I'm a total soap n00b

Welcome to my blog! 

In internet parlance, "n00b" indicates "newbie" or someone who is new to something.  That definitely describes me when it comes to making soap!

For the uninitated, there is a somewhat complicated process to making soap.  There are also multiple ways to do it - melt-and-pour, cold process, hot process, and so on.

I've tried the melt-and-pour and was disappointed with the size of the molds that came with the kit.  of course, I know that you can make loaves of melt-and-pour soap, but it looks to me after doing much research, that the lovely swirled soaps that I adore can only be made via hot or cold process.  Thus, I am going to embark on a journey of learning to make cold process soap.

Of course, upon deciding this, I realized that there would be a considerable outlay of start-up fundage.  So far, I've spent about $200 and change on getting kitted out to make this soap.  Some of what I've bought has turned out to be not crucial to the process, but it looked cool on the website.  

Here's what I've gotten so far and where I got it:

Plastic loaf mold - Bulk Apothecary

Shea butter (on backorder, sob!) - Bulk Apothecary

Green block color - Bulk Apothecary

Tea tree essential oil - Bulk Apothecary

Soap cutter - Bulk Apothecary

Miter box (also on backorder, wtf) - Bulk Apothecary

Plastic gloves - stolen from work

Safety glasses - also stolen from work

Stick blender  - Amazon

Digital scale that measures to .5 ounces - Amazon

1 quart of palm oil - Amazon

1 quart of coconut oil - Amazon

2 lb food grade lye beads - Amazon (only because I can't find any at the hardware stores here)

6-pack sampler of fragrance oils - Symphony Scents (holy crap, fast shipping!)

2 candy thermometers - Target

3 plastic pitchers - hallelujah at $1 each - Walmart

Double boiler - Walmart

Green mica colorant - Etsy

I've also bought several books for my iPad and have devoured many videos on YouTube.  It's endlessly fascinating!

So here is my plan - as soon as my Amazon order arrives this week, I will be making my first batch of cold process (CP) soap!  I am hoping to do a 2 pound loaf of green swirled with white, tea tree EO scented.  I still need to figure out my recipe because with the shea butter on back order, I'm not sure what I'll use for my 3rd oil/fat.  When I get it figured out with measurements, I'll post it here.  I am also hoping to rope my husband into taking pictures of the first batch process.  Stay tuned!