I love you sharing even the “fails”. This shows how soap making really goes!

I’m glad you didn’t delete it. Just shows what can happen.

I am a beekeeper and I add honey in every batch of soap. I add the honey to my lye mixture at 90-100 degrees. It always discolors the lye but never the batter.

Nothing wrong with this to me! I’d just plane the bottom off and be quite happy with it. Thanks for showing the challenges we can have!!❤❤

I just love your genuine soul! Even with your so-called fails, I am learning greatly.

I'm so glad you did not delete the video. I love it whenever you share stuff like this that we can learn from. I have soaked with honey before but did not have that happen. So thank you for sharing! I think they are pretty and I bet they smell fantastic! God bless you and your family, Ellen. 🙏

I don’t think it is a total failure at all, I like them, and as long as they still clean as soap is intended it is never a failure.

It’s the honey reacting with the FO I’m guessing? Still a lovely soap with fantastic lather… Not a fail! You could shave off that little bit at the bottom if you wanted to. But I doubt people would mind it.

This was good to see. I have only used honey a few times and dissolved it in hot water first. I subtracted that water from my lye solution to avoid soda ash. Interesting comment from the bee keeper about adding it to the lye water instead. I will try that next time.

Glad you didn’t delete this video!

You really are the best ellen. So real and so true! Thank you for sharing even your fail,just shows the wonderful person that you are!❤

I’ve had 2 “soaps on a stick” recently.. my first fragrance oils issues. Oh well next up - confetti soaps!! Thanks for sharing Ellen! Cheers mike 😊

I'm so glad you didn't delete the video and with the exception of the scorched honey on the bottom I still think it's pretty!

I have used honey and beeswax in my soap and have had small dots of honey appear. You are so wonderful to share your "fails" because it makes me feel not so alone in my soap making journey! I think this soap and all of your videos are amazing! And yes, I have had one batch of soap that I threw out. It was a batch of pine tar soap! The soap felt great and lathered great but the smell and color was just wrong to me! Thanks for sharing and keep up the inspiring work you do!

I've soaped with honey many times but not had it go to the bottom. I have had it do the spots in the center, but I've since learned to use a little of the water, warm it and dissolve the honey first. It scorched in hot lye water so didn't do that again. I've had no problem selling it with the honey spots. I'm sure your soap was still great. Love that you share it all, even what you consider a fail. Happy Thanksgiving Ellen.

Thank you for sharing....I treasure your knowledge and even with a ""failure"" we learn.

Soap is just beautiful. 🌹If I weren’t a soaper I’d buy some. I add 1/4-1/2 cup per 2 pound batch. It’s a lot, I know but I also soap at around 80F. I add it next to last, before my chocolate chips if they are going in. Makes a pretty luxurious soap! I love your videos, you know that. Thanks Miss Ellen🦋💚

Interesting. Thank you for sharing! 😊

Now I don't know because it is a fragrance oil and not sure if they used real bergamot but bergamot is a natural astringent and pulls out weeping rashes and blisters. It pulls fat from the blood so it helps lower cholesterol. So my guess if it has real bergamot in it, it reacted with the honey pulling it out of the oils. Still nice soap though! 💛💚

Ellen Thankyou for sharing and I finally learned the value of curing. I knew about the water evaporating but I was not sure if the lye also needed 6 weeks to saponify but your explanation was so simple to understand

I think it's admirable when experienced soapers post when things don't always go as planned to show new soapers that it happens to us all. At least you know your soap can be used and I know that fragrance smells great.

Not to worry at all Ellen, all good. They still look good 👍

You are a beautiful soul Ellen, bless you for sharing your wonderful creations. Your community is amazing and so helpful. 💜💜💜

It still looks nice. Thank you for sharing

Thank you so much for sharing! I would love to be Blessed with your so called fails! Your friend's and family are lucky. Those soap ingredients sound amazing! I have only made 2 batches of soap, brand new to this, my first loaf had sooo much ash (that was early September) and my 2nd batch was October 2nd and so far, so good. I'm just so in love with all of your video's and so looking forward to making many more batches. Thank you so much. ❤

Thank you for sharing even though it was a failure, I love your channel, I am a new soap maker and I learn so much from you!!

Thanks for sharing!! I was nervous when I saw that thin pour. That's what I'm thinking did it. I would love to use honey in all my soaps, but I find it tricky and I have a hard time keeping the colors where I want them. I heat my honey a bit to make it more fluid, and usually add at light trace, No problems with settling or specks, but the overheating gets me.

It looks 21:15 just like mashed avocado! You could do exactly the same soap method, add a bit of avocado purée, and name it avocado- buttermilk soap! I would totally buy it!

I keep meaning to tell you that I found colloidal oats at dollar tree. They are in with the bath product section. They are their version of Aveeno oatmeal bath. The only ingredient is colloidal oats. You get 5 packs of 1.5 ounce in each pack for a total of 7.5 ounces for $1.25. I was so excited when you shared they had the Himalayan and sea salts there.

Thank you for sharing I love your videos.

Thanks for sharing this! It helps us all learn from each other. Loved that soap’s creaminess! I too use buttermilk and goat milk powder.

Ellen THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING THIS!!!! I am now only making like my 6th batch of soap and this has me very hesitant to use honey, because I KNOW it would happen to me! I love every one of your videos and I truly appreciate you sharing this!

Thank you for sharing even when it fails but these things happen at times.I still like how the soap came out 😊xx

It’s happened to me before and I knew watching this what was going to happen purely because of how fluid it was at pouring, you just need to blend it more, especially for a drop swirl 😊

I add mine during trade I’m going to try it in lye one day if I remember your family and friends are lucky those bars are amazing and bubbly!!

Hi Ellen, I been watching your videos because I want to start making soap and I think your soap out so beautiful!

You can name it “Humble soap”

Thank you for not deleting

Love the green and yellow together. I had a honey soap over heat on me as well before. I started adding a little bit of water to the honey to make it easier to disperse and I added it after trace. Since then I haven’t had that issue. Thanks for sharing, bet it smells amazing 💚

I microwave the honey so it is stinking hot before I mix it into my soap at emulsion, using the stick blender as I add it. I did have problems with it not mixing into my batter before that. I soap around 95 degrees, but if you put the honey in at 150 as you blend it is broken up and mixed in before it can cool on me. Yes, I know it messes with honey skin properties but .i dont sweat it as soap is a wash off product and the label appeal is still there as I use local honey. Consider planing off the bottom 1/4” to get rid of the caramelized bottom.

I finally made soap this week after not soaping for months, and i got some brown spots on the outside of it because i put it back into the oven because i was thinking it might not have fully gelled. Well heated the oven probably too hot and turned off then left it. Well my brother went to cook dinner in the oven and turned it on with the soap inside! Hahahaha it didn't hurt the soap at all, but it does have brown spots. The good thing about this soap is the fragrance oil has vanillin so the whole things going to go brown 🤎 thanks for sharing Ellen, have a great week!

I absolutely LOVE Nurture Soap fragrances. I just used their Orange Patchouli last night for the 1st time. It’s AMAZING

I've used honey in soap before, but modified my lye water. I used the Oats, Milk & Honey FO from BB and it turned into a beautiful dark tan beige. I suggest not to add cane sugar to the lye water, if using honey and add honey to the oils warming it up to loosen it. It worked for me🤷‍♀️.

Bergamot and Honey smells AMAZING!!!

I would totally buy this!

Hi🖐 yes I make a honey soap , but I thank you for sharing mix the honey with a discount water.

Thank you for sharing! I had a failed batch for the first time in years and didn’t know what went wrong, but you made a comment about over heating Shea butter and it being crumbly! Now I know!😁

My honey soap does it all the time - I noticed that the spots tend to go away over time. I've not had it settle to the bottom before though, but I do 4x recipes and if I pour too thin I get way too much soda ash. I also mix my honey with a bit of distilled water to help disperse it.

I'm so glad you posted it and didn't delete it. I've been having this issue too. I'll have to try the thicker trace and adding to the lye. Although i do full goat milk soap. Will that work? I use frozen goat milk.

actually it looks like a rustic Hot Process soap cause rarely are they smooth so to me it's not a fail except for the burned honey which happens at times. I have added honey at a heavier/thicker trace with absolutely no spotting. I rarely add any raw ingredients to my lye solution. It seems to happen more when honey has solidified into a sugar state (older honey) but still lovely quality in soap for skin. There are many that sell in the state (appearance) of yours & customers seem to be pleased more in the quality than the looks! An example is true African Black Soap , it isn't very pleasing to look at but it's one of the best soaps ever made... I've had some batches come out like this with great quality that I gave to my family that enjoyed every last crumb! no matter what , you're a wonderful soap creator!

Thanks for your note on oats. I also got mine from Amazon and it's definitely gritty. Looking for an alternative.

Epic fail looks wonderful!!! I love the intricacies of soap making. I would just cut the bottom off, it doesn't look deep. I don't mind the honey speckles throughout, gives it character. You could call it your 'Character Soap.!

@Ellen Ruth I heard if you add some of your water to the raw honey it will help slow down the heat. I heard that it’s warm water. Ratio is 1:1, when making the honey/water mix. (So if you use 2 teaspoons of honey it would be 2 teaspoons of water). Just take this from your water that you use in the recipe. Just sharing the information.

Same scorched honey spots in my last (unscented) goat milk & honey soap. First time I had that happen. Sometimes soap just does what it wants.

Hey,,Ruth soap..I,,love your🐰🐰🌱👶 soaps .you always make The Best and nice soaps ,my dream,is soap.....🌻.

You are such a good soap maker.

Here in Australia there recently was a bug scandal where multination company's were caught for some years had been selling 'false' honey. So you didn't know what you had been eating. One time you might be using real honey next time it may be false or mixed honey. Cheers

They will still make beautiful bars. I haven't had it sink to the bottom like that, but have had the same as you throughout the bars, mild scorching and the discoloration. Sometimes it just happens, even when pouring off at the right consistency. Could also be the fragrance causing a little to much heat for the honey to 🙏🙏🙏

Nothing is a "fail" if you learn something by it!

Ellen, I'm thinking that is not the honey but it could be the milk. I'm not sure if buttermilk is oil soluble and perhaps both the honey and buttermilk should be mixed up with a little warm water to dissolve (taken from the total water amount) first before mixing in your batter. I believe it's the milk powder that sank to the bottom. I know goat's milk powder can be mixed in the batter but coconut milk powder is best dissolved in warm water. I think the buttermilk is the same, it needs to be dissolved. Just a guess because I haven't yet made soap with buttermilk powder. Your soap still turned out to be a good soap though!! 💞

looks good to me 😊

Yes maybe honey powder might be best next time. Never had a problem with the powder.

I use honey powder a lot in my soaps. They've scorched a few times, it doesn't seem to affect the performance of the soap. I call it a design element. Lol 😅

Yea that definitely made a 😢 come out. I've never added honey to my oils. Always added it at light trace. Bet the soap will still be awesome in the shower tho. ❤

Two days ago I did a HP soap with oat flour, buttermilk and extra honey. No texture whatsoever or tackiness; you can't feel the oats and it doesn't taste sweet (lol). I added 1t honey ppo with the lye water and 1T honey ppo after the cook! And the fresh flour oat mixed in the oils added as SF after the cook. With oats, as with any grains, you have to grind them 3 or 4 times (if using the coffee grinder at least). Grind, put through flour sifter, grind, and so on. Strainers are not very good, some insects can pass through it, generally speaking.

Thanks for sharing! Wonder if you have a metal soap stamp. I haven't had luck with plastic ones.

Hummm, I wonder if honey powder would work better??? I add honey to my batch when I have it and I add it like you did...and I've only had the honey suspend when I've put it into hot process soap. I bet the lather was still amazing in the bath.

This keeps happening to my oats and honey soap. I use a tiny bit. I'm wondering if a thicker trace would help.

Have used the fragrance before and it is awesome. I wonder if the milk powder u used had amything to do with it. I like theidea of dissolving honey in lye water.

Still a beautiful soap. I learn a great deal watching you. Maybe use caramel colors😁

There's the option of powdered honey. Seen it on Amazon.

I don't think it's the FO. I find warming the honey in a bit of warm water behaves better. And, add to oils - and, stir, stir, stir. Then additional stuff like c oats & milk powders one at a time. Blend like mad between each. I'm sure it's a beautiful soap! And, your friends and family are lucky to have it!

Thank you for sharing even your fails... you're very graceful and never ever appear to be proud. We are all learning and really appreciate learning along side of you! By the way, you mentioned soda ash... I had some appear on my pumice bars today, what causes it and what can I do to eliminate it next time? Thank you Ellen!

Hi Ellen what temperature do you consider to hot? Just so I have an idea when to put my lid on.

It reminds me of earl grey tea

Hey Ellen, just sell them as oopies soaps, and sell them at a discount 😉 I'm pretty sure if they smell good people will buy!

I don’t think this is a fail at all. Just give it some character. It could’ve been that you hated the hunting and didn’t disperse it in water that caused the problem. But as you well know, when you’re working on anything, when it comes to soap, anything can happen!😂 I think you did a beautiful job and thank you for sharing your “fail“ with us.

I just had a soap that a scent didn’t stick at all. Do you follow the IFRA guidelines on the site where you buy scents or do you follow what Soap Calc recommends? Thank you!

I was trying to make a coffee scrub. I am very new. I divided the batch in half. I added a coffee fragrance, coffee grounds and cocoa for color. It immediately turned chunky. I put it in the mold and Topped with the white. White set up brown was a goopy mess. Biggest fail. 😢

I've soaped with honey, yogurt and beeswax in a soap before, but it was an HP soap, so the method was a little different.

I see a few beekeepers in the comments here. I am also one and have done a bit of soap making with honey, but not a lot. Thanks for showing us this video. It will make me do more research. Can I ask what brand of stick blender you use? I don’t see it in your Amazon shop and I desperately need to replace mine (too many air bubbles). Thank you so much.

Or maybe since the fragrance oil also have honey ? Or maybe because you warm up the honey ? When I use honey I add the same amount of honey to the same amount of warm water ex. 1 tbs of honey and 1 tbs of warm water .

I have a big jar of honey powder. I wonder if that makes a difference.

Its my understanding that colloidal oats comes from the musiledge(sp) of the oats? So no we would never get anything that fine.

It's not a total failure if you can still use it and it feels good. The colors are muted but very pretty.

I haven't tried honey in my soaps yet but I'm wanting to soon. I am still new at making soap and I still find that even though my bars have cured for 6 weeks or more, they go soft and gooy half way through. Why is this happening? Or is it normal?

Hi, the question I would ask is it REAL honey or a mix?

i would use them! are you going to try again?

I just had the same thing happen. Honey!!! Mine did not lighten up.

Qui connaît cette buttermilk poudre en français? Où la trouver?

I think it is still beautiful! Maybe just trim off the bottom of the soap?

I guess the honey didn't like the fragrance!

E não pode ser a qualidade do mel ??? Será que o mel era tipo... De flores algo assim ou mel misturado com açúcar ?? 🇧🇷

I’ve had my soap bar split in half because it’s too hot

Just sell it as an Oopsie bar and discount a little.

I think they look rustic. I would sell them anyway.

See… when my soaps aren’t aesthetically pleasing, I put them in a discount “bin” or something.

You could also donate the bars to the homeless.

I still think they are pretty. Add them to your scratch and dent section.

Does not look like a fault to me!