Teach Soap

Hi! I'm BRAND NEW to soaping. As a matter of fact I just ordered some stuff today, I've not actually made soap yet. I am crafty by nature, I think ( If y'all ever need a sign, I'm Applehill Creations on Etsy ) but I've never attempted soap. I ordered stuff for M&P which I would think is logical for starting out. A couple questions though, I had a hard time choosing fragrance oil (Kelsey from BB actually suggested two for me, which I got), but would love to hear some other's favorites. I don't really want typical lavendar, chamomile but something different. So if anyone has any suggestions for oils that are fabulous but may not be the typical scents, I'd love the suggestions. The other question is just where all you go for inspiration, recipes, ideas, etc for melt & pour soaps. I asked to join a couple groups on FB. I'm not sure if they're active or not. I couldn't really tell anything about the groups since I was not yet a member. I've been reading posts on the BB FB page and sooo many beautiful soaps. I love the swirls or color mixes but alot of them stated they were CP method.

For my first project I ordered the stuff to do the Pink Himalayan Sea Salt and Shea Butter soaps. Except instead of getting the fragrances it suggests and mixing them I just got Apricot & Freesia and Crisp Apple Rose (thanks Kelsey!) and will use one of them. (I'm certain I'm not ready to mix scents). I'm wanting to get good enough that by Christmas I can put together some nice gift sets of soaps, scrubs, etc for friends and family.

Any advice appreciated!! =)

Crystal

Inspiration can come from anywhere or anything at any time of the day or night. At least, that's what happens with me! I'll see something or smell something or feel something and BANG! Light bulb! There's as many sources of inspiration as there are people, so there's no formula for it. Sometimes I'll start out with a fragrance I like and base the design on that. Sometimes it's the other way around. For now, just play around with the process and have fun with it. Expect to have some failures right along with the successes. I don't count failures as failures - if that makes any sense. They're learning opportunities. Every one of us has had failed batches and I don't expect you'll be any different. Just keep your batches small, like a pound or even less, as you get used to your new craft. Kelsey gave you great advice on the fragrance oils. Those are two of my favorites!

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Jennifer
Doing my best to blow up my kitchen. In style!

Hi, Crystal!

Welcome to this delightful world of soaping! I only make melt and pour soap because of travel constraints but couldn't be happier. I would definitely join the Bramble Berry face book page for inspiration and lots of fun photos to look at. Anne-Marie is a wonderful teacher and has many fantastic videos to watch. Watch them all! Even in the cold process soaping, there are lots of good ideas and tips for the melt and pour maker. And, as you found out, they are all at BB a wealth of information and kindness!

Shave and a Haircut is still one of my favourite fragrances. Black Amber and Lavender...well, I can't get enough smells of that one! My clients want me to make everything with that fragrance! It's so much fun to receive a sample of a fragrance oil with each order. That way you can always try out a small bit of fragrance at a time.

Best wishes! This forum has some great teachers who are always willing and able to help!

Boaty girl

I love making M&P but I don't care for using it. I'm still trying out bases, though, slowly. M&P isn't as 'easy' as some might think. I made plenty of messes when I started with it.

I have some plastic leaf and butterfly molds that I use to make embeds for my bar molds when I do M&P. Inspiration comes from all over but I like to use molds as inspiration. Plastic molds can be hard to get the soap out of, even if you have molded a tiny leaf, so and you have to be patient. Silicone seems to be better, but I still have some intricate molds I haven't used yet and I am not sure how that's going to go. My M&P preferences seem to lean toward embeds at the moment.

Lavender buds do not suspend well in normal M&P soaps, and it's really easy for me to forget to spray layers with the rubbing alcohol. I have some suspension M&P on my 'want' list to try those again, as I got I bunch of lavender when I was at Mardi Gras this year. (I bought them for sprigs to decorate packaged soap but they dried out too much.)

And cookie cutters! I scored some cookie cutters, laid them out on some parchment/wax paper, and filled them with M&P. Just have to make sure to hold the cookie cutter down firmly against your work surface or the soap will leak a little under it.

For this past Christmas I made a whole lot of M&P soaps of lemon verbena, honey almond oatmeal, and lime to give to the warehouse boys where I was then still working full-time. I had hinted at them a couple weeks prior that they were going to get soap for Christmas and those boys bugged the crap out of me 'til they got it. I got really tickled at a bunch of rough men going silly over soap, but they did.

Thanks all for your feedback. I've added Shave & A Haircut and Black Lavendar and Vanilla FO's to my BB Wishlist for my next order. I get my stuff in Thursday - can't wait! I'm still trying to figure out the best place to get a silicone loaf pan. By best, I mean cheapest but one that works well.