Best soap making bases & melts according to redditors

Uh huh. I seriously doubt you are a chemist. Glycerin (aka Glycerine and Glycerol) can be bought in cubes from craft stores. Or from Amazon.

At least I really hope you aren't a chemist. I really don't like the thought of someone this ignorant and arrogant working in a lab setting

/u/TrashyTripod & /u/gotsmile, you guys are going to laugh at how easy this is.

There are recipes online. Do a little googling about what soap ingredients have different effects, like I did a rose oil (omg, the scent!) and rose clay soap, which is good for skin, or honey and oatmeal which is more exfoliation. Some are better for dry skin, oily skin, or just neutral.

I buy everything from Amazon:

• Molds: gems, bars, fun small shapes
  
  
• Melt and pour soap base: honey, goat's milk. I'm picky and I only buy the organic stuff. Buy it sooner rather than later, it will sell out by the holidays! Learned that the hard way, last year.
  
  
• Mix-ins: oatmeal, activated charcoal. You want everything to be food-grade.
  
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  How To
  
  The soap base breaks apart into 1 inch cubes. In a microwave safe measuring cup, microwave 2-4 cubes in 30 second increments until melted. Stir in any oils, perfumes, or colorants (although I avoid coloring soap, personally; I like the 'natural' stuff). Pour the appropriate amount into your mold. Working quickly, in the soap-filled mold, stir in any large add-ins, like charcoal or oatmeal. Wipe down the measuring cup, repeat as necessary.
  
  Leave the mold out at room temperature to set. Give it time (6-24 hours). Gently remove from the mold and wrap in cling wrap to avoid moisture beads from forming. Later, put the plastic-wrapped soaps in a little goody bag with a piece of colorful tissue paper. FYI, the tissue paper will stick to the soap if they touch.
  
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  Tips:
  
  
• Learn from my mistake: when you're done, wash the measuring cup and molds by hand. If you put them in a dishwasher, it will become coated in soap. This kills the dishwasher.
  
  
• Buy 2 molds. Make a batch in the morning and again in the evening. If you use the bar mold, that gives you 12 bars per mold x 2 molds x 2 times in a day, or 48 bars for ~3 hours of work on a Saturday. You'll get faster as you get the hang of it.
  
  
• How much soap base you need depends on the size of your molds and how many soaps you're making. I found that 2 lbs of soap base was enough for about 16 bars using this mold. But I didn't really like the shape of the soap in that mold because it was too deep.
  
  
• If you're using heavy or large add-ins, it pays to let the soap solidify for a second before mixing them in, or it'll all sink to the bottom.
  
  
• It's fun to combine with other homemade cosmetics gifts, like DIY lip balm or something, but that requires a whole other set of materials, so increases your costs.
  
  
• More tips on how to avoid "weeping." This site is SUPER helpful!

So like this then?

I’m actually pretty proud of the soaps I made last year as Xmas gifts. Here is the link for some of the base I like to use.

I use Slice of Nature Nilotica organic Shea butter. Nilotica shea is grown in East Africa, usually Uganda or East Africa It's raw, not processed, yet has a beautifully soft consistency and a very faint natural smell. It also sinks nicely into skin. I used to get it on Amazon, but it doesn't seem to be available there. I'm going to buy it on eBay from this 100% seller. Most shea butter is grown in West Africa. It's harder and doesn't have the healing properties of Nilotica.

If you want an alternative, this product looks pretty good. It's also from Uganda so it's the right kind of shea butter, and it's organic. I've never used this brand but looks good. The price seems low for Nilotica. Viva Naturals

Like I said, I take the Better Shea out of the bag and store it in a glass container instead.

It looks like the Viva Naturals I ordered is out of stock, but here is the link to the product if you want to watch for stock.