Pre-Order from Facebook Co-Op Group

Pre-Order from Facebook Co-Op Group

Since I began soaping, I joined just about every Facebook group that exists for soapers; from natural groups to HP & CP groups to challenge groups to co-op groups. One of my co-op groups was holding a pre-buy of a whole bunch of stuff that I was really interested in. I just placed my first pre-order with them - it's my first time doing this so we'll see how it goes.

I ended up getting 1 pound of SLSA, 1 pound of ground annatto seed powder, 2 pounds of coconut milk powder and 3 pounds of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). They had honey powder too, however I didn't get my order on that item in time to make this pre-buy. I'm hoping there are some people out there who just forget to pay their invoice so I can possibly still get in on getting some!

I'm excited about the SLSA because I've seen this so many times in so many bath bomb recipes! It is supposed to give super foam and bubbles that last a long time. I really want to create some bath bombs like I've seen LUSH make. There are tons of 'copy-cat' recipes out there and all of them mention SLSA as part of the components. The sodium bicarbonate purchase was because it was cheap and I know I'll need a ton for testing purposes of the bath bombs. It never hurts to plan ahead!

I've never used coconut milk in my soaps before, but I've heard that this makes a lush, hard bar of soap. I've used goat milk and almond milk - both of which I really like. I find I'm drawn to the milk soaps more than my ones without milks in them. It will be a good experiment for me to use the coconut milk powder in my soaping.

As for the ground annatto seed powder, it just looked interesting. I bought it for it's coloring properties; anywhere from a yellow to a pumpkin orange color. While I didn't read about any medicinal properties to it, I'm sure there has to be some benefit for the skin.

The honey powder is the one I REALLY wanted -- I've heard such wonderful things about honey in soaps so I'm kinda bummed that this isn't going to be part of my order. As for when I'm getting my order - I'm not sure...but I'm really not in any hurry. So, I'll have to post an update once I get my stuff!

In the meantime I'm going to be looking into buying some essential oils (EO's). I'm having some debates with myself about whether or not I want to soap naturally or with colors and fragrance oils (FO's). There is something to be said for both ways of looking at things. I like the idea of all natural soaps, but I love the creativity that you can do with micas and the scents you get with FO's. Ugh! In the immortal words of the King of Siam....TIS A PUZZLEMENT! :)

On a side-note....I've signed up yet again for the Great Cakes Soapwords challenge club. This month it's mini-dessert looking soaps. I really LOVE how these look but I'm feeling a little ill-prepared to jumping into this challenge. They want us to make 4 different mini dessert soaps in order to enter into the contest - but I think that might be a little much to expect from a beginner like myself. So, I may just watch the videos and give it a try on a smaller scale.