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Does anyone know of places to go to smell essential oils and fragrance oils before buying them? I live in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but I'd drive 200 miles to have this opportunity. Maybe even farther. As far as I know, all I have near me are grocery stores (like whole foods) that sell tiny bottles of...

Here's a story about a bad batch that went from falling apart to falling in place. About two weeks ago I tried to make a coffee soap with swirls and a pencil line. The loaf fell apart along the pencil line, plus the scent was disappointing. I threw it in a bag to save for a rebatch. Day before...

I poured a loaf of soap today, and as I was pouring it, I noticed it starting to look ricey. I finished pouring it anyway. See? I don't know if the ricing is very visible in the photo, but what do you think? Will I need to rebatch? I'm hoping the ricing will magically go away...

This palm oil looks weird! It smells fine, though. The one on the left was microwaved for a minute to soften it for me. I didn't look at it before I nuked it. I noticed bumps on it after nuking it, and it looks kind of separated, too. I opened another container I hadn't nuked, also to...

I made this soap back in the middle of November 2013. I gave it to my bf's mom because it is scented with an oil she gave me: Lavender Fleurs by Aveda. On a recent visit to her house, I used the soap to wash my hands in the bathroom and saw something that made my heart sink--Dreaded Orange...

I gave away all but two of the bars from my first batch of Nag Champa soap (those are for meeee!), so I figured I should make some more. First time doing a pencil line with a mica (all previous pencil lines were done with cocoa powder). I think I like it. But I think my favorite part is the...

Hey, everyone! The other day, I lost my favorite lip balm. It is a horribly chemical-laden drugstore product, and losing it seems like a good motivator to try a homemade lip balm. I have read a bunch of threads on here about making lip balm, done a little outside research, and here's the...

Hi! I need a little help making a sugar scrub. Question #1: Do sugar scrubs need both a preservative AND an antioxidant? Question #2: What type of sugar is best? Question #3: What does the preferred consistency compare to (i.e., peanut butter, pudding, frosting, pea soup)? Here's some...

First time making salt bars. The batter seized before adding the salt. I dumped it into a crock pot, and it's been cooking for about 5 minutes now. Can I still add in the salt? Add now or after cooking? I don't know what else to do with this mess. Poop.

A little while ago I went on a scent-buying shopping spree, so now I'm trying to use those so I can have a clear conscience to go on another one. Mango Mandarin from Coastal Scents was one. It kind of gives me a headache, but smells good at the same time. :/ I wanted to play around with color...

Thanks to wonderful members of this forum, I was able to realize a soap design. I asked for help engineering a half-circle/rectangle shape in this thread here: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?p=410039 And here are the results: The blue is a solid cosmetic...

I have an idea for a soap shaped like a half-circle on top of a rectangle. How could I make a loaf mold for that? I prefer a loaf mold rather than a column mold because I want the circle part to be a different color than the rectangle part. Do you think cutting a pringles can in half down its...

Ambition took over one day and I decided to pour two batches of soap in one day. Sandalwood scented with Brambleberry's Sensuous Sandalwood FO (very nice) and pour swirled with sandalwood powder: (It had some mysterious dribbly and slightly zappy spots on the top which have since disappeared...

What are these weird dribbly spots? They weren't there this morning. I poured it yesterday afternoon, at a really thin trace. I used Brambleberry's Sensuous Sandalwood in all the batter, then added some sandalwood powder to half the batter. I swirled the powdered and unpowdered together...

On average, how long does a bar of your soap last? 4 weeks and a day after curing, I put a bar in a soap cozy and started using it for every shower. Today, less than a month later, it is now just a sliver. I'm disappointed it didn't even last a month. I am thinking the soap cozy may have had a...

I am specifically wondering if a stainless steel scoop would be what I'm looking for. The plastic scoop I use now creates what I think is a lot of static electricity that causes granules to cling to it. But then, as my scoop full of dry lye (and coated with lye granules) makes the half-inch...

Maybe I'm weird, but I really like the smell of dill. I paired it with eucalyptus*, and I also included some sandalwood as insurance on having at least one scent I know I like in soap. bluelilyboutique's Manta swirl pics inspired me to try something similar with my colors and swirl attempt. I...

Last night I decided I needed a soap cozy to use with soap bars in the shower rather than trying to keep the bar wrapped with my wash rag. I chose crochet because that is quicker for me than knitting. I haven't tried it yet. I will try it out tonight after work and update...

Well, I know I can't get enough soap pics. I'm sure there's some of you out there like me. Here ya go! Patchouli scent, partially colored with blue oxide, green oxide, and a blue-green mica. It came out a pretty minty green color I love. I drop swirled the two colors, then I put a stick in...

Oh no! I don't know what happened. I was mixing my stuff together like normal, had a light trace, poured some into a cup with color dispersed in oil, started mixing the color in and it looked weird, kinda like applesauce. "That's not normal," I thought, but decided to go with it. Went back to my...