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Soapprentice

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Hey guys, for the April 2017 Challenge, I made my 1st 50% Shea Butter soap. I just tried one soap today out of curiosity. The lather does not exist whatsoever but my skin feels heavenly after washing my hands merely after 10 days cure. I wonder how well it will do with a longer cure. Here is the recipe for the adventurous souls:

Shea 50%
Olive 35%
Castor 5%
Avocado Oil 10%

IMG_2116.jpg
 
Cute! I assume you used raw shea butter rather than refined? I'm asking because I recently used raw shea butter to make CP and I was not happy with the result... too soft.
 
Your soaps seem to have cut really nicely! For some reason I hear a lot of "don't use too much shea butter in your recipe or your soap will be crumbly" but it's cool that this recipe seems to perform well under the knife.
 
Cute! I assume you used raw shea butter rather than refined? I'm asking because I recently used raw shea butter to make CP and I was not happy with the result... too soft.

It's refined Shea.. it was soft when I cut it 24 hrs later.. you can still leave impressions if u apply a little pressure. It felt like my typical soap (I use a lot of soft oils).

Your soaps seem to have cut really nicely! For some reason I hear a lot of "don't use too much shea butter in your recipe or your soap will be crumbly" but it's cool that this recipe seems to perform well under the knife.

I was surprised too.. I cut it after 24 hours. I would cut a little later next time as it was softer than my liking. But then again, that statement would be true with cocoa and Kokum butters as they are a lot harder than Shea.
 
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Looks really lovely and creamy, maybe the lather will increase with a bit of age? but without much in the way of lathering oils not sure, still soothing on skin is nice!
 
After a very long cure it should be nice. Not sure about the high olive % since it does not contribute a thing to lather. There is a thread here about shea percentages in soap. I know I posted what I used. I always use raw yellow shea in my soap and save refined for lotion. Lye will kill any misc in the raw shea.
 
Well they turned out lovely! Lather is nice to have but not always needed - you'll get clean either way! Just out of interest, here are the properties for each oil you used (from this amazing resource: http://www.lovinsoap.com/oils-chart):

Shea - Mild stabilizing lotion-like lather, medium hard, long lasting bar
Olive - Low slippery lather, almost no bubbles, low cleansing
Castor - Boosts lather by making a soap more easily dissolved in water
Avocado Oil - Medium lather, mild cleansing

So it does sound quite consistent with what you got - low, creamy lather.
 
I agree with you all.. I knew beforehand that the fats I used would result in low lather, I would sacrifice lather for a soap that my skin likes anytime. It worked for me, not sure it will for others though. Now the wait begins... :D
 
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