Hello all,
I had had been brewing beer and was an active member of a forum called Home Brew Talk (which has a layout that might look very similar to members of this forum) for many years before I had to stop drinking because of alcohol's interaction with a medication I now take - nothing serious, but for me the benefit of the medication outweighed the pleasure of having a cold, home-brewed beer or two after a long, hard day at work (ask me if I would have said that a year ago
).
While I do still brew from time to time, it's usually just assisting friends on their beers or to make a small batch as a gift for family or friends. And so, I've come across a bit of free time recently and have been looking into another hobby - cheesemaking and a few others were thoughts, but the issue with making a lot of cheese is that someone needs to eat it and, believe it or not, it's a lot harder to give away than beer is.
So, a few months ago, after having used the last of my 877th bar of Zest in my shower the night before, I found myself without soap and couldn't immediately find another bar in the cabinet. With a bit of curiosity, I grabbed the bar my wife uses and decided to give it a try. Aside from smelling like "Sugar Cookie" or whatever the scent was, I came to the realization that I much preferred the way this bar felt and made me feel after using it than the same 'ol Zest I had used for ages. It had oats in it that added a slightly rough texture and this soap left my skin feeling nice and soft afterwards, a far cry from what I was used to which had left my skin feeling dry afterward - something I had not even noticed until I was presented with a new option.
I set out to find my own bar, but with a scent that I could handle using daily, and found the options for men to be somewhat slim. While I have found a couple bars I don't hate, this had given me the idea of getting back into a homemade, hands-on hobby and learning new processes. Two birds, meet one stone.
I have been reading up quite a bit on the subject for the past few months (enough to have come to the realization that I know nothing - in many ways, a good place to be) both through this forum and around the web. I look forward to learning more about the processes and ingredients here and thank you all for the many answers I have already found here in my searches.
I had had been brewing beer and was an active member of a forum called Home Brew Talk (which has a layout that might look very similar to members of this forum) for many years before I had to stop drinking because of alcohol's interaction with a medication I now take - nothing serious, but for me the benefit of the medication outweighed the pleasure of having a cold, home-brewed beer or two after a long, hard day at work (ask me if I would have said that a year ago
).While I do still brew from time to time, it's usually just assisting friends on their beers or to make a small batch as a gift for family or friends. And so, I've come across a bit of free time recently and have been looking into another hobby - cheesemaking and a few others were thoughts, but the issue with making a lot of cheese is that someone needs to eat it and, believe it or not, it's a lot harder to give away than beer is.
So, a few months ago, after having used the last of my 877th bar of Zest in my shower the night before, I found myself without soap and couldn't immediately find another bar in the cabinet. With a bit of curiosity, I grabbed the bar my wife uses and decided to give it a try. Aside from smelling like "Sugar Cookie" or whatever the scent was, I came to the realization that I much preferred the way this bar felt and made me feel after using it than the same 'ol Zest I had used for ages. It had oats in it that added a slightly rough texture and this soap left my skin feeling nice and soft afterwards, a far cry from what I was used to which had left my skin feeling dry afterward - something I had not even noticed until I was presented with a new option.I set out to find my own bar, but with a scent that I could handle using daily, and found the options for men to be somewhat slim. While I have found a couple bars I don't hate, this had given me the idea of getting back into a homemade, hands-on hobby and learning new processes. Two birds, meet one stone.
I have been reading up quite a bit on the subject for the past few months (enough to have come to the realization that I know nothing - in many ways, a good place to be) both through this forum and around the web. I look forward to learning more about the processes and ingredients here and thank you all for the many answers I have already found here in my searches.
