Teach Soap

I got a chance to try three more last night in the bath!

Beehive Alchemy: The soap seemed to get more citrusey in the water, which I liked. I also loved the dense, thick lather! The swirls stayed so beautifully defined, too. I really like the texture of the lather your soap made.

Rena: What a hard bar! Wow! Soap barely melts at all and I dropped it in the water a few times! Pretty funnel and smelled of cocoa butter (not sure what the scent was but I smelled cocoa butter). Very nice and hard bar! Good lather too. I felt very moisturized!

Quinae: Used your soap to shave and it was my first experience with a shaving soap. I was a little worried at first because so many handmade soaps don;t leave a residue (and you need a residue to shave) but it worked great and it was easy to use!

Nice job folks!

Lisa Johnson

Thanks:-)! Looking at my box of beautiful soaps, I'm feeling rather inadequate in my skills.

I'm confused though...which one is the shaving bar???? My DD was whining the other night that she was out of shaving cream and I was going to throw that bar her way but couldn't figure out which one it was!

I guess I need to move quicker. I tend to use one bar and savor it. DH and I are still working on the first one which we both love. Thanks for the name of the scent Karen, I ordered some!!!

Gah! DH did something to my Happy Face Bar!!! I came down with a cold, and have been using the tub instead of the shower and 2 days go by and there's just a little sliver left! GAAAAAAAH!! I dunno what he did, but he is on my list this weekend.

On a happier note, I got to use the "handmade" red clay shave bar. I forget whose this is....but anyhoo...

LOVE this bar. I, too am interested in the deets on this one like the PPO clay, and (even though I'd love the recipe) some hints like "It's similar to my regular soap recipe...but I added clay". I am a person who has had shaving problems for YEARS and can never find the right combo of razor/cream/soap. I have been using mine, which was pretty good except for some sting-y spots here and there. Soooooo pales in comparison to this bar. I was expecting more lather, but after rubbing it up and putting it on, bracing myself for what I thought would be severe razor burn...NOPE!!! Bliss! If you don't have this on the market yet, put a gold star next to this recipe. From someone who has uber sensitive skin....you really made my day...it's a keeper!

One area for improvement: I *love* the simple tissue paper. All you'd need is a cigar band around it, or a sticker with printed paper, and it would be awesome! I know the peaches n creme was wrapped this way too, and no problems there. We're coming out of the humid season here though, and the tissue stuck to it just a wee bit. Maybe a little heavier gauge would solve it?

Okay, this morning I showered with Beehive Alchemy's cardamon bar. Beautiful swirl blend - very, very, creamy lather, left my skin very moisturized. What an extremely hard bar. Will last me forever. Very intriguing and unique scent. The bar was beautiful and luxurious! Thank you so much.

This afternoon I took a bath with Pamper Pantry's Autumn Harvest. Very pretty swirl blend, loved it! Lots & lots of big fluffly bubbles. Very moisturizing bar. This is my kind of bar, loved the scent! Thank you!!!!!

Also used Renaanne's funnel. although I couldn't pinpoint the scent, it was very appealing, nice hard bar, love the funnel - Great muted colors that blended perfectly together. It was nice & bubbly with creamy lather, very moisturizing. Great job Rena!! Thank you.

I just love these soap swaps and I am honored to participate with all of you.

Karen, thanks so much for hosting and thank you for the labels.

Can't wait til tomorrow to try a couple more soaps!

Gosh, I just started to pull out the Verbaine Olive Blossom. . who made that. I think I am in LOVE with that smell!

And to chase that tonight, I will use Vinca's salt bar!!!

Question--I am totally digging this shrink wrap. Is there an inexpensive way to do this for people like me that aren't pro? I don't want to invest more $$$--just realized I could have painted my house this summer with the money I spent on oils!!!

Lisa

Now that I know which bar is the shaving soap....I'm LOVING It!!! I have no hubby this week so I'll just have to spoil myself with soap:-)

I also tried Spotted Cat's mango deliciousness. Beautiful swirl and wonderful scent. Very hard and left me smelling fruity and sweet!

I would tell everyone what scent I used, but honestly, I don't remember???

I just wanted to jump in here and say I am also in love with Kate's Verbaine Olive Blossom! Not only the scent but the soap as well. I had some time this weekend for a nice relaxing bath and felt like I was in an old world Roman bath house. The scent stayed with me for hours and the lather was to die for. It looked like such an innocent little soap... but gosh... add some water and some friction and just TRY to stop those bubbles. The great moisturizing lather and endless bubbles mixed with the wonderful scent made for an amazing bath experience. I have added this scent to my BUY list.

I used to use those 6x6 shrink bags which were great except you can't smell the soap through them. I bought 500 from MMS for about $15. Lisa, If you want to try some to see if you like them just PM me with your address and I'll mail you a few. I probably won't use them for soaps anyway. I've switched to polyolefin which I bought in a roll from National Shrink Wrap. I use an old food sealer to cut and seal the edges though one day the wire on that will go and I'll be out of business I have a heat gun I bought from Harbor Freight (see if you have one locally). I want to say it was under $20 but I don't remember for sure. You can sign up for weekly coupons if you have a store nearby and you can also order online.

I've also tried:

- Redfishingirl's Happy Face Soap: Also love this fresh citrus scent. You could not have picked a better name. How did you get them so rock hard? Is it the clay?

- Karen's By The Sea Scrubby Soap: Just the right amount of scrubby and a nice light fresh scent. I like the way you beveled your round bars also.

- Kim's Cucumber Melon: Very nice firm bar also with just the right amount of scent. Lots of nice bubbles and very cleansing without drying at all. Also very pretty swirl and nice soft colors which compliment the scent. You did a very nice job on the banding too... very professional looking!

- Vinca's Cool Water Salt bar: This was the first one I tried and I keep wanting to come back to it as well as Kate's Verbaine Olive Blossom... but I want to try all the others too and I can only take so many showers and baths each day. I've never tried a salt bar before. I expected all salt bars to be a little TOO cleansing and drying with no bubbles. Well this one is so VERY bubbly that I was very pleasantly surprised. Can you tell I LOVE bubbles? While I won't say this bar is moisturizing (I don't think it is supposed to be) I felt very squeaky clean after using it but not dried out at all. It was a very refreshing shower. The scent is masculine without being "manly". Perfect for me. And the faint blue swirls just complete the experience.

- Quineae's Pink Clay Shaving Bar: And finally I also tried this one. Thanks for the note. I know you were playing with a mix of scents and you succeeded in making something I can't quite put my finger on... but reminds me of some fruit candy... maybe sweet tarts? I only got to shave with it once and it did a VERY nice job. But I feel I really need to buy a shaving brush and a better razor for the full experience. I will definitely use this down to the last sliver.

More updates to come as my water bill keeps climbing and climbing!

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- Mickey!

Great info xyxoxy/Mickey.

I keep forgetting about Harbor Freight ‘cause I don’t have one near me.
Lisa, they have a dual temp heat gun on sale for $9.99 Oy vey. I think I need to start remembering Harbor Freight.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/d ... mber=96289
I don‘t know if this is a good one-I only glanced at it.

You can also put the soap in the bag, twist the top and tie it with twine or a ribbon, but over the long run, you’d end up paying more than $9.99.

My bars are 2.25-2.50 inches tall, 3.5 inches wide, I cut them at 1.16 inches and they weigh between 4.5 and 4.9 ounces cured. The 4x6 bags are a little large for mine when shrink wrapping. Your bars are a different size and shape than mine. I am out of bags already, ordered more a couple of days ago or I’d try one to see if it fits yours.

Thanks for the kind and descriptive words about my soap, xyxoxy/Mickey.
I had mica on the tops of 8, ran out of the color I was using, used another shade of mica, didn’t like it and beveled all the tops to get the mica off. LOL. I didn’t want to send half with mica and half without. I’m so glad you enjoyed it though! That fragrance is a keeper for me, too. I think it’s clean and complex at the same time. I’ve soaped it 4 times and haven’t had a problem with it. Lots of family members are getting that for upcoming birthdays and the holidays so it’s really nice to hear good feedback about it. Thank you very much!

Maybe Santa will bring me some polyolefin for Christmas.

I have this heat gun from Harbor Freight. it's been dropped a couple of times and keeps on working. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/d ... mber=66001

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

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- Mickey!

I just got out of the shower. I used Mickey's Watermelon Nights & Kate's Vervaine Olive Blossom. They both were fantastic bars! Lots of bubbles and very moisturizing. I got to say I haven't had to use any moisturizer this week either. I still have 5 more soaps to try, but so far my vote for the BEST OF THE BEST are these 2 bars.

Mickey your labeling was fantastic! I can tell you put alot of thought & effect into your labels and your attached flyer was wonderful. Thank you so much and as Lisa has mentioned you have inspired me to get some shrink wrap and try this for my soaps.

Kate I love love love your scent! I'll have to make a purchase and keep it for my personal stash. Loved your bar & packaging. What a great way to ship your soaps.

Sorry I have been so MIA- seems like one thing after another around here. My bar was meant to be a facial bar- hence the "Happy Face"
I used 1 tlbs ppo of the rhassoul clay from BB.

Getting my box was the highlight of my week for SURE. Everyone did an awesome job! I have to say- this assortment was very heavily scented!

First I tried Spotted Cat's Mango Dreamsicle. LOVE LOVE LOVE the scent. I used a bath sponge, and WOW did it bubble up fantastically!

I also tried Fatland's shaving bar. Nice and fruity smelling, it's my daughter's favorite. Left my legs nice and soft.

Mickey- Love the watermelon scent and the poppy seeds. This will be my choice when I need to exfoliate. Smells light and fresh (and loved the story.)

Vanilla Chai- smells good enough to eat

Amanda- LOVE the packaging, your labels are SO SOFT, like fabric. I haven't opened it yet because it's so pretty. Smells great though.

More reviews on the way- but hubby says no more than 5 soaps in the shower at once. I had to use up some others in order to try these!

Thanks everybody, and thanks to Karen for hosting.

LOL..... 5 soaps in the shower? I think I have 11 ish...... In fact, i am trying to find space for more! I swear, what used to be a 10 min shower is taking Sooooo much longer.......



HAGD all!

~ L