Recent content by VanessaP

The leather from Aztec, BB, Bitter Creek North (le sigh) and WSP are all acrid to me and smell like brand new car. The only one that smells (to me and my customers who are in love with the scent) like a real tanner's shop is Saddle Shop from DayStar. BCN's Leather used to be what I used, but...

From Marie Gale's blog at http://blog.mariegale.com/monday-mailbag-2014-07-28/

Shaving is considered a change to the look of your skin - as in you are using the soap to aid in hair removal process. It is considered a cosmetic if you call it shaving soap and therefore requires cosmetic labeling requirements. If you simply call it a soap and use a witty name like Whiskers Be...

You need to properly take the temperature of your product if you're going to be using a preservative with such a low temperature threshold. Adding it at a "warm bath" temp isn't accurate. Your warm bath may be 130 and to me it may be 110. Use that thermometer. Also, aloe vera gel may very well...

I agree with IL on how it feels. I use glycerin for my KOH solution. There is a short sensation of tackiness when first drying my hands, but it leaves quickly.

I'm with Susie. I wouldn't trust a soap not to misbehave with a pH that low.

NG's The Perfect Man sticks like a mofo. I use 0.5 oz ppo in my CP and it is still crazy strong. Cardamom & Teakwood sticks, Misbehavin' sticks, Cracklin Birch is a crazy sticker. I use mostly Rustic Escentuals, Nature's Garden, Aztec and a few from WSP.

Before you suggest someone choose a single oil in the lye calculators to substitute for the Crisco listing, perhaps you should check the ingredients list of Crisco. It is not only soybean oil. Crisco ingredients: soybean oil, fully hydrogenated palm oil, and partially hydrogenated palm and...

I live about 45 minutes from Knoxville. I use a lot of them. Yep, some are light and some may not work well in CP. But just about every supplier is going to have some FOs that just don't work well/behave in soap. I love their Blackberry (but not the Blackberry Sage), and Sweetheart is a very...

Manteca is Spanish for lard. If you list ingredients in the US, your ingredients must be in English. Yes, you can also list them in other languages, but English ingredients are a requirement. As lard is the proper English INCI term for lard, lard should be on the labels. Pig tallow is...

I have yet to have a problem with TD crackling. However, I don't use it much. When I do use it, I set it in oil for an hour or two to hydrate its way into the clumps and I mix it with my minimixer about every 15 minutes. I get very few clumps/streaks with this. If yours is oil based TD, use oil...

I have a 7 quart oval that I can do a 5lb batch in very easily - probably had room for another pound or so, and that is about 4lb of oil. I don't stand there and stir my HP, and in my 4qt crock pot, I can do 3lb batches (34-38oz oil) quite easily. I haven't yet had a bubble-over in any of my...

I don't use milks in my LS but I do use a preservative in them, even for what I use in my own home, because a skin infection is nothing to play around with. I use Liquid Germall Plus because it has no pH restrictions however you DO have to wait until the soap is below 120 to add it. Antioxidants...

I know its going to sound weird, but Just Scent's Sweet Orange Chili Pepper is very heavy on the pepper. As in, myself and jcandleattic can't really smell the orange to it.

I doubt it is, it looks like just about every kawaii bear I've ever seen. I wouldn't worry about it.