SFIC Base Suggestions, Tips, Creative Concotions?

[rachelb5499]

Just curious....if you use SFIC bases, which is your all-time favorite or which is your best seller, etc.

And what do you do with their bases? Meaning do you add a bunch of additive, leave it alone other than color and scent, get real creative with the design of it? Mix it with other bases to come up with something really cool and different? Etc.

Sky is the limit with answer to the questions. Curiousness might just kill me! LOL

[TeriM]

I love the Goats Milk... been using it for a couple years now. Sometimes I add stuff and other times I don't. I guess it really depends on what soap I'm making.

I also use the white which I also like... this is the one I usually add butters and other stuff to..

[Faerywren]

I use SFIC exclusively. I use the olive oil, honey, goat milk and shea butter bases. I don't use many additives unless I'm making my shaving soap which has 2 tbs castor added with bentonite clay. Occasionally, I add botanicals for visual interest, but mostly I leave the base alone.

[DebM]

The hemp base for my hippy market - I add botanicals to a couple, otherwise just essential oils.

[rachelb5499]

Thanks, Teri and Faery! Neither one of you finds the Goat's Milk too soft? Faery, I tried to look at what you make/what you have for sale and there was nothing listed at Etsy or ArtFire. Do you have another site?

Do either of you sell at farmer's markets, shows, etc?

How do you promote your M&P soaps? Do you make CP also or just M&P?

Have either of you used EBC? (essentials by catalina?) I just tried some of their natural white.......the only other I've tried is WSP's natural white. What a difference! WSP behaved very easily and nicely. EBC is really brittle when trying to cut it down....when melting in microwave (at 10 second intervals), it still bubbled up all over the place so I lost product with my first test....and it was SUPER sticky like marshmallow goo. Just curious what you thought of SFIC in comparison if you ever compared/use the two?

I'm waiting for my order from Wisteria Lane for SFIC bases. I can't wait. I HOPE I like them best because if I do, I'm going direct! (even though I have to order 250 lbs minimum.)

Deb, I certainly live in a "hippy area" so I thought about the hemp base too. I didn't order a sample of it though. Where do you live to hit the "hippy market?"

[smallwhitedogs]

I have used SFIC goats milk, shea butter, hemp, shaving soap; Stephenson's mango butter; and Essentials by Catalina white, goats milk, Tres Leches, and natural white. These are for my family's use, I do not sell. Favorites for creamy and moisturizing lather: SFIC goat's milk and EBC Tres Leches. Best lather overall EBC Tres Leches, SFIC shaving soap, & Stephenson's mango butter. I have added canned goats milk (2 TBSP) and castor oil (1 tsp) to the EBC white, Tres Leches and Natural, and it did not really do anything for the soap, except cut the lather. The soap that even my son commented about being "your best soap ever" was a mixture of EBC Tres Leches and SFIC shaving soap. I think I added Brambleberry's OMH scent to that. I do have WSP's Ultra White, High Lather Cleansing, Goats Milk, and Honey bases here, but have not used them yet, so cannot comment on their lather. So, to sum up, I think the top favorite would be EBC's Tres Leches w/ SFIC shaving soap, second SFIC Goat's Milk with my own ground oatmeal added for exfoliation. It is difficult to choose! Stephenson's had a really good lather, too. For me, I found that additives did not improve my soap, so if I purchase a goats milk, or shea butter, etc... I leave it alone, except for fragrance and color, if desired. EBC had very good CS, and the paraben free body frosting and A,C & E lotion base are fast absorbing and excellent.

[rachelb5499]

Thanks, SWD! I'll certainly keep that in mind about additives......some people seem to have great success with additives while others suggest the same as you. I'll certainly have to play with it both ways I guess. I'm really interested in the "natural" bases so leaning all the more towards SFIC's bases. I'm still anxiously awaiting my "sample" order to arrive from Wisteria Lane to try out SFIC bases. I've done a test with the natural white EBC base....and, it's got better lather than the natural WSP bases I tried, but really sticky....develops a skin very quickly and was still pretty drying. I sure hope SFIC will be the "winner" with a base that I just adore and that maybe, just maybe, I'll love enough to not even "play" with adding things to "improve it." Except for possibly "mixing bases" because you are at least the second person who has mentioned combining some "shaving" soap base with another to get better lather, etc. GREAT help! THANKS again!

[Faerywren]

Yeah, both my easy and artfire shops are empty at the moment. I work night shift full time with mandatory overtime as an RN, so I've been focusing on my local sales (which are largely candles/tarts) rather than Internet. There just aren't enough hours in the day unfortunately.

[rachelb5499]

Yeah, both my easy and artfire shops are empty at the moment. I work night shift full time with mandatory overtime as an RN, so I've been focusing on my local sales (which are largely candles/tarts) rather than Internet. There just aren't enough hours in the day unfortunately.

Can't say as I blame you!

[Faerywren]

And that was supposed to be Etsy, not easy, but my iPad has no idea what Etsy is and changed it.

[rachelb5499]

Gotta Love "technology!" I knew what you meant. heh heh

[rachelb5499]

Well, I'm still testing different varieties and still going to test different combinations of those bases together. BUT so far.....

#1 every base I've tried from SFIC so far has melted like a DREAM and pours very well as well. NONE of them have been brittle and dry when cutting them into chunks to melt down so THAT has been very nice.

I tried the low sweat white first, and I liked it. Obviously, no sweating, good lather (have to work it a bit at first....like any "commercial soap" in the shower, but then it was great!) It actually was so good.....I wondered why anyone would buy anything else........other than maybe low sweat clear. LOL BUT a day or two later, my knuckles started to "burn" at little bit...kind of like when you're lips get a little dried out but aren't seriously "chapped" yet.....BUT I'd had a little bath salt accident that day so now I don't know if it was the salt or the soap! SO.....I made another small bar of low sweat white to "test" out for several days again.

I get humidity and have seen the "crystal fuzz," but since there wasn't even a speck of that on the low sweat, I tried some of the goat's milk base. Again, great melt and great lather....in fact, a little creamier lather....both seemed at least a little drying in comparison to CP that I make...but not bad! THAT day, I had NO sweating with the goat's milk and still haven't.

So I thought, maybe this low sweat thing is a "joke." I'm going to try out the plain white. Well, I haven't USED the plain white yet, but overnight, it developed the crystal fuzz! So....for me, that one is out!

Because the goat's milk didn't sweat, lathered well, etc., I was surprised by how much the plain white sweat so I was curious if additives made it actually sweat less.....so I next tried the Oatmeal base. Lo and behold....NO sweat, but I really haven't USED it yet either to comment on lather or how it feels. I WILL say that it has a LOT of oats in it so certainly couldn't be used in "every bar of soap you make" unless you really embraced all those oats as a coloring challenge! It turned my orange colored soap into this grainy, mottled looking "mess," but scented well, poured well (I got even disbursement of oats) and will test out how it feels soon in regards to moisture and lather.

I moved on to "Extra Lather" base which is typically known as "shaving base" because I figure....low sweat clear probably behaves the same as low sweat white because the only difference is probably the titanium dioxide to add the whiteness to it. Anyway, I wanted to see just HOW MUCH extra lather it provides...plus, it's a "clear" base so wanted to see if it stayed clear with added FO and whether or not it sweats or not. I have NOT had a chance to use this one either. . .BUT it stayed VERY clear so can't see why one couldn't use it OR the low sweat clear....or one for the other. I'm interested in the lather though because even though they all had good lather that I DID try, I'd like to add some shea to the low sweat and/or mix bases to get an even more moisturizing bar and I know that might kill lather and have read that others just even "add a sliver" of "shaving base" to help with lather....but I haven't gotten that far.

I ALSO bought an 8oz bottle of their Natural Liquid Soap to test out. I put approximately an oz of that in a foamer bottle with 7.5 oz. to try it out...so many soaps....so little left of my hands! So I'll have to reply with more test results on that later as well. But there's at least an update for you. So far....I'm thrilled with SFIC bases though!

[rachelb5499]

Well, the search for the "perfect soap" base/additives still continues. I discovered (for sure) that the low sweat SFIC bases cause an everlasting slight burning sensation to my knuckles so that's out. I went back to testing just the plain white/clear, but after days and days, my hands STILL feel too dry...even after adding some shea butter (moisture) and castor (lather) to the mix so back to the drawing board so to speak. I REALLY want to come up with something that feels as good as the cp I make. I'm getting a bit frustrated at this point though. LOL I gotta be honest! But forward I push anyway. I'd LOVE to make MP that feels like my CP so it's a personal goal for sure!