Recent content by catikit

Thanks - thats really useful. Very informative. However, it appears to suggest that you must include some water content in the products which you wish to use panthenol in. Is this strictly true?

Hi there, i want to make a tattoo after care balm, and i have read that 'panthenol' is an excellent ingredient to include. What is this? Is it a 'natural' ingredient? Also, how do i add it to my oil and wax mixture? Many thanks

Very interested - thank you very much!

Hi all, I only use distilled water. My workshop is fairly cold (no heating in there, wooden floors, old stone walls) but i cure the bars at home where its a more temperate environment. Some bars (made in single cell molds) appear to go rancid unbelievably quickly whilst others from the same...

I use a 5% superfat. All my oils are pretty stable - coconut, palm, olive, sweet almond, avocado, shea butter.

Yes i did something similar, and also use plenty of castor. I havent though of using panthenol, but i am excited! Is this a natural ingredient? how do i 'use' it/include it? (i.e. does it need heating/melting etc...? Can it take the place of some oils...?)

Hi there, I make a very mild baby soap bar which when made in a large loaf mold and allowed to gel, lasts for ages. However, when i make this in a mold with individual cavities, it doesnt gel (presumably because there's insufficient volume to create and maintain the heat...) and i find these...

Wow Lindy i love your message! I make a CP shampoo bar for my 2 year old son and its great. I included avocado oil and shea butter in mine for the conditioning of his scalp. Its great stuff and I'm really happy with it. It makes his hair really soft - though i do find i need to wash it more...

Hi there, since changing to a different supplier i have awful problems with graininess in my (shea butter) body butters. The shea butter seems fine - doesnt smell or look odd - but its driving me mad. I melt very slowly over a double boiler. Have tried both fast and slow cooling. Nothing seems...

Sorry whats CPOP? Sounds good though - might try that in the oven.

Yes i think im reaching full trace....perhaps i could go for a heavier trace before molding. As for EO, what does 'adulterated' mean? Im not sure i understand. Thanks for your help so far.

Hi there, I'm making a gorgeous spearmint soap - but for some reason everytime i make it it never fully gels. I'm using a wooden lidded mold and it enters gel stage but seems to cool down leaving what look like 'pockets' of gel-like areas - as if the oil is not fully saponifying. I removed a...

DOS

Hi there, thanks for the reply. Am curing in a dry place, ambient temp thanks. I dont think my oils are near the expiration date - and i guess if they were it wouldnt explain why only some batches are spoiling and not others. Perhaps i'm heating them too high/too quickly....? Will investigate...

Hi there, Any tips please? I'm making a lovely kids soap - gorgeous and mild, creamy wonderful. Anyway, I'm finding that some (not all) batches are spoiling after only 4 or 5 weeks. The ingredients are: Coconut, olive, palm, castor, shea butter, almond, avocado. I'm adding Vit e at 0.1% just...