Rebatching disaster!

My goodness, the batch of white base I made last week was so awesome I was sorry I had to rebatch it... but now I'm even more sorry! 

The rebatching I did so for did not turn out very well, unfortunately. I tried with some herbal teas to see if the final soap had at least vaguely the smell of the tea (this worked with a red berries tea I tried some time ago!!), but nothing. This time I tried with chamomile tea and with fennel tea. The soap I rebatched with fennel smells very vaguely like it, but the chamomile nothing at all. :(

Plus the soaps are so very soft, I don't know how long it'll take them to become hard enough to be usable. Actually, they look ok, but they don't smell at all and are way too soft. I used different water amounts for both. On one I used half the aount of soap in water, and on the other I used the same amount. The first batch did not melt very well and turned out a bit lumpy, that's why I tried the 1:1 proportion. That was good for the melting, the soap melted nicely and became smooth and easy to be poured in the moulds, but as I just said both batches turned out a little too soft, I suppose. I'll give it a few weeks and see.

Next time I'll try to infuse the basic oils, and see the result, even though I've read that it doesn't keep the smell for long. I will also be trying (probably today or tomorrow) a kiwi fruit rebatching that I found on a book. The author of the book doesn't add any colouring or FOs to it, so I'm guessing the kiwi will leave a pleasant smell and colour to it. I know this will mean a shorter shelf life for the soap, but just for trying I'll do this with a very small amount of soap, something like 100g or so.

I guess I still have to learn a lot about rebatching...