I have actually tried 1 recipe from the Soapcrafting book, the squirty swirls one. While the technique was fun & enjoyable the recipe however dries my hands out really bad. I think I'll stick to my own recipe.
Wow that turned out beautiful anyways! It's earthy looking. I always flip a box over top of my soaps for cover & let it gel. Even my soap with m&p embeds on the top come out fine.