Natural Soap Bases from EBC!

[rachelb5499]

So I just ordered some samples of Essentials By Catalina's natural soap bases last night. I'm so anxious for them to get here!

I just finished testing out WSP's natural white, and it was nice...so much fun and so "easy" in comparison to the CP I do so that made it EXTRA fun! My testers and I LIKED WSP's, but it WAS a little "drying" in comparison to my CP, and they really recommend to not add a bunch of additives to it so I didn't add any. I have enough left to still "play" with it a little, but I've seen more happiness from people on here with EBC than WSP....and WSP is raising prices again.

Anyone else use EBC natural white or just natural and have any pointers, tips, additive suggestions, etc? (I've read PrairieAnne's (sp?) recipe, etc. That's what made me more prone to give them a shot.)

Do ANY of you add POWDERED goat's milk to your bases? (I've seen a lot of "liquid" goat's milk added.) If so, how do YOU do it? Meaning, when I make lotion, I just add the powder...no fuss, no muss, but when I make CP, I mix the powder with some of the oils to get it to mix well, etc. before adding it back in to the main batch....since M&P takes all those mixing steps out of the process.....thus, the question.

I KNOW that to add Fragrance, you should add/work within that particular fragrance's suggestion, but do any of you have a general set percentage you work off of? I do for CP, but I never really calculated it as a percent. I just did this morning, and it actually looks like it's about 3% of the entire batch. Well, THAT's what I did for my first M&P test. Duh, no wonder it smelled so much stronger! (I liked it so not a complaint just realized that may have been part of the "drying" factor, AND that I should try a little less next time around.) Just curious what others typically do.

[Candybee]

You can use powdered goat milk, canned, or fresh. If using powdered it helps to premix it with distilled water so you don't get lumps in your melted base. I just mix mine with enough water to make a sort of paste then add it to my melted base and blend thoroughly. I like my milk soaps creamy!

Fragrance oils I tend to measure out using measuring spoons. I typically use 1 TBS per lb of base. Some fragrances need less, maybe 2 tsp and some may use a bit more, say 1 tbs plue 1 tsp.

Essential oils can be cut by about half. Again, you have to experiment with the oil as some work great with 1 tsp per lb and others I use 2 tsp or even more for say sandalwood EO.

The reason I quit using WSP bases is that they don't allow for a lot of additives like oils and butters. Not good for me. I ended up with soap that didn't lather using WSP. So the soap can be drying.

EBC are also good bases and are more forgiving for additives. But they too are very soft and may need hardening agents like coconut oil, cocoa butter, stearic, etc. PrairieAnnie likes to add liquid soap to hers so that she doesn't lose lather. And yes she uses EBC bases and makes a darn good gm soap! But she also uses fresh gm from her own goats lucky gal!

I love adding castor oil to my soap especially if I have nothing else to add. I always get a super moisturizing and creamy lather using it.

Edited March 27, 2011 by Candybee

[Noodle]

I use "sifted" powdered milks in my bases all of the time with great results. I make mine thinner than a paste when I mix it and I add it to the base. I use quite a bit of it too because I am not one for a lot of other additives. I like buttermilk powder best, but I do use the goat's milk in my soaps as well.

[rachelb5499]

Thank you for the responses....I suspected it was best to mix with water (distilled), but finding out from someone who has done it is a huge help in the beginning process!