How I started to make soap and where to actually start

Before I´ll post some recipes for soap making, I would like to write bit about how I started with this craft/obsession 😀

It´s probably one year ago when I was thinking what to make for Christmas and because I needed something for my family and friends too, to make soap and cut it to more pieces was actually very good idea. Yes of course you can also buy some, but to make it it´s more interesting. 

So I started with watching youtube videos and looking for tutorials on how to make soap. I can tell you, I´ve found some many things about which I even didn´t dream. Soap making reminded me of baking and I really like to bake (now at the expense of making soap 😁 )
That time in Belgium, I couldn´t find lye anywhere, I asked many people and most even didn´t know what I´m talking about 😀 but my boss had a great idea and showed my some store with chemicals and painting goods in Brussel. From the inside it looked like the time stopped there, everything was in old drawers, but the good new was that they had sodium hydroxide! finally I can start! 

From the beginning I find the cold process method most interesting and because I wanted my soap white I decided to use only coconut oil and lard and for the scent rose essential oil. My first batch of soap was success! and so the second one, even better! this enthusiasm helped me to move forward and after another watching tutorials, googling and reading, now I´m trying my own recipes and revealing the magic of soap making. There is always what to learn and what to discover.

My second batch of soap! I couldn´t resist to change at least something in the recipe, so I added bit of cinnamon and used tea for the top 😊

If you already make your own soap, you know what I´m writing about. If you´re not, you´ll find out very fast 😊 
I´m not any professional of soap making, so feel free to subscribe if you think that I made something wrong or you would make it differently.

For me the "Alpha and Omega" is Soap Queen TV (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCStN08hkQ1321WVdFqWD2-w), I can say I checked the page thousand times and I saw some of her videos for few times already 😀 The recipes are great and if you are beginner you have to watch all four episodes "Basics of Cold Process Soap making". Another channel I like much is Soaping 101 (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6NFc1XyVdzuyQw-f9HG42g), where you can find also very recipes and explained techniques of soap making.

The next website which I followed is one very known in Slovakia, but the creator of the blog writes also in english. You can find her as Curious Soapmaker. (http://curious-soapmaker.com/) She has very nice recipes for soaps and comestic as well.
 
Well I think this is way, where to start- with research and easy recipe. I´ll share with you later some nice websites for inspiration.

I wish to all of us happy and creative soaping!