What soapy thing have you done today?

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I finally aspic-ed my April challenge sushi.
Like @Tara_H suggested, I chanced it to let M&P base run in between the “rice”. An infrared spotlight warmed up the soap and melted the M&P base, which I gradually added in small pieces whenever one of the “puddles” in the corners of the sushi rolls was drained empty.
To little surprise, it took an embarrassingly long time, but in the end, I got about 20 g (one of the cubes top left in the photo) into each sushi block. I'm super curious how, after a day in the fridge, thin sections of the swirl/sushi combo will turn out!

ir_mp_sushi.jpg

And my camera wants to apologise for giving up colour reproduction under this orange-red light, lol.
 
Design fail/learning experience: FO yellowed even with VCS, so my pinks are turning orange, except for where there's just mica in oil. Also, because the batter accelerated, the brown didn't become the upright, arching lines (via hanger swirl) I hoped. I already have a list of changes to make for my next attempt, but I'm going to keep an eye on how yellow/orange the batter goes. The pure white is also mica in oil. This was my first time using this FO, my first time piping accelerated batter as a drop swirl, first time using hangars, and a few other firsts. Piping batter into mica in oil worked well, might try it in batter without fragrance that hasn't accelerated. I lost some batter to opting not to use all of some colors, knocking a plastic beaker of batter into the sink, and batter sticking to dividers as they were pulled out, so these bars are all much shorter than I was going for. So many lessons learned, and I'll try again next weekend.
 

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Seriously! Data protection for all customers should be a priority for online sales, right!?!?

Shocking that a company with $8.29 million (USD) in annual Revenue can't address data encryption for all customers. (WSP annual Revenue per Dunn & Bradstreet)

How many times have folks here received those letters or emails alerting us to data breaches from companies we do business with? I have lost track, and that's rather disturbing. Maybe more countries should follow in the foosteps of the GDPR.EU.
As someone who works in the health insurance industry, Data privacy is near and dear to me. I hope they have really good cyber insurance because 8.29 Million isnt going to cut it if they have a data breach.

I dont do business with them normally but you can bet I wont in the future, nor any company they buy.

On a soapy note, Im pretty happy with how my challenge soap came out. Im note sure it fully gelled. It was still a bit soft on the inside. Cant wait to post them.
 
I’ve been whipping stuff up left and right today! Lotion for my son, face cream, solid oil face cleanser, & deodorant for me. One of the thing than sucks about making your own products when you realize you’re almost out of everything...Time it takes to make it! I also made some liquid shampoo and conditioner to test out! Kinda excited about that!
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Was gonna take pictures of all my other projects today, but they are sitting on the kitchen counter setting up, right in line with my challenge soaps. Can’t be disqualified and was to lazy to move them! 🤪🤩
ETA: cleaning up the soap I cut this morning and found a cute sad little family of bears... can you see it!?!?!
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I’m done for the night! Sweet dreams!
 
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hope this works. This was posted by my friend's daughter. Unfortunately, it doesn't show the whole gift. I did ask why (actually asked if she could take a photo for me) and she said, "mum already took half of it to the bathroom, this just the leftovers" 🥰😁

My only soapy adventure today was ringing an old supplier to get my account working again and putting my first wholesale raw ingredient order in since January 2013. Felt very surreal as I have been paying retail since (the last market I did was in May 2013) and really didn't think I'd do it again ever.

 
Unmoulded a tiny mould where I filled the scrapings from my pot and jar and glasses. It did come readily off the wallls but the edges were crumbly.
Aaah, obviously I'll have to wait at least till evening ...
 
hope this works. This was posted by my friend's daughter. Unfortunately, it doesn't show the whole gift. I did ask why (actually asked if she could take a photo for me) and she said, "mum already took half of it to the bathroom, this just the leftovers" 🥰😁

My only soapy adventure today was ringing an old supplier to get my account working again and putting my first wholesale raw ingredient order in since January 2013. Felt very surreal as I have been paying retail since (the last market I did was in May 2013) and really didn't think I'd do it again ever.

View attachment 57074

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@Tara_H Here’s a teaser. The pink is rhubarb root (highest concentration of colorant-infused oil I added for this colorant), with palmarosa that accelerated the trace. The purplish blue is the second lowest alkanet oil concentration I used, with eos pepermint and lavender.

View attachment 57078
oooooooooh, peppermint and lavender, I have never tried that! Why not? The pink is so pretty! One of mine was too strong and looked like liver. That is the perfect shade of strawberry ice cream pink. Love it.
 
The soapy thing I did today was to make soap!! Lord know I like me some swirling action but I kept it simple today and made a gardeners/mechanics soap. Just the bare minimum of dishes to clean in a day or two. I know @Misschief likes to throw in everything but the kitchen sink so by comparison I am a model of restraint with just 3 exfoliants -- coffee grounds, poppy seeds, and shredded loofah. And fun fact -- because of this forum -- I learned that loofahs do not just magically appear in a store but actually come from plants! Whoodathunkit?! I also got my scent from this forum -- @Mobjack Bay maybe? -- rosemary/litsea/basil essential oils. The color is from using brewed coffee as my lye liquid, and 5% red palm oil (it may push the limits of "rustic" looking, I'm praying it doesn't venture into scatalogical territory!) . Still loving reaching in under the towels and feeling the gellin.'
 
I’ve been whipping stuff up left and right today! Lotion for my son, face cream, solid oil face cleanser, & deodorant for me. One of the thing than sucks about making your own products when you realize you’re almost out of everything...Time it takes to make it! I also made some liquid shampoo and conditioner to test out! Kinda excited about that!
View attachment 57106
Was gonna take pictures of all my other projects today, but they are sitting on the kitchen counter setting up, right in line with my challenge soaps. Can’t be disqualified and was to lazy to move them! 🤪🤩
ETA: cleaning up the soap I cut this morning and found a cute sad little family of bears... can you see it!?!?!
View attachment 57107
I’m done for the night! Sweet dreams!

I see the bears! Adorable

Here's my soapy thing. I used my cricut to cut the vinyl for the front and made giftable crates. 2 bars of soap, a soap dish and a microfiber washcloth.

soapbox.jpg
 
After jury duty today I got a soap order ready to ship out in the morning' Yay 🤗🧼💫.

I see the bears! Adorable

Here's my soapy thing. I used my cricut to create some giftable crates. 2 bars of soap, a soap dish and a microfiber washcloth.

View attachment 57141
Looks Great.
 
So far my soapy thing today was opening my box from wsp lol...lots of new to me goodies in there, such as some natural powders/colorants that im not experienced with, like indigo.

Plus i hit the shea butter sale, so 5lbs of that.

I also sold 4 bars of soap at work. She wanted charcoal soap for her mom for mothers day last week, but i didnt have any with me. I was really mad at myself for not having any in my bag, but she ended up wanting them anyway, so she bought all 4 that i brought with me tonight, so now i am mad at myself for not bringing more lol.

In my wsp box is a bottle is Lemongrass EO. When i used to sell for a company, the lemongrass soap was one of my top sellers. I personally hate it lol. I think it smells like pledge, but everybodys sniffers are different.

Funny story. BECAUSE i hate lemongrass so much, i would only keep a bar or two in stock (had to buy myself, then sell my supply). Then ppl would start digging through looking for it. Who knew everybody didnt have the same taste as i do in scents lol.

I bought Lime eo, but i think i am gonna save that for butters and scrubs.

Wish i woulda planned more ahead with mothers day soaps, but i had a lot going on two months ago with the house. Christmas was big for me, so i gotta start doing more holiday planning.

Been soapmaking other than that, but not much photography lol.

Gonna buy a few tables and a tent so i can hit up the markets around here...I have been putting it off because its a little overwhelming for me with set up and planning, but i guess i gotta get started somehow lol. I already have one market that keeps asking about selling.
 
oooooooooh, peppermint and lavender, I have never tried that! Why not? The pink is so pretty! One of mine was too strong and looked like liver. That is the perfect shade of strawberry ice cream pink. Love it.
other than banksia flower & lavender, peppermint & lavender is one of the scents that everyone seems to love.
I am a model of restraint with just 3 exfoliants -- coffee grounds, poppy seeds, and shredded loofah. And fun fact -- because of this forum -- I learned that loofahs do not just magically appear in a store but actually come from plants! Whoodathunkit?! I
if you were in Australia, I'd send you seeds. It's lovely to grow and easy to cure. Hates frost though so maybe you'd need to grow in hot house.

I finally found time to cut my soap today.

Does anyone store/cure their soap in a wine fridge? I purchased a second hand one a few years back for cheese and soap curing. I love it but when there's cheese in it, I can't put soap in it (my son doesn't like when I do). So, I'm using a polystyrene box for my soap at the moment as he is curing cheese. There has to be a way we can both cure our goods at the same time. Any suggestions?
 
Maybe it's about humidity control? But I prefer an open well ventilated area myself for curing soap. Still, some wine refrigerators do have fans that circulate the cool air while removing any air that is too warm for the wind. I don't think the cheaper ones are as efficient as the more expensive ones, however.
Buy a second wine fridge second hand?
Seriously, I'm not too sure if there aren't better ways than a wine fridge for curing soap. How good is it in air exchange?
 
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