It's good to slow down, Ben. You will spend an absolute fortune on ingredients and get completely overwhelmed otherwise.
Have a little fun with the learning process, making small batches, changing one ingredient at a time to see the effect it has, until you hit what you think is your final formula. We all have got the over excited urge, purchased loads of different oils, experimented to no end...
Start small, testing yourself, then involve family, then onto friends (those that you think will give honest feedback). Have a reasonable idea how long your products shelf life is, will the fragrance last, or will it go funky, will it grow some ugly things or is it safe, how to package best for that particular product...
There is loads of info on here, Helen gave you some good links, it's lots of testing, reading and researching, over and over and over. If you can't work something out or you're having a spot of bother, you won't be asking a question that none of us haven't asked before.

Eire

Yup, lots of useful info to be had on here Ben. Can't tell you how many days I've lost trawling through old posts Everyone here is fab though, and very VERY helpful.

Welcome Ben 

Welcome Ben :buttrf:

Welcome to the forum Ben

hello Ben & welcome, yes take it slow, it'll be better in the long run, I promise you!

Hello  :buttrf:

Hi Ben, welcome to the forum.  You sound really enthusiastic which is great!  I hope we are not damping your enthusiasm, but I agree with the others on not rushing into selling things too quickly.  I think Eire made a couple of good points about shelf life & packaging, which can be easy to overlook initially.  You might think something is good for a year but in fact goes off in 6 months (be careful with bath products containing milk powders for example, suppliers may state that a milk powder has 12-18 months shelf life, but adding other ingredients, fragrance etc will likely change that.)  Or you may find that after a couple of months, your bath salts start to leak/stain through the packaging or lose their fragrance etc etc.  So you will have to find an alternative way of packaging them, then test again to make sure it's ok.   Like most others here who sell their products, I spent at least a year making things before I started selling anything. 

Best of luck with your experiments, look forward to seeing/hearing what you come up with!   

Trading Standards and BERR (was Dept. of Trade and Industry - your local Trading Standrds should have the contact address).

You have to inform both when you're starting to sell cosmetics/toiletries.

Hi and welcome.  :buttrf:

Hi, Ben you've come to the best site on the net, lovely people, so helpful and full of knowledge.
 The resourses and all the posts are worth reading you learn so much.  I'd take a look at the business and legal side of the forum and know what to expect though.  Some good advice given here though already.
  I just received my safety assesement for makeing CP soap and Scott was so helpfull, he will help you, it's not a scary as you think, people want to help not hinder you.  Wellcome aboard/

Shell

Hi and welcome.
I have been making soap for nearly two years and I dont sell yet as I still have soooo much to learn.
Bit you have come to the right place and you will love it and as said before....you will lose countless hours researching....

Linda

Welcome and lots of luck!!

Welcome and looking forward to hearing about your experiences!

Some more info about me.

My profession is an English Teacher, which I thoroughly enjoy. When I'm not working I enjoy writing both fiction and non fiction. I currently have two educational books out and I'm currently working on my first novel.

I also have a number of websites, which keeps me busy.

I enjoy doing anything that keeps me and my hands busy, whether that be writing, crafting, or jewellery making. I'm not into it for the money, just to keep busy.

Prior to teaching I had a few random jobs, such as hotel fire marshal and quality control.

If you want to know more about me, just ask.

Ben