ProudMarineMom Posted July 14, 2010 Author Share Posted July 14, 2010 Never made them which I found odd since they're one of his favorite things! He said if they didn't get them at his grandmother's house, then they had store bought. When you say real marshmallows do you mean those you make yourself? I still haven't tried making them but it's on my list to do.I actually meant the marshmallows you buy in the bag as opposed to the jar of marshmallow fluff. But, some of my friends liked the fluff.I have never thought to make my own marshmallows, hmmmm, may have to give that a try. I always like to find different ways of making things. I do love to cook! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudMarineMom Posted July 20, 2010 Author Share Posted July 20, 2010 Well initial soaping with the new NG bases turned out to be a pain in the butt. I have an email in to them to see if it's something I did or the bases themselves so I'll let you know as soon as I hear something. But both types turned into more of a marshmallow fluff consistency as I melted them and didn't truly melt all the way for me. I have it sitting on the counter till I see if I can fix it somehow. More to come!Kitchenfairy, any update on the NG base? Were you able to figure out the melting issue? How do you like the base? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitchenfairy Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 I've had a visitor from out of town so haven't had a chance to play with it again. When I asked NG about the issue I was having they said that no one else has reported that issue. But she did go to her own kitchen and test the goats milk base and said she had no problems. She thinks maybe I didn't get it hot enough so I'll try again with the other half of the bases that I have and see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soychic Posted August 8, 2010 Share Posted August 8, 2010 Success!!!!!! I just made some soap with the Natural NG Soaps cocoa butter,shea, oatmeal and honey. I only bought the ones that did not have the preservatives in them.They are really white compared to WSP's bases. Except the Honey soap by NG was honey colored.I cut up small pieces off of and washed my arms and hands with them and they seemed to have lots of bubbles and just a little lather.I was comparing them to WSP Natural bases -shea and goats milk. WSP has more lather and not many bubbles and it is a softer soap.When you don't add anything to the soaps, the NG bases seem to make you feel a little more squeaky clean than the WSP.But that is ok, because you can add your own emollients/oils to improve that characteristic.The guys that are using our soaps(our husbands) were asking for more lather. They use a wash cloth and were used to soaps that lathered really easy in their washcloth. Moisturizing qualities were fine.I am sure that after you add the FO, it decreases the foam & lather.We also wanted more lather for when we shave in the shower.So, I just used the NG Shea Natural Soap today (with Cucumber mint FO) and my skin feels better than it did when I used the goats milk base soap by WSP.I think because I added my own goats milk. WHen you buy these bases, you really dont have any idea how much of the shea or goats milk was added by the manufacturer. I did find some of that Dr Bronner's fragrance free liquid castile soap at target and I added 1/2 tsp per # of M&P Soap to increase my bubbles and lather and then added goats milk soap and olive oil. I would rather have too much bubbles and lather than not enough.I am very pleased with the outcome and I will be buying more soap from NG. I will have to add the Dr Bronners liquid soap to the rest of the WSP base that I have left.Kitchen Fairy, I think I experienced what you meant when you had the marshmallow fluff. I think it just needed melted more.I had tried suspending poppy seeds in the NG soap and to successfully do so, you have to keep stirring(so you don't get any film) until it cools and gets real thick. There is a fine line of when you acheive this thickness. if you wait too long and it starts getting to cool it suddenly gets like marshmallow flufff and then like cookie dough. If that happens, you just melt it a little more and then try again.It is hard to find the right moment. I added finely ground oatmeal and poppy seeds to the honey NG soap and it suspended very nicely. Now I am not sure if it worked well because I waited until it was cool enough to suspend in the soap or if it was because I added the ground oatmeal.My instict says it was the oatmeal because it seemed to make it a thicker consistency in general after I added the ground oatmeal.Does anyone know for sure??????Soychic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudMarineMom Posted August 9, 2010 Author Share Posted August 9, 2010 (edited) Thanks Soychick for your review of the bases. May have to try the Natural Shea version from NG. I ended up with the Stephenson's Shea base (not what I ordered) and obviously wasn't too thrilled with it. It was very moisturizing but I didn't care for the look and texture, was too soft and the bubbles and lather was so-so.I did get some Crafters Choice white base (again not what I ordered) and that is promising enough to do some more tests. The hardness level was much better and I was able to get some good bubbles and lather. Is that the same as the base from WSP? Will have to look.I ordered some of the Goats Milk Natural base from NG and ended up with the SLS version the first time around (which they promptly replaced). So, made some testers out of that. It does have a better cleansing feel to it, just not as moisturizing, like you mentioned.So far my favorite is the NG Natural Goat's Milk base, no SLS. I got excellent bubbles and lather. The bubbles from Dr. Bronners and the creamy lather probably from the castor oil. It also had the cleansing feel and decent moisturizing properties. It might be good to use it as a mild moisturizing soap and tweak the recipe to get a rich moisturizing soap. Just not sure which is the best ingredient to increase and not affect the lather and bubbles. I didn't add any extra Goat's Milk and didn't want to go too crazy on the Olive Oil. Back to reading and learning.I added finely ground oatmeal and poppy seeds to the honey NG soap and it suspended very nicely. Now I am not sure if it worked well because I waited until it was cool enough to suspend in the soap or if it was because I added the ground oatmeal.My instict says it was the oatmeal because it seemed to make it a thicker consistency in general after I added the ground oatmeal.Does anyone know for sure??????SoychicIf I had to make a guess, I would think the ground oatmeal thickens the base. Oatmeal can be used to thicken soups instead of flour. I added some to one of the soap bases at just the right point and was suspending nicely. But once I got all of the oatmeal added, it was pretty thick and did not pour smoothly into the mold. Like you said, have to find the sweet spot. Edited August 9, 2010 by ProudMarineMom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soychic Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 I did get some Crafters Choice white base (again not what I ordered) and that is promising enough to do some more tests. The hardness level was much better and I was able to get some good bubbles and lather. Is that the same as the base from WSP? Will have to look.Yes, crafter's choice is the brand of soap I was referring to when I said WSP. I had bought the natural shea & goats milk. I have a potential customer that is allergic to soy which and the NG natural soaps except for the soya one of course do not have soy in them. I found the natural crafter's choice soap to be a very soft bar of soap and it disappeared pretty quick. I guess there is probably something I could add to make it hard..... but I don't what.I don't know what I got myself into but I only started with candles and then, soap, then sprays, diffusers, salts, sugar scrubs, body butters.......when will it stop??? Now I need to perfect lip balm and gloss too. I don't think it will ever end. I am just glad I am in this with my friend:) It makes it alot of fun!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudMarineMom Posted August 9, 2010 Author Share Posted August 9, 2010 Yes, crafter's choice is the brand of soap I was referring to when I said WSP. I found the natural crafter's choice soap to be a very soft bar of soap and it disappeared pretty quick. I guess there is probably something I could add to make it hard..... but I don't what.I thought Crafters Choice was from WSP, I just didn't order it from there. I had ordered Stephensons and apprently they were out of their white base, so they sent me the Crafters Choice.You can use beeswax or stearic acid to increase the hardness of the bar. I need to read up again on the properties of both to figure out which one I want to stay with. They both work well. From what I understand the stearic acid is derived from natural fats and oils and not toxic, even though it ends in acid. Olive Oil will also increase the hardness, but too much makes it oily. And, the harder butters help, like Cocoa and Kokum.Don't know if you've seen the thread below. I bookmarked it so I can search and learn about the different additivies people have put in melt and pour.http://www.craftserver.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80353&highlight=sugar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Secret-Beauty Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 I made once a bar of honey and beeswax - and strange thing, the bar was quite soft......Even with the beeswax in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck_35550 Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 Oddly enough, I tried Annie's recipe last night and basically got stopped in my tracks on the first layer pour. The top formed an oil slick about 1/8 th inch deep and I knew better than to try another layer. I plan to add more m&p to the batch and may put a little collodial oatmeal in as well. I used whipping cream instead of goat milk and all I had was a clear base from Columbus. I used the BCN Soapberry dyes (super by the way) and really thought it was going to look great. I had found some acrylic pumpkins, maple leaves and acorns at Big Lots and made silicone molds for topping. They look really great and I intended to whip the soap for the topping and then sprinkle with some glitter and assorted other stuff and place the imbeds. So tonight I'll see if this can be saved, wish me luck.Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksranch Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 Oddly enough, I tried Annie's recipe last night and basically got stopped in my tracks on the first layer pour. The top formed an oil slick about 1/8 th inch deep and I knew better than to try another layer. I plan to add more m&p to the batch and may put a little collodial oatmeal in as well. I used whipping cream instead of goat milk and all I had was a clear base from Columbus. I used the BCN Soapberry dyes (super by the way) and really thought it was going to look great. I had found some acrylic pumpkins, maple leaves and acorns at Big Lots and made silicone molds for topping. They look really great and I intended to whip the soap for the topping and then sprinkle with some glitter and assorted other stuff and place the imbeds. So tonight I'll see if this can be saved, wish me luck.SteveI SO wanna see these if they pull through!! Please post pics!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck_35550 Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Last night I added more mp and basically doubled the recipe to 4 pounds. I poured a 5 ounce bottom layer of brown and it behaved just fine. The next layer was fine and then the third layer didn't want to firm up because I poured about 8 oz and it formed that oil slick again. So, I covered everything and tonight I'll warm up that layer and pour the final one before adding the whipped topping and imbeds. It seems like the thin layers behave a lot better for some reason but when I unmolded the first attempt, I noticed that the soap was like a bendable rubber; so I added a teaspoon of Aveeno (collodial oatmeal) to each pound of soap. I put the oatmeal in a small glass bowl and added some liquid and beat it until it looked liked rubber and then incorporated back into the soap. It really dispersed just fine and I think it added a little more texture to the soap. I'll hopefully finish up tonight and then let it sit a couple of days as a loaf (I'm using the 2 pound acrylic mold from Soapers Resource and it unmolds perfecly) and lose some of that moisture. HTHSteve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck_35550 Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 Ok, finished up last night and we'll see. I used a recipe from Ann Marie (glycerin, meringue powder, mp and foaming body wash) for my icing. I didn't have the foaming body stuff from bb so I used a almond/milk foaming liquid bath product and beat it with a hand mixer. It never did get nice stiff peaks and I hated to waste anymore of the meringue powder cause it was $14.00 bucks at wallyworld; so I glopped it on and placed my imbeds (before glittering) and it looks quite a busy mess. I'm not sure the icing will harden but I'll take it out tonight and let it air a little bit and see. I can tell you that my hands are the softest man's hands in the universe. lolSteve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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