ORDER LEAD TIMES:

All orders placed before 2PM on a business day will be shipping within 2 business days.

This change has been put in place to ensure that our orders are going out accurately and efficiently. As we enter our busiest season of the year, we very much appreciate your continued business and look forward to growing with you and your Soap Making efforts!

- The Cibaria Soap Supply Team

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• 7 Lb Quantities Have Changed to 1 Gal
• Survey Time! What Do you Want us To Stock?

I wanted to post a quick announcement regarding our 7 lb product quantities on Cibaria Soap Supply.

IMPORTANT:

As of today, we are now selling 1 Gal product quantities instead of 7 lb product quantities. This will make it a bit easier to measure out, since now it is in a liquid measurement form. Also, you’ll get a bit extra product tossed in there… which never hurts!

We’re also still taking votes on our Soap Making Oil survey – What Addition Soap Making Oils would you like us to stock? Vote here!

Thank you,

-Cibaria Soap Supply

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This is your chance to voice your needs! Below, you will find a very important survey.  Cibaria Soap Supply invites you to voice your Soap Making Oil needs! Please select up to 20 items that you are currently buying or needing to buy, but haven’t been able to find on our store. We are especially calling upon our existing customers, as well as those who need to buy from us, but currently don’t because we don’t carry all of your preferred products.

If you are not planning on purchasing in the near future, or are out of our shipping proximity, we kindly ask that you refrain from voting in this survey, so we can keep the data as accurate as possible for our valued Cibaria Soap Supply clients.

Make Your voice heard! Your VOTES COUNT, as they WILL directly affect what products we add to our store!

Select up to 20 products that you’d like us to stock:

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Ultimately, this decision can’t be taken lightly, and it’s one that generally imparts a huge impact on our lives, as well as on our immediate family’s lives. Many Soap Makers that we’ve spoken with have gone from hobby soap makers to making soap as a full-time or even a part-time business. We reached out to our Soap Making friends and colleagues on Twitter and Facebook to find out what made them turn their hobby of Soap Making into a full-fledged money-making machine! While we know that most don’t bring in the big bucks as soon as they start out, we’ve found that quite a few figured they’d charge people for what they were already doing for free. A little extra income never hurt anyone, right?

Out of the bad economic chaos, many Soap Makers found themselves looking for work and when they couldn’t find any, they created their own. That’s exactly what @dreamingtreesw of Dreaming Trees Soap Works did.”We lost our jobs, and there was still no jobs out there, so we made our own and we haven’t turned back since”.

Other stories that we’ve heard are equally as admirable. Tami Thornton of Beehive Soap and Body Care says

“After helping my husband in his business for 30 years, I decided it was time to start a new challenge! So, after the children were basically out of the house, and Bachelors Degree was finally completed, it was time! Been in business about a year and a half now… and loving it!”

And a good amount of other Soap Makers were just happy that someone was willing to pay them to do what they loved, just as a few of our Twitter friends who shared similar stores.

Belonger Botanicals began “as soon as someone offered to pay for the product”.

It’s definitely a joyful experience when you realize that someone finds value in the things that you create. We talk to hundreds of Soap Makers per month, and we find that the joy and care that go into their products really do make the difference. Many people say that once you go “handmade” with your soap, you never go back! (to the store-bought stuff, that is!)

Day Three is another great example of a Soap Maker making the easy decision to turn their passion into a business. They expressed that they started their hobby became a business “when we realized that people actually wanted to give us MONEY for doing something we’d do for FREE!”

Now that’s passion!

We’d LOVE to hear your story and your thoughts! Are you considering turning your Soap Making hobby into a business? Did you already take the plunge!? Tell us about it below!

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I love jojoba oil! The benefits of this oil never seem to stop. We call it an oil, but it’s really a type of wax, called a “wax ester.” This results from fatty acids and fatty alcohol joining together. It’s all very scientific and delightful.

But I don’t care about the science, really. I care about the performance. What can jojoba oil do in your different products?

1. 1. It can add to the moisturizing benefits of handmade soap. Jojoba oil adds a quality to soap that is difficult to describe, but one word I can think of is “awesome.” The lather gets a rich, creamy feel to it, and the skin feels softer and smoother afterwards. I don’t recommend you use jojoba oil at more than about 10% in any soap recipe, as it will accelerate trace and make things difficult. This is where knowing that it is really a wax ester comes in handy—those molecules speed up trace, and can make the soap seize if you use too much. 10% is enough to see the benefits.
2. 2. It can enhance the performance of any lotion. Lotions will sink in deeper, as jojoba oil mimics our skin’s natural sebum. The oil sinks into skin quickly, but because of this, it does not feel very “glide-y.” Using jojoba oil in combination with a slicker oil, like avocado or apricot kernel oil, creates a synergy for the lotion: gliding on smoothly, and sinking in quickly. Fabulous.
3. 3. It can be used directly on the skin. Once again, because of its composition and our skin’s readiness to accept it, jojoba oil is a great choice for a facial cleansing oil. Some folks don’t want to use soap on their faces, opting instead for a cleansing oil. Combining a cleansing, astringent oil like castor or hazelnut with jojoba means the oil will clean the pores and then sink in to moisturize at the same time.  These cleansing oil formulas work with a hot, steamy face cloth. Massage the oil blend into the face, while running hot, hot water on a washcloth. Wring out the cloth, and slap in on the face. Steam the face until the cloth starts to go colder, then dip it in the hot water and steam the face one more time. After that, dip the cloth one more time, wipe off the excess oil, and rejoice.
4. 4. When used on the skin, the effect is near-immediate. This is just observational and not scientific at all. When I apply jojoba oil to my skin, I can see and feel a difference immediately. Because of this effect, I have chosen to use jojoba oil in my lip balm formulation. I want my lip balm to work right away, and I attribute its effectiveness in part, to jojoba oil.
5. 5. It is great for the hair, too. I use jojoba oil in a deep-conditioning hair treatment I make. Again, I don’t have science here, just experience, but when I put just a couple of drops on my hair when it’s wet, and allow it to dry, it makes the hair shiny but also adds to the body and curl. Try it. You’ll see.

What other uses do you see for jojoba oil?

Amy Kalinchuk makes and sells handmade soap in Denver, Colorado. She has written and published three books on soap making, including Making Soap in Your Own Kitchen, available at Craft e-Revolution.

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I got a great question from an awesome customer of ours that I wanted to clarify with everyone in case you were curious.

Pre-Orders that Are Picked Up at HSMG

I hadn’t read or heard anything about this, but a customer notified us that somewhere it had a list of HSMG vendors who would be offering to bring orders over to Denver for pick up if you pre-order before the show. While we’d love to do this, we’ll be flying to Denver,with no room to bring our products from Southern California, so we won’t be participating in this feature. We actually never even knew of it until someone asked, and are still awaiting a response from HSMG as to what it exactly is.

I definitely understand it’s strong point, because if you are driving to HSMG, it is a great opportunity to save on shipping costs (and we all know how much we want those to go DOWN!).

Can you guys believe it’s spring already! We’re gearing up for all kinds of fun promos and chances to participate!

What is your favorite part of Spring Soap Making??

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Here at Cibaria we’re committed to helping spread the word about Handcrafted Soap and how wonderful it is.

It’s a great community to be involved in, and we’re so excited at the prospect of helping talent be seen, and processes be learned. We have some wonderful things in store for Soapmaking Oil and Soapmaking Supplies in 2010!

• We’ll be adding new Base Oils and Butters will be added to our list of products! Stay Tuned!
• We’re going to offer FREE Webinars on how you can market your Soap Making Business, Soap Website, properly brand your products, and get your soaps out there! We’ll be showing you all of the juicy details on how to set up a true e-commerce site that is easy to run, and cost efficient to maintain. These will be ran by an enthusiastic Internet Marketing Consultant with years of experience!
• Contests! Yes, we want to make someone a winner. A winner of what? You’ll have to wait and see!
• …and Much More!

We wish you all a very prosperous and safe New Year! Happy 2010~!

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Additives = Ingredients used that are not oils, butters and fragrance in the soapmaking process – e.g., Jojoba Spheres, Poppy Seeds, Clays and Herbs, etc. – enhancements to your soap

CP = Cold Process Soap
CPHP = Crock Pot Hot Process Soap
CPOP = Cold Process, Oven Process Soap
CS/CSDBHP = Closed System/Closed Sysytem Double Boiler Hot Process Soap
Curing = Amount of time required for batch to complete saponification process

DB = Double Boiler
DH = Direct Heat
DOS = Dreaded Orange Spots
DW/DWCP = Discounted Water Cold Process Soap

EO/EOs = Essential Oils

FP/Flashpoint = The flash point of a flammable liquid is the lowest temperature at which it can form an ignitable mixture in air
FO/FOs = Fragrance Oils

GM/GMS – Goat Milk Soap
GSE = Grapefruit Seed Extract – Antioxidant

HP = Hot Process Soap

INCI = International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients – Listing of ingredient names

KOH = Potassium Hydroxide/Lye (Liquid Soap Making)

Lye – Sodium or Potassium Hydroxide

NaOH = Sodium Hydroxide/Lye (Bar Soap Making)

MP/M&P = Melt and Pour Soap
MSDS = Material Safety Data Sheet

OHP = Oven Hot Process Soap

Rebatching = Rebatching is a method of making unattractive, downright ugly, imperfect batches into beautiful new batches by shredding the old batch and adding a bit of oils and/or liquids. This is also a great method to use to add herbs and clays and/or exfoliants, etc.
ROE = Rosemary Oleoresin Extract

SAP Values = Saponification Values
Saponification = The chemical reaction between lye and oils/butters to make soap
Seize = When a Fragrance Oil makes your beautiful batch turn in to mashed potatos!
Stick Blender = Electric kitchen tool to mix/blend your batch together
Superfat = Measured in percents…The amount of fat left over in the batch after saponification.

Tare = Feature to allow you to “zero out” the weight of your container oon your scale
Trace = Point where you can dribble your batch onto itself and show a trace…A light pudding

Contributed by Kelley Perea-Shaffer of Soapies Supplies. If you are in the AZ area, or plan on being in the AZ area, they are currently offering 3 levels of soapmaking lessons starting in December! They are also having an all day Melt and Pour Soapmaking class with M&P Expert Debbie Chialtas of SoapyLove in January!

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Merry Christmas from Cibaria Soap Supply !

Please Note that Our Facility will be closed on December 24th and 25th, as well as on December 31st, and 1st.

Soap Making Oil – soapmaking oil – soap base oil – soap carrier oil - soap fixed oil – fixed oil – carrier oil

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I have to be honest and say that I am not a crafty person. You know how some people are just “naturally” crafty and more inclined to create nice things with their hands? Well, that’s not me. I am impatient, and it hardly ever turns into a “good situation” when I try to make things that have anything to do with crafts.

I am a typical computer nerd,/ internet geek – minus being a girl in her mid-20′s. That being said, I am stepping way out of my element in saying this, but I am going to try my hand at making soap! If you asked anyone I knew if they’d ever expect me to say those words, they’d laugh at you.

But it’s true… I genuinely want to learn how to make soap. Some of the creations I’ve seen are just gorgeous!  Some of it has been quite creative too,  just look at these truly unique soap ideas…

You soapers are truly a special bunch, and I’m excited to get to know more of you! As a web designer first, I have a deep respect for people who can create unique situations out of ordinary products and everyday novelties. I’ve got some great ideas for soap making adventures!

In the meantime, feel free to follow our website’s latest news, special sales, new soap oil additions, and my own soap making adventures at http://www.twitter.com/CibariaSoapOils

[ 7/20/2009 Update: We've been Stumbled like crazy over the weekend - so welcome Stumblers - glad to have ya!]

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