I have been reading here for several months so I have decided to finally introduce myself. I am in IL and have been making soap for about 5 months now. I found a farmer nearby and am going to start getting fresh goats milk from him, so I am excited about making lots of goats milk soap soon. I am also giving lots of soap to the local homeless shelter and food pantry - not sure what to do with all this extra soap, lol. But, I love making my own recipes and testing out new things. Only one bad batch so far, bad FO I think, it had no smell and turned an ugly grey color. Not too bad for just starting out.