Anyone into making candles, soaps or lotions? I have been researching some candle/soapmaking sites and just bought some scents and lotion base from one (for my own personal experimenting and use). What sites do you recommend and do you sell them?

Kinda cool! What is the process? I probably won't ever do it unless you can make something that will make my hair squeeky clean like Comet or Ajax.

Still, I like to learn stuff.

krupa, Candlewic.com is one site, they have instructions and beginners kits for people just starting to learn............hope that helps. I'm just starting, I usually recycle my old candles by melting them down and repotting them but that's just for my own use , would like to learn how to make candles from "scratch".

I'd like to learn that too.

I remember as a kid shaving parrifin wax & putting them in a pot on the stove & meltings crayons for color!! We've come a long way, baby!! Now, you can buy the wax, etc & make them burn better & longer. When putting in scents pour a little wax, add scent, then more wax. This way the scent burns throughout the life of the candle. Most people add the scent to the top & after 30 minutes the scent's gone. If I buy candles I prefer soy candles myself.

Awwww. I used to make candles with my friends, in our teenage years. I loved it :)

I just bought some scents and this weekend made a vanilla, chocolate covered-cherry scented candle (used vanilla candles melted down and then put in the chocolate covered-cherry scent) it smells so good! Haven't tried to buy my wax or molds online (postage might be to spendy)yet. Also bought "euphoria" and "angelica" scent and 1 llb tub of goats milk lotion base and made some lotion. Will have to experiment a little with that because I don't think I added enough distilled water, but it sure smells great.Those sites have every scent availabe, think I'm going to try to make some patchouli/rose lotion and candles next.

i make candles, soaps, bath salts, lip balms, lotions, etcetera.

i prefer molded candles to dipped. i have several stainless molds that i like...most have a hole at the bottom for threading the wick through, and then you seal it. you heat your wax over water, put in your additives (if you don't, the wax won't be hard enough to stay a candle, and it won't shrink, making removal from the mold pretty much impossible), add your essential oils, and pour that sucker into a prepared mold. tap the sides repeatedly to release any bubbles.

as the wax starts to harden, you usually have to prick the top and add more wax as it shrinks. sometimes, depending on the size, you'll have to do this several times over the next few hours.

when i'm making soap, i use the hot process method. much more volatile, but the finished product is usable immediately, rather than having to wait several weeks for the saponification process to finish.

i super-fat, and mix my oils in a pan, pouring in my lye/water mixture, and then cooking and stirring, cooking and stirring, until a full trace is seen. pour into my lined mold (i use a wooden mold with a dough-cutter to slice the bars), cover with plastic and allow to cool and harden. in a couple of weeks, the bars are ready to go.

beeswax, jojoba, vaseline, and eucalyptus usually make up some part of my lip balm. heat until well blended and then pour into containers.