkin Spice is nice.

Amish Harvest came alive when lit.

I went to the site and didn't see anything about HSMG discounts. Looked at their affiliations and they don't have the guild listed there either. Hope I just overlooked it.

I asked their customer service dept, and found there is no real member benefit any more. There's no 'minimum' order, everyone pays the $20 processing fee for orders less than $300.

We just missed out on the 15% off sale coupon @ Nu-Scents.

RE:FO's - I didn't like them at all. With all of the great choices out there I didn't become dependent on them for fragrance. Ditto with EO's. Too bad because they used to be about 10 minutes from me. They're a little on the high side for ingredients.

Your sales channel(s) depend(s) on your business plan. Lack of a plan is a plan to fail - regardless of whose methods you choose to emulate and improve upon.

For me it is a mix of all of the above channels mentioned. You have to bust your hump at channels that are initially less profitable to build a client base. Just having a web site doesn't mean people will flock to it KWIM?

Build your brand, then you'll be able to come back and answer your own question. The answer to the channel question will change and evolve as your business matures.

I thought it was a typo. Good for them if they can get it.

Oh gosh I wish I could say that never happened to me, but it did with 2 batches one night. I was using oils measured the day prior. Big Ooops. Now the process includes weighing the soap pot before adding FO to make sure it's not light.

WHen rebatching I usually do use some sort of dairy (milk, cream) or coconut milk. It seems to help things stay smoother.

Sorry this happened. Good luck with tomorrow's rebatch.

Then why the water discount????????? WTH??

There are so many variables to saponification (your formula, the temperatures your batch achieves and length of time at higher temperatures, gel/non-gel, how long the ingredients are mixed/blended, how well the ingredients are mixed/blended, etc, etc, etc.). I personally don't push the lye solution envelope far beyond 40%, more often using 33-35% to ensure the lye crystals/flakes remain in solution without becoming supersaturated and potentially precipitating out of solution.

IME, using a water discount does several things. First, the freshly cut bars are closer to their final weights they will be after adequate curing. I have weighed several bars from batches with different water discounts over the course of several months. Those without water discounts lost more water weight over time; some actually achieved the 'shrunken head' look at the end.

Second, stronger lye solution concentrations help to achieve emulsion and trace more quickly. This is especially important to me when making castiles or bastiles that are high in slow-tracing oils such as Olive. The combination of higher temperature and stronger solution saves me a LOT of time getting a stable emulsification and thicker trace without burning out stick blenders.

There's no substitute for time.

The same length of time as non-water discounted actually.

If she needs it now, how about HP? Even HP needs a couple of weeks to hit its peak, but at least it's 'finished', if you will.

Coconut Lemongrass-YUM.

Coconut Pear

Coconut Toasted Marshmallow

Thank you TallTayl-

Just to make sure I have the right correct product...the J223 Astrolite is what is considered the 4633? Name change somewhere down the line? Also for a starting point what ratio would you suggest I start at for blending with 464?

Thanks so much:cheesy2:

Yes, 4633 is the new name, though I have also seen J223 out there (CS IIRC) making it a little confusing. i purchased mine through Lone Star which lists both names.

For blending, I started with 75:25 (75% 464:25% 4633) The ECO and CD wicks seem to work the best for my conditions.

That sounds lovely, and I like the idea of reusing materials. Do they sell compostible shrink wrap bags/film? I see that it is made, but I'm not sure where to actually buy it.

National Shrinkwrap sells biodegradeable polyolefin shrink. They'd probably send a sample to you if you gave them a call or quick email. I use the non-bio perforated polyolefin and love it.

Awesome. That would have been cool at dusk silhouetted against the setting sun.

Yup - ditto

4630 works very well, and I've also blended using 4633 (J223)

Ditto on the 4633.