Teach Soap

Hi LIsa - The bar just looked like it was covered in a syrup in the bag. Maybe it melted a bit in the mail? Just unexpected, but it rinsed off and so far is my favorite scent out of the bunch. I love coffee, mocha and other bakery scents. And I still can't get over the swirl. Very nice.

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www.lovinsoap.com

I'm still making my way through the soaps! I finally enlisted my 10 year old to help out and give her opinion. She picked a bar and jumped in the shower. When she came out she said "you can tell that Vinca lady that that bar was AWESOME"!! She liked the smell. She spent enough time in the shower, I'm thinking about taking it back:-)

I love Beehive's soap. The smell is so earthy and soothing. It did turn my washcloth a bit orange but washed out when I rinsed it. Very nice bubbles and very hard bar.

The Chai bar is my favorite scent so far. Very nice and creamy lather, even if it is yellow:-) Love the inlaid flower too.

Vinca, I just wrap the paper around the soap and tape it together. I'm glad to know it stays in place! One of these days I'll get around to shrink wrapping.

I think I've still got a few bars to go. I've been trying out some of my own in addition to the SWAP bars so we've got soap EVERYWHERE in my shower at the moment. DH is all flustered about which one to use!

Chai FLower...

What an awesome gift-type soap. It's big, it's bold, it smells so cozy and nice. Really, a great gift for a teacher, your secret santa, your best girlfriend! The bubbles were LUXURIOUS. Skin felt nice afterward...you have a winner! I did not have any problems with the flower separating from the soap, but I've only used it a couple times. It's happily sharing the shower with me, keeping me company!

Mango Dreamsicle...I keep sniffing this one. I haven't used it yet because once I start, I won't stop! I love that it has that "bite" from the mango. You know, that little hint of pineyness like real mangoes do?

I sadly said goodbye to the Mango Dreamsicle this morning. It would have lasted longer, but at some point my hubby abandoned the 4 other soaps in the shower in favor of yours- and used nothing but! We both loved it.
We replaced it with Pamper Pantry's Autumn Harvest. It has GREAT bubbly lather and left my skin soft and smooth. The scent is perfect for the season, well the season that it is supposed to be. Here in SW Florida, it is still getting up to 90 or near each afternoon. COME ON FALL!!!

Just wanted to update. . was so envious of some of those shrink wrapped soaps I went out and bought polyolyfein (sp). . so there I was, heat gun in hand, food storage sealer on the counter, and film and scissors on the right. . .. and I have the ugliest shrink wrapped 4 bars you have ever seen that took me 30 minutes to do!!!

So, extra big applause for those of your shrink wrappers! Can't figure out how you do it so nicely. If anyone wants to send me a PM on how you don't get 1/4 inch of burnt up gunk on sides, would appreciate it!

Lisa Johnson

^^^I have the L-bar machine that uses a wire to seal and cut. I got mine from Doug Care and Equipment.

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- Mickey!

So glad you liked the mango bar Redfishingirl. It's so interesting to me to see all the different preferences people have for fragrances. I sent a mango bar in the package that I sent your face bar to my son. When he wrote back to give me his evaluation on your bar, he said, "Well, the mango bar was good but could you get that scent that was in the smiley face bar". So, I'll be placing an order this weekend for more fragrances. They just loved your bar and are sad that it is gone now. They are patiently waiting for me to make them one like yours.

Broke down and tried the Mango Dreamsicle bar today....Um....I think I wanna marry it. Light bubbles to start out, then very bubbly and rich and light and fruity scent. The funnel swirl is to die for. Lovely!

I do have a question about the ingredient list: Is it from greatest to least? It's ok to not give me specifics, but from "the way I do things" I'm like having a hard time with more of certain things, and less of others if they're in order. Like, my brain cannot compute!

Makes me wanna get dirty so I can get clean again!

Hi Vinca, Yes they are in order, except for probably the sodium lactate, titanium dioxide & glyercin. I did sodium lactate @ .62oz, 1/2 teas TD, 1/2 teas glycerin, 1/2 teas D&C orange #4

Thank you so much for the wonderful comments on the soap! Sorry for the extra post.

Hi, guys! I've finally whittled down all the soaps I had started!

Next, I tried Mickey's Watermelon Nights bar. I've been DYING to try it, and almost broke my resolution to finish up all the started ones to do just that!

Some things: Sweet, sweet story on how the bar got started. And it's moments like those that I enjoy incorporating into my descriptions and ideas for creating. The color is perfect, and the poppy seeds were oh-so-cute! The soap component is very nice, and I love the scrubbyness of the seeds. I did, however scrub TOO hard on my shins and they were a little tender. Totally user error though, because other parts of me the seeds were just perfect. The baby leaf stamped on the face of the bar? LOVE. It's little details like that that make a bar special. The "fortune cookie" quote? LOVE LOVE LOVE. What kind of paper is it?

Overall, I think you did a fantastic job with this soap. Sometimes with going simple, with just a shrink wrap it is functional, like "Here's your SOAP!" But with Watermelon Nights, there is an element of discovery. Firstly, the seeds are the "decoration" versus paper, kwim? Then, there's the story on how the soap came into existence, THEN the quote, hidden underneath the label, THEN the leaves. Seriously, it made me feel special using it.

The only thing I'd change: on the ingredients on the back label, just balance it out so it fills the circle, or is left justified with a little melon on the right, centered in the middle, etc. Something like that.

And for the others that I haven't tried out yet (I think there's maybe 4-5) I'm gonna be on it shortly!!!

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- Mickey!

This sounds like such a fun project. Do you do it once or twice a year and is it by invitation only?

Oh Mickey that watermelon soap sounds deliciously luxurious! Where might one find it if one were thinking of getting some for a present for valentines day?

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~bytheSEAsoap~ Mella bythesea, bythesea, bythebeautiful sea

海の皂

Hello mella!

The soap swaps are something that happen occasionally and spontaneously. Someone will volunteer to act as a host and post a thread with details and a sign up sheet. It's usually limited to the first X number of people to sign up. Keep your eyes open here and on other forums. Someone is bound to do one after the holidays.

This one was my first swap and it was fantastic. I sent my little soapies out into the world and received lots of nice feedback. And even better I recieved many amazing soaps from other soapers on the forum and made some friends in the process.

As for my watermelon soaps... sadly I have none to offer you. I don't sell my soaps (yet) and all of the ones I made for the swap have been given away. However I'd be happy to send you the recipe if you want to make some of your own.

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- Mickey!