Hello all
I have seen so many posts to which I'd love to respond but that would be rude as none of you know me! So here goes with my introduction and I look forward to participating soon.
I have been making soap for a few years now, the first one when I was 14 (I will not tell you how long ago that was!) and also balms and creams etc, for personal use. I just love creating and love spending hours in the bathtub. A very old fashioned girl with bubbles and essential oils occupying my every thought.
I 'specialise' in CP, EO's and mostly 'natural' colours. Except for micas. You see, they sparkle. And I can't help myself. All those pretty patterns, dusted tops, swirls and stamps... I am a Mica Magpie.
I am gearing up to launching a business soon, I hope. Have just spent every last minute of the past 18 months formulating and trying out new batches and ingredients. I think now I have decided what I'd like to sell as a first line and so now need to go down the routes of certifying my recipe and getting my PIFs in place etc. The fun part, huh?
If I can upload a couple of pictures now, I will do. Otherwise, to all of you in the UK, have a lovely Bank Holiday and to everyone else, a great weekend.

Hello Ollie, welcome.

Impressive swirls you have there!

Please do replies to all those posts which you wanted to 'cos when you've made more posts you get to see more boards.

oooh? I do? I thought I could see them all. How fun - look forward to it!

Hello and welcome! 
Gorgeous looking soaps. What scents do you have in them?

Welcome! I see you read some posts about our obsession with love of pictures 

Your soaps are beautiful 

Hello Eva, well, I'll have to go find my notes as can't remember fully...
but something like orange, jasmine and patch in the gold one, the granite one is just a mix of 4 soap gratings including salt soap so it's anyone's guess - at the moment to be honest, it smells like a wet road! And the avocado one with the indented swirl is unscented as it is for my baby niece.

Thank you And yes, I figured there'd be a lot of grumbling if I just introduced myself and not my soaps!!!

Wet road.... 

Ho Ollieblue (you will probably be shortened to OB - is that ok?)

Wow!  that is a perfect intro, stuff about you and PICS!!!  I love them all but that last one really caught my eye.  Something about it tells me you really care and that the detail is important to you.  What was the very first soap like when you made it (the one when you were 14) and, just got to ask, did you save any of it so that you have that momento? 

Welcome to the boards and I look forward to chatting with you more around the forum 

Lovely soaps, the top one is amazing

Hello and welcome. Love your soaps. Hope you can help re thie micas. I have some sitting in my special goodies box.  Been a bit scared to use them. 

Hello and welcome - your soaps are lovely, the orange mica one is just gorgeous, lovely swirls 

Hi Ollieblue welcome to the forum. Lovely soaps, I love the swirls on the last one.

Hi OB...lovely soaps...

Good morning all and thank you for your warm welcomes.
Gillsta, don't be afraid of the fairy dust! Practice is half the fun and there's always rebatching
Helen, my first soap was in class. We used pig fat and that was it. We mixed by hand and of course it took forever. And in it's early stages it looked and smelled like the transluscent glop you find in some public loos. But it fascinated me. We took it way beyond a suitable trace!! And rolled our little experiments into balls. My class mates abandoned theirs but I kept mine in my pocket and washed it away to nothing.
And that was it for many years. I satisfied myself with avocado facemasks and olive oil hair conditioners.  Does anyone remember the Vogue Book of Beauty? I read that avidly when it came out in the late 70's. I was 11. Had loads of recipes for homemade beauty products. I still have the book.
Attention to detail has to some extent been my artistic downfall - my artist friends were always so free with their paintbrushes, so unique with their expressions, whereas I was hell bent on perfecting the last detail that I never really developed a truly individual style.
Now with soap, I may have found my niche. The last one, the avocado one, used a mica in oil on a very thinly traced 50% NaOH solution. The balance was between it setting up and allowing for swirls. The weight of the mica gradually sank into the soap as it began to set up, hence the indented swirl.
This weekend I plan on making some textured topped treasures! And perhaps another couple of swirls. I will let you know how they turn out.
Happy Soaping

Hello... I love the sparkly gold one