I feel a little sad about this...

[cerelife]

I was inspired to learn how to make soap because the hubby was considering adding "Soap" to our budget since we were spending a ton of money on soap from a vendor in New Orleans' French Market. We adored this soap...we're in New Orleans 2-3 times a year and always stocked up (12 bars for $100) so we wouldn't run out!
So we were back in New Orleans earlier this month (first visit since I started making soap back in August), and we went to the French Market...saw our fave soap vendor there, so of course we had to check out the soap. I've heard the saying that "Ignorance is bliss", but never really had it hit home before. I was looking at the soap with new eyes... I saw DOS on many bars, and all the different "scents" had little smell other than just soap. I was devastated...and having the hubby tell me that my soap was way better just made me feel worse! It should have made me happy that my soap is better...right? I just feel let down...

 

[dandelion]

I know that feeling. I was a soap hoarder all my life and spent alot of money at LUSH for a whole year before I started making soap. Just feel good that your produc is superior and move on.

 

[Hazel]

Are you feeling let down because you wasted so much money on this vendor? Or are you feeling let down because this vendor doesn't care about the quality of his/her product, pride or safety of customers and is selling just for the money?

I do understand (in a way) what you're feeling. I used to buy soaps from craft fairs and online which is the main reason I started to make my own. It got kind of expensive. I still occasionally buy soaps as a comparison to see how far I've come. I've found that I'm to the point where I'm disappointed by the soaps. Not that they're bad or have DOS but I'm starting to find my soaps are as nice or I just prefer my soap over their soaps.

I hope you're saving a bar from each batch and setting it back for comparison to what you make in the future. I'm finding the soaps I'm making now are much better than my first few batches. Talk about a let down feeling! I was so proud of my first few batches and now I'm feeling slightly embarrassed that I forced these batches on family and friends. No wonder they tell me they have enough soap and don't want more. :roll:

 

[Woodi]

Yes, it's painful when our eyes are first opened to a new truth, perhaps even about something we once believed in but, because of more information, can no longer trust. and we might even feel betrayed. I know I have sometimes.

On the positive side, it can also be considered a sort of 'awakening', a dis-illusionment to something that had kept you in illusion before, so you can proceed with more clarity in your life - perhaps feeling happy and grateful that you're now awake to a new reality. Keep on making your own good soap and ENJOY!

 

[cerelife]

Hazel, it was the disregard of quality that let me down...I don't feel like we wasted our money at all, since we DID love the soap. This soapmaker was my "ideal" of what I had hoped to achieve by making my own soap, and to realize that it was sub-par kind of felt like seeing your favorite Superhero/Rockstar/whatever scratching their ass or picking their nose in public...like, THIS was what I was looking up to???
I do save a few bars from every batch, and I take tons of notes on each batch from start to finish. I don't sell, and don't have any plans to do so, but the notes help me refine what the hubby and I like/dislike in terms of superfatting, scrubbies and scents. And by saving a few bars from each batch, I hope to learn how well they will keep their scents, resist DOS, etc.
I still buy soap whenever I find one that interests me...can't hurt to see what others are doing, right?! I call it research, LOL!

 

[sandyfootfarm]

I know what you mean, except my example was not soap but Johnny Depp. A friend's relative went to The Tourist premier and sent back photos, The Depp was short and had bad skin

 

[Hazel]

Hazel, it was the disregard of quality that let me down...I don't feel like we wasted our money at all, since we DID love the soap. This soapmaker was my "ideal" of what I had hoped to achieve by making my own soap, and to realize that it was sub-par kind of felt like seeing your favorite Superhero/Rockstar/whatever scratching their ass or picking their nose in public...like, THIS was what I was looking up to???
I do save a few bars from every batch, and I take tons of notes on each batch from start to finish. I don't sell, and don't have any plans to do so, but the notes help me refine what the hubby and I like/dislike in terms of superfatting, scrubbies and scents. And by saving a few bars from each batch, I hope to learn how well they will keep their scents, resist DOS, etc.
I still buy soap whenever I find one that interests me...can't hurt to see what others are doing, right?! I call it research, LOL!

I see your point. I hadn't thought of it like that. Well, try to take comfort in the fact that you're learning and you can now recognize quality. Research...is that what it is? I'll have to start using that term. It sounds better than saying I'm a soap junkie.

 

[kelleyaynn]

I know what you mean, except my example was not soap but Johnny Depp. A friend's relative went to The Tourist premier and sent back photos, The Depp was short and had bad skin

Oh! you ruined it for me! He was one of my "free passes"! I don't care about short, but.....

 

[pixybratt]

I know what you mean, except my example was not soap but Johnny Depp. A friend's relative went to The Tourist premier and sent back photos, The Depp was short and had bad skin

Oh! you ruined it for me! He was one of my "free passes"! I don't care about short, but.....

offer him some soap to help his skin then it should still be ok

 

[sandyfootfarm]

I suspect he might also now be bat s**t crazy :shock: I had to put my fingers in my ears when she said Brad had wrinkles too

Before I started making these soaps I wasn't really into them, pushing the boat out for me was buying a nice dove bar. So I'm lucky I don't have any reference point and memories to be tarnished.

 

[sweetorangeblossum]

we should find out which cute little city in France The Depp family lives in and deliver some of our finest soaps...somehow. Sounds like a great project! lol

 

[cerelife]

Ok, I personally have never seen the Depp (whom I adore) in person, so I choose to remember him as he was in "Cry Baby"...
Got my fingers in my ears going "la-la-la" for any idea that he is anything less than adorable, LOL!

 

[sandyfootfarm]

I've never seen a finer creature than The Depp in Cry Baby, better than a wheelbarrow of Belgium chocolate and all the fluffy ducklings in the world

 

[Dennis]

Cerelife,

What you have experienced is not uncommon in any craft. There are always people who seem talented when they are doing things you don't know how to do. The mystery sometimes fades away when you enter the fray.
For years my wife and I practiced the stained glass craft. I was the one who always wanted to sell, she wanted to give away her work. Neither of us can buy stained glass as we now look to those little areas in each piece we know to be challenging and can pick out another's mistakes. Some the result of laziness, others just don't have the skill. Whenever our individual work is compared hers is always much better than mine. Try as I might, my work has never reached the quality of hers. She is a natural at taking care of the tiniest detail. My personality struggles with that. I continue to try.
Consider that the vendor in Norleans gave you the motivation to enter the craft. Who knows what she/he was having to deal with?
Sorry, didn't mean to be preachy, being new here and all.

J Depp makes a great pirate.

 

[agriffin]

I've never seen a finer creature than The Depp in Cry Baby, better than a wheelbarrow of Belgium chocolate and all the fluffy ducklings in the world

Haven't seen that one...just added it to my netflix queue! WEEEEEEE!

 

[kelleyaynn]

Apparently Johnny Depp has his own soap on Etsy:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/64797937/jo ... =&includes[0]=tags&includes[1]=title&filter[0]=handmade&filter[1]=bath_and_beauty&filter[2]=soap

 

[cerelife]

Depp in "Crybaby" = way fun!!! Def check it out, lol!

Dennis, I hear you...
I'm much like your description of your wife in the fact that I'm a stickler for details. In my occupation I HAVE to be!! And it spills over into every facet of my life...including soaping. I'm very anal about measuring everything to the exact gram... if nothing else, I am precise. I'm one of those people who feel like if you're going to do something, go full-tilt...and do it the very best you can.
Part of my feeling of being let-down (which I didn't mention, because I didn't want to make unkind comments) was the fact that when I noticed DOS on some of this soapmaker's bars, I pointed them out when no other customers were around, and the response was a blank look...followed by a comment that "They look OK to me." TOTAL disregard for the quality of the soap, IMHO.

 

[Beckis19]

I sort of know how you feel. A couple years ago I was looking to get my mom (who loves my soap, since better for her eczema than the store-bought ones) some handmade soap for Christmas (I was pregnant at the time and hubby was freaking out about the thought of me making soap while pregnant, lol!). I went to several craft shows and only found 2 ppl at 1 show that made soaps.

One of them, the soap was very soft hand hardly had any scent at all. Witth the other, it looked, felt, and smelled ok. Out of curiosity, I asked her how much she supperfatted the soap. She had no idea what I was talking about, turns out she just follows a recipe she has. Don't know if it's from a book or what, but I thought most books even covered the concept of superfat/lye discount. Even being a hobbyist soapmaker, knowing what I do about soaps I didn't want to buy from someone who had no clue what she was doing other than following a recipe. My feelings are that even if someone is doing it to earn a living, they should at least have some passion for the hobby, looking at some online forums/groups to see what others are doing, get ideas, etc.

Needless to say, I didn't buy anything from anyone, went home, convinced hubby that I should make my own soap, and did a batch with all the kitchen windows on and a fan blowing in the middle of December to satisfy him regarding the fumes issue.....

 

[sweetorangeblossum]

I liked your story, Beckis...it put a smile on my face! I would like to ask ms Elizabeth, who makes all those soaps and things at my local farmer's market whether or not SHE knows what superfatting is, but I don't want to have "The Johnny Depp" Syndrome we were talking about earlier. Elizabeth's my hero! Not a more awesome lady in my soap/toiletries book. And besides, I'm sure she does, her soap's the best in the whole Parrish.

 

[sweetorangeblossum]

Apparently Johnny Depp has his own soap on Etsy:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/64797937/jo ... =&includes[0]=tags&includes[1]=title&filter[0]=handmade&filter[1]=bath_and_beauty&filter[2]=soap

No offense to this artisan, but as far as this soap goes...
we have a word here in Louisiana, could be a nationwide word...but its usually used to describe cheaply made, unsparkly, or plain ole, run-o-the-mill Mardi Gras Beads...the word "Chinsey" comes to mind. Odd word, right?