soapnmomma

SOOO pretty!! LOVE!!

Thank You!! I had seen that red color before but didn't try it because it did not look that red in the powder form, but then again, all the ones that looked really red I ordered and they morphed into anything but red, lol. Just placed an order for some, thank you again for sharing! :smiley2: Can't wait until the soap unsticks from the mold to see cut pics.

Is the red color still the same color as when you poured your soap or did it morph at all? I have been trying to get a red like you achieved for awhile now and all of the colors I have tried so far have started out a beautiful red then changed to pink, brick red, orange or any other color but red. Do you mind sharing where you get the Lake 30 Red Oxide that you used? It is such a pretty red color!

Such beautiful soap! Can we see cut pics..PLEASE..PLEASE..pretty PLEASE?

Thanks so much for the info! Now off to order the unrefined shea butter....

So it is time to place an order for some shea butter. I order 10 pounds at a time and the last times I ordered shea butter I ordered the refined, came white as could be and no scent at all. I am now thinking about ordering the unrefined though after some reading but wanted to ask those of you who use/used unrefined, does the smell linger in finished soaps and lotions? I know with my unrefined cocoa butter the scent stays in my end products so I always assumed the shea butter scent would stay in the end product too. I have never smelled unrefined shea butter but from all I have read it has anywhere from a light to a strong smokey/nutty odor?? So does the scent carry over into the finished products? This was the reason I have always ordered refined, afraid the scent would stick in my products, but if the scent does not stay in the product I would like to just order the unrefined but wanted to ask opinions before I placed my order. Thanks!

Got my email today, all my molds have been shipped!! YEAY

It very well could be bits of dry hardened soap. Many times it happens when scrapping the sides of the crockpot because the soap cools and hardens there first. Could be other reasons too but that happened to me quite often when I first did HP using crockpot method. I learned to keep the sides scrapped down completely in the pot while cooking and then when I went to plop it into the mold I did not scrap the sides of the pot. I do a different HP method now so I no longer have that issue...

Okay, so I placed my first order for several Upland Molds but have since been hearing about people ordering molds from them like 2 months ago and still not got them yet!! They all say they have contacted customer service via email and phone but are not getting any replies from customer service. Anyone know of any problems or of them having any issues? All I want for Christmas is my Upland Molds...

They are not closed just yet for winter, thankfully, so I put my order in last night. I cannot wait to get mine now!! I have waited months to order, had to have a good enough reason to give hubby and Christmas is it. Just in time too, I was getting pretty bad because all I was dreaming about was having Upland Soap Molds

Thank you all for the information! Off to place an order for some Upland Molds!!!

So, I have been wanting some Upland Soap Molds for a long time from reading how much everyone just loves them, plus let's be honest I hate lining my molds I have now. So, since I am Christmas shopping, for myself.. I want to ask if the silicone ever causes problems with the soap sticking to the molds? I have several silicone molds now that I have purchased and I have had trouble with my soap sticking to the molds, even after putting a lot of oil on the molds, and I do not use them for that reason. So can anyone let me know if they have had trouble with their soap sticking to the silicone at all before I place my order? Thank You!! :smiley2:

I got some of this to try too. I tried using it at the .3% listed on the website but my soap still turned brown. I tried 3 different batches using 3 different FOs with the same result, soap still turned brown. So, I sent an email to NG asking for clarification of usage since using it at the .3% did not stop my soap from turning brown. I included in my email others suggestion of using it at a ratio of 1:1 and they responded with this: "You will want to use .3% vanilla stablizer of the total amount of product. " So apparently your not supposed to use this at a ratio of 1:1, but the .3% usage amount that they recommend is not working. I even did a batch of CP using more than .3% just to see what would happen and the soap still turned brown. So needless to say I am disappointed with it and very curious how they managed to get the white soap that they show on their FB page too..because that is not my results at all! Oh and yes, it stinks terribly! I took a wiff not too close to the bottle and did not smell anything so I thought okay it is not going to stink too bad I mean afterall, the website stated it had a light vanillic character scent so I put my nose right at the bottle and took a wiff and WOW, it felt like I burnt my nose off and it did not smell anything vanillic to me, lol....but the odor was not noticeable in my finished soap at the .3% usage rate....

I ordered FOs from them one time and all I can say is I have never ordered anything from them since! I only used the FOs in CP and HP soap but every single FO I tried seized, riced, or something bad would always happen with my batches of soap. I cannot tell you what a disappointment it was. I have never had any other FOs do anything like SOS FOs did. I did not try their EOs and this is just my experience, but I can tell you mine was not a happy experience at all.

Thank you!!

I have a request for a Gain washing detergent scent, the original Gain scent. Anyone have suggestions? I found NG has the Island Fresh FO but I need the original scent. Thanks!!

I have tried WSP, SOS, and SGS BRV... WSP was okay just seemed too light but soaped well in CP and it did not discolor at all. SOS I highly disliked, smelled nothing like BRV to me. SGS is the one I use now, does not discolor in CP and soaps nice.

Sorry, I cannot suggest really any. I ordered from them awhile back and ordered the manufacture grade FOs and I disliked them all. I was so disappointed. They were all SOOO faint smelling, just weak, even right oob. When used at their recommended max usage rate in CP and HP soap, after a few days, it was like there was no scent at all! I never ordered from them again and still have 7 bottles sitting on the shelves. Maybe the premium grade is better?? I do not know. If they had been stronger the clean cotton FO and mango FO would had been nice but they would had needed to be much stronger! I even got one FO that had what looked like dirt or some sort of flakes in the FO so that I was unable to use it at all. The ones I soaped did soap okay though, no real problems just way too weak for me. never tried in candles or other applications so not sure how well they would do in those things. I hope you have a better experience with them than I did this was just my experience with them.

I just got my order today from SGS and the Almond Milk & Honey is the best I have found as of yet! I loved all the FOs I received today but the Almond Milk & Honey is my fav. I am smelling it now, you can smell the almond, milk, and honey in it, to me it is really well balanced. I LOVE the original Jergens scent too and have also tried many FOs looking for a scent close to it and although not exact, SGS Almond Milk & Honey is as close as I have found to date, I love it. SGS has sampler packs for $3 so you could sample it first. HTH

Thank you Barbara AL, your soaps are soooo pretty! I have seen many beautiful soaps by you in the B&B Gallery. I like the red color you acheived in your Christmas soap. Can I ask you how much of the Merlot Mica you used to obtain the red color that you got? I have never used the Ruby Red Peacock dye either. Anyone tried that before? Looks like these 2 colorants are on my list to order. I have tried many others with no success willing to try any suggested! Thank You

I am wanting to make some candycane scented CP soap and want to add red swirls. I know red is one of the most wanted colors in soaping. I have seen beautiful soap pics with lovely swirls of red in the B&B gallery pics so I know red in soap is possible. The only colors that I can find mentioned for achieving a red color when I search the forums are celestial colors and neon micas, the rest that I find mentioned I have tried. Which neon mica and which celestial color would you suggest? I have never tried those before. Would it be the cherry celestial color that produces red? I have tried hot mama, tomatoe red, neon red, and soft red from TKB, red oxide, and true red colorant without much success. They all are like brick reds. If I had not seen the beautiful red swirls in several photos in the gallery I would think it was not possible but now I am on a mission...need me some red swirls, lol... Thanks for any suggestions...