Soap Making Resources

I am one happy woman!

I have found resource that may make your soap making endeavor just a little less costly. Please check out this link www.suppliersbystate.com and you may be able to find a local resource for your soap making supplies that could save you shipping costs (esp. if you are ordering oils by the pail).

While this is nice, what I am really thrilled with is a link from Illinois that I found for clear labels that you can buy by the sheet. I have never found labels that are crystal clear and I have been looking for them for years. I love making lip balm in Sweetcakes clear lip pots. I have always wanted to put a pretty clear label on top of the lid but could never find one that is crystal clear. Also, I have made customized labels for several organizations that sold my soap and I had always had to use the frosted clear labels, but now....tah dah.....I have found CLEAR! I prefer clear so the customer can see how pretty the soap is through the label. Here is the link fo this label company www.labelsbythesheet.com

Hopefully you will find this sight as helpful as I have!
Enjoy!

Shea Butter Refined vs Unrefined

Shea butter is a great ingredient to add to your handcrafted soap. But I am occassionally asked what kind of shea butter should I use in my soap -- shea butter refined vs. unrefined. Shea butter comes from the tropics of Africa and is extracted from the nuts of the Shea-Karite tree.

Pure Shea Butter can be found in three types of extractions.
Raw or unrefined- extracted using water. The color ranges from like cream (similar to whipped butter) to grayish yellow. This is the original form of Shea Butter.
Refined is more processed and has many of its natural components still intact.
Highly refined - the color is pure white.
You can use any of these types of shea butter in your soap making. My personal philoposhy is that that the less processed something is, the more it retains its beneficial qualities.
I haven't used the raw shea butter primarily because it wasn't offered from the sources I purchase my ingredients from. More and more companies are offering this product though and I think it would be great to use in soap making.
As a result, I have used refined shea butter. I find that my products have more of a white color to them (or if I am coloring them, the color is more true) and I have been very happy with the results. I have used this refined shea butter in lip balms and whipped body butters as well. I think it is just iimportant to avoid using the highly refined shea butter where nasty chemicals are used to get it pure white. The chemicals can change the quality of the butter and destroy many of the beneficial properties that make shea butter so unique.
So if you are wondering which shea butter: refined vs. unrefined, I would tend to go with the least refined you can get for soap making.
Please visit my website at How to Make Soap

Lavender Lotion or Bath Salt

Lavender is one of my favorite essential oils. It is known for many qualities, but perhps it is best known to have a relaxing and calming effect. I love goatmilk lavender and oatmeal soap and also lavender lotion and bath salt. You can create your own lavender lotion or bath soap with many recipes that are on-line for free. But I would recommend that you purchase your lavender essential oil from Camden Grey.

This company has a very good reputation among soap makers and I have been using their Lavender Essential Oil for many years -- it's wonderful!!! It is also excellent for using in lavender lotion or bath salt. If you need a good recipe for a lotion or bath salt, post a comment and I'll get a few listed here. If you already know how to make lotions and bath salts but would like to try making soap, visit my website at How to Make Soap.