This book is a rip-off. If you want simple, easy recipes to follow, don't buy this book. This book gives a lot of useless information and is poorly written.

I read this book countless times trying to absorb the processes before I began. I was a bit intimidated, but was that way with CP soaping as well, so knew it was all about "diving in". I've tried two batches of the alcohol method and they were extremely thin. After boiling the soap down for a whole day it got thick, but then crystals started appearing the next day. I probably put too much borax in, but don't really know since I messed so much with the recipe trying to first melt the soap completely (it says if doesn't dissolve it's too concentrated) then thickening it up (then it was like water). Just made my second batch and it's sitting there, thin as can be at 40% soap, with the maximum recommended Borax. I hope to write a better review with a successful batch.

After making cold process soap for several several years, and working in product development for a major soap company, I must say that this book is interesting, but not very practical and certainly confusing. I suppose I need more science to really understand this process. I found the soap to be very drying, with a "fat" smell that was really hard to cover. Also, the shelf life was not very long.