Yay, got my soapies/goodies today!
Carolyn, thanks so much for doing these single oil experiments. I am always curious about them but inevitably come up with something else to do. And lard and tallow are my favorites, so I it is really good to (a) read about these experiments with them and (b) actually get to physically test the results. My thoughts:
Veggie sample: That was the dragon's blood one, right? Great bubbles I thought, but seemed to make my hands a bit dry. I do have v. dry hands. And I agree, I don't usually like DB at all but found this one v. pleasant.
Farmer John Lard samples: I think you might be right about having reversed the gel/ungelled labeling, my "ungelled" one is a fairly bright yellow-ish orange, the "gelled" one is much paler, creamish white on top and on the bottom and starting to get that yellow-orange tinge along the points of the star in between. Not sure if is DOS, but it doesn't actually look bad, it is kind of pretty and almost looks like it was part of the design (ie. not random discolored spots). Did you color these at all (I like that orangish-yellow, would buy it in a mica! Oops, just reread your post, no color in that one.) Slightly smaller bubbles than the veggie soap, but nice creamy lather. Also, my hands feel less dry than with the veggie.
Butcher lard samples: Both of these were a nice creamy, consistent color. Again, the "ungelled" sample was a tad bit darker than the "gelled". As with the tallow (see below) I was surprised that I felt as if the lather was both more bubbly and creamy with the Farmer John Samples than with the butcher sourced ones, although there was clearly less discoloration with the latter.
Tallow samples: Again, both nice, creamy and consistent coloring w/"ungelled" a bit darker than "gelled". For me, a very counter-intuitive result in use, though, I expected the butcher's tallow to be measurably better somehow than the S&F one. When I used it though, it did not produce a lather which was either bubbly or that creamy. The S&F tallow lather was both more bubbly and creamy (not as creamy as the lard soaps, though). My hands after use feel pretty much like they did with the lard. These were the only ones that smelled a bit meaty to me when I sniffed them before use, not during or after, though.
FO: LOVED it. Even my mother (we always disagree on scents loved it.) If you ever decide to sell any/do a coop, count me in. Great woodsy, musky mix. Thanks so much for including it. I am going to put some in lotion, yummy!
On balance, I think I liked the Farmer Johns lard soap the best. I just hope that it doesn't inevitably lead to DOS, I used it in a lot of my earlier soaps, have switched to S&F lard now, but I think you mentioned in another post that you had encountered problems (if less) with that too.
Final questions, where did you get your little soapie molds? Those are so cute.
Thanks again for doing this and taking the time and trouble to send these out to us lucky recipients!
