Hi everybody, I think that I'm ready to introduce myself here now! 
I'm a longtime lurker and still haven't made my first batch of soap yet, just researching the subject very thoroughly so far.
I'm a 30-something married woman, living in the very south of Sweden. I found this forum when googling "cold processed soap" and since it seems to be one of the *friendlier* soap making forums on the internet I decided to register!
I became interested in natural skin care products with as few ingredients as possible when I had severe problems with my skin a few years ago. After trying *everything* on the market and visiting several dermatologists, with no result, I started using only natural oils on my face in sheer desperation. After a couple of weeks my skin was completely healed and looked fresh, it was like a miracle!
Now I want to try making my own soaps too, and only for my personal use since it's illegal to make any cosmetics in your own kitchen and sell to others in the European union. (The regulations are very strict, you have to follow the GMP, good manufacturing practice, which means that you basically have to build a new kitchen used only for making the cosmetics and also register the products with the equivalent of the FDA, something that costs $300 per year, plus another $30 per product per year. I guess it's a good thing for everybodys safety, but it also makes it impossible to finance your hobby from selling the products to costumers. So I probably will not make more than a few batches a year or so.)
Anohow, here I am and I have *tons* of questions so please be patient with me!
/Svea
I'm a longtime lurker and still haven't made my first batch of soap yet, just researching the subject very thoroughly so far.
I'm a 30-something married woman, living in the very south of Sweden. I found this forum when googling "cold processed soap" and since it seems to be one of the *friendlier* soap making forums on the internet I decided to register!
I became interested in natural skin care products with as few ingredients as possible when I had severe problems with my skin a few years ago. After trying *everything* on the market and visiting several dermatologists, with no result, I started using only natural oils on my face in sheer desperation. After a couple of weeks my skin was completely healed and looked fresh, it was like a miracle!
Now I want to try making my own soaps too, and only for my personal use since it's illegal to make any cosmetics in your own kitchen and sell to others in the European union. (The regulations are very strict, you have to follow the GMP, good manufacturing practice, which means that you basically have to build a new kitchen used only for making the cosmetics and also register the products with the equivalent of the FDA, something that costs $300 per year, plus another $30 per product per year. I guess it's a good thing for everybodys safety, but it also makes it impossible to finance your hobby from selling the products to costumers. So I probably will not make more than a few batches a year or so.)
Anohow, here I am and I have *tons* of questions so please be patient with me!
/Svea
