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I am beginning to think that a truly good lavender FO is a unicorn. For some reason, I thought that finding one would be easy but over the years it has eluded me. If they're good OOB or in B&B they don't stick in CP, and if they stick in CP, they're not good! When I've searched here it seems...

Hello all, thinking of ordering from OTS and wondering if anyone had recommendations for scents that are good and that stick? My ride or die scents from there are Mysore Sandalwood, Bonsai and Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific (the last only for shampoo bars, though.) @Mobjack Bay, in a past post...

I’ve been experimenting with benzoin powder as a scent fixative and think there might be something to it. I haven’t been doing it for long enough, or rigorously enough, to conclude anything with certainty, but the fragrance in the soaps in which I’ve used it seems to be stronger and hold better...

I don’t know how I ended up on this video while on a youtube bing, but it is BB’s Anne Marie answering FAQs from viewers. Almost all of it seemed very familiar, but she provided a long list of control factors for soda ash, so I (a) wanted to post them here for newbies and (b) ask if some of...

Can someone, for the love of God, tell me how to delete posts? I am constantly double posting by mistake and I cannot for the life of me figure out how to delete them, them. I have looked on the two "more" options in the post "edit" screen and don't see anything.

I visited Lush recently and really liked the Karma soap. I have Fragrance Buddy's Karma Dupe, Life Lesson. But to my nose Lush's version seems more forward on the lemongrass, and the elemi/pine notes seem to balance the patchouli in the blend differently. I tried blending FB's Avobath (a...

Inspired by @Mobjack Bay, I went into the local Lush store today. I was amazed at how strong (in a good way) the soaps smelled until I read the ingredients of one and realized they were MP soaps. I had assumed that Lush soaps were mainly CP, I think it is the other way around. When I looked...

I have not used tallow in years but have almost always soaped with between 50-65% lard. It seems like I remember that tallow traced faster than lard, though. I like to do designs which take a bit of time, eg, using dividers and three colors. Would that take too long for a tallow heavy bar?

Did my first pull through with a kit bought from Wild Plantanica and it was really fun. I fully expected these to be a blobby failure and for there to be a steep learning curve, but I was happy with the results and look forward to getting better and trying other discs/patterns/colors. These...

Hello all, making stain sticks for the first time. I know that some of you add d-limonene to your stain sticks, so I ordered some and was wondering about the process. @AliOop, I found a post of yours saying that you use 100% CO and 2% limonene. Is that 2% ppo, 2% of total batch weight or some...

Just wanted to share the experience I had making emulsified lotion bars/shower lotion bars for anyone that is interested or for future searchers. I really wanted to include one in my Christmas baskets, and after doing a fairly comprehensive search for recipes that looked good I tried the...

Details: "25% off all Crafter's Choice® fragrance oils, 10% off all Rustic Escentuals fragrance oils, and 10% off all Just Scent fragrance oils. Plus, 5% off all bulk fragrance orders." I kind of hate WSP (or, I guess, the entity which owns/profits from it) for creating a monopoly over soap...

@AliOop and @Zing, NDA is having a 15% off holiday sale, so that Abyssinian oil is (relatively) cheap, $11.90/lb or $22.10 for 2.2 lbs (after the discount, assuming I did the math right!). The coupon code is HOLIDAY2023.

Just a heads up that these formulators, who are well-liked and reviewed by posters here, are having a 40% off sale for the next day (not sure when it started). They sell formulas/recipes, not products. I've tried the shampoo bar/conditioner bar recipes and the lotion/cream concentrate one...

I want to make some shampoo bars for Xmas presents and had some questions for you shampoo bar makers out there: (1) What size seems to work the best? It seems like commercial ones run the gamut between 3 to 6 oz. How many washes do you typically get out of a 3 oz bar? I realize this would...

Hello all, I wanted to order put in a final order of stuff I needed for Christmas baskets, some soap things, some B&B. Scented Experience seems to generally have a pretty comprehensive inventory of soap and B&B materials. Does anyone have experience with their product quality, speed of...

Are there any soapmakers in the San Diego area who are up for a meetup? When I lived in LA a group of us met and it was really fun to connect names with faces/swap FO's and soaps/chat unceasingly about oils, FO's, techniques, additives and other soapy topics. (Amazingly, non-soapers find that...

Hello, all. I am planning on making some mini lotion bars to put in Christmas baskets along with soaps and other B&B stuff, and was wondering if it would be ok to pour the mix directly into small tin/aluminum screwtop containers like this...

The recent thread on ciaglia reminded me that I wanted to try this using some soaps from a couple of rounds of brine bars from cavity mold soaps that had traced too fast and where I didn't like the lumpy tops. I was going to do a 30%/70% mix of brine soap shreds/new batter, and for the new...

I love BB's Tobacco and Bay Leaf, one of my very favorite fragrances. But at $50 for 15 oz (what is up with shorting that last ounce?), it really has gotten too rich for my blood, at least in soap. Anyone tried any other suppliers versions that come close? TIA for any suggestions