Today I made a new batch of cold process soap. I tried a new fragrance oil, I usually use essential oils or e/o, they are better. I only had rose petal in a fragrance. I know where I got it but I don't like to talk ill of people or their business unless it's really awful. Anyway, getting back to the soap. This fragrance oil ruined my batch. I have been making soap for some time now and never had this happen before. It seized on me. What that means is: my soap was just getting to a good trace, so I added the fragrance and it suddenly got hard with my hand blender still in it. This totally freaked me out. It got hard fast, no warning. One minute I have a great batch of soap and seconds later it's a hard mass in my bowl. So I naturally try to fix the problem, I don't like to waste things and in this economy who can afford to? I shaved it down immediately and put in my soaping crock pot to remelt and try again. (this is called re-batching or hand milling) I added more colorant and stirred it in. I let this sit and slowly melt til it looked ready to put back into my mold. It is still in the mold at this time but the color looks great so far and it smells like roses.
I am not fond of this rose petal fragrance. I like roses but only a couple kinds have a really great fragrance and so far I haven't found a fragrance or essential oil that mimics those. I will cut this batch into bars tomorrow and make labels to fit them and then list a couple in my esty shop to see how they sell. I usually only lightly scent my soaps as to not over power them. This fragrance and my Victorian memories soaps are the strongest I have made. Tomorrow I plan on making another batch but using my essential oils this time. I am thinking of using the honeysuckle scent. We will see.
If there are any other soap makers out there that would like to talk soap or share some of their knowledge and experiences let me know. I would love to hear about them.
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